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“The Ecstasy of Action and Life” “THE ECSTASY OF ACTION AND LIFE” Silvija Migles UDK 248.12 141.33 Introduction In relation to the three main questions posed on the Junge Theologie 2014 Forum’s invitation (Which forms and interpretations of religious ecstasy are bequeathed to us by Judeo–Christian tradition? Which demarcations and dis–limitations are there in relation to other, apparently secular forms of ec- stasy? With which (post–)modern forms of ecstasy are today’s theology and religious studies confronted?), I have decided to focus in my presentation on that interpretation of ecstasy which approaches it from within the divine order of love and in relation to the wholeness of human life. Thus, what I would like to sketch can be primarily labelled as an integrative approach in whose centre is theological life and Christian humanism. The title itself tries to allude to the intention of this presentation; to present that aspect of the contemplative ecstasy considered being the most important by St Francis of Sales and also named “the ecstasy of action and life”1 by the saint himself. Of course, this does not mean that I wish to deny the understanding of ecstasy as a mystical phenomenon and as a supernatu- ral gift of the Divine mercy that pervades a human being without destroying him/her. On the contrary, I want to remain within the area of theological dimension of Christian life, while pointing out that ecstasy, as a certain ex- pression of the climax of one’s union and relationship with God, leads to the “ecstasy of action and life”. While the ecstasy of life refers to the supernatu- ral life, life filled with ‘heavenly inspirations’ (which lifts us up and draws us beyond our natural inclinations and impulses), the ecstasy of action re- fers to the re–incitement of concrete love that is attentive to all the needs of * Silvija Migles, [email protected], Katolički bogoslovni fakultet Sveučilišta u Za- grebu – Catholic Faculty of Theology, University of Zagreb 1 De Sales, F. Treatise on the Love of God, 263. http://www.pathsoflove.com/pdf/francis– love–of–god.pdf . Also available at: http://www.ecatholic2000.com/desales/log.shtml. 143 ddisphi15.inddisphi15.indd 114343 110.02.20150.02.2015 111:14:211:14:21 Silvija Migles: “The Ecstasy of Action and Life” DISPUTATIO PHILOSOPHICA others or to the life which is not lived for itself but for what is outside of it — a sign of true ecstasy.2 My choice for this topic has been largely prompted by personal reasons. Namely, I read extensively on great mystics, states of mystical ecstasy, which characterised them and their ecstatic union with God. Though this might be perceived as a critique of my own contemplative life, I have never ex- perienced anything similar; even in what I consider the deepest moments of my personal surrender to God. Although I have been fortunate enough to experience God’s blessings, His presence, and His joy, these never led to the experience of going beyond myself, of ecstasy. However, my ‘compan- ionship’ with mystics and especially their considerations of ecstatic experi- ences, led me to believe that the experience of union with God is not only a result of an extraordinary gift of God’s mercy and love — of ecstasy, but that it also comes through more ordinary, perhaps more common experiences of the ‘silent’ presence of God’s mercy that pervades one with the joy of life. Thus, whether we are dealing with extraordinary or more ordinary experi- ences, in both cases it is the work of God’s self–giving intervention, which results with the sanctification of the everyday life, our neighbours and all the creation. The presentation is divided into three parts. The first part focuses on initial inspirations of my own thinking about spiritual life in general and ecstasy in particular. On a reflective journey with Meister Eckhart, the great Dominican spiritual teacher and a man of prayer, down the path of discourse on relatedness of inner and outer, I will reflect on the authenticity of mysti- cal life. The wholeness of Christian life cannot be conceptualised without its mystical dimension, which means that the project of the new evangelisa- tion is also unimaginable without the rediscovery of this dimension. In the second part I will reflect on the supernatural, theological dimension of the believer’s life as a condition for the correct understanding of mysticism and ecstasy within Christian communities. Finally, in the third part I will try to evaluate, in light of the Christian vision, so called pseudo–ecstasies, which include distorted forms of the un- ion, the search for extraordinary, sensational, emotional, and transitory. The concluding thoughts call for ecstatic