I came across this terrific post about a talk Rowan Williams gave on ‘Mental health, mysticism and spirituality’. So many profound things to ponder. But I was particularly struck by his insistence that mysticism and spirituality should not be viewed as an escape route from reality or community.
A couple of quotes:
A lot of talk about mysticism and spirituality can be heard as giving you an escape route. Life is difficult but let’s take our glasses off so things look a bit more vague. But the proper definition of mysticism means we can see the nature of suffering more clearly, not less. It doesn’t make it easier, it makes it clearer.
Any idea of mental health or spiritual fulfilment that suggests the point of it all is to make it easier, becomes really a way of seeing less than there is to see. I hope that our growth is towards seeing suffering more clearly, and feeling some of the ache and the wound of it, while not being driven into a reactive, over-busy, over-anxious response.
And on community:
Spirituality has become for many people a pleasingly undemanding alternative to religion. Religion is all to do with people in black suits telling you what to do, spirituality is all about discovering your own genius.
What I’m suspicious of in the spiritual is not the lack of structure and authority, but sometimes the lack of community, shared perspective, and intelligent interaction. Spiritual well-being, like other kinds of health, is about life-giving relationships.
Loads more good stuff in the article.