GOING ON BEYOND 7: A SPOT OF DIY

 

At ChristChurch, Clarendon Park, for the seventh session in the course, "Going On Beyond: Meditation and Mysticism in the World Faiths". This nine-week course is an interfaith opportunity presented by Christians Aware, as part of its Faith Awareness programme. It is presented in association with Leicester Serene Reflection Meditation Group.

This evening we're expecting to receive a presentation on "Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism" but our speaker fails to appear. So Kevin Commons and Ian Grayling (from the Serene Meditation Group) and I speedily organise a DIY session in place of the one advertised.

We set up three groups of five to discuss three related terms that impact on theory and practice: "meditation", "contemplation" and "concentration". Lively discussion ensues over the next half hour or so, during which we raise such points as those listed below:

• Is there a hierarchy of these terms?
• Do commentators or practitioners consider any of them superior or inferior to the others?
• Does one have to go through different levels before experiencing each one?
• Once you reach one of these stages (e.g. “concentration”) are you done with the others that come before it?
• How do they relate to other terms used to describe similar experiences (e.g. "absorption", "reflection")?
• What is there relation to states of mind where there is an absence of mental processes?
• These terms are defined and redefined in complementary or contradictory ways according to the disciplines, paraphernalia and style of practice.
• We should beware of falling into the trap of believing that we can use these (or any other) terms to describe or express experiences which are beyond words – especially as they are themselves translations.
• We end with a short spell of meditation practice after the zazen (“just sitting”) form that we experienced last week.

I think we did alright this evening, for a spot of DIY.

GOING ON BEYOND 6: DOGEN, MYSTICAL REALIST (A SOTO ZEN PERSPECTIVE)

At ChristChurch, Clarendon Park, for the sixth session in the course, "Going On Beyond: Meditation and Mysticism in the World Faiths". This nine-week course is an interfaith opportunity presented by Christians Aware, as part of its Faith Awareness programme. It is presented in association with Leicester Serene Reflection Meditation Group.

This evening our topic is "Dogen: Mystical Realist". Kevin Commons and Ian Grayling, from the Serene Meditation Group, present a Soto Zen perspective on our theme. Kevin distributes a handout, reproduced below:

Origins of Zen Buddhism

After years of trying various practices Shakyamuni finally just sat under the Bodhi tree, experiencing all manner of thoughts and images, until the morning star appeared, at which point all thought dropped away, and he experienced Enlightenment, and became the Buddha.  He was prevailed upon to teach and, over time, gathered a large following of disciples, to whom he regularly unfolded aspects of his teaching.  One day, on Vulture Peak Mountain, instead of talking, he just held up a flower and Mahakashyapa, one of his main disciples, smiled, indicating his understanding of the essence of the teaching.  This incident is regarded as the foundation of the Zen form of Buddhism, which involves the transmission of the teaching “outside the scriptures”.  The point is that, although there are lots of Buddhist scriptures, in the Zen tradition scripture study does not, in itself, result in realising the heart of the teaching.  Direct experience, beyond words is necessary for this.  This form of Buddhism was taken to China by the Bodhidharma, and maintained by a succession of Chinese patriarchs, including Hui-Neng, who had held the lowly position of kitchen assistant at his monastery and was believed to have been illiterate.

Dogen’s early childhood (1200-1212)

At the time of Dogen’s birth the Japanese nobility had become steeped in aesthetic refinement.  This inspired a sense of the transience of beauty, and so focused on the aesthetic, rather than ethical, aspects of religion.  Consequently, they were indifferent to the lot of the masses.  His birth was also preceded by the establishment of feudalism in Japan and the rise of the Samurai class.  In a time of political chaos, many Buddhist monasteries’ concern about their wealth, prestige and power was to the detriment of their moral, intellectual and religious activities.

Though Dogen’s father died when he was two, the death of his mother when he was seven had a bigger impact, as she had requested, on her deathbed, that he should become a monk in order to seek the truth of Buddhism and strive to relieve the sufferings of humanity.  This imperative prevailed against his uncle Moroie’s wish to name him as his heir and to establish him in a career as an aristocrat.

Apprenticeship in Buddhism (1212-1227)

Dogen was ordained in 1213 and began a systematic study of the Buddhist scriptures.  This led him to this seemingly insoluble spiritual question:

“As I study both the exoteric and esoteric schools of Buddhism, they maintain that human beings are endowed with Dharma-nature by birth.  If this is the case, why did the Buddhas of all ages – undoubtedly in possession of enlightenment – find it necessary to seek enlightenment and engage in spiritual practice?”  (Quoted in Hee-Jin Kim (2004) p. 22)

