In the classical path of spiritual development as defined in the Catholic tradition, illumination stands in the middle of the purgative way that leads to union with God. In this way purgation, illumination and union are the sequence of the isolated soul's journey to participation in the knowledge of God, so that it may share in the very being of God (2 Pet. 1:4), in whose image it was, in the first place, fashioned and created. The isolation of the individual soul follows from its innate tendency to seek for itself in separation from living fellowship with anyone outside itself. This is shown by its absorption in its private interests to the exclusion of the wider claims of life. This is the state of sin that the world is perpetually facing: an isolation of living forms into monolithic units that cease to relate positively to anyone outside themselves, even using each other in a predatory fashion to realise the satisfaction of personal greed. The ego, that ever-changing focus of personal consciousness by which we identify ourselves and seek to assert ourselves in whatever situation we may find ourselves, soon becomes a bulwark of defence against any self-giving relationship with another person. Thus there is a state, if not of actual war, of at least armed neutrality between people that prevents self-giving openness in love. When this barrier to a full relationship is erected, the power of the Holy Spirit is seriously weakened in the lives of such entrenched personalities. The result is attrition of the full person and a movement from life to death.
It is an interesting observation that the aim of the psychotherapeutic process is to build up and establish an ego consciousness that can bring the individual into creative relationship with unconscious forces even of a dark type, and make him a person in his own right. By contrast, the way of the mystic is to transcend the claims of the ego and enter a new experience of personal identity that moves beyond material bondage, finding its end in union with God. This end might indeed be dismissed as an escape from the harsh realities of earthly life into an illusory absorption in the Absolute experienced as a state of impersonal non- existence. This is a description levelled by hostile, often ignorant, critics at some aspects of Eastern mysticism. In fact, this is a travesty of the state of absorption into the divine that characterises the spiritual experience of the truly illumined Hindu or Buddhist saint. The reason why the end of authentic mystical illumination is not simply an elevated transcendence of the earthly condition is because union with God brings with it, as an inevitable consequence, union with all life. This includes primarily fellowship with all people. In this way alone can be obeyed Jesus' two fundamental commandments: the absolute love of God and the love of neighbour as of self. The first necessarily incorporates the second; the second is ultimately impossible without the first, though it might appear as a transitory atheistic phase of goodwill based on shared intellectual concepts. It could never embrace all people, however, let alone all life unless God were the centre of the love.
And yet the psychotherapeutic concern for the liberated self, manifest as the ego in everyday relationships, and the mystical rejection of the isolation of the ego, which is seen to be an illusion, have features in common and are not necessarily antagonistic. In the end what matters is the nature of the self by which identification is attained. To know oneself as an independent focus of consciousness that responds to a definite name and has a purpose in life is the beginning of one's identity, and around it forms the personality we experience inwardly and project outwardly to the world around us. There are, alas, many people who have not attained that degree of integration necessary for them to identify themselves as special individuals in their own right. The experience of separate identity that normally dawns on one in very early childhood should be substantiated and confirmed by the acceptance from one's parents, family and, finally, one's peer group that one receives during the years of growth up to adulthood. To this ought to be added one's achievements in the fields of scholarship and athletics that should punctuate one's life at school and then possibly at a place of higher education. In this way we can experience ourself as a unique person in whatever situation we find ourself by the time we have become an adult. In this growth towards the identity of a fully established person, the outer focus of which is the ego-consciousness that we identify with ourselves, two requirements must be met: the acknowledgment of one's peers and the love of one's family on the one hand and an assured place in society on the other. This assured social position is dependent on the work we do, the satisfaction we gain from it, and the recognition that accrues as a result of its achievements. People who are accepted with love by those closest to them, and have a secure position in the society around them, are well set to having a full awareness of their identity, and then being able to actualise it in the world in which they function.
