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Created page with 'File:lighterstill.jpgright|frame *Date: [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/13th_Century 13th century] ==Definitions== *1 a : concentration on [[sp...'
[[File:lighterstill.jpg]][[File:Contemplation.jpg|right|frame]]
*Date: [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/13th_Century 13th century]
==Definitions==
*1 a : [[concentration]] on [[spiritual]] [[things]] as a [[form]] of [[private]] [[devotion]]
:b : a [[state]] of [[mystical]] [[awareness]] of [[God]]'s [[being]]
*2 : an [[act]] of considering with [[attention]] : [[study]]
*3 : the [[act]] of regarding steadily
*4 : [[intention]], [[expectation]]
==Description==
The [[word]] '''contemplation''' comes from the [[Latin]] root templum (from [[Greek]] temnein: to cut or divide). It means separating something from its [[environment]] and enclosing it in a sector. Contemplation is the [[Latin]] [[translation]] of Greek '[[theory]]' (theoria). In a [[religious]] sense it is usually a [[type]] of [[prayer]] or [[meditation]].
==Greek philosophy==
'''Contemplation''' was an important part of the [[philosophy]] of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plato Plato]; Plato thought that through contemplation the [[soul]] may [[ascend]] to [[knowledge]] of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Form_of_the_Good Form of the Good] or other [[divine]] Forms.[1] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plotinus Plotinus] as a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neoplatonism Neolatonic] philosopher also [[expressed]] contemplation as the most critical of components for one to reach [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henosis henosis]. To Plotinus the highest contemplation was to [[experience]] the [[vision]] of [[God]], the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monad Monad] or the One. Plotinus describes this [[experience]] in his works the Enneads. According to his student Porphyry, Plotinus stated that he had this experience of God four times.[2] Plotinus wrote about his experience in Enneads 6.9.xx....
==Eastern Orthodox Christianity==
In [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Christianity Eastern Christianity] contemplation or theoria [[literally]] means to see [[God]] or to have the Vision of God.[3] As a [[technique]], theoria is [[expressed]] by the [[ascetic]] [[tradition]] of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hesychasm Hesychasm]. Hesychasm is [[continuous]] [[prayer]] that is to [[focus]] with [[absolute]] [[sincerity]], and to repeat in prayer, as a means to focus exclusively on the [[Triune]] God. It is to [[reconcile]] the [[heart]] and the [[mind]] into one thing (see [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nous nous]).[4] Contemplation in Eastern Orthodoxy is [[expressed]] in [[degrees]] as those covered in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Climacus St John Climacus]' [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ladder_of_Divine_Ascent Ladder of Divine Ascent]. The [[process]] of changing from the old man of sin into the new born child of God and into our true [[nature]] as [[good]] and [[divine]] is called [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theosis theosis]. Each of these components are critical to the cultivation of theoria. One derives [[Spiritual]] [[Knowledge]] from theoria. One however can not derive theoria from spiritual knowledge. This is to say that once someone is in the [[presence]] of God then they can begin to properly [[understand]] and there "contemplate" God. This form of contemplation is to have and pass through an [[actual]] [[experience]] rather than a [[scientific]] [[understanding]] of [[theory]]. Whereas in [[science]] one uses theory to [[understand]] the natural world and its operations, one does the reverse with [[God]]. In science contemplation means one derives a [[explanation]] and then tests the "theory" (see [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gnosiology gnosiology]). Within the realm of Eastern Christianity theory is [[faith]] and one at first cultivates the [[virtues]] as an [[expression]] of [[faith]]. Once the virtues are cultivated the highest virtue is [[humility]]. Through humility one becomes [[Holy]]. God is humility and one becomes like [[God]]. This is the contemplation (living) of God. The [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hagia_Sophia Holy Wisdom] of God is not [[knowledge]] but [[humility]].
==Western Christianity==
Within Western Christianity contemplation is often related to [[mysticism]] as expressed in the works of mystical theologians such as [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teresa_of_Avila Teresa of Avila] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_of_the_Cross John of the Cross] as well as the writings of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margery_Kempe Margery Kempe], Augustine Baker and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Merton Thomas Merton].
==Contemplation and meditation==
In Christianity, contemplation refers to a [[content]]-free [[mind]] directed towards the [[awareness]] of [[God]] as a living [[reality]]. This corresponds to what in Eastern religion is called [[meditation]]. In Christianity, however, meditation refers to a specific, directed [[mental]] [[exercise]], such as visualization of a religious scene or consideration of a scriptural passage.
