SPIRITUALITY, THE WAY OF LIFE

While the first part of Mysticism and Spirituality deals with mysticism as a supreme experience of realty, the second part focusses on spirituality as the path to this experience. Although he was well aware of the difficulty of defining modern-day spirituality with its many different paths, bound not only to traditions and religions but also to the various forms of human sensitivity and to the historical period, the author gives us a rough outline, an overall view of this spirituality with its capacity to involve Man in the fullness of reality, as expressed in the four Greek words sôma-psychê-polis-kosmos, or body, soul, society and cosmos. However, Man also discovers a divine element that is both immanent and transcendent – and it is precisely this mysterious element, this breath, this transcendent and immanent presence, which gives all things, including Man himself, their identity.
Spirituality is like a “navigation chart” for the sea of Man’s life: the sum total of the principles directing his dynamism towards “God”, as some say, or towards building a just society or overcoming suffering, as others say.  We can, therefore, talk about Buddhist spirituality, even though Buddhists do not talk about God; or of Marxist spirituality, although Marxists are averse to religious language.  Such a broad concept of spirituality expresses rather a quality of life, of action, of thought, etc., that is not bound to any particular doctrine, confession or religion, no matter how well recognised its foundations may be.
The book begins with two texts in which several lines of argument, developed in the context of Christian religious retreats, are spelled out in the plain language of everyday speech.
The second section deals with spirituality as it is practised by monks, though not confined to institutional monasticism but seen rather as a universal archetype to be found in every human being (e.g. the search for monos, union with the Divine).  There follows a description of the ascetic tradition in India and, as an example of the encounter between Western (Christian) spirituality and Indic spirituality, an article dedicated to my friend Henri Le Saux, who is an example of the fertile encounter between the two traditions.
The last section is dedicated to wisdom as the goal of positive spirituality. 

INDEX OF ORIGINAL TEXTS IN VOLUME I, PART 2

Icons of Mystery: The Experience of God. Icons of the Mystery, Fortress Press, Minneapolis 2006. The original text is Les icons del misteri: la experiència de Deu, Ed. 62, Barcelona 1998.

The Christian Spiritual Journey: includes three short texts, Paschal Joy, The Presence of God and Mary, first published separately La gioia pasquale, La Locusta, Vicenza 1968; La presenza di Dio, La Locusta, Vicenza 1970; “La Virgin Maria”, Preface to J. Guitton, La Virgin Maria, Rialp, Madrid 1952 then published in one volume by Jaca Book , Milano 2007.

Blessed Simplicity. The Challenge of Being a Monk: Blessed Simplicity. The Monk as universal archetype, Seabery, New York 1982.

“Letter to a Young Monk”: in Living Prayer, Barre, XIX,4 pp. 11-14.

“The Monk According to Hindū Scriptures”: Le moine selon les écritures saintes de l’hindouisme, in Les Moines chrétiens face aux religions d’Asie, AMC, Bangalore 1973, pp. 80-91.

“Parivåjaka: The Tradition of the Monk in India”: Parivrajåka: la tradition du moine aux Indes published in Alle sorgenti del Gange. Pellegrinaggio spirituale, CENS, Milano 1994, pp. 155-167.

“Letter to Abhishiktånanda on Eastern and Western Monasticism”: in «Studies in Formative Spirituality», Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, vol. III, n. 3 (Nov. 1982).

The Dwelling Place of Wisdom: Der Weisheit eine Wohnung bereiten, Kösel, München 1991; A Dwelling Place for Wisdom, Westminster/John Knox, Louisville 1993, reprint by Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi 1995. from a conference delivered in the church of St Ursula, Munich, 14 March 1990) and Quaternitas perfecta (a series of conferences during a spiritual retreat in the Domicilium House, in Weyarn, Upper Bavaria, 16-18 March 1990).