In October of 2005, Thomas Keating spoke to a group of students at an Episcopal seminary in Tennessee. During the talk, he made the following statement:
The Christian religion is primarily about a transformation of consciousness. This takes spiritual practice and the cultivation of wisdom. In another time this was called cultivating the supernatural organism, what Paul called “a new creation.” So the main thing is to be transformed into God, what the early church called deification, theosis, divinization.
I think a lot of people might argue that “the Christian religion” has nothing to do with the transformation of consciousness! If I had the chance to talk to Fr. Thomas about this quote, I’d ask him if what he really meant was that the Christian mystical tradition is primarily about a transformation of consciousness.
That’s what I believe he meant, in any case.
Theosis and deification and divinization are big word pointing to a lofty and challenging theological principle which rarely, if ever, gets talked about in neighborhood churches on Sunday morning. But they all point to what Michael Casey bluntly described when he said “Christian life consists not so much in being good as in becoming God.” Not that there’s anything wrong with being good, mind you — but the teachings of Jesus clearly point to a destiny for humanity in becoming (in the words of the second Letter of Peter), “partakers of the divine nature.”
Not spectators, not observers, not even lovers: we are meant to be partakers of divine nature. And Thomas Keating reminds us that “spiritual practice and the cultivation of wisdom” are the keys to this mystical destiny. We are invited into a sustained and regular practice of attentive contemplation in silence — that’s the spiritual practice bit. As for the cultivation of wisdom, the New Testament couldn’t be more clear: “if any of you is lacking in wisdom, ask God, who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly, and it will be given you.” (James 1:5) — so wisdom, too, is a fruit of spiritual practice; in this case, a gift offered to those who sincerely pray for it.
Prayer, silence, wisdom: these are the building blocks for the supernatural organism, the new creation. And what the Spirit is forming in us, out of these elements, is nothing less than the divine nature. It might be inaccurate to say we are called to be equal with God, but mystics down the ages have offered insight into our destiny to be one with God. What, then, is the mystical life? Simply learning to live in the light of who we truly are.
The Keating quote is sourced from the book Spirituality, Contemplation, and Transformation: Writings on Centering Prayer published by Lantern Books. Celtic Rose clipart by Cari Buziak.