The Naked Now: Learning to See as the Mystics See

"Rohr takes his hat off to mystics and describes them as having moved "from mere belief systems or belonging systems to actual inner experience.” These inner explorers are willing to surrender to the gift of grace that has opened their hearts "to the naked now of true prayer and full presence.” They realize that although God is unspeakable, the divine is at the same time as close and as accessible as our breath.” Oneness is no longer merely a vague mystical notion, but a scientific fact.” Thanks to their third-eye vision of understanding, mystics are able to grasp the big picture.”

From Belief to Being: The Third Eye, the Paraclete, and the Actualization of Mystical Consciousness

1. Abstract

This paper examines Richard Rohr's critique of dualistic religiosity and his advocacy for a transformative mystical consciousness characterized by nondual perception, or "third-eye" vision. Rohr argues that true mystics move beyond external belief systems or belonging systems to actual inner experience, attaining a state of full presence where the divine is perceived as immanent and accessible [1]. This analysis posits that Rohr's framework finds a profound and concrete actualization in the event of May 5, 1970, described within the Sahaja Yoga tradition as the advent of the Paraclete (Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi) and the collective opening of the Sahasrara Chakra (the Kingdom of God). It is argued that this event enabled a mass spiritual potential, facilitating access to the Agnya Chakra—the seat of the Third Eye and the inner Christ consciousness—thereby providing the ontological mechanism for humanity to collectively transition from dogma to direct, verifiable inner experience.

2. Introduction: The Crisis of Dualistic Religion and the Mystical Promise

In The Naked Now: Learning to See as the Mystics See, Franciscan contemplative Richard Rohr presents a compelling diagnosis of a spiritual malaise pervasive in institutional religion. He identifies a dependence on dualistic, either-or thinking—a mindset of judgment, exclusion, and tribal belonging—as the root of religious violence, elitism, and existential alienation. Against this, he posits the contemplative mind or mystical consciousness as the one truly unique alternative that religion has to offer the world [1]. For Rohr, the mystic is not merely a pious believer but an inner explorer who has undergone a paradigm shift from external adherence to internal awakening.

This paper explores Rohr's description of this shift and proposes that his theological vision corresponds to a specific, historic metaphysical event claimed within the teachings of Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi. By integrating Rohr's framework with this perspective, we can construct a model where mystical consciousness is not merely an elusive grace for a few but a structured, universal potential made accessible through a divine intervention centered on the activation of the Third Eye.

3. Rohr's Mystical Theology: The Naked Now and the Third-Eye Vision

Rohr's mystic is defined by several interconnected realizations:

1. From Belief to Experience: The mystic transcends propositional belief and tribal identity (belonging systems) to enter an actual inner experience of the divine. This is a move from fides quae (the content of belief) to fides qua (the act of believing as a lived, experiential state).
2. The Naked Now of Presence: This experience is anchored in surrender to grace, which opens the heart to the naked now of true prayer and full presence. It is an unmediated encounter with reality, free from the filters of past memory or future anticipation.
3. Divine Immanence: In this state, the unspeakable God is realized as as close and as accessible as our breath. Transcendence and immanence coalesce.
4. Nondual, "Third-Eye" Perception: This is the cornerstone of Rohr's argument. The third-eye vision of understanding allows the mystic to grasp the big picture. It is a form of unitive knowledge that reconciles paradox, overcomes oppositional thinking, and perceives the underlying oneness of reality. Rohr explicitly links this to the Principle of Likeness, where recognizing the divine image within oneself automatically reveals it in all others, dissolving judgment and fostering unconditional love [1].

For Rohr, Jesus is the archetypal mystic of the West, a nondual teacher whose radical message of inclusivity, forgiveness, and enemy-love has been largely domesticated by the dualistic structures of institutional Christianity. The mystical path, therefore, is a resurrection of this mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16), a metanoia or conversion of perception.

4. The Paraclete and the Ontological Opening: From Potential to Actualization

Rohr's work is prescriptive and aspirational, outlining a path for individuals within a largely unchanged cosmic context. The teachings of Shri Mataji, however, introduce a prophetic and ontological claim that directly addresses the how and the when of a collective mystical awakening [2].

Central to this is the interpretation of the event of May 5, 1970. Within this framework, Shri Mataji is recognized as the embodiment of the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete or Comforter promised by Jesus (John 14:16, 26) [3]. Her divine work culminated on that date in the metaphysical opening of the Sahasrara Chakra—the crown center at the top of the head, corresponding to the Kingdom of God or the state of collective enlightenment. This event is described as not merely symbolic but a real, energetic transformation of the collective spiritual atmosphere.

The critical link to Rohr's third-eye vision is found in the role of the Agnya Chakra. Located in the optic chiasm, the Agnya is the energy center known as the Third Eye. In Christian mystical terms, it is understood as the seat where the resurrected Christ resides within the human subtle system. It is the center of forgiveness, surrender, and perception. The ego and superego condition this center, creating the very dualities—judgment, guilt, ideological rigidity—that Rohr identifies as the barriers to mystical consciousness.

