These days we hear a lot about spirituality. The western fascination with eastern meditation exercises and disciplines, all aimed at developing spirituality, has come to our country with a vengeance. Propagators of oriental meditation techniques even try to persuade us that eastern mysticism embraces the same stages of spiritual growth as those identified by Christian mystics.
They tell us that just as the Christian mystics identify purification, enlightenment, and union with God as successive stages of the soul’s journey to perfection, so yogis speak of purification, enlightenment, and “unification” as stages achieved through their system of exercises. The question is how the two understand the terms “purification,” “enlightenment,” and “unification.”
Purification
In Christian mysticism we speak of purification when a person estranged from God realizes that he has offended Him, feels remorse, and makes an honest resolution to make amends. He repents, i.e. he seeks the sacrament of penance, this to purify himself not from the process of thinking—but from sin. In reconciling himself with God, the Christian strives never to offend Him again even by the smallest sin and thus to remain in a state of sanctifying grace. He seeks to correct his behavior rather than his breathing rhythm. Yogis, on the other hand, speak of purification when by means of breathing exercises, a mantra, self-hypnosis, or other methods they achieve what is called a “pure mind.” In the yogi’s nomenclature, the term means that the mind has been cleared of the clutter of distracting thoughts. Thus some yogis describe this state as one of “emptying.” Yogis attaining this state of emptiness achieve mental peace. They relax, but this is a state of total absence of thought—or suspension of thought. Yoga techniques are sometimes used to heal people with hyperactive minds. A mantra curbs brain activity, dulls the action of the cerebral cortex—as when a mother rhythmically croons “a-a-a! a-a-a!” to her cranky child, and it falls asleep. Such is the action of the mantra.
Yogic exercises practiced in conjunction with a mantra, a change in breathing rhythm, a special diet, and a change in one’s sleeping and waking patterns can result in the opening up of the chakras. Chakras are energy vortices situated along the axis of the body, which have an affect on the general nervous system. Also known as “crucibles,” these energy centers are said to be contiguous with the endocrine glands, i.e. the hormone-producing glands. Among other things, the opening up of the chakras is associated with the stimulation of these glands. Yogis claim that it is the lowermost chakra that opens first, and so on upwards until all seven chakras are activated. The first chakra is situated at the level of the sexual gland (gonad), the next at the suprarenal glands, then the pancreas, then the thymus, then the thyroid, then the pituitary, and finally the pineal gland. We all know how increased secretion of the gonads works and how adrenaline (the product of the suprarenal glands) acts as a drug on the body. It is the same with the other hormones.
Enlightenment
All mystics agree that after the stage of purification comes the stage of enlightenment. Christian mystics say that when man is freed from his sins, he strives to live in a state of sanctifying grace, while persevering in prayer, and this leads him higher up the ladder of perfection. At first he finds it easy to pray. His prayer is lively and pleasurable. But after a while the euphoria subsides, and prayer no longer brings pleasure. A crisis ensues; but this is followed by an ever more intense intellectual entering into revealed truth. The person is able to engage in mental prayer (without words)—in inner reflection and meditation, which in turn lead to a deepening of faith. It is here that the stage of spiritual enlightenment begins. In the stage of enlightenment, the person experiences anew his relationship with God and what he has come to know to this point. For example, though he may have understood the Gospel before it is only now that he begins to probe more deeply into its content. In the enlightenment stage, the person rediscovers this content in the light of revealed truth, which is God Himself. His perception of the Truth grows in scope and depth; he grasps its real meaning, and this increases his fascination with God—His genius (truth), His majesty (beauty), and His mercy (goodness). Thus Christian enlightenment is about attaining a clearer perception of revealed truths. By contrast, eastern mysticism sees “enlightenment” in terms of altering one’s consciousness and discovering new perspectives by falling into trances, inducing states of euphoria, illusory visions, and other psychic states.
Union with God
The third stage of the spiritual life is that of union with God. Christian mystics tell us that at a certain point, after probing into the revealed truths, man reaches his intellectual limit and is unable further to deepen his knowledge of God. There follows a moment of crisis and resignation. Now faith raises man above his natural reasoning capabilities. That which he was unable to grasp intellectually, he now attains by pure faith. In faith he accepts the revealed truths, and God imparts to him the grace of contemplation. Mystics call this “infused contemplation” as opposed to natural contemplation, which is based on man’s intuition. Human intuition can lead to error. Infused contemplation never leads to error. It is a gift of God; it cannot be achieved by man’s own efforts or through the practice of any technique.
Saint Theresa differentiates between the knowledge of God acquired during the stage of enlightenment and that acquired through infused contemplation. She compares the intellectual knowledge gained during the enlightenment stage to seeing pictures in a dark room. A person enters and examines each of the pictures by turn with only a small lamp for light. Only after a considerable length of time does he come to know them all. By contrast, the stage of union consequent upon receiving the grace of infused contemplation (which is the summit of faith) can be compared to seeing the whole room suddenly illuminated, so that in an instant the person sees the entire room together with all its pictures.
The great Christian mystics describe union with God as a profound fascination with God, a blissful delight in loving Him and knowing His great love. The union of man with God is the union of two persons in love, and yet never a merging of the two in one. The Christian mystic is always conscious of the separate existence of his person from the Person of God. This separateness is preserved for all eternity.
