The word "single" that we see in "when thine eyes become single" comes from the Greek word "haplos" or "halpous" which literally means simple, focused, or single as to purpose. What this means is not literally "when your eyes become single" but it means when your "eyes" are focused onto one thing, and not all around. When you are focused on God and not focused on other things such as money, sex, drugs, and other sinful things you will be filled with Light, which is God. Spiritual people will insist that this verse makes even more sense because the "God" they believe in is energy, and light. Even though this is true, God is a Spirit and not some old white man in the clouds, this is a pretty poor defense. What Jesus is saying is that when you are good, and focused on God, you will be filled with Him.

    Perchance, this theory is the truth; nonetheless, could the opposition merely argue if this be the case that Jesus should've said, "if thee eyes be single"? (eyes: plural)

  The translation of the 9th century which commenced medieval Christian Mysticism.

*New 6 Pg. PDF

Buddha's Path to Wisdom

      Meister Eckhart    (Medieval Mystic)    was the foremost universal figure in an early 14th century movement known as the Liberty of Spirit. He published much mystical-experience literature such as the, Book of Divine Consolation.
           Eckhart stated that knowing God personally was detrimental to the church establishment. (not in the Protestant form, but truly knowing God). His works centered on an immediate experience with God, without the need of any mediation. He mentions the Father's given soul dwells in everything in nature; similar to Germanic Paganism. It's true everything, every tree in nature gives off its own electromagnetic signal and vibration. This is the overall oneness Plato  spoke of. Could this be the Body of Christ?
           The Catholic Church always taught the church was the Body of Christ. Some believe the Holy Spirit is the oneness we receive when opening our Pineal. However, this theory's up for debate.  I believe it's very possible this place of oneness with all, is what's referred to as the Kingdom of God.
In Eckhart's lifetime, he often spoke to Dominican Nuns, like St. Hildegard; as they were highly spiritual in similar fashion. They inspired movements like the loosely associated Friends of God, which lead to published works such as the Imitation of Christ, Theologia Germanic, and Lights of the God.

J            Also another famous Mystic which books and videos speak a lot on is St. Teresa of Avila, a famous mystic commonly mentioned in the readings below. Remember, she lived her life hidden away from society. Their works aren't to be used when engulfed in the negative vibrations of modern society. Nevertheless, what I'm doing is opening people to the realism of the spiritual world and displaying Christ is the most powerful force to fight of Satan and get yourself into heaven upon death on earth.

     Eckhart was a Dominican who placed much emphasis on intellect. e.g. St. Thomas Aquinas was a Dominican. They were opposed by the Franciscan monestaries who placed more emphasis on faith. The Catholic church typically chose the Franciscan side of the debate and eventually Eckhart was dis-communicated, though this occurred shortly after his death; I don't think it prevented his entry into heaven.

St Teresa of Avila's Materpeice on Divine Union

AKA Gnostic Gospels or The Chenoboskion Manuscripts

Ft. Gnostic Books

Kingdom of God 'Mysticism' Library

        Educate yourself on the Gnostic view on the Garden of Eden, which I believe could be the correct view. Likewise, how many Christians do you know that were born of an immaculate conception? Many animals across the Earth perform this task. It should be more effortless for humans due to leakage, yet remaining a daunting task it would be; merely to withhold from the orgasm.

What does this truly inquire?  You be the judge.

The Mind's (3rd) Eye,  within the Old Testament

1 Kings 7-13

              7   The house was built with stone finished at the quarry, so that neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron was heard in the temple while it was being built.  8   The entrance for the middle story was on the south side of the house: one went up by winding stairs to the middle story, and from the middle story to the third.      9   So he built the house, and finished it; he roofed the house with beams and planks of cedar.  10   He built the structure against the whole house, each story five cubits high, and it was joined to the house with timbers of cedar.  11   Now the word of the Lord came to Solomon,  12  ‘Concerning this house that you are building, if you will walk in my statutes, obey my ordinances, and keep all my commandments by walking in them, then I will establish my promise with you, which I made to your father David.   13   I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will not forsake my people Israel.’

00:21:54

Highly-Esteemed  Recommended Literature *Special Preview to the Right

Learn the Atlantean and other Root Races features

Important Video for all Christians and/or disbelievers below:

         Mystical Christianity is the safest method of manifesting the human soul. Now with additional information on its function through the Pineal-Gland we can take this journey deeper than the Medieval Christian Mystics.

