| | I read the whole thing. Also, I could download it without paying. Didn't notice that this could be a problem for some, sorry for that.
I thought it was interesting because of the Christian perspective, and her attempt at explaining why some people need mysticism, and some don't.
I'll just quote the parts I think are most interesting here:
Necessity, Risks, and Demands of Mysticism For some people, mysticism may be the most viable alternative to
shipwreck. These individuals have intense spiritual needs, much as other individuals may have different strong needs. Characteristics Likely Contributing to Mystical Need Cosmic sadness. A temperamental sadness appears to be an underlying note in mystics. They show great sensitivity to loss, transience, change, vulnerability, insecurity and other "unsolvable" problems of life. A sufficiently keen sensitivity may, on its own, make mysticism necessary; the individual may find genuine comfort in nothing other than the ultimate satisfier" the divine. Weil echoed this position: "The man who has known pure joy, if only for a moment... is the only man for whom affliction.., is no punishment; it is God himself holding his hand and pressing it rather hard. For, if he remains constant, what he will discover buried deep under the sound of his own lamentations is the pearl of the silence of God" {1968, p. 198}. Awareness of such need is also strong in Hammarskjold. High motivational intensity. Highly passionate individuals, who strongly feel motivational pushes, also likely need mysticism. Although some very passionate individuals find other outlets to absorb their energies, for some only the Ultimate may be sufficiently large. For high intensity people, the option may be between utter depravity and sanctity. Highly charismatic or forceful people may distort aspirations for sanctity unless they maintain continuing awareness of that greater than self. Hammarskjold felt intensely his own strong inclinations: "Upon your continual cowardice, your repeated lies, sentence will be passed on the day when some exhibition of your weakness.., deprives you of any further opportunities to make a choice--and justly. Do you at least feel grateful that your trial is permitted to continue, that you have not yet been taken at your word?" {1964, p. 72). Well wrote: "One might conclude that there are some souls with a natural deficiency which irremediably unfits them for the service of God. And I am one of them. Is there any remedy7... The only way is, if a seed has fallen into a hollow place in a stone, to water it and keep on doing so whenever the water evaporates . . . Detachment is even more rigorously necessary than for the souls which are good ground. For, if thorn and weed absorb a few drops of the water which has to be renewed continually, the wheat will inevitably shrivel... Literally, it is total purity or death" {1970, p. 348}. Strong abilities. Well and Hammarskjold had strong intellectual capabilities and high levels of talent. Some mystics have lacked these features, but ability probably adds to need for mysticism. As with motivational intensity, many high-ability people find other outlets.
Ability heightens the temptation to an excessively narcissistic selfinvolvement though, and some people may avoid that pitfall only with the felt awareness of "smallness" that mysticism gives. The highly intelligent psychologist of religion, Gordon Allport, explained his own religious involvement: "Humility and some mysticism, I felt, were indispensable for me; otherwise I would be victimized by my own arrogance" {Boring & Lindzey, p. 7). This exceptional man supports the contention being made here. Awareness of being talented may also produce feelings of indebtedness. Maslow hypothesized that self-actualized individuals might further need to transcend self in some way. This need may be related to a heightened awareness of one's good fortune in having been blessed beyond the average of all persons. Hammarskjold wrote: "Atonement, for the guilt you carry because of your good fortune: without pity for yourself or others, to give all you are, and thus justify, at least morally, what you possess, knowing that you only have a right to demand anything of others so long as you follow this course" 11964, p. 50). Who needs mysticism? Certainly not all individuals of heightened emotional sensitivity, strong motivational intensity, and high talent and]or capacity actually need mysticism. Such characteristics however, might interact multiplicatively with each other to raise one's level of need. Individuals high in only one of these characteristics may not be especially prone to such need; cosmic sadness is likely the most compelling single need. The interaction of moderate levels of two of these characteristics may produce considerable need. An individual with at least moderate to high levels of all these conditions should have considerable need. William James, commenting on unappealing manifestations of religiousness, blamed them on relative deficiencies in other human attributes. He wrote: "It is hard to imagine an essential faculty too strong, if only other faculties equally strong be there to cooperate with it in action... Spiritual excitement takes pathological forms whenever other interests are too few and the intellect too narrow" (James, 1902/1961, p. 271}. Conversely, individuals of strong intellect, high talent, deep emotionality, and intense volition may be most able to "contain" mystical experience. They may further need it to prevent excessive grandiosity and self-preoccupation. Clearly, Weil and Hammarskjold showed characteristics suggesting they needed mysticism. They were poignantly aware of their need for spiritual involvement. In some ways, it was their "salvation". The same may well be true of other individuals of similar qualities.