love, intimate communion with God, and mystical love towards the neighbour that, at the same time, flows towards the meeting with God. 2 Cf. Benedict XVI. 2011. Saint Francis de Sales. General Audience. Accessed July 5, 2014. http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/audiences/2011/documents/hf_ben–xvi_ aud_20110302_en.html. 144 ddisphi15.inddisphi15.indd 114444 110.02.20150.02.2015 111:14:221:14:22 DISPUTATIO PHILOSOPHICA Silvija Migles: “The Ecstasy of Action and Life” 1. On Relationship between the Inner and the Outer I have found the inspiration for my own reflection on spiritual life in general and ecstasy in particular in the thought of a Dominican, a great spiritual teacher and a man of prayer, Meister Eckhart. His insightful reflection on action and contemplation, soul and body, divine and earthly, extraordinary and ordinary, reveal that the authenticity of mystical life does not consist in the escape from the world (fuga mundi) or in the search for extraordinary or privileged mystical experiences (not even after they have already occurred3), but that its authenticity is in a certain way of being, in sanctification of all of our actions: “We ought not to think of building holiness upon the action; we ought to build it upon a way of being, for it is not what we do that makes us holy, but we ought to make holy what we do“4. Meister Eckhart was not an ecstatic person, nor did he study ecstasy. Although he did not doubt that such experiences exist, he himself did not give them much attention. On the contrary, he believed that even if they do occur: “And even if this really be love, it still is not the very best love. That can be seen when sometimes a man must abandon this kind of jubilation because of a better kind of love, and sometimes to perform a work of love, whether spiritual or bodily, when someone has need of him. I have said be- fore: If a man were in an ecstasy, as St Paul was, and knew that some sick man needed him to give him a bit of soup, I should think it far better if you would abandon your ecstasy out of love and show greater love in caring for the other in his need.”5 In other words, Meister Eckhart is speaking here on the relationship be- tween the inner and the outer, between contemplation and action. True spir- ituality does not harbour a discrepancy between these two realities; on the contrary, the basic demand of spirituality is to keep the “balanced tension”6 between the two, so that one would not end up in either the extreme of exclusivist–individualistic spirituality, or the extreme of immanent social– therapeutic activism.7 3 Cf. Eckhart, M. 1981. The Essential Sermons, Commentaries, Treatises and Defense, 60. New York: Paulist Press. 4 Ibid, 247. 5 Ibid, 258. 6 Cunningham, L. 1996. Christian Spirituality: Themes from the Tradition, 19. New Jersey: Paulist Press. 7 Cf. Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, 2004. Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, no. 545. http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/justpeace/documents/rc_pc_just- peace_doc_20060526_compendio–dott–soc_en.html. 145 ddisphi15.inddisphi15.indd 114545 110.02.20150.02.2015 111:14:221:14:22 Silvija Migles: “The Ecstasy of Action and Life” DISPUTATIO PHILOSOPHICA Meister Eckhart does not deny that ecstasy is a good, which a spiritual person will have a tendency to pursue.8 However, within the divine order of love and in relation to love for the neighbour it is a smaller good. In that sense, the highest good is to be in love — to open oneself and to be in God’s presence which is within us or, in Eckhart’s words to “let God be God in you”. Ecstasy is, therefore, not the “essence of love”; it is, primarily, “action or pouring out of love”, an extraordinary phenomenon of spiritual life that affects, primarily, the emotional dimension of being. Hence, Meister Eckhart points out: “Often this appears plainly (…) and yet this is not always the best that could be. For it may be that it does not come from love, but perhaps it only comes from nature that a man experiences such savour and sweetness. It may be sent down from heaven, or it may be born in from the senses. And those who have more of this are not always the best man”.9 The best are those who do not pay the most at- tention to “the ecstasy of a sustained psycho–spiritual enthusiasm but rather (to) the plain, Gospel ecstasy of committed service to the neighbour. Active, devoted charity, therefore, not mere feelings or mere sensations of devotion, is what, in Eckhart’s opinion, most distinguishes the Christian disciple”.10 Eckhart emphasises that ecstasy is not the best thing that could occur. The essence of mysticism is not the ecstasy.
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