A group of Pharisees gathered around Jesus, and a lawyer among them, who wanted to test Jesus, asked him: “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” Jesus [quoting Moses] said to him,
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.”
This is the first and great commandment (Deuteronomy. 6:5). “And the second is like it: [and Jesus quoted from the words of Moses again]
“You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
(Leviticus. 19:18) “On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew.22: 36-40; The Holy Bible, New King James Version, New York, Thomas Nelson, Inc., 2006; p. 1140).
Universal Teachings
These two directives which Jesus gave the lawyer are universal and are not just for the followers of Judaism or of Jesus, but for all people: The first directive is paramount, and is theocentric— that is, one’s love is to be focused on God within; the second is derivative of the first and is anthropocentric— stating that one’s love is to be freely shared with others. They are opposing directives, insofar as the direction of the first is interior and the direction of the second is exterior; yet they are complementary. The interior focus and the outer focus are of equal importance to a man’s soul, as is the subtle and delicate balance between the two.
Christianity’s Focus Today
In the early (Catholic) tradition of Christianity, there was a tendency to emphasize the theocentric directive, which gave rise to the Desert fathers, and the founding 25 of the contemplative Orders; whereas the later Reformers of the 16th century, who became known as Protestants, preferred to emphasize the anthropocentric focus. Therefore, the early emphasis on the contemplative life of prayer and meditation on God gave way to a greater emphasis on the concern for benefiting mankind through good works. The balance, once heavily favoring the inward pursuit of God-knowledge, swung to the active outer pursuit of social justice and human charity. It is this anthropocentric focus that remains the predominant focus of Christianity today.
Contemplative Life
But, as Jesus pointed out, it is the theocentric focus that is primary and fundamental; the anthropocentric directive is secondary and follows from the wisdom and love acquired in the primary focus on God. And yet, today, despite the directive from Jesus and the many reminders from Eastern yogis and sages regarding the need for a contemplative life, we in the West have almost completely forgotten the necessity of the interior focus on God. In many segments of Western society, God has become an unnecessary hypothesis in the current formulation of reality. We have so filled our heads with purely material values and our world with so many glittering technological marvels that we as a people are blinded to the larger existential picture, and have clearly lost appreciation for our divine roots, and for the One in whom we continue to live and move and have our being.
The Sole Source of our Wisdom, Power, and Inner Joy
It’s true that we have greatly advanced as a society in our ability to carry out the second of Jesus’ directives, but if we forget the first of Jesus’ directives, and lose sight of our own divine Self—the God who lives in our hearts, who is the sole source of our wisdom, our power, and our joy—with what shall we benefit others? If we can no longer soar into the rare atmosphere of His infinite wisdom, if we can no longer drink from the deep wellspring of His all-embracing love, what wisdom and what love shall we have to share with others? And, without our inner focus on God, the Source of all bliss, what will be the quality of our own inner lives?
Excerpt from The Christian Mystical Tradition by Swami Abhayananda, an American Swami