On the other hand, the person who has never been acknowledged while yet a child and whose social roots are tenuous and unsatisfactory will have a poor sense of personal identity. He will tend to be taken over by outside forces stronger than himself, and also be dominated by inner impulses and emotions that have never been fully acknowledged and assimilated in his childhood. Among these invidious psychic charges are fear based on insecurity, resentment that one has been cheated out of the affection that was one's due, hatred of others, especially the foreigner and stranger who would appear to threaten one's existence, and a nebulous sense of meaninglessness in life, so that death and annihilation seem a more acceptable solution to existence than does the hard, loveless face of everyday life. If such an individual is to be healed, to be brought into full communication with his unconscious mind and established as a complete person, an ego-consciousness has to be fashioned from the vapid elements of, his inner life.
And yet the ego that is dependent on outer acknowledgment is an uncertain, fluctuating centre of awareness. If it is not substantiated by something greater than material achievement, more enduring even than deep personal relationships, it will wither as the person grows old. With the process of ageing, the landmarks of earlier life become dim; their façades are obliterated by the inroads of time and oblivion. Decay marks the place where once a living monument to man's ingenuity stood proud and erect. There is in all of us, if we begin to know ourselves fully, a deeper focus of identity that transcends the claims and prizes of this mortal life and sees meaning in an existence far greater than anything we may know in purely rational consciousness. To gain access to this seat of transcendental knowledge there may have to be a complete surrender of all that was previously held inviolable and sacrosanct. It is the pearl of great price that, once found, demands a complete sacrifice of all else we possess before it can be claimed as our own. As Jesus told those who were disciples,
Anyone who wishes to be a follower of mine must leave self behind; he must take up his cross and come with me. Whoever cares for his own safety is lost; but if a man will let himself be lost for my sake and for the Gospel, that man is safe. What does a man gain by winning the whole world at the cost of his true self? What can he give to buy that self back? (Mark 8:34-7).
The self that has to be left behind is the ego-consciousness with all its assurance and glory as well as its defilement and corruption. The safety we care for is the identity we cling to with its rich rewards of wealth and reputation. Indeed, our reputation is hardest of all to surrender, since on it depends our standing in the world's eyes and the security that follows from it. But if our very identity is sacrificed for the highest we know, the word of God that inflames the depths in us, we gain an identity that is proof against all the winnowing fire of the world's hatred, fickleness and destructive jealousy. This identity is heavenly and no longer subject to the vicissitudes of mortal life and death. It can never be taken from us, for once we live by it, the whole world is seen to be an insubstantial pageant, and all its prizes futile as compared with the one thing needful for eternal joy. This is the deep centre within that is in everlasting fellowship with God, since God Himself has taken His place in its holiest point. This teaching is essential to the mystical understanding of all the great religious traditions and is the path trodden by all their saints. It is not acquired by study so much as by the journey of life itself. On it depends man's place as the agent of God in the working of this world. Until an individual knows of this truth and starts to live by it - no easy matter, let it be said at once - he has not arrived at a fully human stature, and therefore cannot be a satisfactory counsellor to those still groping for inner identity.
The stage on the spiritual path described as illumination is an experience of the presence of God which has its fruit in enlightening the responses of the person to a completely new understanding of reality. Whereas previously reality was understood in purely rational, materialistic terms related to personal survival and procreation, it is now grasped as a dimension, an atmosphere (all words fail to do it full justice) of love, meaning and assurance that brings all earthly endeavours into eternal significance. The meaning I speak of is that all mortal experiences, good and bad alike, have their end in building the personality to something that far exceeds the inevitable selfishness of the isolated ego-consciousness (inevitable because of its attachment to survival), and the assurance that full personhood will be attained at the end of life's struggle. In this illumined state the glory of a realised person is seen to transcend the barrier of physical death, and the attainment of this state of being is a presage of, indeed a preparation for, immortality. The illumined person therefore knows something of the eternal life in God even as he treads the weary path of mortal existence, and is able to bring some promise of this eternal life in his endeavours to all those around him. This he does not by description, let alone exhortation, but by his very presence and the healing atmosphere he brings with him in his silence as much as in his speech and actions. It seems to me that no counsellor can attain the fullness of his remedial work until he is vouchsafed a further vision of the destiny of humanity as a whole than the very limited view available to those around him. It is to the one with at least partial sight that is entrusted the privileged work of leading the blind.
