The Early Mystics: Pin the Tail on the Donkey

After the “New Testament Mystics” (the Apostles and Paul), things got weird for a few centuries. The earliest post-biblical era contemplatives had a rough start of it, though they did pave the way for future Christian mystics.

It’s hard to blame them for the rough start. Jesus knew God directly, so he got it ALL right. The apostle John knew Jesus, so he managed to get it mostly right. Paul not only was converted by Christ Himself, but studied with the apostles as well–again, mostly right. However, the next group of mystics were like a group of kids trying to play pin the tail on the donkey in a dark, crowded room. Sometimes they got close, or at least hit the poster. However, other times the blindfolded kid got turned around and that pin took out someone’s eye.

Without further ado, lets begin with:

Origen (2nd – 3rd century AD)

You probably thought I was being a little overdramatic with that pin the tail on the donkey analogy. Allow me to correct that misguided assumption.

Origen, our first contemplative, took Matthew 19:12 literally (“and there are those who choose to live like eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven”).

Yes, Origen castrated himself. Keep in mind that 2nd century folks did not have access to modern surgical implements or pain killers. I admit that I am female and cannot fully understand all that this must have entailed, but I sure am glad for all of our sakes that the contemplative path went a slightly different direction after Origen.

The emphasis on sacrifice for God clearly extended to the ultimate for Origen. One of his most well-known works is An Exhortation to Martyrdom. Like “being a eunuch,” Origen interpreted Matthew 16:25 (“whoever loses his soul for my sake will save it”) literally as well. He encouraged believers to desire physical death at the hands of others for the sake of Christ.

The Founder of Intellectual Mysticism

Despite missing a pair and interpreting Scripture in a more extreme way than even the most fundamental of modern Christians, Origen did set up future contemplatives with a strong foundation.

It was Origen who spearheaded the allegorical interpretation of the Old Testament, a portion of what is known as intellectual mysticism. If you’ve heard of the interpretation of Solomon’s Song of Songs as a love song between Christ and the church, you have Origen to thank.

Note: Origen gives strong warning that before reading The Song of Songs, we must be completely removed from fleshly/sexual desire. Though the imagery Origen uses is reminiscent of being struck or pierced by “Cupid’s arrow”, a very earthly romantic reference, he urges us to be led solely by spiritual desire. I’m not suggesting you imitate Origen’s exact method for ridding yourself of attachment to these bodily urges, but his allegorical interpretation, when viewed from a spiritual lens, paints a beautiful image of point of our relationship with the divine.

Here’s a bit of his beautiful description of the process of “falling in love” with God.

Indeed, the soul is led by a heavenly love and desire when once the beauty and glory of the Word of God has been perceived, he falls in love with His splendor and by this receives from Him some dart or wound of love.

Commentary on the Song of Songs

The Journey to God

In his description of this process of falling in love, Origen emphasized a continual movement of the soul to God. It is a movement from the visible to the invisible, a movement that must take place in the mind.

The contemplative discipline is defined as that by which we transcend visible things and contemplate something of the divine and heavenly things and gaze at them with the mind alone, since they transcend corporeal appearance.”

Commentary on the Song of Songs

According to Origen, this movement to God begins at Baptism and continues throughout the soul’s growth.

Thinking of our lives as a journey of falling in love with God is quite beautiful.

So, perhaps Origen can be forgiven for some of his radical decisions and views. After all, people do crazy things when they are in love.

The Desert Fathers (3rd-4th Century)

Origen wasn’t the only early Christian to take extreme actions for the sake of his love for God. The Desert Fathers left their homes and went to (if you can’t guess this correctly, go get some sleep and revisit this post another time) the desert. Here, they hoped to pull away from the draws of the world and devote themselves to God.

Peace of God? Eh…not so much

Though releasing our hold on the world is a major tenant of the contemplative path, the peace and joy of the gospel was often missing from the Desert Fathers’ way of life. Abba/Abott Theodore gives his reasons for living in the monastery:

‘If you are not at peace either alone or with others, why have you become a monk? Is it not to suffer trials? Tell me how many years you have worn the habit?’ He replied, ‘For eight years.’ Then the old man said to him, ‘I have worn the habit seventy years and on no day have I found peace. Do you expect to obtain peace in eight years?’ 

Sayings of the Desert Fathers

God vs. the World

The early contemplatives, especially the Desert Fathers, had a very dualistic view of the world. Though we could certainly see this with Origen, dualism shines even more clearly in the lives of the Desert Fathers. They saw the spiritual world as pure and good and the material world as a distraction from God. Many of these men (and women) lived lives of strict asceticism.

The body prospers in the measure in which the soul is weakened, and the soul prospers in the measure in which the body is weakened.

Abba Daniel (Sayings of the Desert Fathers)

There is certainly wisdom in ascetic practices such as fasting. Periods of abstaining from anything to which we have attachments helps us spiritually mature. We grow through trials and challenges, including those that are self-imposed. However, some of these early monk’s practices neared Origen-level self-torture. Abbot Marcarius would forego water for a full day if he indulged in a cup of wine. This same abbot killed a mosquito (the horror) and, as penance, spent 6 weeks without protection from the elements in a swamp.

Hearts of Love

The over-the-top stories are certainly amusing. Yet, the wisdom of these early wise men and women runs deep. They lived lives of submission to God and forgiveness.

If a man wants God to hear his prayer quickly, then before he prays for anything else, even his own soul, when he stands and stretches out his hands towards God, he must pray with all his heart for his enemies. Through this action God will hear everything that he asks.