The Demands and Risks of Mysticism No mystics claim that the path is easy. That the results are not assured, fewer are willing to admit. An ancient Bengali saying states: "The sides of the mountain are strewn with the bones of those who fail to reach the top." Mystics note the risks of despair, failure to persevere, resentment, and being ground to pieces by suffering. Hammarskjold admitted tendencies to resent being an "outsider" who could not enjoy life as simply as most people. "In spite of everything, your bitterness because others are enjoying what you are denied is always ready to flare up" {1964, p. 47). "I feel that it is necessary and ordained that I should be alone, a stranger and an exile in relation to every human circle without exception" (1973, p. 54}. Both Hammarskjold and Well were aware of having at some point said "yes" to their calling. Weil wrote: "Over the infinity of space and time, the infinitely more infinite love of God comes to possess u s . . . If we consent, God puts a little seed in us and he goes away again.., no more to do... except to wait. We only have not to regret the consent we gave him" (1973, p. 133}. Hammarskjold reported: "I don't know • Who--or what--put the question, I don't know when it was put. I don't even remember answering. But at some moment I did answer Yes to Someone--or Something--and from that hour... I have known what it means 'not to look back' " (1964, p. 205}. He was aware of the cost of such a decision: "He who has stlrrendered himself to it knows that the Way ends on the Cross--even when it is leading him through t h e . . , triumphal entry into Jerusalem" (1964, p. 91). Conclusions Trying to evaluate these individuals in the different darknesses they inhabited produces awesome problems. Darkness has so many meanings. It stands simply for being bereft or alone, for loss, loneliness, and longing for satisfaction and closeness. Darkness also stands for being in sin, in error of conduct. How does one evaluate another's self-accusation in this regard, the attribution to oneself of guilt and unworthiness? Darkness also stands for ignorance and]or error, for misinterpreting or misunderstanding what is going on around oneself. Darkness stands for being in danger, for being helpless and impotent. These four connotations of darkness are mirrored in the theories of depression discussed above. Yet, the darkness inherent in human existence goes beyond simple theories of emotional disturbance to something far more radical and profound. Darkness stands for other uncomfortable things. It stands for being
confused, unable to see clearly, not knowing--a common experience for all mystics. Darkness eventually stands for death--death either as the ultimate of cut-offness, aloneness, loneliness, vulnerability, and extinction- or death as the termination of self-preoccupation, petty concerns, and seeking the tinsel rather than the gold of existence--as being born into the goodness of darkness. Darkness thus also has positive connotations. It stands for a welcome solitude, a retreating within oneself to recharge and revitalize oneself. It stands for peace and rest--hard-earned retirement from striving and effort. In the lives of mystics over the centuries, darkness stands for the visitation of God. For mystics, darkness means all of the above--both the positive and the negative. Darkness contained terrible aloneness, devastating self-knowledge, and the awareness of evil and personal impotence. Darkness also held the light of truth, intimacy with God, and perfect peace in the midst of terrible suffering; darkness revealed Goodness, Truth, and Beauty. How can one judge that which comes in the darkness? Is it heavenly or diabolical? Is it merely a chemical imbalance in the brain? Is it truth or delusion? What can one know for sure? In the lives of the great mystics are both profound certainty and agonizing uncertainty. The common trial of the dark night is the terrible suffering in loss of the religious framework of meaning itself, in the inability to believe in the reality of their own experiences, the inability to hope and love. Well might one fear the darkness--the darkness in which devil and angel, insanity and God, both come. Well might one tremble at human limitation, fallibility, and vulnerability. Well might one pray: "deliver us from evil." One never reaches higher than one aims. Aspirationto the vision of God requires the attendant risks. One who prays "give us this day our daily bread"--give us the sustaining vision of God--must be prepared to drink the chalice drunk by other God-lovers. In "fear and trembling" they went forth, in courageous acceptance of risk they went, in openness to grace they went. They went forth; the silent attentiveness they trusted was nearness to God--into the darkness--and waited. |