dorian gray - mysticism
TRANSCRIPT
The Picture of Dorian Gray – Mysticism
In “The Picture of Dorian Gray”, by Oscar Wilde, Dorian receives a “yellow book” from Lord
Henry. This book tells the story of “a certain young Parisian, who spent his life trying to realize in
the nineteenth century all the passions and modes of thought that belonged to every century
except his own.” (p. 128) Dorian became fascinated with the book, since it seemed to “contain the
story of his life, written before he had lived it.” (p. 130) He related to the book so much that he
decided to become the Parisian in the book. He lived the same passions and modes of thought that
the Parisian lived and even added a few of his own. He became captivated by aestheticism and lived
for all that was beautiful. He was also inspired and influenced by Lord Henry when he said that “it is
only shallow people who do not judge by appearances.” (p. 24) Among Dorian’s many interests,
such as embroidered clothing, tapestries, jewels and gemstones, rituals of Roman Catholicism, and
music, lies mysticism. This intriguing topic truly absorbed Dorian’s entire being. Two of the many
reasons Dorian liked mysticism are that it gave him the ability to become more enamored with
beauty and everything around him, and it gave him the freedom to believe in whatever he wanted
to.
When we think of mysticism, we often think of enlightment or becoming one with the
universe. This is exactly the way Dorian Gray felt about mysticism. He wanted to become one with
the universe that surrounded him and find the entrancing beauty in objects that seem so common
to us. By becoming one with his surroundings, Dorian could appreciate everything as being divine.
Everything he saw was mystic and full of beauty. He saw things like he had never seen before. He
saw the world as being beautiful and within his reach. According to Atman Zaza, a writer for a web
site called EzineArticles.com: “The word God and Universe mean the same thing. To say “I am one
with the Universe” is the same as saying “I am one with God”” Dorian experienced bliss because he
viewed the world as mysterious. There was so much mystery behind the little bumblebee that
buzzed past him and landed on a beautiful rose. There was so much his eyes could behold with
wonder. As the book points out, “Mysticism [has] its marvelous power of making common things
strange to us…” (p. 136)
We already know that the kind of mysticism Dorian so passionately believed in was not
western mysticism. He did not want anything to do with one God and one religion. He wouldn’t let
himself be tied down by one religion. The whole world was his religion. He believed in eastern
mysticism, which deals with opening one’s mind to the wonders around him and the belief that one
can find the path to happiness by following one’s heart and desires. Dorian might have believed in
Theosophy, which “holds that all religions are attempts by the “Great Soul” to help humanity in
evolving to greater perfection, and that each religion therefore has a portion of the truth.”
(Theosophy. Wikipedia) Dorian wasn’t the kind of guy that thought all religions were erred. Instead,
he believed that each religion had truth in it and that all of these little truths combined formed the
ultimate truth. Any religion that threatened his freedom of thought was immediately discarded, for
it went against his very nature and everything he stood for. Dorian loved mysticism because it
didn’t chain him to a set of determinate and absolute beliefs. The novel says that Dorian “never fell
into the error of arresting his intellectual development by any formal acceptance of creed or
system, or of mistaking, for a house in which to live, an inn that is but suitable for the sojourn of a
night, or for a few hours of a night...” (p. 136)
To be honest, I am just as fascinated with this area of study as Dorian might have been. Like
Dorian, I do not like being a slave to a religion that is so narrow minded that it doesn’t let me live
my life. I also agree with Theosophy, because I think all religions have some truth to them. For
example, I agree with Buddhism in that we should reach a Nirvana-like mindset. According to
Siddhartha Gautama, “The Buddha”, nirvana “is perfect peace of the state of mind that is free from
craving, anger, and other afflicting states. The subject is at peace with the world, has compassion
for all, and gives up obsessions and fixations.” (Nirvana. Wikipedia) I think having compassion for all
and being free from anger, craving, and other afflicting states, is something Buddhism shares with
the Christianity I have been brought up with. Most of the rules in the Muslim Qur’an exist in the
Christian Bible too. I am also really interested in eastern mysticism, not because I believe it is true,
but because I want to know what other people think. I will not close my mind to other beliefs just
because I don’t agree with them.
People today are just as fascinated with mysticism as ever. Yoga is one of the practices of
modern New Age mysticism, and we are hearing more about it than in the past. More people
believe in reincarnation and in the power of one’s own mind and spirituality. The market for New
Age objects, such as crystals, orbs, pendants, gemstones, pendulums, tarot cards, etc., has
significantly increased at 300 billion U.S. dollars. (New Age. Wikipedia) This is a lot of money and
more and more people want to embark themselves on spiritual journeys and open their chakras.
New Age has grown today like no other time in history. We will see it grow even more in the years
to come.
Bibliography
1. Zaza, Atman. How to Become One With the Universe and Experience Bliss. 13 Feb. 2010.
dfdfdWeb. 15 Feb. 2011. < http://ezinearticles.com/?How-to-Become-One-With-the-
dfdfd Universe-and-Experience-Bliss&id=3711103 >
2.
3. Nirvana. Wikipedia. 13 Feb. 2011. Web. 15 Feb. 2011.
dfdfd<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nirvana>
4. New Age. Wikipedia. 15 Feb. 2011. Web. 15 Feb. 2011.
dfdfd<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Age>