Richard Rohr
From the Center for Action and Contemplation
Western Christianity
The Christian Contemplative Tradition
Sunday, September 16, 2018
Sunday, September 16, 2018
Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy have a long tradition of
teaching contemplation or nondual consciousness. But its systematic teaching
was primarily held in the Eastern “Greek” church; the Western “Latin” church
was more extroverted and aligned with empires.
Serious contemplative teaching—very upfront in the desert
fathers and mothers—is surely found in Celtic Christianity (outside of empire),
and is continued by leaders of many monasteries, for example, by John Cassian
(360–435 CE), Pseudo-Dionysius (5th–6th centuries), and Hugh of St. Victor
(1096–1141) in Paris. Later mystics like Bonaventure (1221–1274), Francisco de
Osuna (1497–1541), the unknown author of The Cloud of
Unknowing (late 14th century), and 16th century mystics Teresa of
Ávila (1515–1582) and John of the Cross (1542–1591) also taught nondual
consciousness. It held on much longer in the religious orders than the ordinary
local church or with the common priest or bishop—whose ministry was an
occupation more than a search for God or a “school for the Lord’s service,” as
St. Benedict (480–547) described. [1]
Most Western mystics exemplified contemplation,
as did Jesus, much more than they directly taught it. Maybe this is part of the
reason many Christians lost it, and why good theological teaching and practice
is now so important today. After the fights of the Reformation, and after the
over-rationalization of the 17th and 18th century Enlightenment, many of us
Western Christians became very defensive, wanting to prove we were smart and
could win arguments with the new secularism. We imitated the rationalists while
using pious Christian vocabulary. It took the form of heady Scholasticism and
rote formulas in Catholicism, and led to fundamentalism and memorized Scripture
verses providing their own kind of “rationalism” among many Protestants.
Catholic doctrines (such as transubstantiation, papal
infallibility, and hierarchical authority) came to be presented in a largely
academic and juridical way (or, for the sacraments, with an almost magical interpretation),
as opposed to a contemplative or mystical way. Frankly, all of this inspired
few and drove many away from Christianity. Most priests were educated this way
until the much-needed reforms of Vatican II in the 1960s. Thomas Merton
(1915–1968) was very influential in reintroducing contemplation to the West.
Now it is again taught in Christian arenas all over the world under different
names.
What we now call contemplation—a unique way of knowing—is a
rediscovery of our earlier Christian practice. Basically, contemplation
is the way you know and think of yourself when you are sincerely praying and
present—as opposed to thinking, arguing, or proving.
As Archbishop Rowan Williams, former leader of the Anglican
Church, told the Synod of Catholic Bishops in Rome:
Contemplation is very far from being just one kind of thing
that Christians do: it is the key to prayer, liturgy, art and ethics, the key
to the essence of a renewed humanity that is capable of seeing the world and
other subjects in the world with freedom—freedom from self-oriented,
acquisitive habits and the distorted understanding that comes from them. To put
it boldly, contemplation is the only ultimate answer to the unreal and insane
world that our financial systems and our advertising culture and our chaotic
and unexamined emotions encourage us to inhabit. To learn contemplative
practice is to learn what we need so as to live truthfully and honestly and
lovingly. It is a deeply revolutionary matter. [2]
Despite centuries without systematic teaching of nondual
consciousness, many seekers have now come to contemplation as the fruit
of great suffering or great love. These are the quickest and most
universal ways that God uses to destabilize the self-referential ego. Those
transformed by life and grace come to enjoy the presence of God, others, and
even themselves. They have connected with their deepest Source, an identity
that goes far beyond ideas of right and wrong.
Great suffering, great love, and contemplative practice can
instill in us “the same mind which is in Christ Jesus” (see Philippians 2:5-11,
4:4-7, and 1 Corinthians 2 and 3). Indeed, I believe contemplative, nondual
consciousness is the mind of Christ.
Gateway to Presence:
If you want to go deeper with today’s meditation, take note of what word or phrase stands out to you. Come back to that word or phrase throughout the day, being present to its impact and invitation.
If you want to go deeper with today’s meditation, take note of what word or phrase stands out to you. Come back to that word or phrase throughout the day, being present to its impact and invitation.
[1] Benedict, Rule, Prologue. See Joan
Chittister, The Rule of Benedict: A Spirituality for the 21st Century
(Crossroad Publishing: 2014, ©1992), 21.
[2] Archbishop Rowan Williams, Address to the Synod of
Bishops in Rome (October 10, 2012), http://rowanwilliams.archbishopofcanterbury.org/articles.php/2645/archbishops-address-to-the-synod-of-bishops-in-rome.
Adapted from Richard Rohr, Silent Compassion: Finding
God in Contemplation(Franciscan Media: 2014), 63-65.
Image credit: Country Gate at Dawn(detail),
Anton Goncharov.