In eastern mysticism, the stage of “unification” begins with the opening up of the chakras. After a while the yogi comes to enjoy a blissful state as if all the elements making up his personal “I” have dissolved and become diffused like ether, permeating all of nature, including the trees, plants etc. Thus, eastern mystics speak of unification as a merging with the cosmos. Those who achieve this state speak of a feeling of omnipresence; in a word, they feel as if they have become the Godhead. Those who feel they are God demand divine reverence from others. The summit of the Christian mystical experience is altogether different. In his profound experience of God, the Christian mystic feels like a mote of dust. Compared to God, he is nothing. He is aware that whoever he is, whatever he possesses—all this he owes to God. For love of Him he is ready to be a servant of mankind. Never would he accept the reverence that rightly belongs to God.
Yogic mysticism
Here I will share a personal experience of my own. I once attended a session at which a yogi was to prophecy while in a state of trance. Thrown over his shoulders was a sort of cape, hung with numerous little bells of various sizes. He wore a metal necklace, also hung with bells, as well as rings on both hands, and a tapered hat on his head. The man induced himself into a trance with the aid of a mantra that summoned up the “spiritual force” as he called it. As he entered this state, he broke out into shivers and shudders. His half-closed eyes glazed over. A kind of stupor settled over him. His face swelled up. The veins on his forehead stood out. You could sense the great tension within him. All this made a very sorry impression on me. Before me was a man who was working himself up into a great state. Needless to say, the little bells, which jangled while he shuddered, distracted attention from his excited state. Their sound reminded me of the pattering of feet—as if spirits were settling to the ground. That insistent jangling certainly had the effect of allaying my negative impression. But what a huge difference between the psychic state of this yogi and that of a praying person! What a difference between this man’s face and the face of the Pope, for example, or that of Mother Teresa, or others when engaged in earnest prayer! You can see by the face of a truly praying person that he abides in a state of great peace—of utter fascination. You sense an entirely different kind of spirituality from that of this soothsayer.
While in his induced state the yogi did in fact prophesy. Those who asked him questions (e.g. about events taking place at home) received answers, and they insisted he was speaking the truth. Although I did not ask him any questions, I did ask myself what was occurring in the mind and nervous system of this soothsayer who could receive images and turn himself into a kind of television receiver. But the fact of being able to turn oneself into a TV or radio receiver did not strike me as perfection; even less could I consider it spiritual perfection! Quite the opposite: it seemed to me this man had become a soulless instrument in the control of some nameless spirit. The question remains, what kind of spirit?
The action of spirits
It is possible that in such elevated states of arousal, with the nervous system so primed, the magnetic pole of the body is altered, thereby sharpening receptivity to the subtlest stimuli. But throughout the whole session, I could not help thinking that the induced state of this soothsayer was objectively sinful. In this, I am supported by the expertise of Fr. Joseph-Marie Verlinde who insisted these states were indeed the action of a spirit, but not of the Holy Spirit. Thus it was not just a physical phenomenon. Fr. Verlinde observed that when the chakras were opened up, man became vulnerable to the action of the spirit of darkness—a spirit harmful to man. How so? Verlinde argued that extended practice of yoga caused people to lose their personal self. But people were meant to develop their personal self, not lose it!
Conclusions
Thus Christian and eastern mysticism are diametrically opposed. They are not, as some claim, different paths leading to the same summit. They lead in opposite directions—toward polar opposite summits: the summit of pride and the summit of humility. One path leads to illusion, the other to the Truth. Christian mystics really do achieve union with God, but they say: “God is all, while I am nothing.” This is the truth. Confronting the infinite perfection and holiness of God, they rightly count themselves as dust. What is man compared to God! Thus no one who really knows God can identify himself with Him. On the other hand, the one who does not really know God says, while abiding in a state of a euphoric trance or experiencing an illusory vision: “I am all. I permeate all. I am God.” What a grandiose illusion!
I would caution Catholics not to go out of their way seeking after wonders and extraordinary charisms. The touted achievements of “miracle-workers” (occultists and magicians) are often the result of hypnosis, suggestion, telepathy, narcotics, magnetism, and pathological changes in the brain. They can also be the result of the influence of evil spirits who imitate the spirit called up by the conjurer. Magicians appall God, for they revile Him and would contradict His sovereignty. They reckon on their possession of occult powers to force God’s hand to suit their own designs. God can (but need not) impart special graces to the person who asks for them. Petition (prayer) entails an acknowledgment of God’s sovereignty and man’s reliance on His will. It differs from magic in that the suppliant is aware of his inferiority and dependence on God. The magician, on the other hand, has a sense of control over God and His power; not infrequently he feels equal to, or even above, Him. God demands that we live by the Truth, which He has revealed to us in His word. He does not want us to enter into a world of delusion, illusion, and fiction.
The happiness of those who fall for illusory experiences is short-lived and ends in despair. By contrast, the happiness of those who live in accordance with the Truth is real and enduring—eternal. That is why God, in His desire to protect us from harmful deceptions, forbids us to engage in occult practices. Holy Scripture clearly states: “There shall not be found among you any one who burns his son or his daughter as an offering, any one who practices divination, a soothsayer, or an augur, or a sorcerer, or a charmer, or a medium, or a wizard, or a necromancer. For whoever does these things is an abomination to the LORD” (Deut. 18:10-12).
Sister Michaela Pawlik OP