The opening of the Sahasrara, as the culmination of Shri Mataji's work, is posited to have enacted a global purification and activation of the Agnya Chakra. This created the condition for the potential mass resurrection of the inner Christ consciousness in all who seek it. In this model, the third-eye vision is not merely a metaphor but a functional, spiritual faculty that can be awakened, allowing for the direct perception of spiritual vibrations (spanda) and the inner integration of the self.

5. Synthesis: The Third Eye as the Bridge to Inner Experience

We can now synthesize Rohr's theological framework with this metaphysical event:

1. The Mechanism for Moving Beyond Belief: Rohr calls for a move from belief systems to actual inner experience. The awakened Agnya Chakra provides the very organ for that experience. It becomes the inner instrument through which the seeker can directly perceive spiritual truth (the cool breeze of the Holy Spirit), transforming doctrine into self-verifiable knowledge. Prayer becomes true prayer because it is a state of vibrational connection in the naked now, not a recited petition.
2. Actualizing the "Principle of Likeness": Rohr's principle—seeing the divine within and thus in all—becomes a tangible reality. The awakened Third Eye facilitates Self-realization (the awareness of one's own divine connection via the Kundalini awakening), which inevitably reveals the same connection in others, not as an intellectual concept but as a perceived vibrational truth. This dismantles us vs. them thinking at its root.
3. Oneness as a Scientific Fact: Rohr states that for the mystic, Oneness is no longer merely a vague mystical notion, but a scientific fact. This aligns with the claim that Sahaja Yoga offers a science of spirituality, where the state of inner integration and connection to the whole is evidenced through the tangible, cool vibrational awareness felt on the fingertips and the central nervous system. The big picture is grasped not philosophically but through a new, holistic mode of perception.
4. The Historical Moment of Transition: Rohr's work is a call for a renaissance of the contemplative mind. From this alternate perspective, that renaissance was ontologically initiated on May 5, 1970. The Paraclete's advent made the grace of this transformation universally accessible, fulfilling the promise that the Holy Spirit would guide you into all the truth (John 16:13). The path of the mystic, therefore, is no longer reserved for ascetic elites but is democratized, awaiting only the seeker's desire for that inner connection.

6. Conclusion

Richard Rohr's The Naked Now provides a powerful theological and psychological critique of dualistic religion and a luminous description of the unitive, mystical consciousness that represents its healing. By engaging with the claims surrounding Shri Mataji and the events of 1970, we find a provocative and detailed correlative that moves Rohr's vision from a transformative idea to a realized cosmology.

In this synthesis, the Agnya Chakra—the Third Eye, the dwelling of the inner Christ—is identified as the precise psycho-spiritual organ through which Rohr's third-eye vision is functionally activated. The opening of the Sahasrara is presented as the pivotal divine act that made this activation a living potential for all of humanity. Thus, the move from mere belief systems or belonging systems to actual inner experience is framed not merely as an individual contemplative achievement but as the promised fruit of a new dispensation: the accessible reality of the Kingdom of God within, perceived through the opened eye of the spirit.

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Book review: The Naked Now Learning to See as the Mystics See
Book Review
By Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat

Richard Rohr is a revered speaker, a million-selling author, founder of the Center for Action and Contemplation, a regular contributor to Sojourners and Tikkun, and one of the Living Spiritual Teachers profiled on this website. He is the author of many books including Everything Belongs.

In this timely, cogent, and enlightening volume, Rohr challenges Christians and other spiritual seekers to give up the either-or dichotomies of dualistic thinking and to turn to another "software" for dealing with the big issues of death, love, infinity, suffering, God, and war. This alternative vision has at various times been described as mysticism, contemplation, prayer, or pure presence.

Rohr takes his hat off to mystics and describes them as having moved "from mere belief systems or belonging systems to actual inner experience." These inner explorers are willing to surrender to the gift of grace that has opened their hearts "to the naked now of true prayer and full presence." They realize that although God is unspeakable, the divine is at the same time as close and as accessible as our breath. Oneness is no longer merely a vague mystical notion, but a scientific fact. Thanks to their third-eye vision of understanding, mystics are able to grasp the big picture.

Rohr claims that Jesus was the first nondualistic religious teacher of the West and is one who would surely understand and affirm the nonpolarity thinking of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Taoism. Along with Native religions, these three traditions emphasize the overcoming of conflicts and oppositional thinking by conversions of the heart, mind, and emotions. They are more concerned with this world than the world to come.

In contrast, the traditional accent of the monotheistic religions (Christianity, Judaism and Islam) on individual salvation and "us" versus "them" thinking has led to elitism, ethnic hatred, war, violence, homophobia, poverty, and the savaging of animals and the earth. Much of this conflict stems from the judging mind which ranks and excludes in its quest for certainty. Rohr laments the resistance to the radical change that Jesus proclaimed and embodied in his teachings on nonviolence, a simple lifestyle, love of the poor, forgiveness, love of enemies, inclusivity, and compassion.