         Nevertheless, don't be confused into thinking Gnostic Christianity is a real religion, thereby Gnosticism is separate from Christianity (and Mystical Christianity) even though many Gnostics of the 3rd and 4th centuries implored Christ as a main component of their religion; though not even the centerpiece.

      It's possible Jesus had taught some of these mysteries to His close followers, though the Early Christian Fathers did not see things in such a way.

      Whatever your passion is, utilizing Christ and His Orthodox teachings to assist your journey can never be harmful, just be weary of the many lies being spread by Satan and his followers! There exists 4 original gospel, not 45, or whatever the claim is by some. In Addition, it appears we've never received an honest interpretation of the Nag Hammadi library anyhow as only certain scholars (possibly corrupt) have interpreted this scripture.

     The Gospel of Thomas is thought to be from the Apostolic Era because of its Greek writing, but Greg Braden, alike the History Channel, and various documentaries will mention the many banned books of the Bible though the video on the Top Right of this page will challenge the 'New-Age' concept of 45 Lost Bible Books.

Don't Be Fooled By Your Enemy: Seeking Divine Union doesn't imply Erasing God or His Son Christ Through "New-Age" Philosophy or you will regret your decision

Warning:

    Studying disparate paths to enlightenment are encouraged by many, but remain careful when doing so. Remember, most are paths to unrighteous, and even, demonic activity. Furthermore, The Buddha, Krishna, and Jesus Christ shall never be considered on an equal level. This is simply not true as it's Christ who'll offer you complete protection over all beings of the Spirit World and no one else. He also offered us eternity in Heaven when nobody else did.

            Christian mystics have always taken Christ, especially the crucified Christ, as the model for this process. According to the Theologia Germanica, “Christ’s human nature was so utterly bereft of self, and apart from all creatures, as no man’s ever was, and was nothing but a ‘house and habitation of God’” (chapter 15). Following Christ involves a dying to self, a giving up of oneself wholly to God, so that one may be possessed by divine Love. Such detachment and purgation were frequently expressed in extreme terms that imply the renunciation of all human ties. Paradoxically, those who insist upon the most absolute detachment also emphasize that purifying the self is more a matter of internal attitude than of flight from the world and external penance. In the words of William Law: “The one true way of dying to self wants no cells, monasteries or pilgrimages. It is the way of patience, humility and resignation to God”

PDF's - 20

Videos: Mp4 - 4

YouTube - 7   

 Downloadable -5

Page Updated: 3/28/21

Medieval Mysticism

Becoming Christian Mystics Again
05/01/2011 08:53 pm ET Updated Jul 01, 2011

     Albert Einstein was asked toward the end of his life if he had any regrets. He answered: “I wish I had read more of the mystics earlier in my life.” This is a significant confession, coming as it does from one of the greatest geniuses of the 20th century, a man who moved beyond the modern science of Newton and ushered in a postmodern science and consciousness.

          In the West, the modern age (meaning the 16th to mid-20th centuries) was not only ignorant of, but actually hostile to, mysticism. As Theodore Roszak has put it, “The Enlightenment held mysticism up for ridicule as the worst offense against science and reason.” Still today, both education and religion are often hostile to mysticism. Fundamentalism by definition is anti-mystical or distorts mysticism, and much of liberal theology and religion is so academic and left-brained that it numbs and ignores the right brain, which is our mystical brain. Seminaries teach few practices to access our mysticism. This is why many find religion so boring — it lacks the adventure and inner exploration that our souls yearn for. As St. John of the Cross said, “Launch out into the deep.”

          This launching into the depths — into the deep ocean of the unconscious and of the Great Self, which is connected to all things and to the Creator — often gets stymied by Western religious dogma, guilt trips and institutional churchiness. The mystic gets starved. Patriarchal culture by itself is unable to tap into the deep feminine aspects of Divine Wisdom and Compassion and the heart. But the mystics, male and female, do not present a one-sided reality, as Patriarchy does. The yin/yang, female/male dialectic is alive and well in the mystical tradition. God as Mother is honored along with God as Father. Through this, mystics seek wisdom, not mere knowledge.

          The West remains so out of touch with its own mystical tradition that many Westerners seeking mysticism still feel they have to go East to find it. While this can work for many brave and generous individuals, it cannot work for the entire culture. Carl Jung warned us that “we westerners cannot be pirates thieving wisdom from foreign shores that it has taken them centuries to develop as if our own culture was an error outlived.”

