Two forms of Inner Christianity
In the history of Christianity there have been many methods of spirituality, effective and ineffective. However, the most significant division between different ways is of course the division between monastic and non-monastic ways. The most accessible form of Inner (or as some people call it, esoteric) Christianity is monastic. For centuries all Christian writings about the inner or interior life were copied by monks, stored in the great monastic libraries, and passed down from generation to generation by monks. Not surprisingly, because of this, many people assume that the Inner Tradition is essentially a monastic discipline. This is not true. Saint Anthony in the desert learned that a doctor in a nearby town was more spiritual than he himself. at the same time, in the Church as it once was, and as it still survives in the East, some of the ancient monasteries are certainly devoted to the inner life. They are concerned with the inner meaning and with gaining inner experience of Gospel truths. Their aims and teachings are concerned with their inner state, and so that they can clearly be said to follow and transmit an unwritten inner Christian tradition. Written teachings of this inner tradition are found in the Philokalia and related books, where Nikitas Stethatos wrote: "To become a monk does not mean to abandon men and the world, but to renounce the will of the flesh, to be destitute of the passions. It was once said to a great spiritual master [ St. Arsenios in the Gerontikon, the classic collection of stories about the desert fathers], 'Flee men and you will be saved', | it was said precisely in this spirit; for even after he [Arsenios] fled, he dwelt among men and lived uninhabited regions along with his disciples. But because he so assiduously fled in a spiritual sense at the same time as he fled visibly, he suffered no harm from being with other men. And another great monk cried as he came out of a meeting, 'Flee, my brethren!' And when asked what he meant by this, he pointed to his mouth." (Nikitas Stethatos - The Philokalia, the Complete text, Vol.4 P99.) Under modern circumstances, the difference in the circumstances of individuals between monastic and non-monastic ways is such that very different methods are normally used, and the classic descriptions of the Royal Road are certainly based on the monastic life, as are almost all the books on this subject. This is because periods when the non-monastic way was no longer understood have alternated with periods when it had to 'go underground' to avoid persecution, while the outer form of the monastic way has survived intact down to the present time, although its inner content has been lost and restored several times, and indeed, the latest restoration is just now occurring. The problem is that although at one time many lay people were able to follow a protected path, giving rise in mediaeval times to disciplines such as the Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage, which claimed to be possible as a practice only to individuals who could withdraw completely from worldly activity, today the monastic way appears to be unsuitable for those who do not form a firm commitment to God early in their life. In the book quoted before, Starets Leonid, known to have been a teacher of the unwritten inner tradition, is quoted as describing the monastic habit as an outward symbol of the inner garment - something referred to by other sources as a second body - and gives an idea of what this second body consists. "A great many turn out to be monks only in their intention, although in this world they were unable to be tonsured by mortal hands due to the judgments of the Ruler of the world. Saint Pelagia knew the true faith and ... by the might of indescribable ascetic exercises she became saintly although she was not clothed in the monastic habit. The monastic mantle signifies physical affliction, the vow of voluntary poverty, of obedience and monastic humility; but the mantle of inner clothing has been pre-ordained by the most high as an eternal reward in the heavens; this is the all-sacred clothing in the garments of the Holy spirit." (Father Clement Sederholm - Elder Leonid of Optina - p191.) The monasteries of Mount Athos call people to the church not only with bells but with the semantron - a wooden plank hit with a hammer in a rhythm reminiscent of a child's drumming. The monks say it is the sound of Noah hammering on the Ark, calling his passengers because the flood is coming. The rhythm is repeated three times - some would say that Noah was calling invertebrates, vertebrates, and finally man ... but what does this mean? But experience reveals to us that a true esoteric school - an ark - makes itself known in simple myths like this. Monasteries and their special ways of life or monastic rules act as an artificial outer protection. This creates the necessary conditions in which this spiritual body can come into being. But those who cannot go into monasteries must protect themselves with the means placed at their disposal by God. For this, the method is to build protections within the individual, psyche. This is a general definition of what we call the Psychological Method. |
