Contemplative Elitism
Part 3, Enlightenment is Not Salvation
New readers might think from this series that I don't practice contemplative prayer or engage with other spiritual disciplines. But I do! I love and embrace the contemplative Christian tradition. I wrote a whole chapter about the riches of the contemplative tradition in Hunting Magic Eels. And I wholly agree with Karl Rahner's belief: "The devout Christian of the future will either be a ‘mystic’—someone who has ‘experienced something’—or will cease to be anything at all."
Given this, one might wonder why I'm poking at contemplation within Christianity. Well, for my own benefit. I'm monitoring temptations and concerns in my own spiritual walk as I engage with contemplation and mysticism.
Here has been my biggest concern about contemplative practices within Christianity: Enlightenment is not salvation.
Let me share a story to illustrate this.
As you know, I'm a prison chaplain. Related to this, it was once shared with me how a popular contemplative author and teacher struggled, by his own admission, to get a message about "non-dualistic thinking" across to prison audiences. Inside prisons the thinking was too "dualistic," in his experience, too black and white for the message. Perhaps this was due to a lack of formal education among the incarcerated, or some issue related to cognitive styles. But whatever the issue, prison populations weren't "getting it."
When I heard this story a lot of my personal concerns about "contemplative elitism" crystalized and came into focus. Simply put, if salvation is reaching some sort of contemplative enlightenment, like embracing non-dualistic thinking, then the men I work with in prison are left behind, not capable enough (in the estimation of the non-dualistic teacher) to ascend the mystical ladder toward God.
I have similar concerns with things like Spiral Dynamics, which is faddish in some Christian circles, the theory that human thought is evolving and transcending primitive modes of thinking. In this view, dualistic thinking is rudimentary and primitive, caveman thinking, and non-dualistic thinking is advanced, sophisticated, and mature thinking. And here's the thing, there really are huge problems with dualistic thinking. Spiritually, morally, and psychologically. People do get stuck in rigid, dichotomous binaries in viewing themselves, the world, and God. And yet, I squirm to think that achieving or reaching some stage of superior cognition is the ultimate goal of the Christian faith. Because enlightenment, as I said, isn't salvation.
What I mean is that salvation, in the Christian imagination, isn't the result of human striving and effort, not even contemplative effort. Salvation isn't a cognitive or contemplative accomplishment, some "breakthrough" we make after a long struggle and deep soul work. Salvation isn't our achievement.
This is my deep worry about contemplation, in my own life, how its pursuit can smuggle in its own version of a "works-based" righteousness, some path that we have to climb upward toward God as an accomplishment.
To be sure, contemplative practices and spiritual disciplines are vital for spiritual formation, deepening the virtues, maturing faith, and sanctification. But if we're not careful--well, if I'm not careful, so I'll speak for myself here--we can be tempted to think that salvation is a form of enlightenment open only to the few, to a spiritually enlightened elite.
So, yes, let's engage with contemplation. Please don't hear me saying otherwise. But let's not be tempted to think that it is our job to contemplatively climb toward God when it is God, in Christ, who came down to us, to the dualistic and non-dualistic thinkers alike.
I’m curious what you would make of “many are called but few are chosen.”? Or “narrow is the path that leads to salvation?” There are intimations in the NT and in the early Christian tradition that there are mysteries and understandings that come from contemplation that are not for everyone. And that has been my own experience, that if you do enough contemplation, you peer into the depths of the universe and see things that would be incomprehensible to most people.
Of course, the danger in that is that you become arrogant and think you are somehow better or above everyone else who doesn’t get it or who hasn’t put in the work that you have. The church obviously struggles with this problem throughout its history. But there’s another way of understanding it, which is that those who attain “gnosis,” are called to serve others. In other words, “to whom much is given, much is required.”
Brilliant physicists obviously understand much about the nature of the universe that is beyond the comprehension of regular people like me. And that specialized knowledge can certainly make them arrogant or elitist. But none of us would say that the attainment of that knowledge, or the effort and aptitude required to attain it, is inherently bad. Why do we feel that way when the knowledge is spiritual?
I’m an old retired pastor and I’ve never been good at contemplative prayer, or any other kind but the Lords Prayer, which I love, and the jerky requests of thanksgivings of every day life. I’m ok with that, and rely heavily on the prayers of others. I used to feel guilty about it, but not any more. If I missed out on something wonderful, we’ll that’s my loss, but it has little of nothing to do with the depth of my faith.