          Is Western culture an “error outlived”? Or is there wisdom deep within our roots that can be accessed anew and that can give us strength and understanding at this critical time when so much is falling apart the world over, when climate change and destruction of the earth accelerates and so many species are disappearing, while our banking systems and economic belief systems, our forms of education and forms of worship, are failing?

          I believe that there is great wisdom in our species and in Western spiritual traditions, but that this needs a new birth and a fresh beginning. As a Westerner I must begin where I stand within my own culture and its traditions. This is where the Christian Mystics come in. We in the West must take these insights into our hearts on a regular basis, allow them to play in the heart, and then take them into our work and citizenship and family and community. This is how all healthy and deep awakenings happen; they begin with the heart and flow out from there.

          The crises we find ourselves in as a species require that as a species we shake up all our institutions — including our religious ones — and reinvent them. Change is necessary for our survival, and we often turn to the mystics at critical times like this. Jung said: “Only the mystics bring what is creative to religion itself.” Jesus was a mystic shaking up his religion and the Roman empire; Buddha was a mystic who shook up the prevailing Hinduism of his day; Gandhi was a mystic shaking up Hinduism and challenging the British empire; and Martin Luther King Jr. shook up his tradition and America’s segregationist society. The mystics walk their talk and talk (often in memorable poetic phraseology) their walk.

          For instance, this being the season of Earth Day, we might listen to the 12th century Abbess Hildegard of Bingen who was an amazing musician, painter, healer, writer (she wrote 10 books), scientist and poet. She posits an erotic relationship between the Divine and nature when she says: “As the Creator loves his creation, so creation loves the creator. Creation, of course, was fashioned to be adorned, to be showered, to be gifted with the love of the creator. The entire world has been embraced by this kiss.” Fr. Bede Griffiths was an English Benedictine monk who spent 50 years in India living and building up an ashram that was Christian and, in many respects, Hindu. He wrote a number of books on the coming together of Eastern and Western mysticism. He writes:

          “Perhaps this is the deepest impression left by life in India, the sense of the sacred as something pervading the whole order of nature. Every hill and tree and river is holy, and the simplest human acts of eating and drinking, still more of birth and marriage, have all retained their sacred character. ... It is there that the West need to learn form the East the sense of the ‘holy,’ of a transcendent mystery which is immanent in everything and which gives an ultimate meaning to life...”

          Thomas Berry was an American priest in the Passionist Order who called himself a “geologian.” A student of world religions and of contemporary science, he was a great ecological prophet as is clear in his books, The Dream of the Earth and The Great Work, where he warns of the work we must do to reinvent our educational, economic, political and religious systems if we are to be a sustainable species on this endangered planet. He writes:

          “The human venture depends absolutely on this quality of awe and reverence and joy in the Earth and all that lives and grows upon the Earth. ... In the end the universe can only be explained in terms of celebration. It is all an exuberant expression of existence itself ... A way is opening for each person to receive the total spiritual heritage of the human community as well as the total spiritual heritage of the universe. Within this context the religious antagonisms of the past can be overcome, the particular traditions can be vitalized, and the feeling of presence to a sacred universe can appear once more to dynamize and sustain human affairs.”

           Deep down, each one of us is a mystic. When we tap into that energy we become alive again and we give birth. From the creativity that we release is born the prophetic vision and work that we all aspire to realize as our gift to the world. We want to serve in whatever capacity we can. Getting in touch with the mystic inside is the beginning of our deep service.

                            Matthew Fox is the author of 28 books including ‘Original Blessing,’ ‘The Reinvention of Work,’ ‘The Hidden Spirituality of Men‘, and most recently ‘Christian Mystics,’ of which this post is an excerpt. Visit Matthew Fox online.

General Characteristics of Mystical Experience

Mystical experiences are marked by all or some of the following feelings/insights.

A sense of unity or totality
A sense of timelessness
A sense of having encountered ultimate reality
A sense of sacredness
A sense that one can not adequately describe the richness of this experience

Most experiences can last as short as a few seconds or up to a few days.

What Happens After You Die According to  Swedenborg

 For which reason David, speaking of those who set their affections upon idols, said thus: Similes illis fiant qui faciunt ea: et omnes qui confidunt in eis.

