Fruit of the Contemplative Life
Fruit of the contemplative life: => Art of the Mystic => : Alexander May 15, 2014, 06:12:01 PM
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(http://i.imgur.com/2U5bB5x.png)
For anyone who has not meditated on the icon, or read the written work which precedes it, I recommend it.
As some of you may know, during Byzantine times a group of monks left the world and formed communities in the deserts of Egypt. These monks were known as the Desert Fathers. The first of them was St. Anthony the Great, the father of Christian monasticism. When St. Augustine learned about these monks, he said that these men were "storming the gates of heaven" while he languished in the world.
The ladder as an image has its origins in the Old Testament. In the story of Jacob, while dreaming Jacob dreams of "a ladder stretching between heaven and earth... and all along it angels are seen ascending and descending." What is interesting is how later Christian authors took the image of the ladder and developed it. In the 6th century, John Climacus (St. John of the Ladder) wrote an ascetic treatise which he structured off of the ladder. In his work, each of the 30 rungs of the ladder is a stage of advancement in the spiritual life.
The Ladder has become an image known to many mystics and saints in the Christian tradition. For example, in the 16th century we have John of the Cross who writes (in the second stanza of The Dark Night of the Soul):
In darkness and secure,
By the secret ladder, disguised
-- Oh, happy chance! --
In darkness and in concealment,
My house being now at rest...
John of the Cross comments on the bolded line:
"[J]ust as men mount by means of ladders and climb up to possessions and treasures and things that are in strong places, even so also, by means of this secret contemplation, without knowing how, the soul ascends and climbs up to a knowledge and possession of the good things and treasures of Heaven. (...) For this ladder of contemplation, which, as we have said, comes down from God, is prefigured by that ladder which Jacob saw as he slept, whereon angels were ascending and descending, from God to man, and from man to God."
Returning to John Climacus' text, what is interesting about it is its references to experiences of an otherworldly character. The book contains many allusions to stillness, joy, the opening of the heart, and inner heat. In a Hindu context, these experiences are called "siddhis" (accomplishments) and denote the advanced stages of the spiritual life. I take them as proof of the achievements of these men in the inner life.
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Thank-you, aglorincz, for introducing me to John Climacus (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Climacus). I found the Wiki on him very interesting, especially the upper 4 rungs of his ladder to god, which concern the higher virtues toward which the ascetic life aims. The final rung of the ladder—beyond prayer (προσευχή) (R-proseuché), stillness (ἡσυχία)(R-hésuchia), and even dispassion (ἀπαθεία) (R-Apatheia)--is love (ἀγάπη) (R-agapé). Knowing the Romanize form of these Greek terms I find useful. This ladder to god sure sounds like stages of religious experience.