Mark describes the reaction of the women who found the tomb of Jesus empty like this: “And going out from the tomb they fled, for trembling and amazement had held them, and they said nothing to anyone for they were afraid.”
“Trembling” and “Amazement” in Greek are τρόμος (tro-mos) and ἔκστασις (ek-sta-sis) from which we get our English words “tremor” and “ecstacy.” It’s not uncommon to react to fear with trembling. But what about ecstacy? And what is ecstasy these days other than a psychotropic drug?
The Greek word literally means “standing outside.” So a person experiencing ecstasy has transcended the normal experience of their life. Britannica calls religious ecstasy an ” experience of an inner vision of God or of one’s relation to or union with the divine.” This state of mind is described by several Hebrew prophets. David was probably experiencing a form of it when he “danced before the Lord with all his might.” It was sought after by early Christian mystics and described to have three phases by Thomas Aquinas: 1) suspension of the external senses only; 2) suspension of both the external and internal senses; and 3) direct contemplation of the divine essence.
So, if the women who followed Jesus and prominent early Christian thinkers endorse ecstacy, it must be a good thing, right?
Well. Maybe.
The trouble is that every good thing is subject to being perverted by the Enemy of Good into something bad. Ecstatic states of mind cannot be trusted because of their very nature. Aquinas tells us that they involve suspension of both external and internal senses. Internal senses allow us to distinguish between right and wrong, good and evil. If ecstasy suspends them, then what?
New Age “Christian” practices promote the “emptying” of the self through “Centering Prayer” and other methods. These essentially amount to self-hypnosis. They empty the mind and leave it open to malevolent influences. Jesus spoke of a man who had a demon cast out but failed to fill his soul with good afterward. Eventually the demon returned and brought seven friends because he found his former home empty, swept clean, and put in order. Emptying your mind isn’t a good way to achieve ecstasy.
Fortunately there is a way to seek ecstasy and to discern between true and false contemplation of the divine essence. “To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.” (Isaiah 8:20). So any “revelation” which is contrary to the clear word of God as recorded in Scripture is false. Likewise any form of “meditation” which is centered on something other than Scripture is bound to lead to bad results.
