A new look at Christianity

Saint John of the Cross, was a major figure of the Counter-Reformation, a Spanish mystic, a Roman Catholic saint, a Carmelite friar and a priest who was born June 24, 1542 at Fontiveros, Old Castile.stated, ‘God refuses to be known by the intellect. God only allows Himself to be loved by the heart. The heart is that holistic image, that when we put all the parts together we feel whole. This implies that we need to have union with ourselves and then with one another.

But first we have to take a look at how our own lives are influenced by our own thoughts and how we do things.

Upon reflection we may discover that we judge and analyze everything we see and do.

Here we have to ask ourselves, how does all this judging and analyzing feel and what good does it do, because that is what happen, when we primarily rely on our mind.

As an alternative, let’s now visualize ourselves being the impartial, non judgmental witness of the situation and see what happens? How does it feel, does it change our perspective?

Matthew 7:1 states ‘do not judge’. We may say, we have to judge all the bad and good things that confront the mind in order to live a constructive life. Yes, this is what our mind tells us, but again, how does it make us feel? We seldom ever ask ourselves this question, because we just habitually follow the dictates of our mind.

In our lives, when we first meet someone, we need to be open without judging, what they say, what they look like, how they dress, or whether they are of the right religion.

We need to remember, that we judge people and situations, because we tend to trust our conditioned mind, and the mental images we form, which on further analysis are just a collector of sense perceptions, which again are colored by our pre-conceived ideas. Yet we make one judgment after another, whether we profess to be religious, or non religious. People with religious affiliations, frequently judge those who may not be of the same belief. But how does this problem arise in the first place?

The problem arises, because we see situations from our own limited mental perspective. We need to engage a contemplative approach, where we view situations with a loving, heartfelt attitude, an attitude that is not divisive, but unitive.

Contemplation leading meditation ought to be used especially by religious institutions. Unfortunately contemplation is still frowned upon by many religious teachers. They are fine with praying about situations, but disregard contemplation. They say, it is a self-help approach and that one should rely on prayer and on what the scripture says.

Yet, according to mystics and saints, we need to engage the activity of contemplation to know our centre. The divine indwelling must become a living experience. The recluse, the person who lives a solitary life and tends to avoid other people, the hermit, and the ascetic, tells the us, God is not out there, God is right where you are, right in our hearts.

We are so used to practice dualistic thinking, the ‘either or ‘concept, that we may find it difficult to appreciate the value of contemplation in our life. The mystic tells, that no one should claim to be religious until he/she has had a mystical experience which is the result of contemplation, as it leads to complete absorption or union with the subject contemplated. Just think, the realization alone, that all knowing is always followed by unknowing, which should give us a hint of the mystery of life.

So in general, Christians are expecting answers from their teachers, and certitude and closure on issues of their concerns. This developed people of patience, passivity, of compassion and gratitude, but matters like racism, intolerance or judgment are not perceived by them as a major gospel issue.

Churches foster a belonging system. My belonging system is better than yours. What we get is form, forms of different religious practices, trying to prove that one is better than another, instead of teaching people how to go into the mystery of life, which is always formless and cannot be explained with perfect certitude and be united in a Christ like attitude.

People with a Christian upbringing understand the third commandment,’ to not take the name of the Lord in vain’. Yet most people think that this means not to swear. This is not even close to the meaning. To speak of something in vain, is speaking with emptiness, with futility, which is a waste of time. The meaning of the commandment is, not even to pronounce the sacred name of God, because once we think to have God in our pocket, we think this to mean that we  understand the great mystery of God. It is here is where religion becomes arrogance and idolatry, for we love the explanation of God more than loving God. God cannot be seen as an object of the intellect, but is only know by those who enter into a relationship of love, contemplation and meditation. We need to sit in silence, letting go of all thoughts and contemplate the formless Holy Spirit.

Elaboration on contemplation  

A modern view of contemplation can be described, as an uninterrupted flow of attention toward a specific subject. For a spiritual practitioner the subject would be God. “I long for God.” Anyone expressing that as a heart-felt longing is practicing in itself a genuine contemplation. People, who have that longing, believe that it is implanted in them by God, and it is something that one can’t get away from when it is present. So in that sense of longing, our attention is focused always on God.

However saying I “want” contemplation, seems to be a different thing, because that’s more looking for an experience, rather than wanting God.

St. John of the Cross gives a precise meaning to the word contemplation. It is a kind of prayer that we cannot do whenever we want, for it does not depend on the natural working of the faculties. It is a prayer given by God in the depths of the heart, so it is called infused contemplation, or mystical experience. The goal of the Christian life is union with God, and contemplation is a mysterious experience of that union.

Hinduism or Buddhism, Yoga (Union) for example, employs a specific kind of interior practice that leads to mystical experiences. Both traditions would be surprised to learn how unfocused Christians as a whole are on the subject of contemplation and meditation and their inability to carry on a meaningful discussion on Christian mysticism. It is hard to have a meaningful discussion on any subject if one is not clear about what one’s own approach on the subject is. Further, even on the practical level within Christian spirituality itself, we fail to clarify the nature of contemplation which could lead to a restless mind.
So spiritual contemplation can be described as a form of wordless prayer in which mind and heart focus on God's greatness and goodness in affective, loving adoration, or to look at Jesus and the mysteries of his life with faith and love.