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BOOK REVIEWS
RADICAL OPTIMISM
Beatrice Bruteau
| In the preface to this second edition of Radical Optimism (first published in 1993) Beatrice Bruteau notes, "There are tehorists abroad in the world with dreadful weapons in their reach, and there is a System in place in the world which-almost unnoticed-has gained control of the fundamentals of life; food, jobs, welfare, security, health and safety measures... We need, urgently, to consider all over again what our life is about and what values are important... We need to find our way back to the basic realities, truths, values."
The book focuses on leisure; stillness; meditation; the finite and the infinite; sin and salvation; the heart of Jesus, root of reality; the communion of saints; and Trinitarian manifestation.
The chapters on leisure, stillness and meditation form the strength of the book and are presented as effective forces that confront evil. She encourages a spirit of optimism, and observes that most of the spiritual life is a matter of relaxing, of being still and open.
Radical Optimism presents deeply religious practices all within the context of ordinary demands of life; for example, if we were to make a list of our activities and then ask ourselves whether we really need to do each of them we might be amazed at what we could strike from the list. We can be peaceful even in the demands of contemporary life, because what is really pressuring us is the insistence of our own demands.
She makes a distinction between wishing and willing. Wishing admits we believe that we cannot change something. It leaves us without energy. Willing commutes us to the belief that a situation can be changed by us. It brings peace and releases energy which is focused on positive energy. Radical Optimism shows us who we are and what we can do about the evil and suffering in the world and our own lives.
—Ann Lynch, SSJ, Catholic Library Review |
| We can all agree with the author that the more troubled and difficult the world becomes, the more important it is to be optimistic, and the more deeply we need to root that optimism. The troubles and uncertainty in the world have greatly increased since this book was written, and therefore the author's guide to practical spirituality becomes even more valuable. If you are wondering if "practical spirituality" is an oy:jmoron, consider the balance achieved by acknowledging your practical side along with your spiritual side - a foot in each world, so to speak, and an acceptance of your humanness.
The purpose of this book is to inspire us to achieve optimism through contemplation. We can learn to be creative, using ancient philosophy to achieve a better place (practically and spiritually) for us all. Beatrice Bruteau urges us to use the tools she provides to work toward radical optimism - that optimism that is "rooted in deep reality" and worked out "in love by skillful means."
—Issues Magazine,October and November 2005 |
| This is a timely reissue of one of the best books by Beatrice Bruteau, Catholic mystic and founder of the Schola Contemplationis. When Dr. Bruteau writes, the wise Theosophist should run to the local bookshop. Having been trained in the contemplantive traditions of Catholicism, Advaita Vedanta, and higher mathematics, she offers a potent synthesis, grounded in serious spiritual practice, and appropriate to modern life. This book is both philosophically serious and practically focused, with lots of suggestions for exercises. Both newcomers to the spiritual path and seasoned veterans of the quest will find food for the journey here. Dr. Bruteau reaches sermonic heights at moments, challenging us to grow past the comfortable: “But what else is the contemplative life for? It is where the great risks can be faced, where folkloric religion can be outgrown and the naked Reality entered into by naked spirit. In the depths of the contemplative life, there should no longer be any secrets, any euphemisms, any tales told to children, but the way should be clear to find the Real beyond finite descriptions” (93). Dr. Bruteau also makes a compelling case for the inner life lived fully in the modern world, expressed through compassionate action. By sharing in the unselfish abundance of the Divine, we are transformed, and then begin to live differently. “Contemplation is not something that is done alongside or before or after our everyday action. It’s the doing itself that is contemplation because you yourself are so united with God that you are simply living the divine life; you are God living and doing you in the world. You are God’s manifestation” (132). While some of Dr. Bruteau’s fellow Christians may find this “strong meat” indeed, it is a rich feast of a book, and we should thank her for setting the table. —John Plummer, The Quest Magazine | | SBA Selection: April, 1993 Seldom does one find a book that has been more widely praised in advance of its publication than this. Spiritual writers from Thomas Keating to John Shea have hailed it as “deeply mystical, yet clear and stimulating,” “insightful and visionary,” “original and challenging,” and a “substantial lesson that feeds both the mind and heart.”
Beatrice Bruteau is the founder of the Schola Contemplationis, an international network of contemplatives from all walks of life and from various traditions. In this book she shares her vision of what it means to live a contemplative life in the world today and the changes that such a life produces in us. Her optimism is rooted in faith and the new possibilities that faith opens up. “Our deepest truth is our union with God. That's the root of our reality. And it's from that root that my optimism is derived.”
She begins by inviting us to enter into leisure: “the cessation of restless activity, stillness and silence.” From there she instructs us on the practice of meditation and the conversion that results from it: “Contemplation is a matter of seeing how it is, uniting with it as it is, and manifesting it as it is,” she says. She goes on to describe how this process of seeing, uniting, and manifesting leads us toward freedom from sin and union with the Trinity.
Bruteau offers us what she calls “a path of perspective,” calling us to shift our focus from suffering and evil to the deepest truth. If we look only at the “twisting twigs and fluttering leaves” and not at the root, we get an inaccurate slant on things. “I am trying to contribute to the quest for meaning and the consequent alleviation of misery,” she says. Radical Optimism will lead you on a path that is both difficult and rewarding, offering a revealing look at the deepest truths of who we are and what we may yet become. —Spritual Book News
April 1993 | | Christian philosopher and founder of a network for contemplatives, Bruteau writes with clarity and insight about true reality, and of our need to see ourselves as we are at that core, rather than looking always at ourselves on the periphery. She puts concerns for leisure or Sabbath-time into the context not only of focusing on essence but also of stilling mind and body so that the type of mediation that sees the biblical stories as our own, the Annunciation as our own annunciation, may flourish. Her meditations on sin, salvation, Jesus, the communion of the saints, and the Trinity are similarly profound and relational. Highly recommended, especially for seminary and public libraries, but for academic ones as well. —Library Journal
April 1993 | | So much of life is a search for perspective and meaning. The outlook we adopt immensely influences the way we understand. Beatrice Bruteau suggest that the deepest truth is our union with God, that this is the root of our reality. From that deep-seated root our optimistic outlook is derived, hence her book title. This is not a Pollyanna approach where everything is coming up roses if we but have enough faith. No, Bruteau is both profoundly insightful and eminently practical. For example, tackling the classic command to love our neighbor and ourselves in a way which encourages the living out of the precept.
Bruteau uses a wholistic approach to holiness, walking in eight chapters through Leisure; Stillness; Meditation; The Finite and the Infinite; Sin and Salvation; Heart of Jesus; Root of Reality; The Communion of the Saints; and Trinitarian Manifestation. She deeply appreciates the unity of all truth, which is seen in her comments about other religious traditions, particularly those of the East. This brief look at oriental wisdom allows her to give a penetrating look at “The Jesus Path,” which she describes as the heart of Jesus and the root of reality. Using the Trinity as model, she then reflects on the interconnectedness of all people and things in the world—a truly cosmic vision of the world in which we live.
The book requires prayer and reflection—it is not an “easy read.” This reader would note that she writes very much like the mystics, with a rich use of images and opposites to illustrate her insights. Indeed, this contemplative writer's thoughts fall clearly in line with John, Teresa, and Chardin. I recommend the book both for its insight and practicality, as well as the good company it keeps! —Reverend John G. Durbin, S.T.L., Sisters Today
April 1993 | |  |
