Author: Jay Forrest

Dr. Jay N. Forrest is an Ordained Interfaith Minister and Certified Meditation Teacher who guides others on the Mystic Way through contemplative teaching and interspiritual insight.Since becoming a Christian in 1983 and earning his Doctorate in Ministry, Jay has served within a rich range of Christian traditions—including Pentecostal, Charismatic, Baptist, Methodist, and Liberal Catholic churches—and provided compassionate care as a Hospice Chaplain.His journey has also led him through catechism studies with the Orthodox Church in America, minor orders in the Liberal Catholic Church, and over two decades of Buddhist study and practice. His path is one of depth, integration, and a lifelong dedication to the transformative power of spiritual practice.

What is a Hermit?

Merriam-Webster Dictionary defined a hermit as “one that retires from society and lives in solitude, especially for religious reasons.” A Christian hermit seeks solitude in order to be “with Christ” (Col. 3:1-3).

The English word “hermit” is based on the Greek word eremos, meaning desert or wilderness. From this we get the Latin word eremite. The practice of being a hermit is called eremiticism.

Solitude is the defining spiritual discipline for the hermit. The difference for a hermit is the extreme solitude he or she seeks. No contact with people except upon necessity. I avoid all contact except for Sunday church.

Personally, I am married and have a cat, so I am not completely alone. But I spend most of my time in my cell. A cell is what hermits call their prayer room. The whole house is my heritage.

There are a number of married hermits. But as Paul and Karen Fredette warn, “Too much togetherness can destroy the original inspiration of solitude, silence, and independence that marks a genuine eremitical life.”

The Two Eyes of Wisdom

Wisdom has two eyes, in order to see reality truly as it really is. One eye is humility, the second eye is benevolence. By benevolence I mean volitional love. This is, willing the highest good of another without selfish intent.

Wisdom must see with humility in order for self not to blind it. Wisdom must see with benevolence in order that ill-will may not blind it

Humility and benevolence, these are the secret ways that wisdom sees through the illusions of self and conflict and gazes upon the true nature of things.

If you are to see with wisdom, you must seek to see with humility and love with unselfishness. These are the ways of wisdom, the path to the true.

Henri Nouwen on Solitude

Henri Nouwen wrote:

“In solitude I get rid of my scaffolding: no friends to talk with, no telephone calls to make, no meetings to attend, no music to entertain, no books to distract, just me—naked, vulnerable, weak, sinful, deprived, broken—nothing.
“It is this nothingness that I have to face in my solitude, a nothingness so dreadful that everything in me wants to run to my friends, my work, and my distractions so that I can forget my nothingness and make myself believe that I am worth something.”

Follow Socrates’ Example

Socrates was a Greek philosopher who lived in Athens, Greece from 470 BCE to 399 BCE. Although not the first philosopher, he is credited as being the founder of Western philosophy and the first moral philosopher.

Since he is the ideal of what a philosopher is, I thought it would be interesting if we followed Socrates’ example today. What would happen if we lived like Socrates?

Well, firstly, we would not get a degree in philosophy. Socrates did not go to a University, rather he learned his father’s trade and became a stone worker. He was tutored in reading and writing. He served in the military and served in three campaigns. And after his father passed, he inherited part of his father’s estate.

With the idle time, he started hanging out with some friends and started asking citizens of Athens questions to see if they were wise. He would pop their intellectual ego by showing they were unwise. Eventually, this would contribute to his trial and death sentence.

Socrates was notoriously ugly, so if we follow his example, we should not worry about our looks. He showed indifference to his own appearance and personal hygiene. They say he “bathed rarely, walked barefoot, and owned only one ragged coat.”

Do we really want to follow his example. How many of you honestly think he would be accepted as a philosopher today?

Philosophy used to be a way of life, now it is merely a way of making a living. Philosophy used to be the most important pursuit in a person’s life, now it is regarded as irrelevant, boring, and a complete waste of time.

Philosophy has clearly lost its way.

Christianity Renew or Reject

“If a person is really involved in a religion and really building his life on it, he better stay with [it]…. You can keep an old tradition going only by renewing it in terms of current circumstances…. When the world changes, then the religion has to be transformed.” – Joseph Campbell

Many are leaving Christianity because it is no longer meeting their needs. They see it as out of date and out of touch. The overwhelming evil in the world doesn’t make sense if there is an all good and all powerful being in charge.

Gnostic Christians deny that God is in charge. Rather, Satan is “the god of this world” (2 Cor 4:4). The good God entrusted Adam with dominion over the earth, and he surrendered it to the devil.

In this and many other ways, Gnostic Christianity improves on Catholic Christianity. As more and more of the Bible is questioned as to its historical accuracy, Gnostic Christians have always maintained that it is primary myths, metaphors, and parables. But so have the mystics.