"
Christian Mysticism:"
From these articles:
Christian mysticism
Wesleyan Arminianism
Found this reading about
Christian meditation and saw that a certain type, not the whole thing, was considered heresy by the Roman Catholic Church. So of course prohibition makes one curious and I looked to read about
'Quietism'
This along with
Christian Perfection and
Christian-
Mysticism-(
African) has begun to paint a very interesting portrait of myself and my beliefs. This is the Christian thought/philosophy that I truly feel that I was cultivating in my early years raised as a Christian...(no wonder I practically canned myself asking questions about this sort of thing.) Since much of it was considered heresy well before the Reformation, in which the Protestant sect I was raised in was yet to come even later than this.
What I see here is an amazing blending of the Hindu yogas, specifically,
Bhakti Yoga or devotional union with
Brahman, via seeing the True Nature of Self(
Atman), and the
Buddhist definition of Atman, which is to say,(
Anatman) Non/Not-Self, yet seem to get the same ends of True Nature (This is mentioned on the Meister Eckhart link as to how his ideas are 'stampable' as Buddhist-like). As well touching my fascination and connection with the
Sufi's metaphysics/
meditation(murakaba). All of which speak loudly to me about dissolving barriers between I, me, mine and the World/Spirit of Life.
Quote:
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Quietism is a Christian philosophy that swept through France, Italy and Spain during the 17th century, but it had much earlier origins. The mystics known as Quietists insist, with more or less emphasis, on intellectual stillness and interior passivity as essential conditions of perfection. All have been officially proscribed as heresy in very explicit terms by the Roman Catholic Church.
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Quote:
Origins of Quietism
The state of imperturbable serenity or ataraxia (lucid state) was seen as a desirable state of mind by Epicurus, Pyrrhonian and the Stoic philosophers alike, and by their Roman followers, such as the emperor Marcus Aurelius.
Quietism has been compared to the Buddhist doctrine of Nirvana.
The possibility of achieving a sinless state and union with the Christian Godhead are denied by the Roman Catholic Church.
Among the ideas seen as errors and condemned by the Council of Vienne (1311-12) are the propositions that humankind in the present life can attain such a degree of perfection as to become utterly sinless; that the "perfect" have no need to fast or pray, but may freely grant the body whatsoever it craves (a tacit reference to the Cathars or Albigenses of southern France and Catalonia), and that they are not subject to any human authority or bound by the precepts of the Church. Similar assertions of individual autonomy on the part of the Fraticelli led to their condemnation by John XXII in 1317. The same pope in 1329 proscribed among the errors of Meister Eckhart the assertions that we are totally transformed into God just as in the sacrament the bread is changed into the body of Christ and the value of internal actions, which are wrought by the Godhead abiding within us.
Quietism may have had some indirect effect on the mysticism of the great 16th century Spaniards, Teresa of Avila and John of the Cross, but there were clearly other influences. It should be made clear that both Teresa of Avila and John of the Cross were very active reformers and that both cautioned against a simple-minded "don't think anything" (no pensar nada) approach to meditation and contemplation; further, both remained firmly committed to the authority of the Catholic Church.
Quietism's primary defender was Miguel de Molinos, referred to by the Catholic Encyclopedia as the "founder" of Quietism. The apostle of the Quietist movement in 17th-century France was Molinos' correspondent, the prolific writer Mme Guyon, who won an influential convert at the court of Louis XIV in Madame de Maintenon and an ally within the Catholic hierarchy in Archbishop Fénelon.
Molinos and the doctrines of Quietism were finally condemned by Pope Innocent XI in the Bull Coelestis Pastor of 1687. A commission in France found most of Madame Guyon’s works intolerable and the government confined her, first in a convent, then in the Bastille. In 1699, after Fénelon’s spirited defense in a press war with Bossuet, Pope Innocent XII prohibited the circulation of Fénelon’s Maxims of the Saints, to which Fénelon submitted at once. The inquisition's proceedings against remaining Quietists in Italy lasted until the eighteenth century.
Theology
Quietism states that man's highest perfection consists of a self-annihilation, and subsequent absorption, of the soul into the Divine, even during the present life. In this way, the mind is withdrawn from worldly interests to passively and constantly contemplate God. Quietists would say that the Bible describes the man of God as a man of the tent and the altar only, having no part or interest in the multitudinous affairs, pursuits, and pleasures of the world system.
Quietists were so called from a kind of absolute rest and inaction, which they supposed the soul to be in when arrived at that state of perfection which they called the unitive life; in which state, they imagined the soul wholly employed in contemplating its God, to whose influence it was entirely submissive, so that he could turn and drive it where and how he would. In this state, the soul no longer needs prayers, hymns, &c. being laid, as it were, in the bosom, and between the arms of God, in whom it is in a manner swallowed up.
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*As a side:
Explaination of Self in Buddhism and/vs Hinduism - *
Please bear with the wiki-links...I use them only when they agree with my prior understandings and outside finding.
"More Cool Findings About Christianity"
Recently I have been looking into the roots and history of the particular sect of Christianity I was raised in, which is the United Methodist, which is itself a type of Methodism. So I started reading about John Wesley. He was
Arminian, however took liberties to define it himself as he was inspired. His quote in on
Christian perfection.
However I thought it fit well beside the article on mysticism in relation to a very eastern sounding approach to Christianity, which I really jive with.
The idea of a mystic isn't so new to me, but this is a set of words that i thought would be interesting to share, and a side of Christianity I wasn't familiar with beyond Quakers, but has nothing specifically to do with Methodism. Although nothing seem to doctrinally oppose Methodist practice, if one was inclined that way.
