At a religious service I attended the other day, I was surprised to hear the word contemplative used used as a noun.  This was new to me,  I had thought this term to be exclusively an adjective.

On checking it out I found several references to use as a noun, referring to someone who has dedicated themselves to religious contemplation ( there seemed to be some correlation with Christianity but this was not absolute) .

So a contemplative (noun) practices a specific type of contemplation (the adjective), that is,  thinking quietly and seriously about religious matters.

Thoughtful, long consideration or observation

Although there are Roman catholic orders specifically made up of contemplatives,  focused on spiritual contemplation related to god, the act of profound thinking about something is in itself contemplative.

Recognizing Spirituality

The service that got me contemplating about contemplatives (noun) was led by a Roman Catholic priest and the his references were made about an individual who did not believe in Catholicism, as an organized religion put a great deal of thought and consideration into religious practices and spirituality.

Religious/ spiritual contemplation, how and what it is turns out to be an enormous topic, with a massive amount of reading material made up of on-line, articles, books, manuscripts and on and on.

Hearing the word used as a noun in reference to a spiritual individual who was a deep thinker (but not part of an organized practice in any way) started my investigation of this topic.

It is quite fascinating and I wanted to share with my readership.  You may be interested in doing some research on your own  – maybe even become a contemplative.