The Inner Tradition as a state of mind
‘O taste and see that the Lord is good’ (Psalm 34:8.). For all these reasons, and as the result of many years of investigation, I have now come to understand these teachings as a true representation of the ancient Christian Inner Tradition. I have also discovered that this tradition continues to be taught by the Hesychasts and other ascetics of the Orthodox Churches, especially on Mount Athos, the active centre of the tradition during the past thousand years or so. Hesychasm, as a practical form of the Christian method of spiritual growth that was made possible by Christ, has now been proven over something like two thousand years, and is still quietly producing results – the fruits or gifts of the Spirit - to this day. For the individual, those results involve periods of inner illumination which continue to lead in time to Theosis or Glorification. This idea of orthodoxy implies a teaching that is orthodox in the sense that it must not be changed, not because it is the only way to say it, but because it is a teaching which has led others to the real experience that it represents. This is often explained tautologically, but although this statement is true, it was not the full original meaning of the term. In fact, it refers specifically to the internal event known as Glorification, the experience which is the peak and summit of Christian illumination: the true praxis is the tested way to Theosis. The tests for it are known and can still be applied. Thus it is for this reason that we are taught that this knowledge must not be changed, and there are good reasons for this attitude. In simple terms, these reasons are because it contains: + Knowledge that originates from outside space and time as we know them: from outside our psyche and so outside our normal purely human thoughts and ideas. + Knowledge that can be proven to lead to practical results + An understanding of the meaning of that knowledge that can be gained only by practice leading to more or less direct experience of those results In its narrowest sense, then, this tradition must never be changed because it is not simply an idea, not even a statement of belief. In one sense it is a formula, like a recipe or a medical prescription. The same rules apply: if the instructions are changed, the results they produce will also almost certainly be different. This means that not only should nobody ever plan on leaving out certain essential parts of the instructions, but nor should anybody who is using this method change a single word in those instructions. But it is not so much for their own sake that the instructions should not be changed, as that, if they have been properly understood, then they will not be changed. At the same time, other truths which are not directly related to and proven by the method, nor are necessary to the understanding of that method, should not be regarded as final and complete in the same way. One can develop and refine one’s understanding of these things progressively. Discoveries made by individuals can be used, refined, or developed by anyone who understands them clearly. |