Whilst Dogen accepted the truth of original enlightenment he did question the significance of activities that constitute human existence, which amounted to asking “What is the meaning of existence?”  To seek an answer he studied with various Buddhist teachers, most notably Myozen, who had brought Rinzai Zen from China to Japan .  Yet he still felt dissatisfied with much of the Buddhist teaching in contemporary Japan as his original question remained unanswered so he travelled to China to continue his search in 1223.  He stayed at various monasteries but overall was rather disappointed with the state of Buddhism in China and had decided to return to Japan , when an old monk suggested he should visit Ju-ching, the abbot of Mount T’ien-tung monastery.  Ju-ching was a rigorous practitioner of Ts’ao-tung (Soto Zen) sitting in the shikan-taza (just sitting) form of za-zen (formal sitting meditation) every day, often for long periods.  Unlike his contemporaries he eschewed politics, prestige and financial reward but rather focused on helping his students to see the truth for themselves.  One day Ju-ching admonished a monk who had fallen asleep during meditation with the following words:

“In za-zen it is imperative to cast off body and mind.  How could you indulge in sleeping?” (Quoted in Hee-Jin Kim (2004) p. 36)

The remark shook Dogen to his core and he experienced an inexpressible ecstatic joy that engulfed his heart and Ju-ching acknowledged the authenticity of Dogen’s enlightenment experience.

“To cast off body and mind did not nullify historical and social existence so much as to put it into action so that it could be the self-creative and self-expressive embodiment of Buddha-nature. In being “cast off”, however, concrete human experience was fashioned in the mode of radical freedom – purposeless, goalless, objectless, and meaningless.  Buddha-nature was not to be enfolded in, but was to unfold through, human activities and expressions.  The meaning of existence was finally freed from and authenticated by its all-too-human conditions only if, and when, it lived co-eternally with ultimate meaninglessness.

What was taking place in Dogen’s mind was a radical demythologising and in return remythologising of the whole Buddhist symbol-complex of original enlightenment, Buddha-nature, emptiness, and other related ideas and practices.  The crux of his vision lay in a realistic affirmation and transformation of what was relative, finite, and temporal in a nondualistic vision of the self and the world.  To understand duality lucidly and to penetrate it thoroughly within a nondualistic mode of existence was Dogen’s final solution.  His remaining life consisted of his intellectual, moral, and cultic efforts to enact and elucidate this vision in the specific historical and social conditions of his time.” (Hee-Jin Kim (2004) p. 37)

Return to Japan (1227 to 1253)

This experience answered Dogen’s question about the meaning of existence.  In 1227 he returned to Japan to transmit the ancestral line of his teacher to his own countrymen.  In the same year he composed Fukan zazengi “Rules for Meditation”, (Appendix) which can be regarded as a manifesto for the teaching he proclaimed.  He stayed at Kenninji temple until 1230, when he moved to an abandoned temple called An’yoin, where he composed the Bendowa chapter of the Shobogenzo, which expanded his teaching in the Fukan zazengi.  In 1233 he moved into Kannon-doriin temple, which was expanded over the next ten years, and wrote 44 more chapters of the Shobogenzo and took on Ejo as a disciple, who helped with the administration of the temple and its development.  He opened the monastic community of the re-named, expanded, Kannon-horinji temple to everyone regardless of intelligence, social status, sex or profession and abolished the separation between monks and lay people, writing:

“It (enlightenment) depends solely upon whether you have a sincere desire to seek it, not upon whether you live in a monastery or in the secular world.” (Quoted in Hee-Jin Kim (2004) p. 42)

However, he did put the bulk of his effort into developing monastic training and his lay disciples built the Daibutsuji temple in a secluded mountain area.  He moved there in 1244 and., two years later, changed its name to Eiheiji (temple of eternal peace) under which name it survives today.  He spent much of his later years establishing the detail of daily life and practice for his monastic community.  In 1253 he appointed Ejo as his successor and finally succumbed to illness that he had experienced for about 3 years.  He died sitting in the zazen posture.

Much of the material about Dogen's life comes from: Hee-Jin Kim's Eihei Dogen: Mystical Realist Wisdom Publications (2004). You can find a review of the book online in the Journal of Buddhist Ethics.

After an hour or so of the session, we're invited to dry a bit of zazen - "just sitting" - meditation. We can sit on the floor, with various kinds of stools or cushions for support or remain in our chairs (as I do) and face the wall for ten minutes. Eyes open, not struggling against any thoughts which may arise, but not deliberately engaging with them if possible. I don't think I'll be able to last that long without falling asleep, but I find it surprisingly easy - and refreshing.

GOING ON BEYOND 5: A SIKH PERSPECTIVE ON MEDITATION

At ChristChurch, Clarendon Park, for the fifth session in the course, "Going On Beyond: Meditation and Mysticism in the World Faiths". This nine-week course is an interfaith opportunity presented by Christians Aware, as part of its Faith Awareness programme. It is presented in association with Leicester Serene Reflection Meditation Group.

Our topic this evening is "A Sikh Perspective on Meditation".  The person we'd engaged to deliver the presentation has called off, so we've prevailed upon our friend Kartar Singh to step into the breech at very short notice. I can't imagine that Kartar would suffer much trepidation at the prospect though - just last week he spoke up on BBC One's Question Time when it was televised from Leicester's Curve. George Galloway was on the panel that edition - so Kartar should have no reason to fear his reception here this evening! By the way, you can watch that edition of Question Time from Leicester on the BBC iPlayer till 13 February 2014.