           "Which signifies: Let them that set their heart upon them be like to them. And thus, he that loves a creature becomes as low as that creature, and, in some ways, lower; for love not only makes the lover equal to the object of his love, but even subjects him to it. Hence in the same way it comes to pass that the soul that loves anything else becomes incapable of pure union with God and transformation in Him."

           - St John of the Cross, Ascent to Mt. Carmel

Many nuns were naturally intuitive,

therefore, they went to convents to practice this gift.

Reading List for Beginners in the Christian Mystical Tradition 

   by: James Finley

         Thomas Merton’s writings embody the ancient wisdom of the mystical heritage of the Christian faith expressed in a contemporary language that we can relate to and understand. Merton, therefore, is a good place for the sincere beginner to find trustworthy guidance in contemplative living. There are first his basic spiritual writings, the most accessible of which is perhaps his Thoughts in Solitude. His other basic spiritual writings include, New Seeds of Contemplation, Disputed Questions, No Man is an Island and The Inner Experience.

          Some of Merton’s most beautiful and insightful passages are found in his autobiographical writings, journals and letters. In this category, you might benefit from reading his autobiography The Seven Storey Mountain, and the journal he kept in the monastery The Sign of Jonas. The volume of his collected letters titled The Hidden Ground of Love contains his letters on the subject of religious experience and social justice. The Intimate Merton edited by Patrick Hart and Jonathan Moltanado is a collection of journal entries that offer plenty to sit with and ponder. Another source of eloquent and insightful Merton passages can be found in A Book of Hours edited by Kathleen Deignan.

         In my book Merton’s Palace of Nowhere I introduce and explore Merton’s insights into the true self one with God beyond ego. Sounds True published an audio cd set of my Merton retreat talks titled Merton’s Path to the Palace of Nowhere in which I explore the Merton’s insights into the contemplative way of life in which the true self is realized. The website www.merton.org contains many resources in Merton as guide and teacher on the spiritual path.

Thomas Merton,

the infamous Mystic:

     Thomas Merton (1915-1968)

was a writer and Trappist monk at Our Lady of Gethsemani Abbey in Kentucky. His writings include such classics as The Seven Storey Mountain, New Seeds of Contemplation, and Zen and the Birds of Appetite. Merton is the author of more than seventy books that include poetry, personal journals, collections of letters, social criticism, and writings on peace, justice, and ecumenism.

       ✝

So, does Jesus teaches accessing our Spirit alike the teachings of the Mind's-Eye

                                                                                                     (aka: 3rd-Eye reference on Pg.3 Consciousness/Metaphysics)

How to Attain Higher-Knowledge for the Novice:

           "_But he who brings no such preparation will find himself confronted with difficulties even upon the first step of the Path of Knowledge, unless he undertakes, by rigorous self-education, to create the devotional mood within himself. In our time it is especially important that full attention be given to this point. Our civilisation tends much more towards criticism, the giving of judgments, and so forth, than toward devotion, and a selfless veneration. Our children already criticise far more than they worship. But every judgment, every carping criticism, frustrates the powers of the soul for the attainment of the higher-knowledge, in the same measure that all heartfelt devotion develops them. In this we do not wish to say anything against our civilisation. It is in no way a question of passing a criticism upon it. It is just to this critical faculty, this self-conscious human judgment, this “prove all things and hold fast the good,” that we owe the greatness of our civilisation. We could never have attained to the science, the commerce, the industry, the law of our time, had we not exercised our critical faculty everywhere, had we not everywhere applied the standard of our judgment. But what we have thereby gained in external culture we have had to pay for with a corresponding loss of the higher knowledge, of the spiritual life.

          Now the one thing that everyone must clearly understand is that for him who is right in the centre of the objective civilisation of our time, it is very difficult to advance to the knowledge of the higher worlds. He can only do so if he works energetically within himself. At a time when the conditions of outward life were simpler, spiritual exaltation was easier of attainment. That which ought to be venerated, that which ought to be kept holy, stood out in better relief from the ordinary things of the world. In a period of criticism these ideals are lowered; other emotions take the place of veneration, respect, prayer, and wonder. Our own age continually pushes these emotions further and further back, so that in the daily life of the people they play but a very small part. He who seeks for, higher knowledge must create it within himself; he must himself instil it into his soul. It cannot be done by study: it can only be done through life He who wishes to become a disciple must therefore assiduously cultivate the devotional mood.Everywhere in his environment he must look for that which demands of him admiration and homage.Whenever his duties or circumstances permit, he should try to renounce entirely all criticism or judgment."

