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WEB 4 - ARCHIVE
Commentary 21 - Page 1 |
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Darkness of
the psyche The Hermit's Message
Way of Theosis Psychological method Prayer of the heart
praxis studies
Introductory studies
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ORA ET LABORA- attentive work Adapted from the book A Different Christianity, by Robin Amis Change of mind must become secondary to change of heart, and the connection between the two is the attention. Nevertheless, one of the great problems in all 'work on oneself' - including the early stages of prayer of the heart - is the overactive mind, and the borrowed, accidental, or unintentional thought to which this exposes us: the memories playing back the past unselectively, a kind of inner muzak like the background music in a restaurant. So prevalent is this problem, that many of the ascetic aids to living a Christian life are specifically targeted at remedying it, or designed to work against this whenever this parasitic activity of the mind appears to prevent their primary aim. Here again we find ourselves faced with a common misunderstanding. It is normal today to believe that to work for spirituality one should avoid thought. From this misconception come many of the problems of the way: for who can avoid thought? Instead, all real spiritual methods must be understood differently. The activity of thought is continuous, so that one basic formula is that - except at specific points which will be understood by those who can attain them - the mind should be intentionally kept busy. When this is done correctly, the parasitic, accidentally triggered thoughts are replaced by thoughts that have been intentionally selected. This is done either by directly willing to think in a particular way - for, as certain of the fathers have said, this is one of the things that the will can govern - or by making use of the fact that in doing any specific task, the normal adult state of mind is such that the activity of the mind is forced to play a part in such activities, thereby again driving out accidental thought. The traditional monastic method known by the phrase Ora et Labora is a formula based in part on this understanding of thought, and it is specifically targeted on the problem of accidental thought, although as we will discover later in this chapter, it has in time the ability to take us deeper into the spiritual struggle, beyond all thought. At this point we will touch on the mystery of consciousness, and of the relation of consciousness to intellect and emotion, a mystery that is implied in the many meanings of the Greek word nous, so often used by the early fathers, and so glibly translated into English as intellect or reason, whatever the particular usage. But that is a question for another chapter. |
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