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Mysticism in the Australian Environment: Calls to a New Consciousness

'Australian Spirituality?'

AM I SERIOUS? A couple of decades ago one would hardly bother to give thought to the idea of Australian Spirituality; a few years back it would have been preposterous to imagine mysticism as a core to our Australian experience of God.

Now contemplation, whether in a Christian or non-Christian context, is widely discussed as a respectable topic of conversation and commonly admitted as a personal practice.

Rahner is often quoted as forecasting: ‘The devout Christian of the future, will either be a ‘mystic’, one who has ‘experienced’ something, or he will cease to be anything at all.’

It is commonplace in scientific works to read a call for a new consciousness in the coming age (e.g. Reanney 1991; 1994) A kind of mystical attitude accompanies many pastimes favoured by Australians: surfing, fishing, bushwalking and gardening.

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