But of 'heresy' I'm not certain if it would be a good topic to discuss openly in a Methodist meeting as touching God ourselves might sound like it pushes out Jesus from the equation, which I don't find that it does, rather embraces his tie to God, imo.
Trinitarian or Unitarian, Jesus as a guru of consciousness, part and parcel of God, or both; This practice and connection is as valid as the actions of goodness we put into motion because of it.
Quote:
From Wiki~"Christian mysticism is the pursuit of communion with, identity with, or conscious awareness of the Christian God through direct experience, intuition, instinct or insight. Christian mysticism usually centers on a practice or practices intended to nurture those experiences or awareness, such as deep prayer (ie. meditation, contemplation) involving the person of Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost. This approach and lifestyle is distinguished from other forms of Christian practice by its aim of achieving unity with the divine. In the words of Oswald Chambers, "We receive His blessings and know His Word, but do we know Him?"
Whereas Christian doctrine generally maintains that God dwells in all Christians and that they can experience God directly through belief in Jesus, Christian mysticism aspires to apprehend spiritual truths inaccessible through intellectual means, typically by learning how to think like Christ. William Inge divides this scala perfectionis into three stages: the "purgative" or ascetic stage, the "illuminative" or contemplative stage, and the "unitive" stage, in which God may be beheld "face to face.........."
".......For Christians the major emphasis of mysticism concerns a spiritual transformation of the egoic self, the following of a path designed to produce more fully realized human persons, "created in the Image and Likeness of God" and as such, living in harmonious communion with God, the Church, the rest of humanity, and all creation, including oneself. For Christians, this human potential is realized most perfectly in Jesus, precisely because he is both God and human, and is manifested in others through their association with him, whether conscious, as in the case of Christian mystics, or unconscious, with regard to spiritual persons who follow other traditions, such as Gandhi. The Eastern Christian tradition speaks of this transformation in terms of theosis or divinization, perhaps best summed up by an ancient aphorism usually attributed to Athanasius of Alexandria: "God became human so that man might become God."
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This is one interesting concept I never was taught in church. Yet I feel this IS how I sought to be the best Christian I could and that mysticism was how I experienced God. And Wesley further expounds on an idea that falls into my realm and an understanding of what enlightened states look like.
Quote:
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From John Wesley~" Christian perfection – According to Wesley's teaching, Christians could attain a state of practical perfection, meaning a lack of all voluntary sin by the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, in this life. Christian perfection (or entire sanctification), according to Wesley, is "purity of intention, dedicating all the life to God" and "the mind which was in Christ, enabling us to walk as Christ walked." It is "loving God with all our heart, and our neighbor as ourselves". It is 'a restoration not only to the favour, but likewise to the image of God," our "being filled with the fullness of God". Wesley was clear that Christian perfection did not imply perfection of bodily health or an infallibility of judgment. It also does not mean we no longer violate the will of God, for involuntary transgressions remain. Perfected Christians remain subject to temptation, and have continued need to pray for forgiveness and holiness. It is not an absolute perfection but a perfection in love. Furthermore, Wesley did not teach a salvation by perfection, but rather says that, "Even perfect holiness is acceptable to God only through Jesus Christ."
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Now back in the day I may not have object to the last line, yet I always was asking 'why' about other religions, in regard to them 'not being valid'.
Buddhism was the first path I turned to when I accidentally found myself meditating one night after smoking a joint while reading the Bible. Buddha intrigued me so because the path to follow was really clear to me, and felt like the code I had already lived in a life emulating JC. But the best was there was no resurrection to get around in reason. Which I came to understand personally through a Hindu explanation of bodily death and Christ consciousness. That was last Oct some time.
I have been amazed by and humbled by many spiritual explanations. As well as inspired when I've incorporated concepts and principles to expand my thinking. Questioning what I know and pondering what knowing means, and also if I don't already know and I'm just thinking about it too much
But it's been fun finding ways to explain what I feel and love it when I find a group of words to catch it for a second. This is as much a hobby as a practice.
But for years I've been trying to learn to incorporate the metaphors and words from the book with which I was raised and know well.
Several years ago I read '
The Last Temptation of Christ', which was 'historically' accurate enough and 'fictional' enough to get my metaphor muscles pumped. And I began reading the Bible in regular rotation with other texts.
So recently like I said I've been exploring my birth socialization to God and examining it to find my beliefs in it words. The Gospel of course being my main concern, but also within and through out.
Rather than in Biblical form, today I read these refreshing thoughts and are a starting point, for me, to examine deeply with my own reason and belief. These sound a lot like Christian Hinduism to me in a way since Union and Enlightened states are presented. Why then shouldn't they be paired?
It's neat to read about, what seems, to be a less talked about side of the faith, yet one that seems confounding to consider that not all people who I went to church with were buzzing about, as it seems part in parcel of connection.
I have sat in meditation circles contemplating Buddhas and I have sat in silent worship with Friends known as Quakers and have felt the same moving energy. A long time ago I heard a monk talk about a man that was directed back to Christianity to be understood first, before he found Buddhism suitable for him to teach to this man. I don't know if that guy ever made it back, but it sent me on a search. And each day lately I have found a teaching from a Reverend or Bishop or read a theology that jives. People who have insisted from with in large bodies like the Catholics, or from those like Wesley who stayed and Anglican, yet formed the Methodist Church, that they Love God and are committed to live a Christ like life, as other Christians and their path is equally relevant.
Interesting note John Wesley started Methodism in Lincolnshire, which is next to Leicestershire, which has a civil parish by my families name. And in the church I grew up in there were great, great x2, great x3 and great x4 grandparents of mine. Kind of whack historical notes about coming really far from 'home' and having all the comforts of the mother land!
Please enjoy this offering as an insight into mapping my Self, where it's come from, how it relates to others and where it's going.
Namaste,
SageTree