Christian Viewpoint: Hang on to your ego and lose yourself in something immense
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A fascinating research project led by Dutch academic Roos Vonk explores the effect on people of spiritual practices and mindfulness, writes John Dempster.
The aim of such practices, she believes, is to bring you to a place where you are in the moment, conscious of being part of something much vaster than yourself, and free from the insistent demands of your ego.
Her research suggests, however, that spiritual practices may actually empower the ego. They may give the participant a sense of ‘spiritual superiority’ and wellbeing, and a dogmatic confidence in sharing the ideology which gave rise to their experiences, rather than realising that ‘other people learn from life in their own way, at their own pace, by their own experience.’
The Christian invitation is a call to lose our small selves in something immense – the God whose spirit sustains the universe – and awaken to our true identity as part of God’s Whole.
But this we often forget, and live as if Christianity was little more than an edifice of ideas and doctrines rather than connectedness with the divine. And regrettably, the misuses of spirituality which Vonk identifies are found in Christians too.
At times, sitting quietly, I’ve had a brief sense of losing myself in joy and oneness. But then my ego kicks in. ‘Wow, that’s some experience you’re having! You could write about that!’ In that instant the joy dies into memory.
How easy it is for Christians to think ‘I have seen things more clearly than you! So you should believe and act exactly as I do.’ How easy to feel good about ourselves because of the experiences we’ve had rather than because of the unfailing Love of which to give a flickering glimpse.
Roos Vonk says little about the beliefs behind the spiritual techniques she investigated. But it is crucial that as Christians we do not focus exclusively on spiritual experience: It is the beliefs of the faith tradition we stand in which interpret the adventures of our hearts. It is the coming of Jesus which assures us that we are infinitely loved by a God who draws us out of ourselves in those moments of deep reflection.
It is this God, not an impersonal life force who, through an individually-planned immersion course, teaches a person ‘in their own way, at their own pace, by their own experience.’
Roos Vonk reports that courses on spirituality and mindfulness are often marketed as a means to an end, meaning that the ego is emphasised from the start. But Christianity is not about ‘What can I get out of it?’, rather ‘How can my life be less ego-driven, and more in harmony with the Great Love God shows us in Christ?’
Climb the waterfall and dance on ice!