The obvious danger of this approach is that the person who claims special illumination and is boosted up egoistically by his 'revelation', will be encouraged to assume the exalted mantle of the master, the initiate, or the guru, according to the tradition he adopts. He will lead others by way of his private opinions, obligingly substantiated by visions and inner voices of authority, which are far more likely to be dangerous delusions than authentic beacons on the path of self-realisation and world service. In no field of human endeavour is the scriptural injunction to test the spirits more essential:
But do not trust any and every spirit, my friends; test the spirits, to see whether they are from God, for among those who have gone out into the world there are many prophets falsely inspired. This is how we may recognise the Spirit of God: every spirit which acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit which does not thus acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is what is meant by 'Antichrist'; you have been told that he was to come, and here he is, in the world already (I John 4:1-3).
The Spirit of God is revealed in Christ, by His work of healing, humility and self- sacrifice in the world for the redemption of sinful humanity. He took nothing for Himself - whether money, credit for His works or power to dominate the political scene; He gave everything to humanity in the name of the Father from Whom He acknowledged all gifts and power. He said, for instance, to Pilate 'You would have no authority at all over me if it had not been granted you from above' (John 19:11). The truly illumined person leads by a light far greater than anything he can muster from his own imagination. Nor can it be created by the manipulations of the intermediate powers that inhabit the psychic dimension of reality. It is the light of God, uncreated and of an intensity of brightness far beyond the comprehension of the naked human intelligence. This is the manifestation of true sanctity, the seal of Christ, Who is the light of the world. He is also the way, the truth and the life (John 8:12 and 14:6). Though beyond human attainment the light comes to all who are capable of receiving it, and in it lies the assurance of ultimate purpose even in the impenetrable darkness of prevailing doubt and despair at their most urgent and acute.
The illumination that comes from God is an important phase in self-discovery. It confirms that there is a true identity in all of us that will outlast the vicissitudes of this mortal life and is of the nature of Christ within, our personal hope of glory to come as well as the greater promise of healing for all humanity. This peak of illumination is, in fact, the experience that mystics have in their journey to communion with God. It cannot be grasped or manipulated, since attempts to reproduce the effect with drugs deprive the person of the sharp intellectual discrimination that is necessary to understand what has been given and the moral dedication to use it for the benefit of the world. Illumination, however, need not always come as a cataclysmic event that completely changes one's perspective; even St Paul's dramatic conversion experience on the road to Damascus was in all probability the zenith of the climax of a spiritual revolution that was slowly and unobtrusively taking place within him. It is unfortunate that the 'peak experience' is often taken out of its proper context as an indication of the way lying ahead of the person to the full actualisation of his unique being as a child of God, and made a thing to be grasped in its own right, so that it may comfort and exalt the individual, making him feel in some way special and remote from his fellow men.
When the deeper reality of the soul, the true or spiritual self, is known, its radiance penetrates the whole personality. Then the ego-consciousness, instead of being annihilated, is lifted up to the spiritual self within, and indeed it becomes an external focus of the self that is one's true identity. Thus the statement of John 10:30 that the Father and Christ are one, finds its attainment in all people who have been given a direct knowledge of the presence of God within them. Certainly in Jesus the Father is constantly revealed, something that cannot be said for even the greatest saint in the world. Nevertheless, the person living a life of spiritual radiance shows his inner identity to the world, and his life is no longer merely his, but that of Christ living in him (Gal. 2:19). The ego is the very mirror of the soul in a spiritual person. In him the ego is no longer a bellicose, rather childish focus of self-assertiveness that acts as an effective barrier against a full communication with the unconscious depths within the personality. Instead it becomes the open road that leads to the spirit within a person.
In the same way the illumined ego can be still and silent before both God and man. It can then receive the full impact of divine wisdom as well as the hesitant, often painful information that flows from the depths of a fellow human being. To be a minister of God's counsel, that is the privilege as well as the responsibility of working in full openness to the Holy Spirit, one must therefore be at peace with oneself and focused in the centre of one's true being, the soul or the spiritual self. In that heavenly stillness one may be given words of supernatural wisdom, even if one flinches in one's humble intellectual status before the judgment of the mighty of this earth. These inner words may completely alter one's life and the lives of others around one.
