Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Contemplative
Walter Hilton: A Contemplative Guide Who Will Take You Back to the Basics

Walter Hilton: A Contemplative Guide Who Will Take You Back to the Basics

Last updated on: February 23, 2019 at 8:08 pm by Carl "Skye" McColman

Walter Hilton: A Contemplative Guide Who Will Take You Back to the Basics 2019-02-23T20:08:58-04:00 Carl "Skye" McColman

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Twice this month, the lesser-known English mystic Walter Hilton has shown up on this blog. First I wrote about a dream I had, and how I think Hilton inspired me to dream about a “Hilton Hotel.” Then I wrote about some of my favorite “mystical book covers” and one of the books I featured on that post was the old Image Books edition of Walter Hilton’s classic, The Stairway of Perfection (also called The Scale of Perfection).

So it only seemed right to give Walter Hilton his own blog post. And here it is.

Who is Walter Hilton? He was born probably in the 1340s and died in 1396 — compare that to Julian of Norwich, who was born in 1342 and died sometime around 1412. He wrote a number of books and treatises, including The Goad of Love, The Mixed Life, and Eight Chapters on Perfection. But his most important book remains The Scale (Ladder, Staircase) of Perfection.

The title of the book isn’t important — it was likely added at a later date by a scribe or editor — and the book actually consists of two books, that appear to have been written at different times and possibly with different readers in mind — although the first book was written specifically for a woman recluse (hermit), and the second book claims to have been written in response to some further questions from that original reader. In this sense the book is similar to The Cloud of Unknowing — it is, in essence, a book of spiritual guidance or direction, written by an elder contemplative for a younger reader.

But unlike The Cloud, Hilton’s book seems to be much more basic and foundational in the material it covers and the directions it gives to its readers. For this reason, Evelyn Underhill had this to say:

The Scale of Perfection, although commonly described as a mystical classic, is really — like many of the works of the mystics — concerned as much with the moral and ascetic as it is with the contemplative life. It is not a storehouse of esoteric wisdom, but a way-book for the soul travelling in spirit to Jerusalem, “the which betokeneth contemplation in the perfect love of God”; and has more to tell us of the difficulties of the road than of the consummation at the journey’s end.

This book — like Mary Margaret Funk’s Thoughts Matter or St. Francis de Sales’ Introduction to the Devout Life — is meant for beginners on the contemplative path. The Cloud of Unknowing is famous for a “warning” in the book’s prologue, that no one should read it unless they are fully committed to the contemplative life. In other words, it’s not for beginners. But The Scale of Perfection is. And that makes it simultaneously more useful than many other mystical books, but also more challenging.

A Book for Beginners (Like All of Us)

Elsewhere I have written about how the classical formulation of the Christian mystical life includes three “stages” or “phases” — Purification, Illumination, and Union. As beginners we embrace a path of purgation or purification, turning away from sin and self-absorption to ready ourselves for the cleaning action of the Holy Spirit in our hearts.

A sustained commitment to the spiritual life invites us into the path of illumination, where we discover the light of Christ shining in our lives, beckoning us ever forward into the heart of God, while continuing to call us to ever-greater surrender and repentance. The mature life in the spirit reveals the union that is given to us in baptism, but that we often do not fully embrace or realize until we have truly become at home in silence, solitude, and self-forgetful love.

Look at the three great English mystics, all from the fourteenth century: Walter Hilton, Julian of Norwich, and the anonymous author of The Cloud of Unknowing.

Walter Hilton, with his emphasis on the reformation of life as the preliminary practice for a contemplative practice, is a companion for the path of purification.
Julian of Norwich, whose visions of Divine Love are luminous and inspiring, is the natural companion for the path of illumination.
The Cloud of Unknowing, with its radical program of nondual prayer and trust in God beyond all words and concepts, is the perfect companion for the unitive life.

So — wouldn’t it make sense for anyone serious about learning the contemplative life, to begin with Hilton? I should say so. Yet I must confess: I myself read Hilton far less than Julian or The Cloud. Not because Hilton is difficult to read: on the contrary, his writing is down to earth and accessible.

No, I’m afraid for many of us, Hilton is not a “preferred” mystic because his language is stern — lots of talk about seeing the self and all our works as “nothing” — and because, frankly, we post-moderns don’t like being told that we need to radically re-calibrate our lives in order to meaningfully embrace the contemplative path.

We have a tendency to want to skip all the talk about the hard work of spiritual discipline, and go straight to the “goodies” of visionary spirituality (like Julian) or radical transformation of consciousness (like The Cloud).

But that’s too bad (as I write these words, I realize I’m writing for myself. Guess what I just decided is going to be my Lenten book for this year?). I firmly believe that we are always beginners in the spiritual life — so no matter how “advanced” or “mystical” your spiritual practice might be, a good old fashioned book on virtue, repentance, and reformation of one’s heart is always worth a read.

And that’s what you’ll get with The Scale of Perfection.

Integrity, Humility, and Other Contemplative Virtues

The book begins with a clarion call for spiritual integrity: that a person’s inner life should be like their outer life. In other words,

… wretched is the man or woman who abandons the inward guarding of the heart to concentrate on cultivating only the outward appearance of virtue — the form and image of holiness in habits or clothing, speech, or physical actions.

Ouch.

As I’ve heard more than one monk say, “The habit does not a monk make.” In other words, if we are serious about the spiritual life, we need a basic alignment between an inner commitment to virtue and an outer simplicity of life.

Hilton goes on from there to offer a survey of the different elements of a contemplative life, the necessity of discernment, the cultivation of virtue, the necessity of humility, the importance of intention… and only then does he get around to talking about the practice of prayer.

And as you might expect, he begins at the beginning: with vocal prayer.

Don’t get me wrong: I still maintain that anyone who is serious about contemplative spirituality needs to get to know the wisdom of Julian of Norwich and The Cloud of Unknowing. Julian gives you a grounding in healthy theology, while The Cloud offers detailed instruction and advice in the prayer of silence.

But don’t forget about Walter Hilton. What he has to say may not be as exciting or inspiring — but his teaching is like learning how to play scales when you first are taking piano lessons. What it lacks in pizzazz it more than makes up for in solid grounding — a foundation that will serve you well for years to come.

To learn more about Walter Hilton — and his more-famous contemporaries, Julian of Norwich and the author of The Cloud of Unknowing — please check out Christian Mystics: 108 Seers, Saints and Sages.

Enjoy reading this blog?
Click here to become a patron.

Mysticism

Christian mysticism

Mysticism

The Scale of Perfection

Walter Hilton

Previous Post

February 20, 2019

Nondual Christianity and the Problem of Evil

Next Post

February 26, 2019 Unteachable Lessons: Why Wisdom Can't Be Taught (and Why That's Okay)

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Activism Announcements Art Books Catholicism Celtic Christianity Christian mysticism Christianity Contemplation Current events Etc. Family humor interfaith dialogue Interfaith Wisdom Interspirituality Lay Cistercians Living the Faith Meditation movies Mysticism Mystics nature Poetry Reviews Scripture silence Spirituality Uncategorized Writing

Select a Month February 2025 January 2025 November 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 March 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 August 2023 June 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 October 2013 September 2013 July 2013 May 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 March 2012 December 2011 September 2011 October 2010 August 2010 March 2010 September 2009 July 2008 January 2008 December 2007 September 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2004

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

True or False: In Revelation, the tree of life produces twelve different kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month.

Select your answer to see how you score.

TRUE FALSE

Support this
Column