         "One must have learnt to control one's own feelings and ideas if one wishes to develop any intimate relationship with the outer world. Every phenomenon in that outer World is full of divine splendour, but one must have felt the Divine within oneself before one can hope to discover it without. The disciple is told to set apart certain moments of his daily life during which to withdraw into himself, quietly and alone. But at such time he ought not to occupy himself with his own personal affairs, for this would bring about the contrary of that which he is aiming at. During these moments he ought rather to listen in complete silence to the echoes of what he has experienced, of what the outward world has told him. Then, in these periods of quiet, every flower, every animal, every action will unveil to him secrets undreamed of, and thus he will prepare himself to receive new impressions of the external world, as if he viewed it with different eyes. For he who merely desires to enjoy impression after impression, only stultifies the perceptive faculty, while he who lets the enjoyment afterwards reveal something to him, thus enlarges and educates it. But he must be careful not merely to let the enjoyment reverberate, as it were; but, renouncing any further enjoyment, rather to work upon his pleasurable experiences with an inward activity. The danger at this point is very great. Instead of working within one self, it is easy to fall into the opposite habit of afterwards trying to completely exhaust the enjoyment. Let us not undervalue the unforeseen sources of error which here confront the disciple. He must of necessity pass through a host of temptations, each of which tends only to harden his Ego and to imprison it within itself. He ought to open it wide for the whole world. It is necessary that he should seek enjoyment, for in this way only can the outward world get at him; and if he blunts himself to enjoyment he becomes as a plant which cannot any longer draw nourishment from its environment. Yet, if he stops at the enjoyment, he is then shut up within himself, and will only be something to himself and nothing to the world. However much he may live within himself, however intensely he may cultivate his Ego, the world will exclude him. He is dead to the world. But the disciple considers enjoyment only as a means of ennobling himself for the world. Pleasure is to him as a scout who informs him concerning the world, and after having been taught by pleasure he passes on to work. He does not learn in order that he may accumulate learning as his own treasure, but in order that he may put his learning at the service of the world. "

          In all forms of Occultism there is a fundamental principle which cannot be transgressed, if any goal at all is to be reached. Every occult teacher must impress it upon his pupils, and it runs as follows: Every branch of knowledge which you seek only to enrich your own learning, only to accumulate treasure for yourself, leads you away from the Path: but all knowledge which you seek for working in the service of humanity and for the uplifting of the world, brings you a step forward.  - This displays the problematic issue concerning modern luciferian's. America's early Freemasons displayed much of this idealism (e.g. B. Franklin) prior to the Jewish infiltration.

                                                                                                                                                                  (excerpts from: The Way of Initiation II by Rudolph Steiner)

Rudolph Steiner (1861-1925)

Birth of Gnosticism

    Originated from the Sethian's. This was a sect of ancient Jew's who were searching to add more to their religion. They did so by merging Ancient Egyptian religious beliefs and Platonism, into their own religion.

     Eventually, Christian gnosticism was born which eliminated the belief in the Trinity, thus, demoting Jesus from being equal with God; but not exactly a full dismissal from His role like many believe to be true.

    Yes, Christ was no longer the Word which existed from the beginning, but the Gnostic's did believe he received the Holy Spirit once baptized by John the Baptist, thus meaning he was chosen as the Son of God. Though, this erased His eternal divinity, it's a role many people in modern times would choose to believe as true over the traditional narrative.

    Nevertheless, as one studies further into Gnostic Christianity and Traditional Christianity, the Gnostic version of Christ proves unstable as the traditional role of Jesus in the Godhead proves almost doubtlessly truth.

             Moreover, the television culture in which they have been indoctrinated, encourages passivity and receptivity, but unfortunately of the wrong kind., Certainly, the passivity and receptivity that are the fruits of an active and intransigent struggle with all that captivates and enslaves the senses and emotions and the will are qualities essential to contemplation; but they are not conducive to contemplation if they are the result of the inertia and uncritical absorption of material and temporal :values" poured out of a television machine. Young candidates who are formed (or deformed) by such a culture are not prepared simply for the contemplative life.