To give counsel is the act of an intermediary, indeed an intercessor, between God and man. The aim of the work of counselling is seldom to give clear directives; it is primarily to be a silent channel through which God's wisdom can be transmitted to the human mind. The most profound communication takes place between two people who care so deeply for one another that they can relate perfectly in a silence that is wordless and yet eloquent in content. As one explores the depths of one's inner being, so one encounters the soul which is the centre of integration of the whole personality. From that centre one can flow out in fellowship to anyone who is able to listen and participate in the conversation; the person in need of guidance is especially open to that communication. Furthermore, the Spirit of God that joins us all together in one body has a healing purpose that is independent of the knowledge of the minister of healing, and a cogency that is more powerful than even the most studied advice which might be uttered by a trained counsellor relying on technical understanding alone.
Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty (2 Cor. 3:17). The seat of wisdom is the centre of the soul called the spirit of man; this is in direct communion with the Holy Spirit, Who dwells in all of us, since He is the Lord and giver of life. Whereas in the other animals He acts as a power that cannot be responded to in a rational way, in the human being He can be accepted, heeded and obeyed with joy and thanksgiving. The truly spiritual person has a conscious awareness of divine things that is lacking in the one who is unspiritual. And let it be said at once that spirituality is independent of intellectual attainment. On the other hand, an innate spirituality is greatly cultivated and strengthened by the disciplined development and use of the rational mind. The great mystics have all been people of considerable understanding and intelligence, but their wisdom far transcended the learning contained in books. On the other hand, it did not impugn the truth of Holy Scripture but rather elucidated it and fulfilled it in the art of illumined living.
The spirit of man is the centre of being from which all spiritual gifts take their origin, at least in respect of the person himself. In this centre, the Holy Spirit can show Himself to us and speak with an unclouded and uncoloured directness. His word is then free from the distortion that invariably disturbs His discourse when He speaks through the mind of someone who is sullied with prejudice or fear. In this way fear, concern for one's own standing in the world, and distrust of other people and their way of life can seriously interfere with, and even prevent, the full flow of counsel from the lips of the one who is entrusted with the word that heals. On the other hand, if one is properly centred, the Holy Spirit will give one that inner freedom to speak the inspired word and proclaim the presence of God, from Whom all healing and counsel proceed. The responsibility is shared between God and man. Our part in the transaction is to be as perfect in love and service as lies within our reach. This requirement would be all but impossible were it not for the indwelling Spirit of God who leads us, when we are obedient to His voice, from the bondage of either egoistic selfishness or crippling self-denigration to the experience of all-embracing grace. In this healing experience of God's grace the word brings a new perspective to all who listen.
The secret is constant openness to God at all times and places, so that each event, indeed each person, though apparently well known and documented in the past, is now seen with fresh eyes that discern an unaccustomed radiance in the common round of life. This openness to the divine is assuredly a gift of grace, but is also a way of life. As one gives of oneself in unremitting service to the world, so one renders oneself more open to the love of God, Who in turn uses one for further service. The recompense for that service is the harvest of the spirit, described by St Paul in Galatians 5:22 - love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, fidelity, gentleness and self-control. This amazing harvest is not given simply to be accumulated for the benefit of the one who has received the blessing; it forms the basis of a life of further self giving, the end of which is the bestowal of a similar harvest on as many other people as are able to receive the blessing. No genuine spiritual gift, nor the harvest of spiritual living, can possibly remain hidden or sequestered in the life of a person who has given up himself to God's service. The end of God's work is universal healing, so that all creatures may be redeemed from the slavery of personal attachment (which in the human being is the basis of sin). All who love God work ceaselessly for the reclamation of that which is lost, for the transfiguration of all that is at present unclean and corrupt.
This is the end of the experience of illumination and marks the point of full self-discovery. We are all parts of one universal body, and the self is never entirely enclosed in or limited by the single physical body that we call our own and that responds to the name given it at the time of our birth into this world.