May Contemplative LIfe

 May 6 Contemplative Prayer

“There is considerable evidence that highly experienced contemplatives may not have more unitive experiences, but they at least recognize these experiences more often.”

Gerald G. May, Will and Spirit, p. 205.

Kanuga Conference Center, a place where many return to experience the contemplative life

Gerald May, a psychiatrist associated with the spiritual direction program at the Shalem Institute in Washington, D.C., in Will and Spirit, writes about the dynamics of the human mind and its relationship to God in contemplative prayer. May’s central theme is the “unitive” experience as the keystone to contemplative spirituality, being at one, loss of self-definition, totally wide awake and open, aware, more concerned for others and compassionate.

 It is not something that can be achieved or made to happen, but is a gift from God, given through grace, what those in 12-step programs would call, “a moment of clarity”, where the addict or alcoholic sees for a brief second how he or she is relating to the world.

 As opposed to a psychedelic experience which leaves a person right where he started, a unitive experience develops growth or integration. We may put ourselves in position in spiritual direction to find such experiences, but it is impossible to make them happen. May compared the struggle of the addict to quit on willpower over desire, and when will power is all we have, desire wins hands down. The act of legitimate spiritual surrender must be conscious, intentional, and freely chosen and we must be willing to accept responsibility for surrender.

 Contemplative practices may be associated with a greater recognition of the divine in daily life, but they should not to be associated with achievement, attainment or even a constant state of unity. Emotions must be noticed, but left alone. Some contemplatives like those who live with chronic pain, and very young children can be better at this, staying aware and “keeping their hands off their minds.”

Pascal writes that “all human evil comes from our being unable to sit still in a room.” The practice of quiet is an exercise in “not doing,” a study in surrender, letting go, which Jung points out is quite different from “doing nothing.”  

May believes we cannot expect to grow in spiritual awareness without some intentional practice of silence.

Joanna   joannaseibert.com

May Love and More

Gerald May 5 Love

“In speaking of love, narcissism says, ‘I need you to love me’, Erotic love says, ‘I need you’. Filial love says, ‘I love you because I understand you.’  Agape-if it could speak- might say, ‘I am you in Love.’”

Gerald May, Will and Spirit, p.167.

 In Will and Spirit, Gerald May discusses types of love, narcissistic (self-love) Me-Me, erotic (romantic) love Me-You, filial (compassionate) love I-Thou, and agape (divine, unconditional) love. May believes that erotic and filial love can act as “primary education leading to agape love. Our confusion comes when we expect unconditional love from human beings and expect conditional love from God and expect unconditional love from an image of God.

May sees those who believe they are as holy as God commit perhaps the greatest sin.  Willful self-determination is a template for human evil just as much as willful vengeance is. Willfulness always leads to separateness. 

If we can move toward forgiveness for some past wrong, then our basic capacity for loving will not be injured, but if we hold on to resentment, it will become increasingly difficult to love or feel lovable. Our sense of separateness increases, and we become more and more afraid of anything resembling belonging, surrender, or union.

It is not so much the nature of evil forces that we experience but our response to them that can make the difference in our lives. When faced with a difficult situation we must not deaden ourselves to the situation, coping out, or react quickly with our own plan and forget to call on the active Power of God. The third alternative is to remember the importance of the situation and the need for action but to remember our total dependence on the unconditional Love of God. Then, our hearts can be open to God working in us and at some deep level of our awareness, we can relax and be at peace.

Joanna   joannaseibert.com

May Religious Traditions

May 4 Religious Traditions

“We are all rooted together in the ground of consciousness that is God’s gift to all of us.. and our joining is absolute. When the Islamic mullah prays with true and quiet heart, I believe that the souls of the Iowa farmer and the Welsh miner are touched. When the gong sounds in the Japanese monastery and the monks enter the timeless silence of Zazen, their quiet nourishes the Brazilian native and the Manhattan executive. When Jews and Christians pray with true willingness, the Hindu scientist and the Russian policeman are enriched. Thus, when you struggle with your own mind…, you do this as much for others as for yourself, and you help the struggles of others in ways beyond all understanding.”

Gerald May, Will and Spirit. p. 319-320.

Blue Mosque Istanbul

In Will and Spirit, Gerald May writes that at some point it is necessary to become located within some valid spiritual tradition. It can be found in Anglican formality, Roman authority, Quaker simplicity, Methodist fellowship, Presbyterian morality, Baptist freedom, Evangelical and Pentecostal zeal, the center of the Sufi’s twirl, in the Navaho’s dance, and the correct answer to every Zen koan. All traditions have a core of truth pointing to a single, loving energetic Source of creation.

Polytheistic religions tend to keep balance between male and female images of deities while monotheism fosters a male, father-like image of God. May writes that it is primarily the father’s personality that affects the offspring’s image of God even though people learn most of their loving from mothers. May believes that even though the mother plays an important part in our psychological development, it is the father whose personality most often may affect our image of God. The monotheistic male father-like image may become more balanced in devotion to Mary in Roman Christianity and Eastern Orthodoxy. Rohr and other contemplatives also believe this sole masculine image of God is changed as we relate to the parts of the Trinity as masculine and feminine.

Joanna   joannaseibert.com