Mysticism East and West Reveal: We Are One in Love by Bridget Mary Meehan ARCWP

Mystic Teresa of Avila in her Church in Avila, Spain

From Thomas Merton to Bede Griffiths, from Julian of Norwich to Teresa of Ávila, and through the renewed priestly ministry of women priests and inclusive communities, the world’s great spiritual traditions are converging into a vision of Love without boundaries beyond all divisions. A renewed priestly ministry awakens us to a radical inclusivity that awakens us to our Oneness in Holy Mystery within and around all.

In the last century, a profound communion has arisen between Eastern and Western mysticism—a dialogue not of doctrines but of direct experience. At the heart of this encounter lies a recognition that the depth of human spiritual longing transcends language, creed, and culture. The East and West, once seen as separate rivers flowing toward different oceans, now meet in a deeper oneness in the Divine Mystery.

Thomas Merton, the Trappist monk and contemplative pioneer, helped reveal this common ground. After his encounter with the Dalai Lama and other Buddhist teachers, Merton wrote of the interior journey beyond concepts, where the self falls away and the core of being aligns with the Infinite.¹ In Zen Buddhism, the practice of no-mind (mushin) points to this same contemplative emptiness—what Merton called “the hidden ground of Love,”² where God is met beyond images and definitions.

Similarly, the Benedictine monk Bede Griffiths immersed himself in Hindu spirituality at his Christian ashram in India, discovering profound resonance between the Hindu experience of Atman-Brahman unity and the Christian experience of the indwelling God. In Griffiths’ reflections, Hindu Vedanta and Christian mysticism are different doorways into the same sacred presence.³ His life was a living sacrament of this synthesis—Western liturgy sung in Sanskrit, Eucharist celebrated with Indian gestures of reverence, scripture read alongside the Upanishads.⁴

Today, this East–West meeting finds new expression in contemporary Catholic renewal movements led by women and inclusive communities. Roman Catholic Women Priests embody a living mysticism of equality—where vocation springs from the interior call of Spirit, not external institutional permission.⁵ Their ministry asserts that the Divine Mystery speaks through women’s bodies, women’s experiences, and the feminine expressions of the sacred that were long repressed in Western Christianity. The vision of open-table Eucharist resonates deeply with Eastern hospitality and Vedantic non-duality, revealing a God not of exclusion but radical inclusion.⁶

Across the Roman Catholic tradition, spiritual leaders have slowly awakened to this shared mystical horizon. Richard Rohr speaks of a “universal Christ” who cannot be confined to Christianity, for Christ is the manifestation of Divine Consciousness in all creation.⁷ The Carmelite mystics—Teresa of Ávila and John of the Cross—taught that God is encountered in the interior depths where every label falls silent.⁸ Saint Francis of Assisi experienced Christ in the wind, the water, and the brotherhood of all beings—echoing the Buddhist reverence for sentient life and the Hindu awareness of divine presence in nature.⁹

The fruit of these convergences is a spirituality rooted not in exclusion but expansion—less about converting others and more about being converted into love itself. This meeting of East and West reveals the Divine not as an object of belief but as the Living Mystery at the heart of all existence. It invites us to “wake up”—as Buddhists say—to the true nature of reality,¹⁰ and to “become one with God,” as Christian mystics express it,¹¹ echoing the Hindu realization that Tat Tvam Asi—“Thou art That.”¹²

In this deeper oneness, the boundaries between religions become permeable, bridges of communion emerge, and contemplatives of all paths recognize each other as fellow travelers. What remains is the illuminating  Mystery—beyond comprehension—inviting the human spirit into the sacred unity that energizes all creation. 

In inclusive Catholic communities, a renewed model of ordained leadership is not about hierarchy but relationship. The purpose of sacramental ministry is to awaken the presence of the Holy within each person, and to affirm the indwelling of Love that flows through all creation.

Ordination, in this new paradigm, does not elevate one person above others — rather, it empowers the entire community:The same Spirit that anoints the priest is the Spirit that lives in the people. The function of priesthood is to amplify Love’s voice, by affirming the diversity of spiritual gifts of the people of God for spiritual transformation and service.

This understanding resonates strongly with Eastern traditions, where spiritual authority flows from awakening and compassion rather than institutional certification.

And with Catholic mysticism it shares the conviction that love- not law-  makes us all one. In Divine Mystery, there is one Love breathing through every soul, greater than religion  in whom we live and move and have our being, closer to us than our own heartbeat.

 Footnotes

1. Thomas Merton, The Asian Journal of Thomas Merton.

2. Merton, New Seeds of Contemplation.

3. Bede Griffiths, The Marriage of East and West.

4. Bede Griffiths, Return to the Center.

5. Bridget Mary Meehan, Living Gospel Equality Now: Loving in the Heart of God, and ongoing episcopal leadership within ARCWP.

6. Meehan’s writings and ordination work emphasize Eucharistic accessibility and community-centered priesthood, documented in Bridget Mary’s Blog and ARCWP public statements.

7. Richard Rohr, The Universal Christ.

8. Teresa of Ávila, Interior Castle; John of the Cross, The Dark Night of the Soul.

9. Francis of Assisi, Canticle of the Creatures.

10. Buddhist bodhi (awakening) and the Zen insistence on direct perception of reality.

11. Meister Eckhart’s mystical theology and the tradition of unio mystica in Christian mysticism.

12. Tat Tvam Asi, from the Chandogya Upanishad.