A Divine Technology 15
activities) than dogma, and contemplation rather than doctrine. This is its esoteric face. We need only look at the three dominant monotheistic religions of the West to see this play out. The esoteric face of Islam, of course, is Sufi. An esoteric face of Judaism is Kabbalah, while an esoteric face of Christianity is contemplative Christianity. Each of these offers something the exoteric face does not. Where the exoteric face offers dogma—a line of belief that adherents must internalize—the esoteric face offers pragma—a set of practices that the adherent may use for specific purposes. For example, while exoteric Islam requires adherence to a particular set of beliefs (often summarized as the five pillars), the esoteric branch of Sufi gives a set of spiritual exercises aiming at union with Allah. Similarly, the required beliefs of Christianity are supplemented by the practices of contemplative Christianity. Where the exoteric face offers ritual and ceremony, the esoteric face often has its own rituals, again for specific aims. Some kinds of Sufi are famous for spinning, for example, while others elevate the dhikr, a simple prayer asserting the unity of God, to a central place in their ritual. Often these rituals are inward-turning, such as the practice of contemplative prayer or the meditations on the letters of Hebrew Kabbalah. There is also more room, often, to create or borrow new rituals and interweave them into private practice, because the esoteric practice of a religion is often done alone rather than communally. Finally, the teachings of a religion can be divided into their exoteric teachings and their esoteric teachings. Western Christianity teaches that human sins were forgiven by the sacrifice of Jesus. But some kinds of esoteric Christianity go further, suggesting that this forgiving of sins wasn’t simply a negative act but a positive one, not just wiping the slate clean but elevating man, potentially, to the position of Christ. Similarly, where the dhikr—“There is no god but God, and Muhammed is his prophet”—is central to Islam, to the Sufi it takes on additional meaning. “There is no god but God” can be interpreted “there is no reality but God.” In other words, everything is divine.