RECOLLECTION REVISITED

The definition of recollection in Catholicism is close to that of Vedanta.  With slight adaptation, the following is from The Catholic Encyclopedia at New Advent:

Recollection means attention to God’s presence in the heart.   It includes the withdrawal of the mind from earthly affairs in order to attend to God and Divine things.  It is an interior solitude in which the soul is alone with God.

This recollection is twofold:

• Active recollection is acquired by our own efforts aided by the ordinary grace of God.  Thus any devout person can acquire the habit of thinking of God’s presence and of fixing his attention upon Him.
• Passive recollection does not depend upon our own efforts, but is an extraordinary grace infused, inspired by God, by which He summons together the faculties of the soul and manifests His presence and his perfections; this kind of recollection is the first degree of infused contemplation, so-called.

The first kind of recollection belongs to ascetical devotion and practice.  It is necessary for all who wish to attain spiritual perfection.  Without it, it is difficult to make spiritual progress. Therefore, it is necessary to observe the means by which it may be acquired.  These are:

• silence and solitude, according to our state of life, keeping in mind, at the same time, that one may be recollected amid the duties of an active life;
• the avoidance of distracting and dissipating occupations not required by necessity.  Having a multitude of occupations is an obstacle to recollection.  A person who undertakes too much is a foolish man, it is said.
• the regular engagement of the presence of God.   As recollection is a merging of the mind with the Divine presence within us, the surest way of achieving it is to frequently recall that the soul is the temple of God.