VIEW FROM MY HERMITAGE
When some folks hear the term "meditation," the image that comes to mind is that of an old, long-haired Hindu holy man, dressed in the orange "gerua" color of the saints of that religion, with maybe a few strings of rudraksha beads slung around his neck, and some colorful paint on his face.
Or perhaps you have been attracted to the more austere practice of Zen and studied with a Zen Roshi, such as my friend, Roshi Prabhasa Dharma.
Meditation and its related practice of contemplation are common forms of prayer that are shared with a number of religions, including Catholicism. Generally speaking, Christian Meditation involves concentrating on a specific prayer, usually a sacred text, and examining it from various perspectives, such as in the practice of lectio divina. Generous use of the intellect is involved.
But in contemplation, there is a deeper, more focused concentration of the soul on the Beloved Lord. In my personal practice, it is a quiet sitting with and gazing upon Him, without the noisiness and distraction of the activity of the intellect.
I fully admit that the simple definitions I have offered, above, are just the beginning of the soul's comprehension of what a bare bones, basic approach would be, so I would like to add upon those with material from the Catholic Answers website, in particular, which is a wonderful resource. They present us an article about this topic from the original Catholic Encyclopedia published from 1907 through 1912, that I cannot improve upon:
Definition of "contemplation" from the Catholic Encyclopedia:
"Contemplation, the object of contemplative life, is defined as the complacent, loving gaze of the soul on Divine Truth already known and apprehended by the intellect assisted and enlightened by Divine Grace."
According to Edmond Gurdon, St. Bernard considered contemplation to be the highest of all human worship because it is, essentially, an act of adoration and "utter self surrender of man's whole being." He further makes the point that time spent in contemplation is typically brief, since exterior action, "with the solicitude and cares attendant on it" naturally absorbs the attention of the spiritual practitioner, which is why those that yearn for the mystical union with God will naturally withdraw from the crowd and abandon all other pursuits to "lead a retired life entirely consecrated to the purpose of contemplation."
Thus, throughout the last 2,000 years, we have seen scores of Christian hermits, many of them later regarded as saints, withdraw from society to pursue the Lord in the quiet of the desert, the forest, and the monastery, but it is in the monastery alone where one finds the organization and the protections so crucial to the hermit's peaceful experience of the contemplative life, which is recognized by Edmond Gurdon in this quote:
"It is evident that such a life can be led nowhere
so safely and so easily as in those
monastic orders which make
it their special object."
Edmond Gurdon
I offer the entire text to the Catholic Answers page HERE
Meditative Landscape
by Silver S. Parnell (c) Copyright 1998
All rights reserved
My thoughts on the general topic:
The distractions of modern life are many and persuasive. The typical American, no matter how attracted to the contemplative ideal of the hermit, will "naturally" be distracted by the comings and goings, the eatings and drinkings, the pull of society's dance. HOWEVER, it is slightly different from the perspective of the Asperger personality which contains in its nature both helpful impulses that make us at home alone with ourselves and enable concentration that facilitates contemplation, as well as unhelpful ones that can express themselves in a manner that interferes with group life.
There are some people who are uniquely temperamentally inclined to endure the privations of the hermit life due to special conditions of their intellect and their "neuro-diversity." I am not talking about the misanthropes who dislike other humans and all aspects of "normal" society. Those people are cynical egotists who almost despise their fellow man, which is the opposite of the state necessary for the love of God. One cannot love God and hate mankind.
No, I am talking about the religious person who also happens to be a member of a group to which I belong; the Aspergers among us. While those who are on the autistic spectrum are not necessarily automatically religious, those of us who ARE religious can make use of our common ability to concentrate very intently on one topic and put it in service to our love of The Lord. Many of us are also quite able to spend long hours of time by ourselves, and we easily tolerate routine and tedious schedules, and, in fact appreciate these things that are sources of boredom for many other folks.
Before my baptism and conversion to Catholicism, I was a nun in a Hindu convent, and I remember becoming a bit ill at ease on holidays when the schedule was changed. Unless I could look upon it as one of our "regular" or "routine" holidays, I couldn't wait for the day to be over, when others around me were enjoying the change of pace.
Mother Mary
by
Silver S. Parnell
(c) Copyright 2013
All rights reserved.
I won't say that these natural inclinations always make it easier for me to endure my life as a hermit. It doesn't help me deal with the bullies, con artists and thieves that routinely assail vulnerable people like me in my day-to-day life, but it certainly has helped me to remain constant to my vow of 20 years ago when I decided to dedicate the remainder of my life to the contemplation of The Lord. I made the personal vow one day, then 20 years later, I suddenly looked up and realized that two decades had passed!
On the other hand, the "monastic orders" that Edmond Gurdon says offer a more ideal home for the contemplative soul will not usually be so tolerant with the peculiarities with which the autistic person is saddled, so we will do better on our own, as hermits, rather than as a contemplative in an organization.
It is also true that many of us are devoted to our own peculiar "avocations" which we may turn toward the "work" portion of the "ora et labora," ("prayer and work") of the monastic life, and which may be too creative or offbeat for a typical monastic order.
