Christian Mysticism in Relation to Eastern Mysticism - Part 6

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Dear All,

 

We concluded Part 5 with:

 

(P.239) " We move on to St Gregory Nyssa who was the great master of the

spiritual life and who laid the foundations of all Christian mysticism. [5] His

teaching was based largely on that of Origen, of whom he was a disciple, but he

took Origen's doctrine much further. (P.240) He represents the whole Christian

life in terms of the paschal mystery, that is to say, in terms of death and

resurrection. The process begins in baptism when we die to sin and are

illuminated by grace. It is confirmed in the rite of confirmation, which

signifies the return of the soul to itself and the awakening to the divine image

within, and it is consummated in the Eucharist when we are fulfilled by

communion with God in love. The pattern of death and resurrection, repeatedly

enacted in the believer, emphasises that this mystical path, this experience of

God, is always connected with Christ and the church. It becomes a total

Christian mysticism in that sense. "

 

A New Vision of Reality (Western Science, Eastern Mysticism and Christian Faith)

Chapter 11, P.239-240

 

Here now, is Part 6.

 

Enjoy!

 

violet

 

 

 

Christian Mysticism in Relation to Eastern Mysticism - Part 6

 

(P.240) Again, for Gregory of Nyssa the main theme is the restoration of the

image of God, the 'ikon'. The human person is made in the image of God and

recovers that image when it returns to itself. Here again there is a strong

similarity with the Hindu tradition. The Greek goal, as proclaimed by the

Delphic oracle, was " know thyself " while the basic movement of the Indian

tradition was to discover the 'atman', the inner Self. For Gregory the first

step in this movement is when we return to ourself and become 'monoeides', which

means uniform or, one might say, single-minded. In India we speak of 'ekagraha',

of being one-pointed, where we go beyond all diversity and discover the inner

centre where we are one. So that, for Gregory, was the first stage. The aim was

to return to yourself and to recover this oneness within.

 

Then in Gregory of Nyssa there is the theme that knowledge of self brings

knowledge of God. This again is a basic principle in Hinduism. It was taught

also by Plotinus but there is an important distinction here. For St Gregory and

the whole Christian tradition after him, the knowledge of God in the self is

knowledge by grace. It is not that simply by finding ourself one finds God.

Rather, by finding oneself one opens oneself to God and the divine light

penetrates the soul. (P.241) It is always a gift of God, a grace. That is why it

is held that we have a capacity for God. We are not God but we have a capacity

for God and can receive the life of God into ourselves. That is Gregory of

Nyssa's understanding. He also uses the concept of 'apatheia', passionlessness,

which he relates to purity of heart but which also is conceived as the effect of

divine grace. One does not first become passionless and then find God, but God

himself enables one to free oneself from passion and attain to this purity of

heart.

 

Like Origen Gregory teaches that there are three stages involved in this

process. The first stage he relates to Moses' experience when he goes out and

encounters God in the burning bush. This stage Gregory calls 'photismos',

illumination. It is the illumination which occurs at the beginning of the

journey and it is really the awakening of faith. In the experience of faith one

is led to leave Egypt, which stands for the passions and the world, and to go

forth into the desert. The second stage here is very interesting. In Origen the

passage through the desert was a matter of going through many temptations until

one eventually came to the Promised land, whereas in Gregory of Nyssa it is

quite different. For Gregory one goes through the desert under the cloud which

is the sign of the presence of God and one comes to Mount Sinai. With Moses one

ascends Mount Sinai, and enters into the darkness of the mountain. Here a new

theme in Christian mysticism emerges, that of knowing God in the darkness.

Knowing God in the darkness is death to the senses and reason. Origen was still

living very much in the context where reason was highly valued and he never gets

fully beyond it. Gregory of Nyssa, on the other hand, passes, like all mystics,

beyond the level of reason. Mystics consistently emphasise that we have to die

to our senses and to our reason and, having passed beyond both, we awake to the

contemplation of reality, 'ta onta', the real things or the reality beyond the

phenomena. (P.242) In other words, we go beyond phenomena and come to know the

realities beyond the phenomenal world. This is a knowledge of God through

nature. By contemplating the world of nature, we discover the hidden presence of

God. This ascent also involves experience of the angelic realm. For Gregory of

Nyssa this leads to the knowledge of 'logos', the Word of God, who is

manifesting himself in nature and in the world of the angels.

 

Another important point here is that the original unity of man is rediscovered.

Humankind was originally one but was divided by sin. Now when we recover our own

unity we rediscover the unity of man, not only the individual but the universal

man. The archetypal man is rediscovered in oneself.

 

The third stage of the journey comes with the realisation of God, experienced in

the darkness as a presence. Whereas in the illuminative way we see the world

with intellectual sight, here we go beyond our intellect. It is the experience

which is really an experience of love, love beyond knowledge, experienced in the

darkness. A very important concept emerges here which is that as one grows in

the knowledge of God within, one becomes increasingly aware of the God beyond.

This does not normally appear in the Eastern tradition. In the East one turns

within and discovers one's true self and that Self is seen as one with God. But

in the Christian mystical tradition, as one increasingly experiences God within,

one becomes more and more aware that he is infinitely beyond. So there are two

movements, discovering God within, and then going beyond oneself in love. That

is real ecstasy, 'ekstasis'. Gregory distinguishes between 'enstasis' and

'ekstasis'. 'Enstasis' is where one finds God within, whereas in 'ekstasis' one

goes beyond oneself and experiences the Reality of God beyond oneself.

 

In all this God is represented as inaccessible, dwelling in the darkness, in

that inner sanctuary where the divine presence reveals itself. (P.243) The

equivalent in Hinduism is the lotus within the heart where the Infinite dwells.

So this is the inner sanctuary and Gregory speaks of it as the 'ousia', the

essence or ultimate substance and ground of everything. The process is to pass

beyond all diversities into the darkness, into the inner sanctuary and there

discover the very being of God. There are two movements here, 'eros' and

'agape'. 'Eros' is the urge towards God, which is rather like 'bhakti' in

Hinduism. This is love drawing one out towards God. The other movement is

'agape', which is God's love pouring into one. And the two meet. As one goes out

to God, so God comes into one, and vice versa. And this, in Gregory's view, is a

constant movement. The more one loves, the more one knows God, the more there is

to know. So one is constantly going out to God and returning to oneself and then

having to go out again because there is infinite growth taking place. This

constant going beyond is what Gregory means by 'epekstatis' and it is a very

original conception. Finally we should say that this awareness of the presence

of God in the darkness, is always related both to Christ, the 'logos', who

reveals God, bringing him to light, as it were, and to the sacraments of the

Church by which we open ourselves to the presence of Christ and through him to

the Father. So Gregory always works with this total vision of the Father as God

beyond creation, and the 'logos' and the Holy Spirit penetrating the whole

creation and humanity, and then leading human persons back through the Church

and the sacraments to the divine.

 

A New Vision of Reality (Western Science, Eastern Mysticism and

Christian Faith)

Chapter 11, P.237-243

Bede Griffiths

Templegate Publishers - Springfield, Illinois

ISBN 0-87243-180-0

 

Notes:

 

[5] The mystical theology of St Gregory of Nyssa has been studied by J. Danielou

in 'Platonisme et Theologie Mystique' (Aubier: Paris, 1944).