Thankfully this chapter seems to have left the racist anti-Asian sentiments behind, and instead focuses on the idea of prayer within the context of a monastery. Hugo essentially argues (in a way that feels very influenced by Spinoza) that “God”, the object of prayer, is the “Infinite”, an all encompassing whole of which we are a part. This pantheism, or panentheism leads to a further idea that we contain the “Infinite” as well, and that when we pray, what is actually happening is the smaller infinite in us is connecting with the higher / greater infinite of “God” or the universe itself. It’s an experience of transcendence.
Though I may quibble with some of the language and particulars, and the starting point is different, this is not that far off from the way I view our reality. As someone who has come to embrace a process ontology, this recognition of the interconnectedness of all things and the way that the divine permeates all things just as all things permeate the divine feels like home.
For Hugo, his resistance to the convent or the monastery is in no way a denial of “the spiritual”. Instead it is a rejection of the shackles that would turn it into a center of command and control. He talks about a quest to “Rid God of His maggots” in this chapter, a vivid picture of rot and decay ruining something that was meant to be life giving and vital. What does it look like practically to “Rid God of His maggots”? according to Hugo it involves:
- dispelling superstition
- rejecting the absurd
- worshipping what we acknowledge to be incomprehensible
In summary, you could say it is an acceptance of mystery that evokes awe, rather than an attempt to distill and explain through what he saw to be absurd fairy tales or superstitious nonsense.