Dr. Jay Forrest

We spend our childhood in dependence. We rely on our mother and father for room, board, and food. We depend on them for love, comfort, and consolation—for countless things. As children, this is appropriate.

The problem is that many people grow older without growing up—that is, without becoming independent. They still depend on others to do things for them. They never fully reach maturity, because we must move beyond dependence and become self-reliant.

Once we gain independence, we realize that we cannot change anyone. When we enter into a relationship, we must accept people as they are. People can only change themselves; they cannot be changed by us. If we cannot accept them as they are, then we should not enter into a relationship with them at all.

So the next time you see something around the house that isn’t done, say to yourself: if it’s going to be, it’s up to me. Apply this to your life as a whole. Don’t depend on the priest, the pastor, the rabbi, or the imam to do what is your responsibility. No one is coming to save you—you have to take responsibility for yourself. This is part of growing up.

There is a big difference between the experience of oneness with Ultimate Reality and the interpretation of that experience. And if you don’t understand the difference, you’re likely to be confused.

The simple fact is that the mystical experience is not limited to any religion or philosophical tradition. It is experienced by people in every religion, philosophy, and walk of life. It is part of the human experience.

We have to understand that interpretations are required in order for us to think about, let alone speak about, this mystical experience. I believe that all mystical experiences are similar, but the minute that we talk about them, we have to talk about them within a conceptual framework, and that framework modifies our understanding of the experience.

There is no such thing as an uninterpreted experience, and unfortunately our interpretation can distort our remembrance and recollection of that experience. I have the distinct advantage of experiencing Ultimate Reality both as a Christian and as a Buddhist. As a Christian, I understood the experience as an encounter with a supreme person; as a Buddhist, I understood it as an encounter with a supreme reality. But I can assure you the experience was the same—only the interpretation changed.

Wisdom is perspectival knowing. It is the capacity to inhabit an integrated, well-fitted, and comprehensive orientation to reality, discerning what is salient and how it matters within the whole.

Experience is participatory knowing. It is direct, lived involvement in which the experiencer and what is experienced co-shape one another.

Knowledge, in its strict sense, is propositional knowing. It is expressed in claims and concepts that articulate what is the case and provide the basis for organizing our understanding of reality.

Skill is procedural knowing. It is the embodied mastery of how to act, cultivated through practice and expressed in fluent, context-sensitive performance.

Assent is the acknowledgment that a claim may be true. It is purely intellectual agreement with the mind, not a volitional commitment of the will.

Belief is the acceptance of a claim as true with both the mind and the will, in a way that governs action. It is acceptance that involves commitment, not just intellectual agreement.

Knowledge is belief that is supported by evidence and sufficient warrant. It is belief grounded in reasons that justify taking the claim to be true.

Faith is the acceptance of a proposition as true without evidence. It is belief held and acted on even in the absence of such grounding.

We should walk by evidence rather than faith, acknowledging that genuine mystical experience constitutes experiential evidence.

Hedonism is the belief and lifestyle that treats pleasure as the highest good and ultimate aim of life. Its guiding principle is simple: if it feels good, do it.

When someone is asked why they did something and answers, “because I liked it,” they reveal a hedonistic framework. The justification rests entirely on personal preference and immediate satisfaction.

In contrast, a life oriented toward what is right, true, and genuinely beneficial looks beyond pleasure. It weighs actions against ethical standards and long-term consequences, rather than momentary desire.

Much of Western civilization appears captive to hedonism. We eat what we like, pursue what we enjoy, and fill our time with entertainment—video games, television, gambling, drinking—because of the pleasure they provide. Preference becomes the primary guide.

But when pleasure alone determines action, ethical reasoning is sidelined. The result is not just indulgence, but a moral framework in which desire replaces judgment.

The four stages of liberation in Buddhism are stream-enterer (Sotāpanna), once-returner (Sakadāgāmi), non-returner (Anāgāmi), and arahant, the fully liberated one. However, these are better understood as attainments rather than stages. There is no gradual process here—only arrival.

In contrast, the four stages of the mystical path in Western mysticism are awakening, purification, contemplation, and union. These describe genuine stages—ongoing processes—without clearly defined points of arrival.

What becomes interesting is when the two are placed side by side.

Stage one is awakening, culminating in stream-entry. The fetters removed are identity view, doubt, and clinging to rites and rituals.

Stage two is purgation, culminating in the once-returner. Sensual desire and ill-will are drastically reduced.

Stage three is illumination, culminating in the non-returner. Sensual desire and ill-will are fully destroyed.

Stage four is union, culminating in arahantship. All ten fetters are destroyed, and one is fully liberated, having attained nirvana. This is complete union with Ultimate Reality.