They are called: Simply happiness ; Don’t wait for the weekend to be happy ; The art of aging well . Anselm Grün’s books are well in tune with the times, as confirmed by Lionel Paul, who works at the Siloë-Lis bookstore in Nantes (Loire-Atlantique): “It’s the kind of books that we have both in the spirituality and personal development departments. »
On these shelves, Anselm Grün is not the only one to come across elements of Christian spiritual life and psychological advice: the Protestant Lytta Basset or the Catholic Marie Balmary are equally appreciated authors. Or the Quebec religious Jean Monbourquette (who died in 2011) whose approach is ultimately quite close to that of Anselm Grün.
But, with more than three hundred titles to his credit, translated and sold more than 14 million copies worldwide, the success of the German Benedictine monk remains singular. “While he publishes several books a year, which is already exceptional for an author, underlines Lionel Paul, all his titles sell well and regularly. »
Between monastic life and psychology
No doubt the character itself intrigues and attracts: the septuagenarian monk, with the long white beard, is an easily publicized figure, a living representative of the ancient tradition of monastic spiritual paternity. His personal path has not always been easy, however.
From the crisis of the 1960s in the Church, the young monk will emerge destabilized, with the need to root his choice of life more deeply. His colleague, the monk Willigis Jäger, twenty years his senior, showed him the way by venturing into new spiritual grounds, that of Zen meditation in this case, of which he became a recognized specialist.
Anselm Grün finds answers in depth psychology developed by the Swiss Carl Gustav Jung (1875-1961) and renewed forms of meditation developed by the German Karl Graf Dürckheim (1896-1988).
A life of happiness, isn’t that the thing that everyone wants and that no one in the world refuses? Saint Augustin
Thus, over the years, while assuming the role of brother cellarer, managing the material life of a hundred monks within the largest Benedictine monastery in Germany, in Münsterschwarzach (Bavaria), Grün has multiplied training, conferences and written.
With his good knowledge of the biblical text and the writings of the Fathers of the Church, he is endowed with serious reading keys – drawn from the humanities, mythologies, the study of dreams and anthropology – to accompany life. people who come to meet him. The challenge is to help gain access to a “healthy faith” as he likes to point out when he talks about his work. “A faith which consolidates health and which is to be distinguished from that which is a flight from reality and above all from our own interior reality. »
A positive approach
This distinction is often a revelation for Christian (and non-Christian) readers who had remained with old spiritual postures, a mixture of fear, blind obedience and sometimes suffocating devotions.
It is also a form of reconciliation for others who have left parishes that have not been able to accompany them in their spiritual quest. Rather than fitting into a spiritual mould, Anselm Grün’s approach is to arouse a deep trust in life that changes the outlook on God, on oneself and on others.
” Simplicity. Clarity. Beauty “
This synthesis is not so common: for some believers, the catechism and religious practice should be enough to answer all the questions of existence. But then there is a great risk of missing out on yourself. Hence the importance of probing and healing in oneself all one’s representations of God and of one’s world. Very accessible, Grün’s books often provide the opportunity.
” Simplicity. Clarity. Beauty. Depth of a walker of hope”, comments a reader on one of the websites that list his works. Another adds: “Whether one is a believer or an atheist, his writings always bring something deep to the human being. His philosophy helps to refocus and to believe in oneself and in man. »
A positive approach to existence and its struggles that evokes novels and essays “that do good” or that give advice for personal development, faced with a complex environment and in crisis. Books that are meant to help the reader come to terms with their history, their body, their relationship life, their emotions, etc.
Isn’t there a fad here? “A zest of psychology. A touch of Christian spirituality. A lot of common sense coupled with his monastic experience. And that makes a book. Only after a while it gets a bit boring. Some readers of Anselm Grün identify the limits of the genre, not without humor.
For Sandra Aroulanda, who practices spiritual accompaniment at the Jesuit Center Manrèse (Hauts-de-Seine), these works can nevertheless be a good support. “Anselm Grün has the advantage of providing healing tools that are fairly simple to implement. » The rumination of the biblical word, the attention to the body and the breath, the invitation to write down one’s discoveries, etc. are all advice that we already find in Ignatius of Loyola, for example.
“For me, the limit of these books is above all that they leave the reader alone in his progression. However, if its “inner foundations” are not solid enough, this kind of reading can also potentially destabilize certain fragile personalities. In this sense, nothing replaces personal accompaniment to progress. »
But Sandra Aroulanda knows very well that not everyone has the means to experience it. In this sense, these books play a real role of “democratization”, initiating advice and practices that should not be reserved for a few. “What particularly saddens me is that the author does not remind his readers more of the need not to stop current medical treatments when this is the case. A temptation that may yet await some by plunging into readings inviting forms of spiritual healing.
requirement of the spiritual life
It is still about healing in The Soothing Power of Nature* by inviting us to renew our connection to nature. The author criticizes “a Christian spirituality which cuts itself off from nature” at the risk of losing its strength to support the psyche of the human being and of being reduced to a narrow moralism.
He nevertheless warns against a form of “nature religion”, which, around health issues, for example, can ultimately be very directive, even intolerant. It will be understood: in the end, the works of Anselm Grün are more demanding than it seems on first reading. A bit like the Christian spiritual life itself.
* The healing force of nature is the German title of the book.
The soothing power of nature by Anselm Grün , released on August 29, 2019. Ed. Salvador, 191 p. ; €17.80.