Aldous Huxley, in his The Perennial Philosophy (1944) speaks of knowing God in two ways: the heights of the inner life, and the fullness of God in the world. He says:
Where there is exclusive concentration on the heights within, temptations and distractions are avoided and there is a general denial and suppression. But when the hope is to know God inclusively—to realize the divine Ground in the world as well as in the soul, temptations and distractions must not be avoided, but submitted to and used as opportunities for advance; there must be no suppression of outward-turning activities, but a transformation of them so that they become sacramental (pp. 61-62).
He calls this "spiritual Knowledge in its fullness ... in and through the world as well as in and through the soul" (p. 62). Yet, Huxley acknowledges the dangers of seeking God in the world. Without a disciplined spiritual practice life in the world either becomes antinomianistic (a kind of anything goes life) or else merely formally spiritual, with no depth (p. 70).
Secular monasticism, as we are trying to practice it in the Lindisfarne Community, is an embrace of both ways. We live fearlessly, fully and delightfully in the world, and seek to maintain our integrity in a disciplined and healthy spirituality.
Huxley says:
As always, the path of spirituality is a knife-edge between abysses. On the one side is the danger of mere rejection and escape, on the other the danger of mere acceptance and the enjoyment of things whihc should only be used as instruments or symbols" (p. 72).
Quite a challenging life. Enjoy the journey!
+Ab. Andy