So as not to give Kartar too onerous a task, I've offered to prepare a handout on the topic, which attendees can read and to which he'll respond. The text of the two-page handout, adapted from an article on SikhiWiki entitled, "Meditation, the doorway to higher consciousness", is reproduced in full below:

Meditation – the door to higher consciousness

Meditation is any practice whose goal is attaining a state of higher consciousness. It is the process of retraining our awareness to operate not from the conscious or subconscious level, but from the level of the super-conscious.…

The Gurmukh attains the fourth state of higher consciousness.“To attain this higher level of consciousness, one has to disengage the mind away from mundane interactions and join it to a much higher level of awareness.”

When considering awareness, it is clear that man is more aware of his surrounding than animals. Man is conscious of his parents, grand-parents and other relatives while animals in general may not be so conscious about some of the complex relations that they may have. Most animals’ behaviour is driven by their immediate sensory needs while most human behaviour is driven by etiquette and social norms rather than sensory demands. The concept of correctness and fairness has crept in - this can be termed “consciousness”.

When a hungry animal sees food, it will not wait for its frail parents or grand-parents to eat first before it starts eating; however, with most humans, we would distribute the food so that the frail receive a fair share of the food. This highlights the better consciousness instilled in humans.

But if one does not pay regards to these “higher” human qualities then the Guru reminds us, "Those who do not serve the Primal Being, and do not reflect upon the Word of the Shabad - do not call them human beings; they are just animals and stupid beasts".

However, consciousness does not stop with material needs; many other things have to taken into consideration - emotional needs, moral support, community welfare, social cohesion, global well-being, etc.

Meditation - a way to better awareness

Meditation is a way to improve one’s awareness of the world and to become better equipped to play a better, more finely tuned and fairer role in life. The essential attitude for correct meditation is one of listening. To listen clearly one must subdue the level of interference that is exerted on ones mind in our daily life; to still the mind and to listen to the "internal vibrations" of the mind.

Without this internal stillness of the mind, listening clearly is impossible. It’s like trying to teach quantum mechanics to someone while there are very loud thunder storms all around - a completely impossible task!

Once a state of tranquillity has been reached and the chaos of everyday turbulence of random thoughts has been subdued from the mind, only then can one listen to the internal vibrations of the mind and soul. In this stillness one can tune into the natural vibration of nature - the need and requirements of the Universe.

In Sikhi, this vibration is referred to as Naam - or even God - Waheguru. So the Sikh masters require the Sikh to recognise this energy of Nature and recognise this within the person's own mind. The Sikh Gurus asks the Sikh to instil the name of the Lord within his/her mind. As Guru Ram Das says, "Listen, O mind: meditate on the Name of the Lord.”

Oneness

Many consider God to be an all-knowing super-conscious Being; others consider God to be indefinable, not a Being at all. One needs to replace the chaos of random uncontrolled thoughts in the mind by only one thought - the remembrance of the Lord's name; the pure love for the Creator. "The minds of those who listen to the Lord's Name are drenched with bliss; I worship their feet continually." (Shri Guru Granth Sahib p. 1135).

Once this pure state of tranquility is present in the mind, the realization of the oneness of the universe becomes known. We must learn to listen to the deep voice within our "inner" mind because as Guru Nanak states in Japji sahib, "Within the mind are gems, jewels and rubies, if you listen to the Guru's Teachings, even once" (Shri Guru Granth Sahib p. 2)

The mind must be kept totally receptive, because we can’t think our way into deep meditation. Nor, indeed, can you think your way to true guidance and inspiration. You can only receive wisdom: you cannot concoct it.

Recognise the truth within

A truth must be perceived in that calm awareness which is super-consciousness.

Meditation, then, is not creating answers: It is perceiving them. And this is the secret of true guidance. The stilled mind will be able to start functioning properly and one become more aware of the reality around us.

Most people seldom listen. They “listen” while thinking, when can I interrupt and what can I say. They’re like an out-of-tune musical instrument. Because they no longer are able to tune into their own essential nature, their inter-actions with life and other people produce only discords. They are deaf to the symphony of sounds in the world around them. They are deaf to other people, for they are more interested in speaking their own minds.

Listening deeply is necessary

They behave as though perpetually campaigning for their own ideas. However, Guru Arjan Dev reminds us that, "Those who listen with their mind and ears to the Lord's meditative remembrance, are blessed with peace at the Lord's Gate, O mortal" (Shri Guru Granth Sahib p. 200). So if you wish to obtain peace in this life and later, then you need to remove the randomness in the mind and replace it with love for God's name …

To understand what meditation is we must learn to listen to what is, and not keep insisting on what we think it ought to be. We must try to tune in to things as they are. Meditation is the opposite of imposing your will on the world. Try to relinquish, even for just a few minutes, the process of concocting plans and projects for the future. Be more, not less, conscious.

Guru Arjan Dev tells us, that we forget the Lord and indulge in our plans and schemes: "They do not know the One who created them; they think up all sorts of schemes and plans.” (Shri Guru Granth Sahib p. 297). For true connection with the Creator, one has to break this constant loop about our personal schemes and plans that are perpetually going round in our minds.

