He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet
waters. He restores my soul.
He guides me in paths of righteousness for His Name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley
of the shadow of death, I
will fear no evil, for you are with me, your rod and your staff, they
comfort me. You prepare a table
before me in the presence of my
enemies. You anoint
my head
with oil: my cup overflows. Surely goodness and love
will follow me all the days of my
life, and I
will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. (But the
tense permits even not affirmative
translations.)
Christ tries to teach
affirmation, “You are Gods”
(John 10.34). Affirmative contemplation
is
then as a Jacob’s ladder. But majorities can not climb that ladder. As CHILDREN they pray
in dualistic ways: believing
God and soul to be TWO separate beings. Prayers
become petitions,
asking that God shall CHANGE
and not be justice or as a sun shine equal on all but give more
help and love to some. Our
sins hinder beneficial
sunshine and rain to reach us.
Good deeds,
healthy prayer ,
sacraments reopens us for blessings from our divine nature and our
Angels.
AREOPAGITA, “the father of
Christian mysticism” writes:
contemplation has three
main ways:
1/ an affirmative way
through knowledge about divine
characteristics and
attributes intimated
through names
and symbols, mentioned
in holy Scriptures: as Christ, God, Jahve,…. (
etc. )
2/ an affirmative way by seeking God in all what is existing, in all matter which God emanates.
3/ a negative way which is
higher, more worthy and safer and far reaching. It speaks about
God
in negations. (The
script about mystic theology) The mystics are in God
beyond human
thinking. Areopagita´ s Christian mysticism
speaks of Via Puritativa,
that is Purification,
Via Illuminativa,
Illumination, and Via Unitativa, to be consciously one with God Other
religions have other words . Compare “Sunyata”,
spiritual “emptiness” in
Buddhism and in
high yoga. Page
103: Meditation with the Eucharist, Page 104: Passive
meditation
FREE CATHOLIC pioneers have learned by all as by later teachers of
meditation, as Blavatsky
who did 1887 write to the archbishop of Canterbury that the world needs a Church preaching
a
divine principle within all (
compare our monism) and
who did write an interreligious book
“The
Secret Doctrine” She did
even l888 write an
AFFIRMATIVE “Diagram of
Meditation” with
Monism. She coloured
some Free Catholic
pioneers but was too advanced for majorities
of
the Hebraic grammar
gives several interpretations. We are free
to choose or
exclude.
One example
is: “Our Father, who art in
heaven, hallowed be Thy Names. Thy Kingdoms come.
Thy will shall
be done on earth
as it is in heavens.
You give us
this day our
daily bread.
You forgive us
our trespasses as we forgive them that
trespass against us. You lead
us through
temptations. You
deliver us from evil. For
Thine is the Kingdom,
the power and the
glory,
for ever and
ever. Amen
PRAY IN THE MORNING.
Shortened Eucharist or
page 4; invocation, asperges,
blessings.
SAY GRACE (before each
meal) In the Name of God,
in the power of the +
Father, the
+ Son and the
Holy + Ghost +++ Amen
WE EXORCISE AND
BLESS THIS FOOD +
BEFORE AND AFTER EACH MEAL it
is well to
contemplate “thank God
and angels in
our nature for food and
drink + We contemplate that we often destroy and poison and
kill
in nature and reap
need and sickness. We are sorry
for errors. We
will seek health
for man, animals,
vegetables, earth, air
and water We
will as the
repentant robber be
converted to the God
within ( who is crucified everywhere). Amen
EVENING CONTEMPLATION
Sacramental Benediction or parts of
it can be alternative. Completorium and Vesper or
parts of
these are alternatives.
Compare “Nunc dimittes”,
“Lord now lettest Thou Thy servant sleep in
peace” We thank and bless God and Angels for bright and dark lessons
in this pilgrimage. Amen
SOME AFFIRMATIVE SAYINGS
IN GNOSTIC FRAGMENTS
AND BIBLES
I am the Alpha and the Omega.
I and the Father are one. I am
the Way, the Truth and the Life.
