Practical Mysticism · Chapter
IV: Meditation and Recollection explained
This chapter introduces recollection as the deliberate control of attention, the first step in the contemplative life.
What happens
This chapter introduces recollection as the deliberate control of attention, the first step in the contemplative life. It argues that this discipline, though often neglected, is essential for anyone seeking mastery over their own mind. Drawing on the teachings of St. Teresa of Ávila, the chapter describes meditation as a gradual training of the attention, a 'halfway house' between thinking and contemplating. The practitioner learns to hold an idea or object before the mind, resist distractions, and eventually enter a deeper, more unified state of perception, withdrawing from the world of appearances to glimpse the true self.
Themes in this chapter
Perception and Illusion
The chapter emphasizes the need to withdraw from 'union with unrealities' and the 'world of appearance' to achieve a clearer perception of reality.
Contemplation and Action
Recollection is presented as a practical, active discipline—a 'voluntary painful act of concentration'—that bridges thinking and true contemplation.
Self-Simplification and Purification
The process of meditation is described as a purification of the attention and a simplification of sight, leading to the discovery of the true self.
Characters to notice
- The Practical Man
The practical man is the primary audience being addressed and invited to learn the art of recollection.
- St. Teresa of Ávila
St. Teresa is cited as the primary teacher of the method of meditation and recollection, emphasizing a gradual, natural training of the attention.
- John Keats
Keats is quoted for his poetic lines about 'Reason has moons, but moons not hers,' illustrating the meditative eye glimpsing a dream within rational propositions.
- Immanuel Kant
Kant is mentioned as an example of a philosopher whose range of meditation extends from the stars to the moral law.
Key passages
“I do not require of you to form great and curious considerations in your understanding: I require of you no more than to look.”
St. Teresa tells her students that meditation does not demand complex intellectual efforts, but simply a focused, loving gaze.
This quote encapsulates the essence of meditation as a simple, attentive looking rather than elaborate reasoning.
“The road to a Yea lies through a Nay.”
Affirmation of reality is achieved by first denying the total claim of appearances on our consciousness.
This paradoxical statement highlights the necessity of negation as a step toward deeper affirmation.
“Reason has moons, but moons not hers, Lie mirror'd on her sea, Confounding her astronomers, But, O delighting me.”
Within rational thought there are depths and mysteries that elude logical analysis but bring joy to the meditative mind.
Keats' lines illustrate how meditation can reveal hidden meanings beyond reason's grasp.