Contemplation as a [[practice]] is finding greater [[resonance]] in the West both in [[business]] - for example in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Senge Peter Senge]'s book [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fifth_Discipline The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization][6] - and in universities in fields as [[diverse]] as [[architecture]], [[physics]], and the liberal arts.
In Catholic Christianity, contemplation is given importance. The Catholic Church's "model theologian," [[Aquinas|St. Thomas Aquinas]] wrote: "It is requisite for the [[good]] of the [[human]] [[community]] that there should be [[persons]] who devote themselves to the life of contemplation." One of his disciples, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josef_Pieper Josef Pieper] commented: "For it is contemplation which preserves in the midst of [[human]] [[society]] the [[truth]] which is at one and the same time useless and the yardstick of every possible use; so it is also contemplation which keeps the true end in sight, gives [[meaning]] to every [[practical]] act of life."[7]
==See also==
* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contemplative_prayer Contemplative prayer]
* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interior_life_(Catholic_theology) Interior Life]
* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meditation Meditation]
* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miksang Miksang] (contemplative photography)
* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prayer_of_Quiet Prayer of Quiet]
* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contemplative_education Contemplative education]
==References==
# Plato: Critical Assessments, Nicholas D. Smith, Routledge, 1998. ISBN 0415126053
# See the Life of Plotinus
# The vision of the uncreated light, which offers knowledge of God to man, is sensory and supra-sensory. The bodily eyes are reshaped, so they see the uncreated light, "this mysterious light, inaccessible, immaterial, uncreated, deifying, eternal", this "radiance of the Divine Nature, this glory of the divinity, this beauty of the heavenly kingdom" (3,1,22;CWS p.80). Palamas asks: "Do you see that light is inaccessible to senses which are not transformed by the Spirit?" (2,3,22). St. Maximus, whose teaching is cited by St. Gregory, says that the Apostles saw the uncreated Light "by a transformation of the activity of their senses, produced in them by the Spirit" (2.3.22). Orthodox Psychotherapy Section The Knowledge of God according to St. Gregory Palamas by Metropolitan Hierotheos Vlachos published by Birth of Theotokos Monastery,Greece (January 1, 2005) ISBN 978-9607070272
# Stillness of the body is a limiting of the body. "The beginning of hesychia is godly rest" (3). The intermediate stage is that of "illuminating power and vision; and the end is ecstasy or rapture of the nous towards God" (4). St. John of the Ladder, referring to outward, bodily stillness, writes: "The lover of stillness keeps his mouth shut" (5). But it is not only those called neptic Fathers who mention and describe the holy atmosphere of hesychia, it is also those known as "social". Actually in the Orthodox tradition there is no direct opposition between theoria and praxis, nor between the neptic and social Fathers. The neptics are eminently social and those in community are unimaginably neptic. Orthodox Psychotherapy Section on Stillness and Prayer http://www.pelagia.org/htm/b02.en.orthodox_psychotherapy.05.htm
# "Contemplation", Catholic Encyclopedia, New Advent. Retrieved March 19, 2008.
# The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization, Peter Senge, Currency, 2006. ISBN 0385517254
# "Says Pope a Universal Voice for the World", Carrie Gross, February 1, 2008, Zenit.org.
==Further reading==
* The Vision of God by Vladimir Lossky, SVS Press, 1997. (ISBN 0-913836-19-2)
* The Spirituality of the Christian East: A systematic handbook by Tomas Spidlik, Cistercian Publications Inc Kalamazoo Michigan 1986 (ISBN 0-87907-879-0)
* The Macarian Legacy: The Place of Macarius-Symeon in the Eastern Christian Tradition (Oxford Theological Monographs 2004) by Marcus Plested (ISBN 0199267790)
* Being With God by Aristotle Papanikolaou University of Notre Dame Press February 24, 2006 ISBN 0268038309
* The Experience of God : Revelation and Knowledge of the Triune God (Orthodox Dogmatic Theology, Volume 1 : Revelation and Knowledge of the Triune God) by Dumitru Staniloae Holy Cross Orthodox Press May 17, 2005 ISBN 0917651707
* The Experience of God : Orthodox Dogmatic Theology Volume 2: (The World, Creation and Deification) by Dumitru Staniloae Holy Cross Orthodox Press June 16, 2005 ISBN 1885652410
[[Category: Religion]]
[[Category: Philosophy]]
*Date: [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/13th_Century 13th century]
==Definitions==
*1 a : [[concentration]] on [[spiritual]] [[things]] as a [[form]] of [[private]] [[devotion]]
:b : a [[state]] of [[mystical]] [[awareness]] of [[God]]'s [[being]]
*2 : an [[act]] of considering with [[attention]] : [[study]]
*3 : the [[act]] of regarding steadily
*4 : [[intention]], [[expectation]]
==Description==
The [[word]] '''contemplation''' comes from the [[Latin]] root templum (from [[Greek]] temnein: to cut or divide). It means separating something from its [[environment]] and enclosing it in a sector. Contemplation is the [[Latin]] [[translation]] of Greek '[[theory]]' (theoria). In a [[religious]] sense it is usually a [[type]] of [[prayer]] or [[meditation]].
