The Mystical Positivist - Radio Show #407 - 24DEC22

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This week on the show we feature a pre-recorded conversation with Henry Schoenfield, ordained minister, spiritual director, and ICF certified professional coach, about the arc of his spiritual journey, the tension between an inner calling and the outer form that calling may take, and the challenges of inspiring modern American Christian congregations in the possibilities of deep contemplative Work on Self.

Henry Schoenfield is a life-long spiritual seeker and mystic. He was born into a family of mixed religious and cultural backgrounds — his father’s family of English and German-Jewish descent and his mother’s family of Scots-Irish and Cherokee descent. Raised in the Episcopal Church, he was formed and ordained as a Roman Catholic priest. He left the priesthood seeking greater integrity in his life and work as a gay man. This search led him to the United Church of Christ — the liberal Protestant denomination in which he currently serves. All the while, the grounding spiritual relationship in his life has been the experience of the Divine in prayer, meditation, and liturgy. He has worked in parishes and congregations; in hospital and hospice spiritual counseling; and clinical education of spiritual care providers at major trauma centers and teaching hospitals in Seattle and New York City. Currently, he serves in interim congregational ministry in Lowell, Massachusetts, while also working with individuals in spiritual direction and coaching as well as leading workshops and retreats. His joy is to companion others as a teacher and guide through times of disruption and transformation. He is a certified professional coach through the International Coaching Federation and a student of The Fourth Way and Christian Contemplative path in the lineage of the Rev. Dr. Cynthia Bourgeault.

More information about Henry Schoenfield's work can be found at:

Henry Schoenfield's website: www.henryschoenfield.com,

Henry Schoenfield on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com.

ChatGPT on Mystical Positivism

The following is a brief conversation with the newly released AI authoring tool, ChatGPT, on the topic of Mystical Positivism. Though ChatGPT will not profess knowledge on a non-existent topic, it seems very able to invent a response when requested. My questions are in red, and the ChatGPT responses are in green.

What are the basic tenets of Mystical Positivism?

I'm sorry, but I am not familiar with a philosophical or religious movement called "Mystical Positivism." Could you provide more information about what you are asking?

If you were to invent a philosophical tradition called Mystical Positivism, what would be its principal tenets?

As a language model, I do not have the ability to invent philosophical traditions or movements. However, I can try to offer some ideas for what the basic tenets of a hypothetical philosophical tradition called Mystical Positivism might be based on my understanding of philosophy and the terms "mystical" and "positivism."

Here are a few possible ideas for the basic tenets of Mystical Positivism:

1.                The existence and nature of ultimate reality is unknowable and cannot be fully understood or articulated by human reason.

2.                Mystical experiences or practices, such as meditation, contemplation, or rituals, can allow individuals to directly encounter or access a deeper level of reality or truth.

3.                Positivism, the belief that knowledge is based on empirical evidence and scientific method, is a valuable approach for understanding and explaining the natural world and human experience.

4.                Mystical experiences or insights can complement and enrich the understanding gained through positivist approaches, leading to a more comprehensive and nuanced view of reality.

5.                The ultimate goal of Mystical Positivism might be to integrate the insights and perspectives of both mystical traditions and positivist approaches in order to gain a more complete understanding of reality and how to live in accordance with it.

I think that with respect to 3) and 4), mystical experiences constitute the empirical evidence on which a positivist approach can be grounded.

It is certainly possible to view mystical experiences as a form of empirical evidence that can be used to support positivist approaches to understanding reality. Positivism is a philosophical tradition that emphasizes the importance of empirical evidence, particularly scientific evidence, in the pursuit of knowledge. Some proponents of positivism might argue that mystical experiences, because they are subjective and not verifiable through the scientific method, cannot be considered reliable sources of knowledge.

However, other proponents of positivism might take a more inclusive approach and argue that all forms of empirical evidence, including subjective experiences, can be considered valid sources of knowledge if they are properly documented, analyzed, and subjected to critical examination. In this view, mystical experiences could be considered a valuable source of empirical evidence that can be used to inform and enrich our understanding of reality, especially if they are studied in a systematic and rigorous manner.

It is worth noting that the relationship between mysticism and positivism is a complex and contested issue, and there is no one "correct" way to understand the role of mystical experiences within a positivist framework. Different proponents of Mystical Positivism might have different ideas about how these two approaches can be integrated and how much weight should be given to mystical experiences as a source of knowledge.

I think from a positivist approach, we can say that a mystical experience is a concrete datum and empirical in the sense that the experience is a fact I have directly verified by virtue of having had it in the moment. The critical examination to which you allude most certainly applies to any inferences I might be tempted to draw from this experience. These inferences might be colored by a number of implicit biases that I bring to my subsequent process of abstracting conceptual representations by which to recall the experience. Positivism requires that we not let our abstractions about the nature of our mystical experiences get too far ahead of what we can directly verify in in our immediate experience.

You are correct that, from a positivist perspective, a mystical experience can be considered a concrete and empirical datum that is directly verified by the person who experiences it. Positivism emphasizes the importance of empirical evidence, which refers to observations or data that can be directly experienced or measured. Subjective experiences, such as mystical experiences, can be considered a form of empirical evidence if they are properly documented and subjected to critical examination.

However, it is also important to recognize that our understanding of any experience, including mystical experiences, is shaped by the way we interpret and conceptualize it. It is possible that our interpretation of a mystical experience may be influenced by our biases, assumptions, or prior beliefs. In order to ensure the reliability and validity of our understanding of mystical experiences, it is important to carefully examine and critically evaluate the inferences we draw from them and to be mindful of the potential impact of our biases on our interpretation of the experience.

Positivism emphasizes the importance of examining the evidence in a systematic and objective manner, which can help to reduce the influence of biases and subjective interpretations on our understanding of reality. By following this approach, we can strive to gain a more accurate and reliable understanding of mystical experiences and their significance.

The Mystical Positivist - Radio Show #406 - 03DEC22

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This week on the show we feature a pre-recorded conversation with Mary Angelon Young about her recent book, The Art of Contemplation, published in 2021 by HOHM Press. In this compassionate and resourceful book, Angelon gently guides the reader into a larger awareness, reminding us of simple ways to stay grounded in the present moment and connect with what is real in an increasingly unreal human world. With personal narrative, meditative reflections and invitations to creative expression, she draws us into the garden of her inner world. Here we witness how it is possible to transform the suffering we experience in ourselves and others into a nourishment that feeds our essential being.

With a background in Jungian studies and counselling, and decades of life within a contemplative community, Mary Angelon Young draws from a wide range of faith traditions as well as from transpersonal, psychosomatic and archetypal psychologies. She fearlessly engages both the soul and the shadow elements of our human nature, inviting us to confidently welcome the potential for self-understanding contained without our dark moods, doubts and even our despair.

More information about Mary Angelon Young's work can be found at:

Mary Angelon Young's website: www.maryangelonyoung.com,

The Art of Contemplation at HOHM Press: www.hohmpress.com.