Based on an article by Swami Kriyananda, adapted from SikhiWiki: encyclomedia of the Sikhs

Kartar responds to our questions and comments (about unfamiliar terms and concepts mostly) and extemporises  on themes and topics contained in the handout - and some that are not. He points out (and I acknowledge) that the handout is missing important information about Sikh worship, in particular prayers and hymns from the Guru Granth Sahib. The handout had some of this earlier in the day but it was excised, purely for the sake of the time available to us this evening.

GOING ON BEYOND 4: RAMAKRISHNA - A HINDU VIEWPOINT

 

At ChristChurch, Clarendon Park, for the fourth session in the course, "Going On Beyond: Meditation and Mysticism in the World Faiths". This nine-week course is an interfaith opportunity presented by Christians Aware, as part of its Faith Awareness programme. It is presented in association with Leicester Serene Reflection Meditation Group.

We were expecting to receive a presentation this evening on "Ramakrishna, a Hindu Viewpoint". Our speaker, who would have been travelling up from London, cancelled earlier today, so Barbara Butler has stepped into the breach and leads us through the same topic.

Ramakrishna used meditation and mysticism as means of "going on beyond" the separation of religions to realise their underlying unity. He never claimed that all religions are alike - but advocated unity in diversity, a harmony achieved through mediation and contemplation - appreciation of what we might call these days, "the gift of difference". This was the basis of his appeal for a fellowship of religions, an expression of the Hindu philosophy of Advaita  - unity - challenging the philosophical position of Dualism. He offered the Bhagavad Gita as the key text in understanding this unity.

In practical and social terms, Ramakrishna's teaching of unity expressed itself in his conviction that all people are equal - a radical position for a nineteenth century Hindu. His disciple, Swami Vivekananda, taught against idleness, asserting that "work is worship, worship is work" rather than proposing that one is more meritorious than the other, that a person should choose one over the other.

In the second half of the meeting, we form small groups and discuss what we could do to work towards Ramakrishna's goal of a fellowship of religions.

Obstacles

• Ignorance
• Clinging to convictions
• Thinking that your way is the only way
• Lack of healthy doubt
• Following a path for your on aggrandisement (egotism)
• Not taking an interest in how others see life
• Institution of religions: maintaining the institution can be put before what the religion is really about
• Association of religion with government or with power
• Dialogue of religious leaders maintains established power
• Lack of time
• Lack of confidence
• Complications
• Unity – too easy
• Conflicts – real
• Work / commitment within one’s own denomination is so absorbing that there is no time for dialogue
• It is too easy to proclaim human unity and yet not recognise the reality of conflict
• Inter-faith work can become commodified, self-sustaining career path

Ways forward

• If strong in one’s own faith, then one can cope with others
• Openness
• Open mindedness
• Agreeing to disagree, while maintaining your own integrity
• Seeking common ground
• Coming together for a common purpose, irrespective of belief
• Keeping hope alive
• Necessity of democracy, involving ordinary people
• RE in schools: education in humanity
• Gentle first steps, listening
• Food
• Create opportunities to meet
• Showing good will
• Meeting one another
• Fellowship

GOING ON BEYOND 2: MYSTICISM FROM A CISTERCIAN PERSPECTIVE

At ChristChurch, Clarendon Park, this evening for the second session in the course, "Going On Beyond: Meditation and Mysticism in the World Faiths". This nine-week course is an interfaith opportunity presented by Christians Aware, as part of its Faith Awareness programme. It is presented in association with Leicester Serene Reflection Meditation Group.

Our speaker this evening is Father Joseph Delargy, Abbot of the Monastery of Mount St Bernard Abbey (on the right in the photo above, with Kevin Commons). The full text of his talk is reproduced below. 

Mysticism from a Cistercian Perspective 

I have been invited to speak about Mysticism from a Cistercian Perspective. There are two words in that title that may need clarification.

Cistercian is the order of monks I belong to. It is a Roman Catholic Christian order founded in the year 1098. Today it numbers about 4000 of both of monks and nuns, about 2000 monks and 2000 nuns spread throughout 200 monasteries throughout the world.

Mysticism is harder to define. Even though it is a word that is used much in Christianity – we speak of mystical theology, mysticism, and mystics, we think of the Spanish Mystics Teresa and John of the Cross, or the English mystics, Julian of Norwich, Richard Rolle, the Cloud of Unknowing - we find it hard to actually define it. A definition of mystical theology is: the study of the human experience of God and a definition of mysticism is: involving the explicit experience of the immediate presence of God. So it is to do with the experience of God in this life.

Another problem with the word mysticism is the tendency to equate it with unusual phenomena like ecstasies, trances, visions, but these are always peripheral to true mysticism, all the true mystics never sought anything like that and if they did experience them they often found it an embarrassment. A saying that is often said by older monks to over eager novices is that mysticism "begins in mist, is centred on I and ends in schism."

The mystical teaching of the Cistercians would be above all found in the writings of the first Cistercians monks, people like St Bernard of Clairvaux (pictured below), William of St Thierry, Ailred of Rievaulx, Guerric of Igny and others. The Cistercians were originally a reform movement, started in 1098 in France, when a group of monks left the abbey of Molesme to found a new monastery with a simpler lifestyle and following the Rule of St Benedict more closely, stripped of all the accretions that had attached themselves to it over the years.