==Greek philosophy==
'''Contemplation''' was an important part of the [[philosophy]] of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plato Plato]; Plato thought that through contemplation the [[soul]] may [[ascend]] to [[knowledge]] of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Form_of_the_Good Form of the Good] or other [[divine]] Forms.[1] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plotinus Plotinus] as a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neoplatonism Neolatonic] philosopher also [[expressed]] contemplation as the most critical of components for one to reach [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henosis henosis]. To Plotinus the highest contemplation was to [[experience]] the [[vision]] of [[God]], the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monad Monad] or the One. Plotinus describes this [[experience]] in his works the Enneads. According to his student Porphyry, Plotinus stated that he had this experience of God four times.[2] Plotinus wrote about his experience in Enneads 6.9.xx....
==Eastern Orthodox Christianity==
In [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Christianity Eastern Christianity] contemplation or theoria [[literally]] means to see [[God]] or to have the Vision of God.[3] As a [[technique]], theoria is [[expressed]] by the [[ascetic]] [[tradition]] of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hesychasm Hesychasm]. Hesychasm is [[continuous]] [[prayer]] that is to [[focus]] with [[absolute]] [[sincerity]], and to repeat in prayer, as a means to focus exclusively on the [[Triune]] God. It is to [[reconcile]] the [[heart]] and the [[mind]] into one thing (see [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nous nous]).[4] Contemplation in Eastern Orthodoxy is [[expressed]] in [[degrees]] as those covered in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Climacus St John Climacus]' [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ladder_of_Divine_Ascent Ladder of Divine Ascent]. The [[process]] of changing from the old man of sin into the new born child of God and into our true [[nature]] as [[good]] and [[divine]] is called [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theosis theosis]. Each of these components are critical to the cultivation of theoria. One derives [[Spiritual]] [[Knowledge]] from theoria. One however can not derive theoria from spiritual knowledge. This is to say that once someone is in the [[presence]] of God then they can begin to properly [[understand]] and there "contemplate" God. This form of contemplation is to have and pass through an [[actual]] [[experience]] rather than a [[scientific]] [[understanding]] of [[theory]]. Whereas in [[science]] one uses theory to [[understand]] the natural world and its operations, one does the reverse with [[God]]. In science contemplation means one derives a [[explanation]] and then tests the "theory" (see [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gnosiology gnosiology]). Within the realm of Eastern Christianity theory is [[faith]] and one at first cultivates the [[virtues]] as an [[expression]] of [[faith]]. Once the virtues are cultivated the highest virtue is [[humility]]. Through humility one becomes [[Holy]]. God is humility and one becomes like [[God]]. This is the contemplation (living) of God. The [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hagia_Sophia Holy Wisdom] of God is not [[knowledge]] but [[humility]].
==Western Christianity==
Within Western Christianity contemplation is often related to [[mysticism]] as expressed in the works of mystical theologians such as [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teresa_of_Avila Teresa of Avila] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_of_the_Cross John of the Cross] as well as the writings of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margery_Kempe Margery Kempe], Augustine Baker and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Merton Thomas Merton].
==Contemplation and meditation==
In Christianity, contemplation refers to a [[content]]-free [[mind]] directed towards the [[awareness]] of [[God]] as a living [[reality]]. This corresponds to what in Eastern religion is called [[meditation]]. In Christianity, however, meditation refers to a specific, directed [[mental]] [[exercise]], such as visualization of a religious scene or consideration of a scriptural passage.
