Human consciousness and the Christian mystic
pp. 325-335
in: Rolf von Eckartsberg (ed), Metaphors of consciousness, Berlin, Springer, 1981Abstract
Christian mysticism is not one way but rather it encompasses many ways. Such variety has become evident to me by way of my encounter with different Christian mystics. In my early twenties, I read Augustine of Hippo and Bernard of Clairvaux. The former is often known as the "Doctor of Love." The latter describes his way and experience to be like the relation between lover and beloved. In my early thirties, while encountering and being deeply touched by oriental spirituality, especially Zen, I came into contact with the "negative way" of the Christian mystics. More recently, in my early forties, I have been moved by the Spanish mystics John of the Cross and especially Teresa of Avila. These experiences have taught me that one cannot speak of Christian mysticism as a single way or uniform vision of reality. Christian mystics give expression to the richness and uniqueness of the varied personal realization of the following of Christ. Each mystic, though unique, is grounded in an experience of Christ that may have its source in the Synoptic Gospels, the Johannine literature, the Pauline letters, or some creative combination of these witnesses.