Albuquerque Sky and Clouds
by
Silver S. Parnell
(C) Copyright 2020
All rights reserved.
The Asberger personality is often prone to obsessive compulsive disorders, by virtue of their capacity for intense concentration upon various hobbies and interests.
If one of our obsessions finds purchase in the mind of an Asperbergers personality and it is in line with a project that is welcomed by the institution, then it is a benefit to all concerned, and superiors may not notice the inflexibility that accompanies many such "hobbies." But if the obsession asserts itself in a topic that one's superiors find peculiar, then we are in trouble, all around.
Many of us develop interests at a very young age and retain those interests through adulthood. We develop what could be characterized as a devotion to a topic, almost as if it is our responsibility to always stay on top of new discoveries in the field, and we find it difficult to restrain ourselves from attending to new developments immediately, rather than during a time set out for such things by an outside factor, such as the schedule of a monastic institution.
Hermitage in the snow
by
Silver S. Parnell
(c) 2021
All rights reserved.
I, for instance, began writing haiku poetry when very young. I was also a painter from youth. My favorite painters remain the same as they were from my early years, and I am still intensely interested in the entire topic. It is very hard for me to put down a book about the topic, or a painting I am working on, or some poetry I am writing.
The Asperger personality is sometimes famous for talking at great length about favorite topics on which great swaths of information has been accumulated. This can be irritating, in group life, where more balance is wanted.
But, the Aspergerish hermit, whom I call the "accidental hermit," while ill-suited to group life, given her God-given idiosyncracies, is in greater need of the protections afforded by the monastic institutions because we are more vulnerable to the dangers of life outside the convent or monastery, due to the Accidental Hermit's gullibly loving nature, on the one hand, and the predatory nature of many of the folks among whom she has to live in close quarters, on the other. Our culture has moved away from the Christian norm, for instance.
Unfortunately, modern Americans have grown increasingly avaricious and scheming, and, while there are pockets of small-town culture where the Christian standards remain the blessed norm, it is sad to see, in my experience, that loving one's neighbor usually results in your disabled urban hermit being taken advantage of by those neighbors who share nearby residence. One would think that only the poverty stricken would prey upon the hermit, but in my lifelong experience, it does not matter the socio-economic station of the neighbor. All it takes is proximity and greed.
Through artifice and design, some neurotypical people attempt to befriend your hermit for the sole purpose of grasping onto a piece of furniture or other thing they learn that I possess and, as soon as they have it and everything else they want, they fall back into a hard-bitten hostility and gritty cynicism that expresses itself in bitter recriminations for manufactured slights that are used as a smoke screen behind which to hide their acquisitiveness.
If your loving Aspergerish hermit cannot physically do the service that these neighbors want or if she cannot afford to let go of the furniture on which the neighbor has set her eye, the neighbor will manipulate the situation so that others gang up on the hermit in order to force the item or service from her. All pretense of friendship is dropped, and the neighbor begins the litany of complaints that he or (usually) she recites.
Being a gentle soul, the Accidental Hermit will not lower herself to bickering over these items, nor will she pour grievances on the head of the people who have drawn her into their selfish dramas, but she does feel a certain sadness that these people have given up the real value that is to be had in the association with a lover of God.
Despite these very real (and seemingly perennial) distractions, I contend that the Accidental Hermit is uniquely suited for this vocation, as an urban hermit, hidden among other single women and men, living in city apartments, following their monastic schedule.
The one thing that is sometimes a struggle is to be able to put down whatever I am doing at the moment, in obedience to the schedule. Most of the monastic institutions, convents and monasteries, chant the Divine Office at specific hours through the day and night. One has to be able to put down one's work at the time for prayer, and likewise put down one's prayer when it is time for work, or lunch, or sleep! I find it very difficult to drop anything in which I am engrossed at the moment, whether it be work, play or prayer. This is typical of many who have the Asperger personality, and it is an area in which being part of an institution would be helpful, but which I have to call upon self-discipline to do while alone. There are trade-offs in both situations.
Photo by Bryan Brittos
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Royalty free images
If I don't have a saint to discuss in my next post, I may spend some time discussing the monastic schedule, or the "Rule of Life" that I have adopted for myself, in particular the prayer schedule.
Any reader that has questions about the hermit life is free to ask in the comment section and I will answer to the best of my ability. next time I post.
In the meantime, please do not forget the "Go Fund Me" link, above right. While I am self-supporting with my Social Security Retirement funds, it really is not enough for all my needs, and I am falling behind.
God bless us all!
Silver Rose
(c) Copyright 2024, Silver S. Parnell
All rights reserved
(This post talks about "Asperger Syndrome" which used to be its own category, but now the higher functioning folks on the autistic spectrum are included in the wider term of "autistic spectrum disorder." Many of us, however, prefer "Aspergers" and continue to use it for ourselves. For my ears, it sounds more benign or pleasantly quirky. I am a fan of self determination and will continue to use it for myself, but also allow that others may prefer "neuro-divergent" or something else, and I will use those favored terms for those individuals when speaking about or to them specifically, otherwise I use my favored term.)
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