       By:  William H. Shannon from Thomas Merton's Dark Path

Modern T.V.  Culture

                      not Prepared for Contemplative Life

...for the Expert:

Stage 4 of 5 - The Expousal  (Divine Union)

        "On reaching the expousal the union is even more intimate and permanent, and the touches of the beloved are not only felt in the faculties, which they captivate and unite, but they penetrate and further are felt in the very depth of the soul. As the soul is more and more purified by those delicate touches, the awareness of the divine become much more evident. Souls sometimes feels not only are they working divinely with all their faculties, but that they actually live a divine life, although this manner of living is not yet continual. The union is complete and perfected in the spiritual marriage wherein it is also made permanent. God takes full possession of the whole soul and unites it to Himself in the most intimate manner. The divine life is now manifested in the soul without any kind of obstacle. The souls then perceives that God works and lives in it, or better, that it is completely transformed in God and diefied. This takes place on such an extent that the soul loses all thought of self and it seems that it is no longer the soul that exists, but that God lives and works in it through this new life. Truly, as St. John of the Cross says, the beloved is now transformed into the beloved."

                                                                              Pg. 222, The Mystical Union Vol. II  by Fr, John G. Arintero, O.P.

      Keep in mind, this is considered only step 4 out of 5!

       "It will now be understood that the promises of the espousal must sometimes be repeated in another kind of ceremony and must ultimately be solemnly ratified in the spiritual marriage which is perfect and stable union wherein there are scarcely any separations or periods of dryness and desolation. This matrimony is celebrated and contracted before the entire august Trinity and the soul now habitually enjoys the vision and familiar converse of the three adorable persons."

     As we review the words of Friar John, "the promises of the Espousal", we comprehend we too can and will experience the same divine nature as He and other mystics have upon reaching this point in our journey closer to our Father. Secondly, as we apprehend the state of  Spiritual Matrimony being defined by Merton to be separate and another definitive stage of ultimate matrimony (w/ the Trinity)  beyond the Espousal; we can be sure this truly exists, because if the friar was trying to display he went above and beyond others, his pride would not have allowed him to travel this far on his journey. Indeed, I had brief thoughts of Fr. John Arintero behaving in a bragging-type manner, I have come to correct my analysis of Christian Mysticism by accepting his definition of the 5 (basic) stages, and only hope I too can reach this level of divine union.

                                                                                                                                              - Shaun Prario

 Ephesians 5:18 - 18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit.

Human Immortality & Higher-Knowledge Library

                         Formerly Titled, The Kingdom of God

Quote from "Sermons of Meister Eckhart"

          "Therefore deadly sin is a breach of nature, a death of the soul, a disquiet of the heart, a weakening of power, a blindness of the sense, a sorrow of the spirit, a death of grace, a death of virtue, a death of good works, an aberration of the spirit, a fellowship with the devil, an expulsion of Christianity, a dungeon of hell, a banquet of hell, an eternity of hell. Therefore, if thou committest a deadly sin thou art guilty of all these and incurrest their consequences."

Meister Eckhart on Sin

               The primary aspect of Mysticism is the desire of detachment of all man-made material 'creatures' as St. John of the Cross refers to them. Not merely happiness in material wealth but the desire for these objects. One must not simply dislike modern technology and so-forth, but appreciate them for what they are. They're the results of God's creation and not to be hated in themselves, but one must realize the delight in gazing upon such things and knowing they're all less than God of whom we are trying to unite ourselves fully-with. Then, the student appreciates his non-desire for anything material. Many things may supply temporary happiness to our lives but only our complete detachment of all earthly things will bring us to our final goal in life - complete union with God. Theologian William H. Shannon in his work Thomas Merton's Dark Path reflects on Merton recognizing this very fact in the works of St. John of the Cross and St. Thomas Aquinas. He notes, "John's ascetical teaching, that complete detachment from creatures is necessary before one can arrive at union with God, builds on the doctrine of St. Thomas Aquinas that our last end cannot be found in anything created. His mystical teaching, that the goal of the spiritual quest consists in contemplative union with God beyond concepts and images in the darkness of faith in this life and in the perfection of vision in the life to come, is but a reprise of St. Thomas's theme that our happiness consists in nothing less than the vision of the very essence of God." [Pg. 56]  - S.P.