The author celebrates what he calls "A renaissance of the contemplative mind, the one truly unique alternative that religion has to offer the world." He discusses how the contemplative mind approaches faith, great love, suffering, paradox, mystery, being awake, and leadership. One of the major hallmarks of this spiritual path is the "Principle of Likeness." Here's how Rohr explains it:

"The enormous breakthrough is that when you honor and accept the divine image within yourself, you cannot help but see it in everybody else, too, and you know it is just as undeserved and unmerited as it is in you. That is why you stop judging, and that is how you start loving unconditionally and without asking whether someone is worthy or not. The breakthrough occurs at once, although the realization deepens and takes on greater conviction over time."

Imagine what would happen in America and around the world if Christians abandoned dualistic thinking and began to live out the radical teachings of Jesus that have been ignored. Imagine what would happen if governments would be prodded by the world's religions to practice the contemplative mind and move beyond the need for war, demonizing of the enemy, and "us" versus "them" thinking!

https://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/books/books.php?id=19451

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The Naked Now
review by Carl McColman on February 16, 2010

The Naked Now: Learning to See as the Mystics See
By Richard Rohr
New York: Crossroad, 2009
Review by Carl McColman

Many of the finest studies of Christian mysticism are just that: studies. While authors as renowned as William Ralph Inge, Cuthbert Butler, Evelyn Underhill, Louis Bouyer, John Macquarrie, Bernard McGinn and Robert Davis Hughes have made splendid contributions to our knowledge and understanding of contemplative and mystical spirituality, their erudite and scholarly works are, alas, often just too challenging for the ordinary, non-theologically-educated layperson. Although perusing their work can be a dazzling journey of insight and cognition, the casual reader may well be left wondering the all-important question, largely unaddressed by the scholars: "How do I apply this wisdom to my life?"

Enter Richard Rohr and his inviting, accessible introduction to the mystical element of spirituality written for the average seeker in our time. He understands that mysticism is far more than just "experiencing God," and he refuses to reduce contemplation to mere psychological nurture or stress management. He deftly understands that mysticism often exists in tension with established religious authority, and yet at its heart Christian mysticism is about reconciliation and relationship more so than revolution and rebellion. Rohr has a clear sense of the paradox and play at the heart of mysticism, and manages to avoid both the trap of esotericism (mysticism as a retreat into private spirituality) and devotionalism (mysticism as a metaphor for super-piety). The title, The Naked Now, evokes a range of "present-moment" spiritual masterpieces, from Eckhart Tolle's The Power of Now to Jean-Pierre de Caussade's Abandonment to Divine Providence. Like these previous works, The Naked Now recognizes that mysticism is a gift already given, not something we achieve so much as something we, by God's grace, simply allow: in the undefended, un-judged (hence, "naked") here-and-now present.

The key to this book's accessibility and usefulness lies in its subtitle. Rohr does not promise his readers that The Naked Now will make them become mystics; instead, he promises to invite them to "see" as mystics do. He uses the metaphor of seeing and even of the "third eye" to unpack not only what is wrong with religion in general, but to present mysticism as a shift into all-embracing, nondual consciousness. He grounds this fundamental truth in the Christian tradition, discussing how mysticism relates to the Christian (particularly but not exclusively Catholic) life, and especially to the teachings of Jesus. Like Cynthia Bourgeault or even Ken Wilber, Rohr's understanding of Jesus liberates Christ from the kind of metaphysical superhero who dies to placate a wrathful God and instead celebrates him as a wisdom teacher whose death and resurrection become the archetypal pathway for the life of mystical initiation: descent into the dark night (and surrender of the ego), followed by the resurrection into the "new mind" or "mind of Christ" (metanoia, conversion) that characterizes mystical seeing — and being.

In his introduction to the book, Rohr suggests that these principles epitomize what he is trying to say: "All saying must be balanced by unsaying, and knowing must be humbled by unknowing," and "All light must be informed by darkness, and all success by suffering." The key to these mystical axioms, of course, is unlearning the dualistic way of seeing and thinking by relaxing into the naked now: the "sacrament of the present moment."

The Naked Now is a gentle book, and probably will not convert anyone who is not already predisposed to its joyful and expansive message. It lacks the polemical punch of Brian McLaren's A New Kind of Christianity or Phyllis Tickle's The Great Emergence; but it really has a different mission than either of those books. It's not about convincing the ego of how "right" the mystical path is, but rather simply about accepting the invitation to walk the mystic path and see for yourself. Because Rohr is not interested in oppositional consciousness, he is not particularly interested in meeting his critics (or the critics of mysticism in general) on their level. Rather, he simply invites everyone to "come higher" to the third-eye, naked now level of contemplative seeing. Those who accept the invitation will find this book encouraging and hopeful. Those who don't probably wouldn't read the book to begin with.

If you like The Website of Unknowing I can confidently say that you will love The Naked Now. If you're not particularly familiar with my website, then consider if you are drawn to centering prayer, interfaith spirituality (Christianity in dialogue with Buddhism, etc.), Benedictine/Monastic spirituality, Celtic Christianity, or the emergent conversation. If any of these are of interest to you, get this book. It will inspire you to connect to the spiritual heart of all these creative movements within the Christian community.

https://anamchara.com/2010/02/16/the-naked-now/