Rex Ambler

Ambler explains how Quakerism is a practical experiential sort of mysticism, that embraces the world as it brings together the active life with the contemplative life. The Quaker Way he invokes is the silent waiting in the Light practiced by Friends from the 17th century to the present. It is a way that both affirms the world and pursues spiritual awakening to oneness with the ultimate reality, and transforms us in the process.
He defines mysticism in general and the place of Quaker mysticism in it. If you crave answers to the great questions of how to live and the meaning and purpose of life, and you reject the answers of worldly authority or the escapism of hedonism, "success," or drugs, and can take courage to still face the questions, then mysticism can speak to your condition. Turn inward and you will find that you can trust your own experience of the Light that shows you some answers. And the Quaker way of mysticism keeps us in the world, with answers to how to live in it.
This way requires discipline and persistence, but rewards us with a way to live in harmony and joy. It is difficult, since reality is elusive for us humans, so blinded as we usually are by our preoccupation with things in this world. As we go, however, the Light will show us the reality, the world as it is, the unity of it all, and bring us increasingly into living in this unity. We experience the presence of God within us as well as harmony with the world, as we connect with the reality beyond time. And the Quaker Way is not just to see the oneness, but to practice it.
Ambler addresses the objection of some that Quakerism is Christian and looks to Christ as its center, not to mysticism, and is therefore not mystical. Ambler replies that Christ is encountered by Quakers within them, as immediate and direct experience, as mystical experience.
There is plenty in here, both deep and helpful. It can take some rereading and even some note taking. Fortunately, the style is friendly and clear.… (mais)

Mind the Oneness: The Mystic Way of the Quakers explores Quaker mysticism from the earliest years of George Fox to the present day. In this manuscript, Rex Ambler invite us to re-discover the roots of the Quaker Way as we open ourselves to the truth, and as we encounter the truth as the reality of life that sparks in us a mystical vision for being prophetic, inclusive, and experimental. In other words, as we experience “the deep reality that holds everything together.” (Pendle Hill Pamphlets, Pendle Hill Publications)… (mais)