Galatians 5:17-25  (NKJV)

                      17 For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.  18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.  19 Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness,  20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies,  21 envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.  22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,   23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.  24 And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

Original translation by the Berlin Working Group for Coptic Gnostic Writings. (1997). As modified by  Robinson, and Bethge, The Fifth Gospel, Trinity Press International, 1998.

MODERN DAY MYSTICS - ‘A NEW DAY’ - Episode 1

A new series of films by Ahava Sarah Fischer. Launched on Valentine’s Day 2018.

Directed by The Holy Spirit

MODERN DAY MYSTICS studies of those living a life of true surrender to the Lord Jesus Christ.

AWE & WONDER STUDIOS 🗡🗡🗡
www.aweandwonder.studio
Contact - ahavasarah@aweandwonder.studio

 The essential dimensions of Christian prayer?

Expressive Prayer includes these forms of prayer:

"Liturgical Prayer is the prayer of the entire people of God. These are the prayers of the Holy Eucharist, the Mass; but also the daily prayers of the Divine Office, the Liturgy of the Hours. These prayers happen best in community — when the members of a church, monastery, or other faith community gather to pray. But the Office especially can be prayed in private. If praying the entire Daily Office is overwhelming for you, try praying elements of it, such as the Psalms or the Canticles like the Magnificat or the Te Deum.
Devotional Prayer consists of prayers we memorize or find in a book. As simple as grace before meals, or bedtime prayers, these prayers also include famous prayers (like Thomas Merton’s renowned “I don’t know where I’m going” prayer), devotional exercises like Novenas or Chaplets, or even the daily examen as taught in Ignatian spirituality.
Personal Prayer means the prayers of our own words. This is conversational prayer, where you and God have a little chat. Some people find this very difficult; it can feel self-conscious or awkward, but it can also be deeply intimate and a way of prayer that fosters trust in God. The classic categories of this kind of prayer include adoration (expressing love for God), confession of wrongdoing, petition (which includes praying for others as well), and thanksgiving for our many blessings.

Receptive Prayer moves the focus away from what we say to God, instead resting in how we listen or wait for God. It includes these forms of prayer:

Meditative Prayer engages our capacity to reflect on God’s beauty, truth and goodness using the imagination. Perhaps the most famous type of this prayer is the Rosary, which combines repetitive use of devotional prayers (the Hail Mary, the Our Father) with reflection on mysteries from the lives of Christ and Mary. Similarly, Ignatian spirituality invites us to pray through imaginatively entering a scene from the Gospels, encountering the Lord through the mind’s eye. “Mental Prayer” may seem an old-fashioned word, but it implies this kind of imaginative reflection on God’s love and our response in a more general way. Finally, meditative prayer includes creative ways of expressing our longing for God through artistic endeavors such as painting, drawing, music, or even dance.
Contemplative Prayer is a grace from God, so properly speaking, we do not engage in contemplation so much as we prepare for it, or dispose ourselves to it, and that’s what these types of prayer do. Centering prayer, inspired by The Cloud of Unknowing and emphasizing the use of a single “prayer word” to focus our unruly mind, is perhaps the best known of these types of prayer, but the Eastern Orthodox practice of reciting the Jesus Prayer is a closely related practice. Embodied forms of prayer, such as walking a labyrinth, paying attention to one’s breath, or even prayerful engagement with practices like Tai Chi or yoga, can also dispose us to contemplation. Such practices foster a wakeful openness to God’s action in one’s life. The key here is silence — any prayer form that ushers our awareness into the gentle, expansive presence of silence is a doorway to contemplation.
Mystical Prayer is typically the fruit of a sustained and mature spiritual life, although by the grace of God such prayer could emerge in our lives at any time. Here God suspends the ordinary faculties of everyday awareness — the imagination, the intellect, and the will — thereby causing the praying soul to sink into infinity. Typically emerging out of other forms of prayer, mystical prayer can include transfigured states of consciousness, moments of ecstasy or rapture, a profound sense of inner purification or “dark night,” and the abiding sense of conscious union with, or the presence of, God. Mystical prayer is always a grace, never in our control. Many deeply holy, authentically contemplative Christians — people who deserve to be called mystics — go through their entire lives without ever having these kinds of extraordinary encounters with the Mystery, and those who do always caution us to remember that the goal of prayer is God — not an experience of God. Efforts to cultivate or engineer “mystical experiences” typically backfire, so it’s wisest to commit to practicing all the other dimensions of expressive or receptive prayer."    - Carl McColma