Fra Johannes af korsets "Levende kærlighedsflamme":

søndag, januar 13, 2008

Refleksioner over Gerald G. Mays "Will and Spirit"

Will and Spirit (Harper San Francisco, 1983) er, som indikeret i undertitlen, en udarbejdelse af en kontemplativ psykologi.

Forfatteren, Gerald G. May, M.D., (1940-2005), var praktiserende læge og psykiater i mange år og senere medlem af Shalem Institute nær Washington, D.C., hvis formål er at støtte kontemplativ livsførelse.

Der er 2 hovedtemaer i Mays kontemplative psykologi:
  1. Vilje i den almindelige moderne livsholdning er oftest en øvelse i "willfulness" til at gennemføre ens egen dagsorden. Dette står i kontrast til den kontemplativs holdning af "willingness" til at give/overgive sig i et mysterium.
  2. Det er forholdsvis almindeligt for mennesker at opleve "unitive" øjeblikke. Det vil sige, øjeblikke hvor ens selvforståelse som selvstændig person viger tilbage for en intiution af at være en del af en større, men ikke definerbar, virkelighed. Erindring af disse oplevelser giver nogle mennesker en længsel efter at genfinde oplevelsen. Men forsøg på at gøre det er dømt til fiasko såfremt de finder sted i en tilstand af "willfulness" fremfor "willingness".
Det slående med denne bog er Mays evne til at artikulere, ganske overbevisende, hvad man oftest betegner som ubeskrivelige erfaringer, indtryk og konklusioner om den kontemplative process. Gentagende gange får læseren oplevelsen af at mene "Ja. Det er sådan." Her er nogle eksempler:
  • Om mysterium: "The fundamental contribution of contemplative traditions ... is their constant affirmation that mystery can indeed be known without being solved. Mystery can be experienced, sensed, felt, appreciated, even loved, without being understood. This may not be easy; it requires a surrender of all willfulness, a risking of self-image, and a nuturing of intuition."
  • Om overtro: "Everyone engages in some form of superstition, and some of us are veritable addicts. It comes from the feeling hat we must keep our sense of personal power intact as we confront the Ultimate Power of the cosmos. * * * We fear losing ourselves in the awsome immensity of mystery. We fear that by ceasing to exert our willfulness we might cease to exist altogether. * * * But the very nature of mystery prevents our craziness from being successful. It simply refuses to be captured. * * * Slowly, if one is willing to accept some humility, the situation becomes clear. It is not for us to use the power of mystery but for us to be used by it. * * * This is a humbling notion, and it is this humility that constitutes our hope. When humility is forgotten, superstition is the best one can hope for."
  • Om sjælen, citerende Aelred Squire: "Man does not have a soul, he is a soul."
  • Om det karakteristiske ved unitive experience: "During the experience itself, all self-defining activities cease. It is only in the absence of these that a person is actually participating in a state of oneness. To sense or think 'I am at one,' is a contradiction in terms, a self-definition in a state that prohibits self-definition. In other words, it is not the addition of a unitive feeling but the subtraction of self-definition that characterizes true unitive experiences."
  • Om en bøn for at nå den ønskede attitude i kontemplativ praksis: "'Lord, I shall try to relax and be open, for it seems to me that this is what is needed. But all in all I dedicate this time to You. Do with me what You will, work in me as You will, give me quiet or noise, peace or pain, clarity or distraction. Strip me or console me, wound me or caress me, for in my heart I am nothing but grateful for your Love.' * * * Contemplative prayer is best viewed as nothing other than preparing oneself in willingness for appreciation of closeness to God, whether or not this appreciation is actually experienced."

At May skrev om kontemplativ bøn som en psykologisk (fremfor for en teologisk) fagmand gør denne bog anderledes end andre jeg kender. Hans indsigter er af den analytiske og beskrivende slags fremfor den dogmatiske og inspirerende. Men ingen der har læst bogen kunne anfægte hans sans for det hellige i det han skrev om.

Jeg fortryder at det tog mig så længe at komme til denne 25 år gammel bog. Men jeg skal sikkert læse i den mange gange fremover.

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