26^th February, 2024 • Søren Aas

Chapter VII - The First Form of Contemplation

By now we have some practical experience of mysticism and now we are going do delve into the sensory aspects. In particular we will be immersing ourselves in the natural world as the first of three forms of contemplation. We will get to the two others, Being and the Divine, in the chapters that follow.

It behooves us to take pause and reflect on what the natural world means to us, before we get to the commentary itself. Most of us will confess that the first things we associate with nature, are definitely not dirty inner city pavements. And if we where told to go contemplate nature, how many of us would end up on a supermarket parking lot? And fair enough, nature is pushed as trees, seas and such. But are we not natural beings, are not where we live and work our natural habitats? We are all part of the life unfolding, nature for us is all around us and we are all connected to it.

Commentary

Before we venture further, let us do a recap of our journey so far. We defined mysticism as the art of union with reality, where union is taken to be a state where we are at one with things (we are doing something wholeheartedly). To be in union we need to get out of our heads, we have to start feeling and sensing, not just thinking about things. We are not in union with reality when we think about smelling a rose, only when we actually inhale and sense the fragrance are we in union. Therefore we need to be master of our awareness, we practice this through meditation. Through observation of our selves as we are (not as we think we are) we notice contradictions, darkness and so on and are able to gradually accept or change so we get to know ourselves and work towards aligning ourselves with Reality. And make no mistake, this is work indeed. In short we have gone from being immersed in ourselves to starting to wake up and realize that the I we thought was real and separate, is in fact an illusion.

We are now prepared to take on the three levels of Reality in this and the two following chapters. These levels are Natural World of Becoming, the Metaphysical World of Being, and Divine Reality. Our text warns us that these three classifications are to be used for convenience of discussion, and that in reality consciousness is not packaged up in neat boxes like this, it is a unbroken progress of movement and change. That being said the classifications can act as steps where one step allows us to reach the next. We must then first be connected to nature, then embrace our life until we finally can find God. Underhill points out two common traps for the seeker, either ignoring the first two steps trying to reach the divine, or never progressing from the first step, contenting ourselves with our sensual inputs.

To take the first step, contemplating the Natural World, means observing life unfolding in all its forms. Through an act of loving will begin to observe the life around you, no matter if it be small and humble or mighty and ferocious it may be. Through observation we can wake up to the wonder of life and that we are ourselves a part of. Paying attention to what nature is up to, gradually reveals that all things are incomplete and unstable yet all posses a common life force that animates us all, yes you too dear reader.

As we observe, allowing our senses to stream data into our consciousness, we realize that the natural world is not a thought or symbol, it is something that is happening, right here right now. The book spends some time giving many examples of this way of experiencing Reality quoting many great poets who are desperately trying to convey what they also have experienced to their fellows.

What are we really talking about here? Just sit back and enjoy the ride? Well, not entirely, it is more like a balancing act. On the one hand do not want to become passive bystanders to lives unfolding, yet we also do not want to become over anxious to attain a spiritual experience. Instead we want to surrender to what is happening, actively sensing that we are a part of life (we just are). We must choose to trust that we will not fall as we let go, if we try to hang on we will not move. Choosing to trust is faith, and by choosing to have faith in our intuition, letting go of our ego and our prison of thought, choosing instead to focus our attention on our sensory inputs, this will lead us to union with Reality and experiences with nature in all her splendor.

Final thoughts

We are part of nature and through our senses we can come alive to her wonder, paradoxes, filth, beauty and horror. By immersing ourselves in the life that surrounds us we can feel part of a whole and become whole ourselves, despite our impurities and imperfections.