 

Their teachings are found in their sermons, treatises and commentaries. The Song of Songs in the Old Testament was one of their favourite books of the Bible and they never tired commentating on it. St Bernard’s great commentary runs to 86 substantial sermons and he only got as far as chapter 3 verse 1, not even half way through. The English Cistercians John of Ford and Baldwin of Ford continued this work after Bernard’s death in 1153.

The Cistercians saw the love story between the bride and the groom in the Song of Songs as representing the relationship between God and the soul.

Bride = the soul (or the Church) = anima

Groom = God = the Word

One verse they homed in on was 2:4. Our modern bibles say: He brought me to the banqueting hall and his banner over me was love but the old Latin bibles they would have used instead of saying his banner over me was love say He set love in order in me. That seems to be the whole key to Cistercian mysticism – the ordering of our love.

We do love, as humans we can’t do anything else, but we either love the wrong things or love the right things but love them too much or too little. Our love needs to be put in order.

Another important theme is that of image and likeness. Following Holy Scripture and the book of Genesis they believe that man is made in the image and likeness of God. After the fall of Adam we are still the image of God but we have lost our likeness. The spiritual/mystical path has as its goal to restore our likeness to God.

The Cistercians couldn’t get over the fact of the Incarnation, it fascinated them, the fact that God emptied himself to become man in Jesus Christ, the true humanity of Christ, a man like us in all things but sin. Pope Benedict XVI speaking on this aspect of St Bernard’s teaching in 2009 said:

In the extenuating battles between Nominalists and Realists two philosophical currents of the time the Abbot of Clairvaux never tired of repeating that only one name counts, that of Jesus of Nazareth. "All food of the soul is dry", he professed, "unless it is moistened with this oil; insipid, unless it is seasoned with this salt. What you write has no savour for me unless I have read Jesus in it" (In Canticum Sermones XV, 6: PL 183, 847).

For Bernard, in fact, true knowledge of God consisted in a personal, profound experience of Jesus Christ and of his love. And, dear brothers and sisters, this is true for every Christian: faith is first and foremost a personal, intimate encounter with Jesus, it is having an experience of his closeness, his friendship and his love. It is in this way that we learn to know him ever better, to love him and to follow him more and more. May this happen to each one of us!

Silence was another important element to the Cistercian mystical path. Not just silence to foster recollection but silence in order to "hear" God. They believed that hearing comes before sight. We will only see God in heaven but in this life we can ‘hear’ God (metaphorically speaking) speaking to our soul.

Simplicity was important – simplicity in liturgy, architecture, and life style. Whilst beautiful things – statues, stained glass, etc. - can lead us to God they can also be a hindrance getting in the way of a pure experience of God. In a sense the Cistercians were minimalists.

 

The Cistercians followed the Rule of St Benedict (c. 530 pictured above) and so its teaching was foundational to them. Humility and obedience were essential elements of their spirituality and mysticism.

Manual work was held in high esteem by the Cistercians. St Bernard said he learnt more from the woods and the trees and the rocks than he ever did from books.

The Cistercians described the mystical experience as ‘Visits from the Word’ – no strange phenomena – but when prayer is easy and living the virtues then the Word (God) is with us. When prayer is difficult and living the virtues is a struggle then the Word has departed. We sense the Word’s presence and absence but we don’t know the moment when he came or went. The comings and goings of the Word are entirely up to God, though we can facilitate them by making ourselves ready.

No saint is as optimistic as St Bernard, no saint is as hopeful as he is, in the ability of man, wherever and whoever he is, to return to God. No one was beyond hope for Bernard. The most wretched sinner was seen by Bernard as a man with his foot on the first rung of the ladder back to God. For Bernard the man at the very bottom has nowhere else to go apart from up. No saint was ever as encouraging as St Bernard. In a very well known passage Bernard writes – and this comes after speaking about the heights of the spiritual life and union with God – he writes:

Every man – even if burdened with sin, enmeshed in vice, ensnared by the allurements of pleasures, caught in mud, fixed in mire, a slave to care, distracted by business, afflicted with sorrow, wandering and straying, filled with anxious forebodings and uneasy suspicions – every man, I say, standing thus under condemnation and without hope, has the power to turn and find it can not only breath the fresh air of the hope of pardon and mercy, but also dare to aspire to union with God…. Why should he not venture with confidence into the presence of him by whose image he sees himself honoured, and in whose likeness he knows himself made glorious? Why should he fear a majesty when his very origin gives him ground for confidence. (SC 83)

St Bernard certainly lived by this. In the well-known story, one day St Bernard was on his way to see Count Theobald and on the way he came across a crowd leading a man out to the gallows for execution. The man was Constantius and he was guilty of murder. We can imagine the scene, the baying crowds heaping insults on the murderer and the terrified man being dragged along. Bernard stopped and took the rope by which the man was tied and said to those in charge "Let me have this murderer, for I wish to take him and hang him with my own hands" (i.e. by living the penitential monastic life). Such was Bernard’s authority that those in charge let him take the man and Bernard took him to Clairvaux where he became a monk. Under Bernard’s guidance Constantius made atonement and reparation for his sins by a life of obedience and penance as a monk for the remaining thirty years of his life until his holy death. Constantius is remembered in the menology of our Order on June 20.

