dorian gray - mysticism

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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

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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>