Ye are all Angels, Archangels, Gods and Lords, Rulers,
all the Great Light-emanations….
I am the Gnosis of the whole
Pleroma. One who receives the
Mystery of the Ineffable is Myself
Though he be a man in the world,
yet shall he be King with Me
in My
Kingdom…..in the Light
The Ineffable lies stretched
out with all its limb and is the emanation of the whole Pleroma The
mystery is all involution and
is all evolution I am thou and thou art I
and wherever thou art,
I am there and I am sown in
all Many souls shall come back into the world Elia came back as
John the Baptist. Even the
greatest sinner if he repent shall
inherit the Kingdom. The Kingdom
of God is within you
This is my body Take and eat. This is my
blood of the Covenant
which is poured
out for many for
the forgiveness of
sins. Drink from
it, all of
you.
God is love, Agape. We speak of
God’s secret wisdom destined for our glory before time began.
even with most grown-ups. They are not bridge to heavens but glittering bubbles fitted for spiritual
babies Illusions
may still be a beginning followed by stages which test if we can stand a cup or cross
which belongs to ripe religion.
Primitive faith in a
desired “heavenly Jerusalem” can shield the
soul
from some temptations but does even blunt the intellect. Ideas about “God” can be too high for one soul and too simplified for an other. Jesus says “I have more to say to you, more than you can now bear.” (John 16.11) “The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you
but not to them (Matt 13 11)
A doubting Thomas may pray: “O
God if there is a God, save my
soul
if I have a soul which can
be saved”. Some become members of
sects believing in a salvation of
souls. Some become e.g.
existentialists not believing in
a creating and saving God. Some
believe that souls are innermost an
eternal uncreated nature, a Buddha-nature. Some believe that
Jesus is a
personal incarnation of
God, or prophet, teacher, father,
saviour, judge, physician,
angel, older soul or
as bridegroom of our soul. It is then named the bride of God. Compare a book by Juan de la Cruz,
“Libro de la noche oscura” intended
first for devote nuns. “Bride-mysticism” is loved in
religions. More intellectual
people can appreciate a
Gnostic book, e.g. “Seven sermons to the dead” written by
the psychoanalyst Doctor
Jung. “Pleroma” is
its name for
our eternal nature.
It emanates, incarnates and reabsorbs all. People who are coloured by Bibles
do sometimes specially observe
that Christ is named heavenly
Priest and heavenly
King as all
the Messiahs of the Jews ( and all the Pharaohs
of ancient Egypt) Ps 110. 4,
Hebr 5, 6 “high priest in the order of Melchizedek”
Rev 17,14 “The Lamb is
Lord of Lords
and King of Kings”. Icons of Bysantic
art do often picture Christ
clothed as universal most rich
emperor and high priest
- and as saving
shepherd .
Prayers and contemplations do
of course take different shape to fit
different ideas -- and
business.
The “father of Christian Mysticism”, Areopagita
preferred negating
contemplation as he knew
that all mental forms are limited. But he
knew also that negating is difficult for
most people. He did then
recommend
AFFIRMATIVE contemplation. But
churches and priests find
even that
too difficult and pray with petition,
asking their perfect loving “God”
to give still more perfect help.
Higher contemplation is beyond
mind in the Spirit which is poor
or empty in spiritual language.
Jesus says in John 4 23 “God is
spirit and true worshippers
will
worship in the spirit and truth”
There are religious orders
which
permit and try to inspire higher
contemplation. Some do still have
a mental picture of Christ , e g as a
DIVINE PRIEST-KING COMING
as a sun or a star from “ EAST”
For children and childhood faith
it may be a beginning - Important
is to teach all about still higher
contemplation which is beyond
mental ideas and of the Spirit
A problem is that mighty
rich organization teach
infantile prayers and
then detain majorities
in stupidity. Schiller
exaggerated saying
that even gods do
fight in vain
against stupidity
God within all
is wisdom and
AN
ANTIC RUSSIAN ICON
was hanging above my writing-desk. One day
I did stand before that old
icon where there
was the picture of the Mother
of God with a child
on her knee
And the Mother did answer saying :
“You are sitting on my knee”
I experienced that it was the truth. I was not far away from the spiritual
reality. I was just sitting on the knee of the Mother of God. She was not far away.
