John of the Cross, the Dark Night of the Soul, and the Jhanas and the Arupa States
A Critical Comparative Study
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/bsrv.36753Keywords:
jhāna, arūpa states, pīti, sukha, meditation, contemplation, comparative spirituality, dark night, union with GodAbstract
This paper examines function and structure within the religious paths advocated by John of the Cross (1542–1591), and the Buddha, with particular reference to the jhanas and the arupa states, as represented in selected suttas within the Pali texts. First, John of the Cross and the jhana and arupa states are contextualised. The teaching in The Ascent of Mount Carmel and The Dark Night (John of the Cross), and the Samaññaphala Sutta, the Nivapa Sutta and the Anupada Sutta (Sutta Pitaka) is then summarised. The two are then brought into conversation with each other to examine the extent to which the religious paths described move within the same landscape of spiritual practice. Differences in context and metaphysical underpinning are recognised. The paper argues, nevertheless, that similarities are more than evident, particularly with reference to attachment to sensory objects, discursive thought, and the idea of the self or the ‘I’. The paper demonstrates that the two speak of mystical paths, which share many of the same practices and fruits, although couched in different metaphors.
References
Allison Peers, E. 1943. The Spirit of Flame: A Study of St. John of the Cross. London: Student Christian Movement.
Bodhi, Bhikkhu (transl.). 2000. The Connected Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the Samyutta Nikaya. Somerville, MA: Wisdom.
Cousins, Lance. 1973. ‘Buddhist Jhana: Its nature and attainment according to the Pali sources’. Religion, 3: 115–131. https://doi.org/10.1016/0048-721X(73)90003-1
———. 1994 [1989]. ‘The Stages of Christian Mysticism and Buddhist Purification: Interior Castle of St Teresa of Ávila and the Path of Purification of Buddhaghosa’. In The Yogi and the Mystic: Studies in Indian and Comparative Mysticism, edited by Karel Werner, 103–120. Richmond, Surrey: Curzon.
———. 1984. ‘Samatha-yana and Vipassana-yana’. In Gatare Dharmpala: Buddhist Studies in Honour of Hammalawa Saddhatissa, edited by Richard Gombrich and K. R. Norman, 56–68. Nugegoda, Sri Lanka: Hallamalawa Saddhatissa Felicitation Volume Committee.
De Silva, Lynn. 1979 [1975]. The Problem of the Self in Buddhism and Christianity. London and Basingstoke: Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-03729-2
Feldmeier, Peter. 2006. Christianity Looks East: Comparing the Spiritualities of John of the Cross and Buddhaghosa. Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press.
Gethin, Rupert. 2008. Sayings of the Buddha: New Translations by Rupert Gethin from the Pali Nikayas. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Gunaratana, Henepola. 1995. The Jhanas in Theravada Buddhist Meditation. www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/gunaratana/wheel351.html (originally published by The Buddhist Publication Society, Kandy)
Howe, Elizabeth Teresa. 2000. ‘John of the Cross, St.’. In Encylopedia of Monasticism, edited by W. J. Johnston, vol I: 701–702. Chicago, IL: Fitzroy Dearborn.
Johnston, William M., ed. 2000. Encylopedia of Monasticism, 2 vols. Chicago, IL: Fitzroy Dearborn.
Kavanaugh, Keiran and Otilio Rodriguez, trans. 1979. The Collected Works of St. John of the Cross. Washington, DC: Institute of Carmelite Studies.
McMahon, Patrick Thomas. 2000. ‘Carmelites, Female’. In Encylopedia of Monasticism, edited by W. J. Johnston, vol I: 240–242. Chicago, IL: Fitzroy Dearborn.
Merton, Thomas. 1951. The Ascent of Truth. Hollis and Carter: London.
Ñanamoli, Bhikkhu and Bhikkhu Bodhi. 1995. The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha: A New Translation of the Majjhima Nikaya. Boston, MA: Wisdom.
Norman, K. R., trans. 1997. The Word of the Doctrine (Dhammapada). Oxford: Pali Text Society.
Nyanaponika, Thera. 1992 [1962]. The Heart of Buddhist Meditation: A handbook of Mental Training Based on the Buddha’s Way of Mindfulness. Kandy: Buddhist Publication Society.
Obeyesekere, Gananath. 2012. The Awakened Ones: Phenomenology of Visionary Experience. New York: Columbia University Press.
Peers, E. Allison, ed. 1943. Complete Works of Saint John of the Cross. Translated from the Edition of P. Silverio De Santa Teresa. London: Burns Oates.
Shaw, Sarah. 2006. Buddhist Meditation: An Anthology of Texts from the Pali Canon. London: Routledge.
Williams, Rowan. 1990 [1979]. The Wound of Knowledge: Christian Spirituality from the New Testament to St John of the Cross. London: Darton, Longman and Todd.
