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THINKING SPIRITUALLY

January 25, 2010

thinking_spirituallyHow precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast the sum of them!

~ Psalm 139: 17

The great spiritual traditions of humanity are guides not only to belief but also for behavior.  They aim to elevate human life by presenting form ideals for integration into all spheres of human interaction.  Speaking, for example, a constant reality of everyday life, comes up for a great deal of comment in religious writings.  Confucius regarded sincerity in speech as a preeminent virtue.  He distrusted eloquence and glib talkers, and insisted that things be named properly. Better to be silent than to speak about what one doesn’t know or understand.  In Buddhism, the principle of Right Speech is a distinct part of the path to awakening.  Because words are so consequential, one is expected to learn the art of skillful communication, being mindful always of two questions about one’s speech:  Is it true?  Is it useful?  In the Hebrew Scriptures, the Book of Proverbs is a compendium of directives on speaking:  “. . . the mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life . . .” (10:11), “He who holds his tongue is wise.” (10:19), “. . . the wise speak with words that heal.” (10:18), “Your words can bring healing or devastation.” (15:4), “Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs him down, but a good word makes him glad.” (12:25), “The tongue has the power of life and death.”(18:21) The New Testament continues these themes with an emphasis in St. Paul on the building up of the Christian community: “Do not let any unwholesome words come out of your mouth, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.” (Eph 4:29).  We should strive to bless others with our speech, to promote the peace and well-being of all.  Matthew (12:34-35) sees the possibility of words expressing the inner contents of our heart: “For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.  The good man brings good things out of the good things stored up in him.”

     In all of these approaches there is awareness that speaking can degenerate into mere gossip and trivia, sources of dissension and deformation in human relations.  In the twentieth century, Martin Heidegger contrasted “rede”, or “lowered” speech with our innate potential for authentic communication, the spoken word as existential possibility for transcendence.  In doing so, he was hearkening back to the teachings of classical masters of philosophy and spirituality.

     Teachings on the transformation of thought are also at the heart of the spiritual praxis of the transcendent formation traditions. We are urged to “Take care to speak mindfully to ourselves as well as to others.” (Keeping Faith, F. Johnson, 97)  We think in one form or another (words, images, sentiments, etc.) almost constantly.  Yet we give little thought to the effect our thoughts have on our overall disposition and behavior.  We know but give scant attention to the fact that we bear some responsibility for how we think about things, just as we realize at some level that we can make things different for ourselves and others if we change the quality of our reflection.

     The spiritual traditions have much to say on this matter.  The opening verses of The Dhammapada put forth the following notion:  “All that we are is the result of our thoughts; it is founded on our thoughts and made up of our thoughts.  With our thoughts we make the world.”  Thus, to speak or act with harmful thoughts is to bring harm to oneself; to speak or act with harmonious thoughts is to invite happiness.  Since our life is shaped by our thoughts, no one can harm you as much as unwise thought and no one can help you more than wise thought.” (Jack Kornfield, Wise Heart, 294)  There are negative, depressive, delusional, and obsessive thought patterns.  The tendency is to repeat these thoughts, to remain imprisoned by the limited and false senses of self created by distorted thinking.  The Buddhist program recommends not only turning away from unskillful thoughts and replacing negative thoughts with compassionate thoughts, but also retraining the mind by focusing on the healthy thoughts presented to us in prayer, scripture and inspirational teaching.

     Throughout his career Adrian van Kaam wrote extensively about modes of thinking.  In his earlier books he contrasted two modes of reflection — analytical and gentle (also sometimes articulated as “introspective and transcendent”).  Our capacity for analytical reflection is divisive in the sense that it isolates what is reflected upon from the larger whole to which it pertains.  It aims to master and dominate the subject at hand.  Gentle reflection, on the other hand, is unitive.  It represents a healing power of thought that awakens one from illusion: “I may reflect on myself, others and nature to become one with a Divine Source, mysteriously united in an Eternal Origin.   In gentle reflection each person, place or thing is viewed not in isolation but in its own wholeness and simplicity.” (Spirituality and the Gentle Life, 47-48)  These two modes of reflection have different effects on our presence to reality.  The aggressive nature of analytical reflection may subtly undermine our capacity for awe and wonder.  Gentle reflection fosters our capacity to dwell meditatively on personal experiences of formation and to receive the spiritual insights and meanings emerging from those experiences.

     In Opening the Hand of Thought, Kosho Uchiyama observes that “Depending on what our thoughts and ideas are, our world may appear to us in completely different ways.  These thoughts and feelings constitute our psychological condition.”  We are subject, as it were, to all sorts of conditions: clear days, cloudy days, rainy ones, and stormy ones.  We must learn to wake up, to see beyond the scenery of life — our ever-changing thought patterns.  Uchiyama contrasts the thoughts of the small self and those of the universal self: “All the ideas of our small self are clouds that make the light of the universal self foggy and dull.”  In letting go of the ideas of the small self, we provide space for the expression of the universal self.  In this way, how we see ourselves and others is gradually transformed

     There is always the danger that our thinking will become closed, cutting itself off from other ideas, from the flow of everyday reality, from dialogue with the natural sources of ongoing interformation in family, community and church, and even from the possibility of inspiration by the Spirit.  The result is alienation from self and others, if not worse.  Closed thinking is a breeding ground of psychological and spiritual problems.

     Supported by an attitude of dwelling and receptivity toward what is offered in lived experience, openness in our thinking fosters an awareness of the in-breaking of new directives in our lives.  Only when our thinking is truly open and released do we perceive the deeper workings of the Spirit in every part of our lives.  In the light created by open thinking, what was hidden from view may suddenly be revealed, new personal meanings and possibilities may emerge, and the way or ways forward may illuminate our path.  In a word, we may be saved by the style of thinking we choose to adopt and practice. 



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Last updated: 11/24/10.