Descent Mysticism
The two complimentary halves of mystical experience along the vertical axis are ascent and descent. Naturally we look toward the hope of ascent (the attraction of upward gravity, as Cynthia Bourgeault expresses it), which is a part of our spiritual pilgrimage and the “hope of Glory” which shall be the end result of all our journeyings.
The complimentary half of descent, however, is crucial before one can fully know ascent. Descent has many aspects. One, of course, is the descent of Spirit, Logos, Light and Life from its Source at the headwaters of all being. We receive constantly the gift of such descent. We are its recipients on a daily basis.
But there is another aspect, and that is our own descent. From a visionary perspective, we have descended into time and space from our paradisiacal homeland. However, as Pema Chödrön tells us in her wonderful text, the Bodhisattva Warrior (the Warrior of Compassion) is called to descend further, deeper into the painful experience of this world. Deliberately choosing descent over ascent in order to taste the waters of compassion. She says in Comfortable with Uncertainty (p. 1-2):
On the journey of the warrior-bodhisattva, the path goes down, not up, as if the mountain pointed toward the earth instead of the sky. Instead of transcending the suffering of all creatures, we move toward turbulence and doubt however we can. We explore the reality and unpredictability of insecurity and pain, and we try not to push it away. If it takes years, if it takes lifetimes, we let it be as it is. At our own pace, without speed or aggression, we move down and down and down. … At the bottom we discover water, the healing water of bodhichitta. Bodhichitta is our heart—our wounded, softened heart. Right down there in the thick of things we discover the love that will not die.
In Christian terms, we are stepping out upon the pathway of kenosis, the self-emptying which was at the heart of the descent of the divine into human form. We also, with the Master, take that difficult pathway in space-time in order to bring the entire creation to the gates of Ascension.
The complimentary half of descent, however, is crucial before one can fully know ascent. Descent has many aspects. One, of course, is the descent of Spirit, Logos, Light and Life from its Source at the headwaters of all being. We receive constantly the gift of such descent. We are its recipients on a daily basis.
But there is another aspect, and that is our own descent. From a visionary perspective, we have descended into time and space from our paradisiacal homeland. However, as Pema Chödrön tells us in her wonderful text, the Bodhisattva Warrior (the Warrior of Compassion) is called to descend further, deeper into the painful experience of this world. Deliberately choosing descent over ascent in order to taste the waters of compassion. She says in Comfortable with Uncertainty (p. 1-2):
On the journey of the warrior-bodhisattva, the path goes down, not up, as if the mountain pointed toward the earth instead of the sky. Instead of transcending the suffering of all creatures, we move toward turbulence and doubt however we can. We explore the reality and unpredictability of insecurity and pain, and we try not to push it away. If it takes years, if it takes lifetimes, we let it be as it is. At our own pace, without speed or aggression, we move down and down and down. … At the bottom we discover water, the healing water of bodhichitta. Bodhichitta is our heart—our wounded, softened heart. Right down there in the thick of things we discover the love that will not die.
In Christian terms, we are stepping out upon the pathway of kenosis, the self-emptying which was at the heart of the descent of the divine into human form. We also, with the Master, take that difficult pathway in space-time in order to bring the entire creation to the gates of Ascension.
posted by Lynn Bauman at 9:17 AM
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