The Experience of No-Self: A Contemplative Journey

By Bernadette Roberts

Book Overview

Explores the journey beyond union, beyond self and God, into the silent and still regions of the Unknown.

In this profound spiritual memoir, one woman chronicles a journey into the deepest reaches of contemplative silence-a silence that begins as a gentle inner stillness and expands into something vast, unsettling, and ultimately life-shattering. What starts as familiar solitude in a seaside monastery chapel becomes an encounter with the unknown so complete that it unravels the boundaries of memory, identity, and selfhood itself.

Across days of overpowering stillness-where ordinary tasks dissolve into moment-to-moment survival and consciousness flickers like a failing candle-she discovers that the silence she entered will not fully release her. When the world finally returns, it returns changed. Something is missing. Something essential. And then, in a moment of startling clarity, she sees the truth: the self she once knew is gone.

What follows is an intimate and unflinching account of spiritual dissolution and awakening-of a joy so immense it floods the soul, and a loss so total it reshapes the meaning of faith, surrender, and God. Drawing on personal experience rather than doctrine, this narrative echoes the great mystics while remaining wholly original, compelling, and deeply human.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0791416941
• ISBN13: 9780791416945
• Release Date: March 1993
• Publisher: State University of New York Press
• Length: 213 Pages
• Weight: 0.69 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 6.0" x 9.0"
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

A Timeless Classic Expanding the Tradition of the Great Mystics

"The Experience of No-Self" is a fascinating book for anyone interested in mystical states of consciousness. Bernadette Roberts describes her own experiences through the often harrowing journey of a modern day mystic. What makes this book so unique is that there is very little written in the classic literature that adequately addresses the state of consciousness which Bernadette herself attained. With the exception of a few passages by Meister Eckhart, the author of "The Experience of No-Self" could not find a frame of reference with which to compare her experiences. This book raises many stimulating questions and provides a great deal of clarification concerning previously uncharted territories. For those readers familiar with Buddhist teachings, it is interesting to contrast Bernadette's descriptions with those found in the Buddhist literature concerning emptiness and the concept of no-self. Of all of Ms. Robert's books, I found this one to be the most accessible, despite the fact that it engages the reader in a very complex topic. This is a testament to the profound depth of Ms. Robert's experience and her commitment and skill in communicating a difficult subject. The book is subtitled, "A Contemplative Journey," and even the great adventures written about in fiction can scarcely compare with the breadth and scope of this mystic's journey.

An extraordinary work

This is an extraordinary account of our journey with God. In it, Bernadette talks of a milestone in the spiritual life that lies beyond union with God. After years of living a life united with God and given completely to God, she comes upon an event in which the entire self falls away. There is now no union, no center, and strictly speaking no experience at all. What remains is Christ and the Resurrection and a knowing (without subject) that to me speaks of the beginning of a beatific vision of God--a vision without mediator.In "The Path to No-Self" Berndette writes of the first part of our journey--the transformation where God replaces self at the very center of being. She speaks of this as the falling away of ego distinct from the later falling away of self.In "What is Self" a work that I hope will be printed again she speaks in much greater detail about what is known after the no-self event--about God, self, Christ, the Trinity and the Incarnation.There is no truer account of the spiritual life than these works by Bernadette Roberts. They profoundly illuminate the truth of the Christian revelation, and also provide insights for contemplatives of all backgrounds.

Start with "The Journey to No-Self"

Bernadette Roberts is quite simply one of the most extraordinary contemplatives of our time. Her accounts of her experiences, and her reflections on them, are invaluable to anyone pursuing a similar path beyond the notions of God into the mystery of the divine nothingness. But this is not the Roberts' book to start with; for openers, one should read Roberts' "The Journey to No-Self," which traces Roberts' own dark night and emergence into Union, the preparatory stage, in her view, for the even more radical experience of no-self. There has been no Christian advaita philosopher, previously, that i know of--at least none that did not get burned at the stake. Meister Eckhart danced in this neighborhood, however. In any case, for anyone engaged in the emptying journey into God, Roberts' is crucial reading; her books are like the companionship of a wise and seasoned friend.

An Excellent Account of the Spiritual Journey

I read this book a number of years ago and still get inspired by it. Bernadette Roberts is an excellent writer and does a good job at conveying experiences that are in a lot of ways beyond words. People who are not intuiting or experiencing what she is talking about would likely have a very difficult time understanding what is being said, and possibly, as in a previous review, assume that Bernadette Roberts is on the edge of insanity and living a very unjoyful life. I had the opportunity to attend a talk by Bernadette Roberts a few years ago and I found her an absolutely warm, humorous and loving person, without guile of any sort. The Experience of No Self can be a challenge to read, but for those who are ready for its message, it is a blessing.

This book will open the eyes of Buddhist meditators

The descriptions in this book relate a mystical experience of the author, an experience that she had in spite of her beliefs. Buddhist meditators will find the book illuminating and a much better account of the experience of no-self than I have ever seen in any book by a Buddhist.