Anyone else lean this way?
My interest started about 1976 with my interest in meditation and feeling a sense of connection. Then I discovered Thomas Merton, Pierre Teilhard De Chardin and Bede Griffiths and realized that such a view is not necessarily incompatible with Christianity.
"In Eastern Orthodox Christianity, it’s carried principally in the tradition of
hesychasm, a prayer with unflagging emphasis on “putting the mind in the heart.” In the Western tradition, Meister Eckhart, the Rhineland mystics, and, in our own times, Bernadette Roberts come immediately to mind. I also see it strongly in the 14th century classic
The Cloud of Unknowing."
"Richard Rohr talks about nonduality being at the center of the Christian tradition, as articulated through the belief that Jesus was both fully human and fully divine."
Cynthia Bourgeault on Christian Nonduality | The Garrison Institute.
[the WWMC sub-forum is for liberal Christians and non-liberal Christian members are not allowed to debate in this forum.]
Indeed, I strongly lean in that direction, although what Borgeault and Rohr refer to as non-duality, I am, in a Christological context, accustomed to referring to as Hypostatic Union, which is the ancient name for that doctrine. However, the use of the word
nonduality to embrace both hypostatic union and Hesychasm is brilliant.
As a practical matter concerning Hesychasm, there is a thought that it can be dangerous if attempted on its own, without supervision by an accomplished Hesychast, but there is a lay-accessible practice, which is the continual recitation of the Jesus Prayer (which is ultimately what Hesychasts do, just with greater intensity and in a cenobitic monastic environment).
Four books come to mind which may interest you or anyone else that’s into nondual theology: the
Philokalia, an anthology of texts concerning Hesychasm, prayer in general, mystical theology and monasticism, compiled by St. Nicodemus the Hagiorite and St. Macarius of Corinth in the mid 18th century,
The Way of the Pilgrim, an early 19th century book about an anonymous Slavic Orthodox man who renounces the world to focus on saying the Jesus Prayer after being given a prayer rope,
On The Prayer of Jesus, by the mid 19th century Russian Orthodox bishop St. Ignatius Brianchaninov, and finally
The Orthodox Way, a book which chronicles all of the above, and which also quotes
The Cloud of Unknowing and the works of Thomas Merton, Bede Griffiths and Meister Eckhart, and other important figures in mystical theology such as Soren Kierkegaard, by the liberal Eastern Orthodox bishop Metropolitan Kallistos Ware.
You may also find it interesting how Coptic Orthodox monks traditionally meditate, which is by memorizing a large portion of the Psalter, very nearly all of it, and reciting it throughout the day as part of the Divine Office*, the contemplative portion of which consists of twelve canonical hours and an additional hour, The Prayer of the Veil, which is said before bed by clergy and monastics. These prayers, which consist of most of the Psalter, a fixed Gospel lesson for every hour, a Litany, the Lord’s Prayer and a few other items, are contained in a book called the
Agpeya, and stay the same throughout all of the year except Holy Week.
There are reports of comatose Coptic monks continuing to recite the Psalms on their lips unconsciously, perhaps due to “muscle memory,” or conditioned action in the cerebellum, or perhaps for more spiritual reasons.
*There are also more conventional liturgical portions of the Divine Office in the form of the Morning and Evening Raising of Incense, which are derived from the ancient Cathedral Office, and the Psalmody, which consists of portions for Vespers, Nocturnes and Matins, and is a collection of hymns similar to the Canons from Eastern Orthodox Matins and devotional services. Also, when the
Agpeya is celebrated with a congregation, rather than recited individually or in a purely monastic setting, the Psalms (and portions of Psalm 119) of each hour are divided up among the attendees, with each person present typically asked to silently read two or three of them.