When the crowds looked into the terrified man’s face they saw an evil demon, when St Bernard looked into the man’s face he saw past his sins to a potential saint. Cardinal Basil Hume used to say (quoting Oscar Wilde): "Every sinner has a future and every saint has a past."

In his sermons on conversion he paints and all to familiar picture, when we try to convert we are beset with greater temptations. But we are not to despair. He writes: (If we ask) … "Is it possible for such wretchedness to make a person happy?" (I say to you) Whoever you are, if you are in this frame of mind, do not despair: it is mercy, not misery, that makes a person happy, but mercy’s natural home is misery. Indeed it happens that misery becomes the source of our happiness when humiliation turns into humility and necessity becomes a virtue. Sickness has real utility when it leads us to the doctor’s hands, and he whom God restores to health gains by having been ill. (Conversion 12)All I have been saying is from the past, from history, so I would like to speak about a modern Cistercian Mystic, Thomas Merton. In December it was the 46^th anniversary of his death.

Thomas Merton (photo above) was born on 31 January 1915 in Prades in France in the eastern Pyrenees where his father was painting. His father, Owen, was a New Zealander, and his mother Ruth, was an American. When Merton was one year old the family moved to the US, first to Douglaston on Long Island then to the borough of Queens in New York. Merton had one brother, John Paul, who was a few years younger than he. When he was 6 Merton’s mother died and this was followed by a period of wandering for the family. First his father took him to Bermuda and then once again to France, where Merton went to school. In 1928, when Merton was 13, it was decided to continue his education in England and they moved to Ealing, W. London. He began school at Ripley Court, a prep school in Surrey, and then when he was 14 he moved to Oakham Public School in Rutland, just 25 miles away from where we are sitting now. After Oakham he gained entrance to Cambridge University where he studied modern languages French and Italian. At Cambridge something went wrong, though we are never told quite what it was, but to the end of his days Merton seemed to have a real hatred of Cambridge. After two years at Cambridge he transferred to Colombia University in NY and was much happier there reading English Literature and doing his Masters degree on William Blake. He lived in NY on and off for the next 6 years and during this period he converted to the Roman Catholic faith, being baptised on 16 November, the feast of St Gertrude, in 1938, when he was 23. Three years later he entered the Cistercian Abbey of Gethsemane in Kentucky in the U.S. and soon after began his prolific writing career.

There is no single opinion on Merton: some see him as the most important monk of the twentieth century, and indeed the most important monk of modern times, others see him as an anomaly. Whatever the opinion, though, it can’t be denied that he was a significant figure and still is. What his influence on the development of the Order was is hard to say; it could be argued he had an enormous influence on the Order, or equally, that he had no real lasting influence on the Order. My opinion at the moment is that he had a large influence on the Order, but not directly, but indirectly. I don’t think we can point to anything and say we do or don’t do this because of Thomas Merton, but I think the attitude and outlook of the Order has been very much shaped by Merton.Just recently I came across a piece of his writing that I think can serve us as a good meditation.

It is his first ever Christmas he spent in the monastery, so that is just after a few weeks, bearing in mind he entered on 10 December, Merton was waiting in church for the midnight Mass to begin and Merton writes in his journal:

Lord it is nearly midnight and I am waiting for you in the darkness and the great silence. I am sorry for all my sins. Do not let me ask any more than to sit in the darkness and light no lights of my own, and be crowded with no crowds of my own thoughts to fill the emptiness of the night in which I await you.… Your brightness is my darkness. I know nothing of you and, by myself, I cannot even imagine how to go about knowing you. If I imagine you, I am mistaken. If I understand you, I am deluded. If I am conscious and certain I know you, I am crazy. The darkness is enough. (Bridges to Contemplative Living, edited by Montaldo & Toth, Ave Maria Press, 2010. p. 28)

Powerful words from someone who had just been in the monastery for two weeks.

Twenty four years later this basic theme and attitude is still there in his mature writings. In 1965 in the Climate of Monastic Prayer he writes:

Contemplative prayer is, in a way, simply the preference for the desert, for emptiness, for poverty. One has begun to know the meaning of contemplation when one intuitively and spontaneously seeks the dark and unknown path of aridity in preference to every other way. The contemplative is one who would rather not know than now. Rather not enjoy than enjoy. Rather not have proof that God loves him. He accepts the love of God on faith, in defiance of all apparent evidence. This is the necessary condition, and a very paradoxical condition, for the mystical experience of the reality of God’s presence and of his love for us. Only when we are able to ‘let go’ of everything within us, all desire to see, to know, to taste, and to experience the presence of God, do we truly become able to experience that presence with the overwhelming conviction and reality that revolutionize our entire life. (Ibid. p. 29)

I think that is a good and helpful passage. We all experience periods of aridity in the spiritual life but here Merton teaches that we have only begun to know the meaning of contemplation when we "intuitively and spontaneously seek the dark and unknown path of aridity in preference to every other way." So our aridity is not a hindrance on our journey to God but rather it is the way, the path, to Him.