Abba Zeno (Sayings of the Desert Fathers)

Falling in love with God naturally leads to wanting to serve the beloved. These fathers and mothers believed service to others to be the greatest purpose. Caring for the ill and showing hospitality took precedence over any ascetic practice. Ultimately, they adhered to lives of inner transformation, of surrender to the Spirit’s work within them. Though at times harsh and showing a more negative view of the world than many who would follow them, these early contemplatives transformed into true servants of God through their choices:

‘Say something to the archbishop, so that he may be edified.’

The old man said to them, ‘If he is not edified by my silence, he will not be edified by my speech.’

Sayings of the Desert Fathers

If a person’s mere presence is enough to inspire another, then the presence of the indwelling Christ is shining forth.

Tickets to the swamp, anyone?

Gregory of Nyssa (4th Century)

Our friend Gregory continues the tradition of dualistic thinking (spiritual: good; world: bad). However, in Gregory we see the beginning of seeing the world redeemed and glorious through God’s eyes.

We have Gregory to thank for the doctrine of the trinity as well as the foundation of the sacraments (worldly elements used as signs of God’s love and grace). He blended Greek (Platonic) tradition with Christianity, speaking to the reality of the unseen.

Gregory drew from Jewish mystics as well as Origen, so it is not surprising to see some similarities in his and Origen’s thoughts and work. For instance, they both wrote commentaries on the Song of Songs and described the soul’s journey from attachment to the material world to a deep relationship with God.

Dazzling Darkness

Unlike Origen, who seemed to believe that we can grasp the true nature of the Father, Gregory emphasized the unknowability of God. Gregory taught that we humans learn through concepts such as truth, love and compassion, aspects of God’s nature. Thus, contemplating the beauty of nature, the goodness of others, etc. can lead us to a deeper understanding of God’s nature.

However, knowing about God is entirely different than “knowing God.” God’s ways are so far above ours. Thus, God becomes a “dazzling darkness” (Commentary on the Song of Songs). Gregory does suggest a way to draw close. By purifying ourselves and looking within, we can meet with the reflection of the divine within us.

By this [Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God] we are to learn that whoever has cleansed his heart from every passionate disposition, perceives in his own inner beauty the image of the divine nature.

Gregory of Nyssa Homily 6: On the Beatitudes

Thus, Gregory finds meaning in “the kingdom of God within”. It is in purifying our inner selves, moving away from those worldly attachments, and seeking God in the stillness within us, that we meet with Him. We must let go of all of our concepts of God and allow the indwelling presence of God within us to speak His truth to us.

After lulling to sleep every bodily motion, [the soul] receives the vision of God in a divine wakefulness with pure and naked intuition.

Commentary on the Song of Songs

Evagrius Ponticus (What a name!) (4th Century)

The last of these early mystics (as I’m grouping them, anyway), is one who combines elements of all of the previous three. He studied Origen and was a disciple to the Desert Fathers. He like Origen, believed in the knowability of God, yet the method of reaching this knowability seems similar in nature to Gregory’s method of reaching the “Dazzling Darkness”.

Evagrius, unlike Origen, primarily valued a “white martyrdom”, a metaphorical rather than literal death of the self. Like the desert fathers and the monastics who would follow them, Evagrius taught a giving up the world through ascetic practices. This shift may have come from a deepening understanding of the heart of God. On the other hand, perhaps fewer opportunities to become a martyr were available (Darn you, Constantine!).

A Deepening of Contemplative Practice

In Evagrius, we see the beginnings of what will flower into modern Christian mysticism. The joy that blooms from the contemplative life shines forth. Evagrius describes a three-stage process of the soul’s growth:

1. Getting rid of earthly attachments (asceticism)
2. Apatheia–a state of deep calm. The contemplative sees the beauty of his own soul (the kingdom within of Gregory).
3. Theologia–“The soul resembles the heavens where the Holy Trinity shines”.

I can safely say I am not yet at stage 3.

A few clarifications: Evagrius describes these stages as connected. For instance, experiencing the beauty of God, even for an instant, encourages the contemplative to separate even more from earthly attachments. Also, like Gregory, Evagrius believes the beauty of creation gives us a glimpse of God.

So as not to confuse Evagrius’ view with strict dualism, it is important to remember that detatching from the world does not mean despising the earthly and physical, but rather seeing the true beauty of it through God’s eyes. We first lay down our attachments to both material things and our “small self” views. This allows us to then take on the mind of Christ in its place.

The goal of the ascetic life is charity; the goal of contemplative knowledge is theology [experiential, mystical knowledge of God]. The beginnings of each are faith and contemplation of nature respectively.

The Kingdom of Heaven is apatheia of the soul along with true knowledge of existing things.

The Hundred Chapters

Back to the Beginning

In Evagrius, we witness a return to the mysticism found in the New Testament, free of needless suffering and fear. Evagrius, though a student of the extreme ascetism of both Origen and the Desert Fathers, was also a student of the heart of Christ. He reaches a deep understanding of how and why our souls reach heavenward. In his own words:

Do you long to pray? Renounce all things. You then become heir to all.

Prayer is the fruit of joy and thanksgiving.

Prayer is the exclusion of sadness and despondency.

Happy is the monk who considers all men as god–after God. A monk is a man who considers himself one with all men because he seems constantly to see himself in every man.

The 153 Chapters on Prayer

Here we have mystical Christianity aligned with the heart of Christ: renouncing the world for the sake of the joy of the kingdom within you and unity with God and with fellow man. Evagrius, congratulations. You pinned the tail on the donkey.

This is the third in the series on the Christian Contemplatives. You can find the first article here, and the second here. Future installments are forthcoming. 🙂