Meditation and Mystical States and the Soul: 1/24/07

[figaro]

Meditation and Mystical States and the Soul: Meditation Class: A Mystic’s Journal Entry: January 24, 2007

Last week we continued our studies of the book The Ways of Mental Prayer (Lehodey; Tan Books and Publishers), a chapter entitled: How in this State the Presence of God is Felt.

Lehodey writes: “In passive contemplation, the soul generally feels a mysterious impression.” We found this a beautiful sentence, a sentence which wonderfully describes how God actually impresses Himself, leaves a Divine Imprint upon the soul in the higher mystical states of contemplation. Lehodey continues by saying that even though God already dwells in the soul, in this state of contemplation, he reveals his Presence there “in a manner which must be experienced to be understood”. I think all mystics would agree that this is true. One must meditate to understand these descriptions and experiences. St. Teresa of Avila wrote that without the daily practice of mental prayer, or what we call meditation - it is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to achieve the highest goals of the spiritual life. And I personally would agree: without meditation it is very difficult to experience the Presence of God in a true and lasting way.

In the deeper state of contemplation: “The soul has an experiential perception that she possesses God and is united to Him, that she is, so to speak, plunged in God and all penetrated by Him ... Then the soul is as sure of the presence of God as if she saw Him with her own eyes and touched Him with her hands, because she feels Him in herself. This is a fact established by the experience of all mystics, and no author denies it.” This has been my experience. We then discussed meditation further, and I explained to our new student that she probably could not understand much of what we were reading until she had herself learned to meditate. (Generally I ask that new students come to at least six to eight classes before I teach them to meditate.) We also agreed that even in our very first meditations we can have Glimpses of these higher mystical experiences. I have often told people that even one meditation can change our lives - even if we never meditate again. Even one meditation can open a new set of eyes, the Eyes of the soul ...

We also must have a good Teacher if we wish to learn to meditate - and I must stress that no one should try to meditate on their own, without instruction.

Lehodey than presented opposing views on mystical experience, which included “certain contemplations so spiritual and so pure, that they are hardly, so to speak, perceived by the soul on account of their very simplicity.” In other words, some of our highest mystical experiences will not be felt by us in the ways described earlier; they are so pure and so simple that they will not even be perceived. This began a discussion on how we should never judge our meditations or our experiences within meditation.

Lehodey continues: “This loving union, wherein the soul sometimes feels so vividly that she possesses God, produces an impression “of interior peace, repose, and quiet” (St. John of the Cross; Ascent to Mount Carmel) which penetrates even to the depth of her being.”

Chris then read: “The soul was hungering after God, she was seeking for Him everywhere, and could not do without Him ... He is the light which satisfies the mind, the love which gives rest to the heart.”

“The soul was hungering after God, she was seeking for Him everywhere, and could not do without Him” . We mortals look for God everywhere but within our own Heart; we look for pleasures and towards things, not even knowing that the soul is searching for God.

He is the light which satisfies the mind, the love which gives rest to the heart. This sentence is especially important and profound, and yet seemingly so ordinary and less poetic than the sentences which preceded it. But this sentence is an especially precious one. In the highest mystical experiences we finally understand what Christ meant when He said: I am the Light. Christ was the Divine Light Itself, incarnated. We also are the Light of the Soul, and we are meant to bring It to the world, as Christ told us. We are not the physical body, nor our thoughts and emotions - we are the Light of the Soul, the Light of Divinity and Consciousness Itself. When we meditate we are contacting the Light of the soul, and through Grace we are being filled with the Divine Light. This Light builds within us and eventually will radiate out into the world; clairvoyants see this Light radiating from the spiritually advanced. Whether we are walking down the street or praying or doing our ordinary work: it is this Light that we are to bring to the world. Even with all our study and prayer, most of us still see ourselves as the physical body. Even knowing we are the soul, we will hold ourselves to the physical body and mentally see the soul as placed within the physical vehicle. And yet this is not true. The soul is not placed within the physical body; the body is placed within the soul.

He is the light which satisfies the mind. If we could truly understand that God is the Light which satisfies the mind, what those words truly meant - we would know that the Divine Light is Consciousness Itself. Our individual thoughts are nothing when compared to the Light of the Mind that we perceive during the highest mystical experiences. This almost blinding Divine Light is the True Mind and True Thought - even though we have no thoughts while standing within It. And once we have had this experience, no mortal thought, no individual personal thought or emotion - can ever truly ensnare us again.

And, as Lehodey writes, God is also the love which gives rest to the heart. The interpretation of this sentence is similar to the interpretation of the words He is the light which satisfies the mind. The Divine Love is so great and vast and deep that it cannot be described until it is felt. It is the Love we have all been seeking, the Love that will finally fill and give rest to our individual human and smaller hearts. Nothing in form, not material things or beings, can achieve It. Although, if we can reach the Higher Love, a universal Love for a fellow creature - it can open the Door. But to walk through that Door, we must both turn to God and look within. Christ Himself told us: Heaven is within us.