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PASTORAL PSYCHOLOGY
There are in the literature of Christian mysticism many
descriptions of exercises and disciplines akin to those of Yoga, as
for example in the detailed instructions sometimes given
concerning the position to be adopted during prayer—the head
being bowed and the gaze fixed on the chest or navel.
Again, ascetics with a bias towards psychological
interpretations of personality develop systems of spiritual and mental
exercises designed to resolve inhibitions or to free the mind
from distractions which are thought to hinder the soul in its
search for God. Of course, ascetics of this temper do not neglect
physical disciplines or underestimate the importance of
overcoming outward hindrances. The difference is one of emphasis.
Even the ascetic withdrawal from the world has a positive
aspect when it is clearly realised as a means, not an end.
Solitude is sought because it aids the search for inward peace.
The traffic of secular life and its preoccupations can become a
hindrance to the person seeking God in the mystic vision. He
may reach a stage where inclination and desire must be
deliberately turned away from the world of material concerns; but
the positive ascetic does not separate himself physically from the
cares and responsibilities of everyday life. Instead, his aim is to
gain the requisite degree of detachment by subjecting himself
to training and disciplines of self-denial.
Lindworsky gives some homely examples of this kind: of
positive asceticism. It is being practised, he says, by the child
that thinks of its parents as God’s representatives, and for love
of them applies itself diligently to its school work; or by the
servant girl who is thorough in her household duties because
she respects herself. Lindworsky even describes as positive
asceticism the efforts of a loving wife to maintain her sex
appeal because she has reverence for the sanctity of marriage
and accepts responsibility for her part in sustaining it.
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