The Silent Ascent: Unveiling God Through Mystical Christian Contemplation

In a world clamouring for our attention, the ancient path of mystical Christian contemplation offers a profound invitation: to step beyond words, thoughts, and even feelings, and encounter God in the depths of our being. This isn’t about intellectual acrobatics or theological debate; it’s about a radical opening of the heart and soul to divine presence.

Mystical Christian Contemplation is available to everybody without exclusion and, at its core, is a journey into silence, a stripping away of all that is not God, to experience direct union with the Divine. It’s a pursuit not of knowledge about God, but of intimacy with God. And throughout Christian history, extraordinary souls, known as mystics, have illuminated this path for us, offering glimpses into the unfathomable love that awaits those who dare to seek.

What is Mystical Christian Contemplation?

Imagine trying to describe the taste of honey to someone who has never experienced it. You can use words like “sweet,” “golden,” “thick,” but these fall short of the actual experience. Mystical contemplation is similar. It’s an experiential knowledge of God that transcends concepts.

The ultimate value of life depends upon awareness and the power of contemplation rather than upon mere survival.” – Albert Einstein 

It involves:

• Apophatic Theology: Often called “negative theology,” this approach focuses on what God is not, rather than what God is. By shedding all human constructs and limitations we impose on God, we create space for the true, ineffable nature of the Divine to reveal itself.
• Silence and Stillness: Moving beyond discursive prayer (praying with words and thoughts) into a deep, wordless listening. This is where the soul becomes receptive to God’s subtle promptings.
• Union with God (Theosis): The ultimate aim is not just closeness, but a transformative union with God’s essence, a participation in the divine life. It’s a journey from “knowing about” to “knowing.”

Guiding Lights: Mystics Who Taught Contemplation

These spiritual giants, though separated by centuries, share a common thread: a radical commitment to seeking God beyond the ordinary.

1. Evagrius Ponticus (345-399 AD)

Often called the “father of Christian mysticism,” Evagrius was a desert father who meticulously mapped the landscape of the human mind and its struggles. He emphasized the practice of hesychia (stillness) and the purification of the heart to achieve pure prayer – prayer free from images, concepts, or passions. His work laid foundational psychological insights for contemplative practice.

2. St. John of the Cross (1542-1591 AD)

This Carmelite mystic and poet gifted the Church with some of its most profound spiritual insights, particularly on the “Dark Night of the Soul.” He described the painful, yet ultimately purifying, process where God strips away all our spiritual consolations, attachments, and even our understanding of Him, to draw the soul into a deeper, unadulterated union. His writings are a stark but hopeful guide through spiritual dryness and desolation.

3. St. Teresa of Ávila (1515-1582 AD)

A contemporary and collaborator of St. John, Teresa was a vibrant, practical mystic who founded numerous convents and penned classics like The Interior Castle. She used the metaphor of a castle with many mansions to describe the soul’s journey inward towards the innermost chamber where God resides. She taught various stages of prayer, emphasizing mental prayer and the prayer of quiet, where God Himself takes the lead in prayer.

4. Meister Eckhart (c. 1260 – c. 1328 AD)

A German Dominican theologian, philosopher, and mystic, Eckhart urged his followers to “let go of God for God’s sake.” He spoke of an “uncreated spark” within the soul, identical to the divine ground of all being. His teachings emphasized detaching from all created things and even from our own ideas about God to encounter the Godhead beyond all distinction. He challenged conventional religious thought, urging direct, unmediated experience.

5. Julian of Norwich (c. 1342 – c. 1416 AD)

One of the most beloved English mystics, Julian experienced a series of visions (or “shewings”) during a severe illness. Her work, Revelations of Divine Love, is remarkable for its optimistic and tender understanding of God’s unconditional love, often expressed through her famous line, “All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well.” She taught a radical trust in divine providence and the motherhood of God.

Embarking on Your Contemplative Journey

The path of Mystical Christian Contemplation is not reserved for saints or monastics; it is an invitation extended to all. It requires courage, patience, and a willingness to simply be with God. It is also not reserved for any one human being, sect, denomination or otherwise. Protestant, Catholic, Jew and Hindu are all invited to have a direct relationship with God without the dualistic damage of people who think they are the chosen few who are headed to heaven while they condemn their neighbour elsewhere.

In fact a major part of contemplative practice is coming to understand that Gods thinking is far above our understanding. If God wills that no one be left behind, God wins. However that happens is Gods business, not the business of pastor turned judge and jury. God is Love and that love is divine, sovereign, patient, kind, non-dual and unlimited. Only the contemplative mind (CQ), accessed with an open heart (EQ) can begin to fathom and understand (IQ) Gods will. We need to be still to know God as it where, in a mystical space beyond thought, judgement and all things ego and persona.

To enter into the realm of contemplation, one must in a certain sense die: but this death is in fact the entrance into a higher life.” – Thomas Merton 

Here are a few starting points to develop your Contemplative Intelligence (CQ):

• Centering Prayer: A modern contemplative practice rooted in ancient Christian tradition, involving silently consenting to God’s presence and action within.
• Lectio Divina: A meditative reading of Scripture that moves beyond intellectual study to prayerful listening.
• Solitude and Silence: Regularly setting aside time to simply sit in God’s presence without agenda or expectation.

The call to mystical contemplation is a call to profound intimacy, a journey into the heart of God where we discover our truest selves. It’s a silent ascent, leading not away from the world, but deeper into its sacred reality, infused with divine love.