Living with one’s own darkness
“The monastic objection was to a Christian life deprived of its tension towards the future, the eschaton; so it is not surprising to find the theme of growth-through-conflict enjoying great prominence in the early monastic world. Nowhere is there any suggestion that monastic profession in itself achieves anything. Its purpose is to provide a stable geographical and psychological location where the important battles may be fought. For many of the earliest monks, stability of place was the primary condition for all else—‘Stay in your cell, and your cell will teach you everything.’ ‘Let your imagination think what it likes, only do not let your body leave the cell.’ What is useless and destructive is to imagine that enlightenment or virtue can be found by seeking for fresh stimulation. […] Instead, the monk must learn to live with his own darkness, with the interior horror of temptation and fantasy.”
— Rowan William, The Wound of Knowledge, p. 105
27 September 2008 |
tags: Monasticism, Rowan Williams
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