Father Joseph has set the bar rather high for the speaker following him next week. Hang on a minute - that'll be me! *gulp*

ChristChurch is busy this evening. We're used to the City of Leicester Singers rehearsing here on Monday evenings. Tonight, session four of an eight-week course on the history of the Old Testament is being held in the Vaughan Powell Room, next to ours - though no one can remember that being on last week. In the Worship Space (the main area of the church), Rev David Jennings, Canon Theologian, is delivering the monthly Leicester Theological Society: "Is the Bible the word of God? Discuss". Until this evening, Leicester Theological Society has held its monthly meetings on Fridays. I've often wanted to attend their lectures but they've either coincided with the kids staying with me or some other social commitment. But it's odd that they should be holding them here now on Monday evenings, when some of those who regularly attend the Christians Aware / Faith Awareness sessions would more than likely want to attend the lecture. For that matter, I'd fancy joining in the Old Testament history course too!

But it's a wee bit more than a minor irritation here this evening. In the Worship Space, David Jennings is using the microphone and PA and his talk is seeping into our room via a speaker that we can't switch off. It's turned down as low as it'll go but we can still hear every word, bubbling under Father Delargy's talk. When he's about to take us into a period of silent meditation, I break ranks and dash into the Worship Space to see if they can cut the sound to our room. But even though they're on to Q&A, there's no natural break in the flow that would allow me to interject. After standing there for the better part of ten minutes and failing to make myself seen or heard, I head back to our session. I have to say I'm relieved that that particular distraction won't be there next week.

GOING ON BEYOND 1: INTRODUCTION & PERSONAL REFLECTION

At ChristChurch, Clarendon Park, this evening for the first session of a new course, "Going On Beyond: Meditation and Mysticism in the World Faiths". This nine-week course is an interfaith opportunity presented by Christians Aware, as part of its Faith Awareness programme. It is presented in association with Leicester Serene Reflection Meditation Group.

It was originally intended as a ten-week course which should have begun last Monday, but sub-zero temperatures and slippery roads and pavements made it seem wise to postpone the start by a week.

This is the latest in a series of courses that has so far addressed  "Mindfulness" (2010), "Mindfulness and Morality" (2011) and "Mindfulness and Wisdom" (2o12) - each of which is covered extensively on this blog. Ian Grayling and Kevin Commons (photo above) from Leicester Serene Reflection Meditation Group are facilitating this first session and will have their hands on the tiller throughout the course.

There are 15 people attending this evening (including our facilitators). This programme has been designed as a means of helping those attending to explore the process of looking within as a means of deepening their understanding of their own faith as well as looking at mysticism within a range of different traditions. More specifically, the programme seeks to enable people to:

• Recognise ways of knowing through personal experience that goes beyond rational understanding;
• Deepen (or initiate) their own meditation or contemplative practice;
• Be mindful of similarity and difference in contemplative practice from different faith perspectives;
• Consider the practice of "meditation" as a means of underpinning daily living.

This opening session provides a "faith-neutral" introduction. The remaining sessions will each look at meditation or contemplative prayer and mysticism through the life of a well known practitioner from a sample of different faiths. Each of these sessions will comprise an introduction from a named speaker and explanation of the particular practice  of the chosen practitioner. The presenters will then lead a short period of meditation or contemplative prayer and the session will conclude with questions from the audience.

The programme, which employs a range of delivery techniques, including practical experience of a contemplative technique, aims to promote active and reflective learning in an atmosphere of mutual respect and trust.

This evening, Ian and Kevin renew our acquaintance with authorities and commentators whose names and insights we've come to know through these courses: James W. Fowler and his definitions of stages of faith; Alister Hardy and his research on religious experience; Zohar and Marshall and their work on spiritual intelligence. We do some pairs work discussing how Hardy's findings relate to our own lives - an exercise in active listening.

BBC RADIO LEICESTER: GOING ON BEYOND

This morning I'm on BBC Radio Leicester, speaking with Monica Winfield (photo above) by phone about the new Christians Aware / Faith Awareness course, "Going On Beyond (Meditation and Mysticism in the World Religions)". Here's the transcript of the interview.

MW: You’re listening to BBC Radio Leicester. It’s eleven minutes to eight. And it’s a little while since we heard from the local organisation, Christians Aware. This is a network of individuals and groups of various denominations dedicated to working for justice and peace. They’ve just started a series of talks with the title, “Going On Beyond (Meditation and Mysticism in the World Faiths)”. Some very distinguished speakers from various faiths and denominations will be appearing, including George Ballentyne, who works for Christians Aware and I’m delighted to say he joins us now. George, good morning.

GMB: Good morning Monica.

MW: Now the last thing I want to do is ask you to give the game away of what you’ll actually be talking about, but you’re looking at this from a Baha’i perspective, aren’t you?