I did experience that when our spiritual eyes are open do we
experience that we are all the time on the knee of the Divine
Mother. When we are
sleeping spiritually are we
not conscious about
spiritual realities which are
always and ever around us and in us.
When we are still
sleeping with regard
to ONE spiritual reality
do we experience a dualistic existence,
the heirship by
common senses and mental
dogmas. And then it is natural that we pray “O God, Mother (or “Father”) come
and help me,
do
come near, Please, change,
do not remain afar from me”
A common child who is sleeping
on its mothers knee may
in dreams feel
far away from the mother and then cry for help. The mother may look on the face of the child and understand that it is dreaming something not
happy and therefore is
feeling unsafe. The mother may then gently stroke the cheek of the child
and wake the child by saying “you are
sitting on my knee”.
And then the child wakes up from its dreams and becomes aware that it is with the mother
in safety. The mother may have been
with the child the whole time but the child was not aware about it and did not know that it was sleeping on her
knee. The only change
which was needed was that the child became awake and then saw and heard the mother.
Then the child finished to
pray “come”
So it is in the world of religion. What
is needed is
only that we wake
up spiritually and then
are conscious about the
presence of the divine
nature. Those who
are spiritually awake do see and hear and feel that “God”
is present. Their prayers do then not any longer be
petitions that God shall change and come nearer. The contemplations become more
intended to be more and more awake
about spiritual realities
and negate illusions. Prayers may contemplate in affirmative ways, as “The Lord IS my shepherd”… and bless
in the Name of Spirit. In higher
stages of contemplation do we become
” passive “ letting the spirit contemplate
within … and bring forth the Word, the
divine Thought
Prayer is then not the work of the human
nature but of our higher more divine nature
Scientists, psychoanalysts, philosophers, mystics do try to understand and explain what it
really is to experience “the Mother of God”----- Some say
that it is
to experience something of
our own inner nature. Jesus is reported to have said: “Know that you are
all gods, all
angels (Pistis Sophia)
Jesus
is even reported
to have said that there
are no human words for these “secrets of heaven”
Still religious lecturing ought to try to
find similes, parables to inspire our
thinking until the time comes when we through the Spirit
are enlightened with the whole truth
Those who are dualists, that is not
believing in a monistic way about
the ALL-ONE-NATURE in
our
Depth,
will stick to the explanation that
the Mother of God is a being
outside our own spiritual
nature
and that she by compassion comes to
our help. Some believe that saints
and more evolved souls can
come
veiled, masked, disguised in
a shape which our human limited
understanding can accept as
representing the spiritual
truth. Some may say there is
illusion in such experiences but that there may be a kernel of truth. In the Bible we find that even the Lord
Christ did appear in a different
shape when
teaching pupils.
Some may experience “The Mother of God” as the endless space which brings forth the universe as its
Child.
A Hindu mystic as Ramakrishna
experienced her as Kali, creating
everything and killing all the illusions. A girl as
Bernadette Soubirou in Lourdes experienced Her as a female shape who said to Bernadette “I can not promise happiness to you
in this life but
in the next” and that being
said about Herself “I am the immaculate conception”. Mystics have made the
comment that “Immaculate conception” is a principle in the innermost nature of all. All great saints are in constant
conception of the
Word of our innermost
divine nature. One result is wisdom which few can
understand. Conception in a sexual
sense by the divine Word is in some religions a parable for that the Divine Mother is
enlightening the soul. The Mother
of God is the Spirit,
Truth,
And in myths She is Eve who guides us to the fruit of the knowledge
of good and evil (Genesis
3.5)-
It was
temporary forbidden. Without that
we should still be as innocent apes
The icon is now in a Free Catholic
chapel. But each physical and mental picture can
“become alive”
through the loving yearning
for more consciousness about that which
is named Eternal
-