Levels
Ten levels comprise the advancement and accreditation of the mystic. These are divided into two categories: levels 0–IV, which are offered through the TSM curriculum; and levels V-IX, which TSM confers.
A few additional points are necessary.
- No one graduates a mystic. As the Avarian Code of 1343 infers, mystics are made in silence and emptiness, certainly not in the classroom, not even in life.
- Levels V – IX do not have names.
- The conferment of levels V – IX is performed by the Governing Council.
- The levels operate across ten manifestations, described in the following “Curriculum” section.
- While levels 0 – IV are cumulative, levels V – IX are not necessarily; neither are levels V – IX dependent on the completion of any of the lower levels. Thus, someone must have completed levels 0 – II to enter level III, but someone may receive level IX without having completed or received any other level.
- Levels VI and VII tend to be mutually exclusive.
Curriculum
The TSM curriculum develops vertically up levels 0 – IV and horizontally across three Classifications: core, near-core, and manifestation. The Classifications are further divided into six Series, as follows:
Core Series 0
Near-core Series 1 and 2
Manifestation Series 3–5
The manifestations are broken down into ten, the seven classical manifestations and the three modern ones.
Classical manifestations
Ecstatic (0)
Service (1)
Philosophic (2)
Nature (3)
God (4)
Soul (5)
Martyrdom (6)
Modern manifestations
Literary (7)
Mathematic (8)
Technologic (9)
Note that the numbers in parentheses are used for course code identification purposes. These codes are discussed further in Appendix B.
The Mystic Foundation
Two paths, diametrically opposed in direction and value, lead to God. The first, sensuous and teeming, is the path of mediation and has between the seeker and their object what seems to them an infinite number of forms. Music, dance, word, scent, beauty, sufferingall these are guides to God and the bulk of human endeavor strives to manufacture and enter these, and, in entering, experience the divine. The second, silent and empty, is the path of disintermediation and has nothing between the seeker and their object. This lack of any form is itself the form of entry; here, the individual soul dialogues directly with the collective one, and no one hears or sees or smells anything. This second path is the mystic’s path and, while it is available to people in equal opportunity regardless of the age and its beliefs, it at any time is walked on only by a few; the spirit of the world requires only a few in formless form to balance the multitudinous forms of sensuality on the ancient scales of justice.
As these two paths lead in opposing directions, an unbridgeable divide naturally separates them and the people who walk them. The Mystic Foundation’s mission is to communicate the mystic’s experience and value to the non-mystic, a challenge not only because of the factors already mentioned, including the inference that the mystic’s experience is innately incommunicable, but because the mystic themself often subordinates their urge to communicate their experience to the experience itself. Thus, to fulfill its mission, TMF frequently has to rely on those sympathetic to and knowledgeable of mystics and mysticism, while not being mystics themselves. TMF does not promote the mystic path for all or even as a superior experience to any alternativea notable difference from many past promotion attemptsbut simply as a viable and necessary path in a world largely given to phenomenon and often biased toward phenomenon. Indeed, TMF recognizes that if those called to non-mysticism attempt to migrate to the mystic world, unacceptable distortions may results: least harmfully, flakiness and incompetence; most harmfully, mayhem and corruption.
TMF is an independent agency focusing on two objectives: raising awareness of TSM and educating non-mystics about mysticism. Fulfillment of the first objective allows TSM to concentrate on its task of educating without getting distracted by marketing and public relations. Fulfillment of the second objective, while overlapping with the first, emphasizes knowledge about mysticism independent of TSM.
TMF fulfills its objectives through:
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public lectures |
home study programs |
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a comprehensive social media presence |
an annual mystery mystic hunt |
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publications by and about mystics |
sponsorship of university mystic chairs |
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publications about mysticism |
strategic alliances and partnerships |
TMF has its own governing board, staff and membership. These include academics, religious leaders, teachers, artists, and informed lay people from around the world.