GMB: Yes, I’m one of the speakers. We’re going to have a nine-week course, it starts tomorrow evening at 7:30 and it’s based in Christchurch which is in Clarendon Park. And these courses have been running for quite some time now and, really, the purpose of this set is to not just talk about meditation and mysticism in the different faiths of the world but to actually give a little taster of how it’s practised in each of these faiths and religions and beliefs. So there’s quite a wide variety of speakers. I usually do one session out of the course, but we’ve also got a Muslim speaker, we have a Jewish speaker, we have a Sikh speaker and, for the first time, we have a Pagan speaker as well and we’ll have a Hindu and at least one Christian tradition represented.

MW: That sounds absolutely fantastic. And the title is “Going on Beyond” and I assume each of your speakers will have a different idea of what that means.

GMB: I do hope so, or else it’s going to be very dull [MW laughs] to be honest if they all say exactly the same thing. But it really is part of the interest of the course that they are so different. And when you experience this not just in, you know, the one evening, but over the whole length of the course, it’s amazing both the variety but then again the similarity between them and that’s the purpose of it – you know, it’s like going into a beautiful garden: the flowers are all lovely but they’re all different.

MW: Do you know that’s one of the main things that’s come home to me presenting this programme on a Sunday morning? That there’s a lot of similarities but, as you say, a lot of differences as well. Who do you think would get the most out of this series?

GMB: Well it’s for people really, who are interested in finding out some – it’s a basic level introduction to how the different faiths approach this. It’s not academic and no one would have to feel that oh, you know, because they’ve missed previous courses that they can’t join in this one. It’s a very entry-level one for people who are really interested in getting that experience from the different faiths, learning something about different faiths, meeting people from different faiths, sharing some kind of inter-faith fellowship. Well, you’ve had me on the show so many times before, you know that’s the dimension that interests me so much. So we’re always talking about the diversity in Leicester but there are actually very few opportunities for people to experience it, especially for people who are not professionally involved in the religious life of the city. So this one will work for – you know, we’ve had students, retired people, people, you know, who’ll pop in after work. It’s a very straightforward but really quite interesting and stimulating kind of course.

MW: And is there a bit of audience participation required?

GMB: Well there will be, because we’re going to be getting a little taster, ten minutes or so of how, you know, how does this brand of Hinduism meditate or how does a Jewish person experience that kind of mystical dimension. Now, nobody is going to be enlightened in ten minutes on a Monday evening in Clarendon Park, but it will just – it’s a way of showing that there’s nothing alien, nothing strange, nothing threatening about the way people do these things. And everybody can find one out of these little pieces of practice that will that work for them and that they might want to take further – they might want to go on beyond with, as it were.

MW: Absolutely. And do we need to sign up for all of them all in one go or can we come and go?

GMB: No, it’s very variable. The biggest number of people I‘ve seen turn up for one of these sessions on a Monday evening was 52 – we had to find another room to be in the church – and the smallest number was three. I should say that, that evening I was the speaker [MW: Oh George! You –] It coincided with Half Term, that was the thing – but no, people are just able to – if folk want to make contact with the Christians Aware office or they can even do it through me, it’s very easy to find my contact details on the net – but there’s no pressure to do that. People really can just turn up for one or skip a few or pick the ones that interest them most.

MW: It sounds fascinating, it really does. Just tell me a little bit more about Christians Aware; what do you do the rest of the time?

GMB: Well, Christians Aware is an organisation that really works to present a united front of Christians from different denominations, who are looking particularly at social issues. One of the big ones on their calendar this year is food security. So there’s a number of – there’s a talk coming up at the end of February (you might want someone to come into the studio and talk about that) that Christians Aware is hosting, from the World Development Movement on that issue. And then there’s a summer school that they’re sponsoring later in the year which will take a whole week to look at it. It’s very practical, very down to earth, very grounded. There’s nothing airy-fairy about what they’re discussing. It’s not about theological niceties or the structure of the church, it’s about how do people of faith – and that’s people of different faiths – work with the issues and the problems of the world to make life better for all.

MW: What higher aim can there be [GMB laughs], to be quite honest with you? You know, I think you’ve got to aim high because that way you’ll achieve what you want to. Just give us the rundown again on the course we’re talking about here, these Going On Beyond talks.

GMB: Right so it’s “Going On Beyond (Meditation and Mysticism in the World’s Faiths)”. It’s going to start tomorrow evening and it’s every Monday for nine weeks at Christchurch, Clarendon Park, And that will start at 7:30 and it finishes at 9. And if anyone would like more details, contact Christians Aware on 254 0770.

MW: Lovely, 0116 [GMB: Yes] 254 0770.

GMB: Yeah.

MW: Brilliant. George, great to talk to you today, enjoy the rest of your Sunday.

GMB: Thank you.

MW: Thanks for being with us.

GMB: Thanks, bye.

MW: Take care, bye bye. That’s George Ballentyne there, from Christians Aware. Sounds brilliant, doesn’t it? If you go along and you go to that first one and you want to let me know what it was like and what went on, I would love to hear from you. You can get in touch with me next week here at BBC Radio Leicester.

Follow Monica Winfield on Twitter: @MonWRL