Contemplation as a [[practice]] is finding greater [[resonance]] in the West both in [[business]] - for example in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Senge Peter Senge]'s book [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fifth_Discipline The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization][6] - and in universities in fields as [[diverse]] as [[architecture]], [[physics]], and the liberal arts.
In Catholic Christianity, contemplation is given importance. The Catholic Church's "model theologian," [[Aquinas|St. Thomas Aquinas]] wrote: "It is requisite for the [[good]] of the [[human]] [[community]] that there should be [[persons]] who devote themselves to the life of contemplation." One of his disciples, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josef_Pieper Josef Pieper] commented: "For it is contemplation which preserves in the midst of [[human]] [[society]] the [[truth]] which is at one and the same time useless and the yardstick of every possible use; so it is also contemplation which keeps the true end in sight, gives [[meaning]] to every [[practical]] act of life."[7]
==See also==
* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contemplative_prayer Contemplative prayer]
* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interior_life_(Catholic_theology) Interior Life]
* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meditation Meditation]
* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miksang Miksang] (contemplative photography)
* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prayer_of_Quiet Prayer of Quiet]
* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contemplative_education Contemplative education]
==References==
# Plato: Critical Assessments, Nicholas D. Smith, Routledge, 1998. ISBN 0415126053
# See the Life of Plotinus
# The vision of the uncreated light, which offers knowledge of God to man, is sensory and supra-sensory. The bodily eyes are reshaped, so they see the uncreated light, "this mysterious light, inaccessible, immaterial, uncreated, deifying, eternal", this "radiance of the Divine Nature, this glory of the divinity, this beauty of the heavenly kingdom" (3,1,22;CWS p.80). Palamas asks: "Do you see that light is inaccessible to senses which are not transformed by the Spirit?" (2,3,22). St. Maximus, whose teaching is cited by St. Gregory, says that the Apostles saw the uncreated Light "by a transformation of the activity of their senses, produced in them by the Spirit" (2.3.22). Orthodox Psychotherapy Section The Knowledge of God according to St. Gregory Palamas by Metropolitan Hierotheos Vlachos published by Birth of Theotokos Monastery,Greece (January 1, 2005) ISBN 978-9607070272
# Stillness of the body is a limiting of the body. "The beginning of hesychia is godly rest" (3). The intermediate stage is that of "illuminating power and vision; and the end is ecstasy or rapture of the nous towards God" (4). St. John of the Ladder, referring to outward, bodily stillness, writes: "The lover of stillness keeps his mouth shut" (5). But it is not only those called neptic Fathers who mention and describe the holy atmosphere of hesychia, it is also those known as "social". Actually in the Orthodox tradition there is no direct opposition between theoria and praxis, nor between the neptic and social Fathers. The neptics are eminently social and those in community are unimaginably neptic. Orthodox Psychotherapy Section on Stillness and Prayer http://www.pelagia.org/htm/b02.en.orthodox_psychotherapy.05.htm
# "Contemplation", Catholic Encyclopedia, New Advent. Retrieved March 19, 2008.
# The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization, Peter Senge, Currency, 2006. ISBN 0385517254
# "Says Pope a Universal Voice for the World", Carrie Gross, February 1, 2008, Zenit.org.
==Further reading==
* The Vision of God by Vladimir Lossky, SVS Press, 1997. (ISBN 0-913836-19-2)
* The Spirituality of the Christian East: A systematic handbook by Tomas Spidlik, Cistercian Publications Inc Kalamazoo Michigan 1986 (ISBN 0-87907-879-0)
* The Macarian Legacy: The Place of Macarius-Symeon in the Eastern Christian Tradition (Oxford Theological Monographs 2004) by Marcus Plested (ISBN 0199267790)
* Being With God by Aristotle Papanikolaou University of Notre Dame Press February 24, 2006 ISBN 0268038309
* The Experience of God : Revelation and Knowledge of the Triune God (Orthodox Dogmatic Theology, Volume 1 : Revelation and Knowledge of the Triune God) by Dumitru Staniloae Holy Cross Orthodox Press May 17, 2005 ISBN 0917651707
* The Experience of God : Orthodox Dogmatic Theology Volume 2: (The World, Creation and Deification) by Dumitru Staniloae Holy Cross Orthodox Press June 16, 2005 ISBN 1885652410
[[Category: Religion]]
[[Category: Philosophy]]