From Acedia to Joy

Image: WCCM/You Tube

Laurence Freeman started his recent series ‘Learning to Meditate in Lent’ by talking about Acedia which derives from the Desert Wisdom Tradition.

He quoted from Thomas Merton, 60 years ago who said that acedia was the spiritual disease of his time. It affected the whole world like a pandemic. In our time, we don’t even know we are suffering from it, Laurence said. The whole world is suffering from it. Acedia is a feeling of failure, losing heart, being distracted and disheartened.

This is a chaotic world. Many feel despair at the collapse of the world order and the rise of dictators. Democracy and freedom are being destroyed. Globally there are horrific wars, violence, natural disasters, effects of climate change, extremes of wealth and poverty. Hate and crime. Noise stress and materialism. There is loss of order and harmony. Individually many people are disheartened, suffering from stress and chronic anxiety, depression, disgust with life and even despair. We have lost the ability to live at the heart level. We are alienated from our divine centre, the true self. We are marooned in the ego, living on the surface.

Acedia is a state of mind or soul where there is a loss of commitment and hope. It is an inevitable part of the spiritual journey, said Laurence.

How to deal with it? What is the cure or remedy for acedia?

The journey of meditation teaches us how to heal a sick heart. It enables us to go further and deeper to develop a contemplative consciousness. Seeking God leads to self-knowledge – this is the wisdom of the desert. Our spiritual practice, derived from those early seekers, is often called ‘the prayer of the heart’. The prayer of the heart takes us away from our competitive, self-engrossed ego, which is the root of so much sadness and isolation. The prayer of the heart involves going deeper into ourselves. The heart is the centre of our being. It connects us both to our deepest self and to other people. The heart is rightly seen to be a symbol of love. This prayer of the heart can be the place where the healing journey starts.

We have something to offer for the healing of ourselves and the world. The heart and the breath become our focus of attention. We no longer need to look out at the world we live in with despair and despondency.

People often say, ‘What can I do? I’m only one single person’. The great psychologist C. G. Jung disagrees, ‘Does the individual not know that he is the makeweight that tips the scales?’

Or think of Abraham pleading with God. In spite of God’s original plan to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, God decided to spare the cities if only 10 righteous people could be found.  What each person does has an effect on the whole. The power of the individual!

And we are not on our own. We belong to a community and ideally a group. If we are sharing this practice with others, we are bringing a powerful healing energy into the world. Connection to our deeper self and to others brings joy.

Joy is the hallmark of truth – What is good and right and true. We have struck gold! The opposite of acedia is joy.

Terry Doyle is celebrating this in his event ‘The Joy of Encounter’ at the beginning of June just before Pentecost. Many articles in this newsletter display this same joy. We can feel the joy and satisfaction of the Dorset meditators after their retreat day. Or sense the excitement of the Wales community initiating their Tranquillity Space project. 

I invite all of you to share valuable experiences that may encourage others. Particularly I am offering the opportunity to different regions in our UK community to feature their team or area in the newsletter. Please let me know if you would like to do that.

You can contact me at shelagh.newsletter@gmail.com

Shelagh Layet – Editor

“Two Birds” from Ravenna (photo by chatst2 from Pixabay)

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