Zoe Popper has visions at the most inconvenient moments. She thinks she’s going crazy. But when a mysterious gentleman offers to become her teacher, she begins to question everything she knew.
As she fights to hold her family together, Zoe realises she must risk her sanity for a glimpse of the truth. But will the prize be worth it?
After all, what use is enlightenment if you can’t hold on to the people you love?
Addled: Adventures of a Reluctant Mystic is a novel about spiritual emergency and how a crisis can become an awakening. Using the philosophy of Zen Buddhism, it follows one woman’s quest to find inner peace and self-knowledge, and offers an alternative perspective on mental illness and how to turn a breakdown into a revelation. Challenge your perception of reality by joining Zoe on her quest for enlightenment.
“Compelling…” “Inspiring…” “Reminiscent of Kate Atkinson…”
Jessica Davidson 
One simple way of acknowledging mysticism is to share how it’s based on experiential understanding. A religion is mostly based on mental understanding.
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Yes, it can’t be expressed in words. Although we can allude to it and point in the general direction of reality using words and stories. But in the end, we have to shut up and allow reality to be – which it is anyway, regardless of what we think or say about it.
Not sure any of that makes sense…
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I think many people which call themselves under category of religions are not what they call themselves truly. I believe mysticism depends on persons soul not only his or her religion. If you find true mysticism in every religion or without religion you are living in the truth.
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Yes, mystical truth comes from within whether you are religious or not. Religion is imposed from the outside but the truth always comes from the soul. Thanks for sharing your insight, surprisebjg.
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My email is attached to this comment. I’m on gchat with that email address – if you ever want to talk to someone who may understand your journey.
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Thanks 🙂
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We have a similar story.
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I think many people are waking up to a deeper reality now. The veil of illusion is starting to thin, the cracks are starting to show. Thanks for stopping by to share your thoughts. I’ll check out your blog – it looks very interesting.
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Another Mystic doesn’t need to read my blog – or anyone’s – for that matter.
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Well, yes – it’s true, you discover reality from within and words are not going to help. But I still find it interesting to read about other people’s experiences. And if something you write, or say, provokes somebody into turning inwards and discovering the truth for themselves, so much the better.
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Even you have written your account as a fictional novel. How many Mystics reveal complete truth in their writing?
We will never know, will we.
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I do my best to reveal complete truth in my writings. Sometimes it’s a matter of finding the right words to make it comprehensible to others. It’s my intent to wake people up.
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All Mystics have a code of conduct. Religion is a code of conduct, with or without a deity.
Look up the origin of the word “religion.” Fascinating misconceptions about the word.
Oddly enough, the very word “mystic” implies some type of religion.
Kind of a Catch-22.
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Yes, our ideas about religion, belief and faith are a real dog’s dinner of confusion and misperceptions. The idea of a ‘mystic without religion’ is really about being a ‘mystic without a monastery’ – i.e. not part of an orthodox church system or religion in that sense.
‘Religion’ comes from the Latin – to bind. And in sanskrit, there’s ‘yoga’ which means union. Ultimately, mysticism is about recognising that essential unity underlying reality, regardless what you call it or through which system you approach it. So religion is really about having a reverence for life and living in harmony with its laws – not the laws of the ‘church’ or whatever ideas you happen to have about life.
Interesting topic. Thanks for sharing your thoughts, terraburrah.
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How did you come to feel that you were a mystic, Jessica?
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That’s a good question, terraburrah. It’s been a long journey of discovery, and I’m not always comfortable calling myself a mystic. I’ve had to grow into it.
Addled: Adventures of a Reluctant Mystic is a heavily fictionalised account of that journey and my struggle with accepting what I was experiencing. I started out as an atheist, but then kept having experiences I couldn’t deny or ignore that forced me to question the way I saw reality. That led me into Buddhism and meditation.
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