Julian of Norwich and Other Tibetan Lamas

In his commentary on Julian’s use of the word “point,” scholar Bernard McGinn reflects: “’Point’ is used by Julian to refer to any instant of time, but it has a particular resonance as ‘point of death’ …. Life as a succession of points, or instants, is always (potentially) the instant of death.” ₁ Professor’s McGinn’s insight is at one level obvious, and yet at another, quite subtle in its implications. We tend to experience the succession of points, or instants, which is life, as a naturally organic continuity. But this sense of continuity is in great part a super-imposition which we overlay upon our experience. It tends to shield us from what could be a crippling anxiety about our existential vulnerability and our mortality. It contributes to the extremely resilient illusion that we will not die. To reflect intentionally and deeply on these issues, however, can offer a realization that, between each point in that succession of instants, there is space, an openness, that could, in an instant, allow for a change in the apparent trajectory of that succession.

In his, Great Treatise [Lam Rim Chen Mo], the 14th century philosopher, Tsongkhapa, identifies the “conception of the impermanent to be permanent” to be among the errors that impede our “taking full advantage of this life” and as being an “avenue of much injury.” ₂ Tsongkhapa continues: “This conception is twofold: course and subtle. Of these two, in the case of course impermanence, which is your death, the avenue of injury is the very thought, ‘I will not die.’” ₃ Geshe Lhundub Sopa comments:

We misperceive things that are apparent to our senses, mistakenly thinking that mortal beings like ourselves will not die. Of course the conscious thought, ‘I will not die,’ does not ordinarily arise in your mind. If somebody were to ask you, ‘Will you die?’ you would answer, ‘Of course. Everybody dies; we all die sooner or later.’ Nevertheless, you still have an innate sense that you will always be here. Even though you don’t explicitly think, ‘I won’t die,’ there is always an underlying feeling, ‘It will probably be a long time before I die.’ You feel that death will not happen this year, or this month, or today. Everybody has this attitude. Examine whether your mind leans toward the probability of living and you will find that you always take the side of not dying. The feeling of eternal life has such a strong grip on us that even a person with a fatal illness – someone who is right on the verge of death – thinks. ‘I will not die today.’ And when things are going well – when you have good health, food, clothing, and the like, you almost feel, ‘I will never die!’ ₄

Tsongkhapa outlines the spiritual consequences of such an attitude and understanding:

[A]s long as you have this attitude, you will continually think only on how to achieve happiness and evade suffering in this life alone, thinking, ‘I need this and that.’ You will not engage in religious practice because you do not think about things of great importance, such as future lives, liberation, and omniscience. Although you may perchance engage in study, reflection, and meditation, and so forth, it will only be for the sake of this life, and whatever virtue you create will be of meager strength. ₅

In Chapter Two of her A Revelation, when Julian prays for “a bodily sicknes,” she wishes that that sickness be “so hard as to the death,” so that she and “all creatures” might believe that she would die as a result of that malady. Furthermore, she desires to have all manner of physical and spiritual pains that she should have if she were actually dying, “save the outpassing of the soule.” Regarding the benefits to follow from this enacted death meditation, Julian hopes that as a result of it she will “live more to the worshippe of God,” and that the experience will be “a spede” [help] when she finally and actually dies. ₅

Endnotes

1. Bernard McGinn, The Varieties of Vernacular Mysticism: 1350-1550. The Presence of God, Volume 5. A History of Western Christian Mysticism. New York: The Crossroad Publishing Company, 2012, page 445.
2. Tsongkhapa, The Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment. Volume One. Translated by The Lamrim Chenmo Translation Committee. Edited by Guy Newland. Editor in Chief: Joshua W. C. Cutler. Boston: Snow Lion, 2000, page 145.
3. Tsongkhapa, The Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment. Volume One. Translated by The Lamrim Chenmo Translation Committee. Edited by Guy Newland. Editor in Chief: Joshua W. C. Cutler. Boston: Snow Lion, 2000, page 145.
4. Geshe Lhundub Sopa, Steps on the Path to Enlightenment, A Commentary on Tsongkhapa’s Lamrim Chenmo, Volume 1, The Foundation Practices. Senior Editor: David Patt. Editor: Beth Newman. Boston, Wisdom Publication, pages 312-313.   
5. Tsongkhapa, The Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment. Volume One. Translated by The Lamrim Chenmo Translation Committee. Edited by Guy Newland. Editor in Chief: Joshua W. C. Cutler. Boston: Snow Lion, 2000, page 145.
6. Julian of Norwich, The Writings of Julian of Norwich, Eds, Nicholas Watson and Jacqueline Jenkins. University Park, The Pennsylvania State University Press, Chapter 2, lines 17 – 26, and pages 128-129.