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"The function of prayer is not to influence
God,
but rather to change the nature of the one who prays."
Søren
Kierkegaard
"I have told you that prayer is
a virtuous act.
Eternal
Soul and spirit of prayer are more virtuous than the form.
Through them we
arrive at Union, in a way that
only God knows."
Rumi
Teresa Sanchez de Cepeda y Ahumada
It is important for beginners in
prayer to start off by becoming detached
from every category of satisfaction and to enter the path of prayer
solely with the determination to help Jesus carry
the cross.
I shall say
nothing about things of which I do not have much
experience.
Beginners must realize they are starting to
cultivate a garden on very barren soil
full of abominable
weeds.
The Lord pulls
up the weeds and plants good seed.
With the help of the Lord we
must strive, like good
gardeners, to get these plants to grow and take pains to water them so that
they don't wither but come to bud and flower and give forth a most pleasant
fragrance.
The Garden can be watered in four ways. You may draw
water from a well, get water by means of a waterwheel and aqueducts,
water may flow from a river or a stream
or the water may be provided by rain from the heavens.
A Soul beginning
to practice prayer will have begun to water the garden.
Rain from
heaven often comes when the gardener is least expecting it, although it almost
always occurs after a long period of
prayer and reflection.
In
mystical theology
the intellect ceases to work
as the Lord suspends
it.
When the
Lord suspends the intellect and causes it to stop, the Lord gives it that
which holds its attention and makes it
marvel.
Without reflection the
Eternal Soul understands more
in the space of a
moment than the intellect can understand with
diligence in many years.
The Lord gave me, in a moment,
crystal clear
understanding, I knew how to explain the compassion the Lord grants through
prayer in an amazing way.
Through prayer a
divine spark of the
Compassion of the Lord is
recognized in the depths of the
Eternal
Soul.
The Lord desires the
enlightenment of the Eternal
Soul through compassion
accompanied by delight.
For anyone who has not had the
experience it is impossible to understand that this divine spark cannot be acquired,
only discovered by searching the depths
of the Eternal Soul.
The quietude and recollection of this divine
spark of the Spirit of the Lord
will be noticed no matter how small it is.
The intellect, eager for
delight, is quickly left cold as no matter how much we desire to kindle the
divine spark to
obtain compassionate delight, we appear to be unable to do anything other than
throw water on it and kill the
fire.
If we do not extinguish it, through
our own fault, this tiny divine spark
is what will begin to enkindle in our Eternal Soul
the large fire that throws forth the
flames of the
Compassion of
the Lord.
Calmly and
wisely the mind must understand that one does not deal well with the Lord
by force and that our efforts are like
the careless use of large pieces of
wood which smother this tiny divine spark.
Everything is in motion
here.
The intellect
representing.
Memory
hurrying about.
For certainly
these faculties tire me
out from time to time.
Although I have a poor memory, I
cannot subdue it.
One should realize this and humbly say: "Lord, what am I capable
of here?"
One should pay no attention to the
intellect, for it is a grinding mill.
The Eternal Soul
may work to recollect the memory, for often
it will find itself in this Union, calm while
the intellect wanders about
aimlessly.
It is
better that the Eternal Soul leave the intellect alone than chase
it.
Remain in recollection and in enjoyment of
Communion with the
Lord.
If the intellect is keen
it will compose speeches and search for
ideas and it will think it is doing
something important if those ideas are well expressed.
In those to whom
this experience happens, the effects are remarkable!
One should not
weary oneself in seeking reflections but just
remain in His presence with the
intellect quiet and bask in His compassion.
Intellect has a clear understanding
that we are in the Presence of the Lord.
Now, in the
Presence of the Lord, ask for deeper communion not with the noise of words but
with longing for that response.
This mode of prayer includes many
things in which more of the Compassion of
the Lord is obtained than through
a great deal of
intellectual reflection.
In
the beginning I was ignorant as I didn't
know the Lord was in all things, though He seemed so present to me, I thought
omnipresence was impossible.
I
felt the presence of Him here in my own Eternal Soul.
Those who have no
knowledge told me that
He was present only by grace.
I could not believe this, as
He was present; and so I was confused.
A knowledgeable man freed me from
doubt, for he told me that the Lord was present and of how the
Lord communicates Himself to our
Eternal Soul.
When the Eternal Soul merely whispers, He hears.
It seems impertinent as we all know that the Lord always is here with
us.
There is no doubt about His
presence.
The
Lord desires for us to know that He loves us, that
His presence is real, and that
He wants to begin to work in the
Eternal Soul in a special way.
There is a difference between the
contentment the Lord grants from
the delight of the delights of
Earth.
The contentment the Lord grants fills the
void our sin has
carved out.
This contentment takes place in the very intimate
depths of the Eternal Soul, and the Eternal Soul doesn't know where the
contentment comes from.
The intellect thinks it has found
everything at once but doesn't know what.
The
Lord's radiant compassion
causes no harm, no matter how long it lasts.
Nor do I recall the Lord
ever having granted me His favor that I did not feel much better afterward no
matter how ill I had been before.
The
experience of feeling of the Lord's compassion leaves a rare
detachment.
More
than spiritual knowledge alone is
involved.
For now that the mind is completely detached from things,
it appears that the Lord wants to
effect this detachment in the body itself, and there is brought about
a new estrangement from worldly
things.
There is a manifestation of the
tremendous power of the Lord and of
how we are incapable, when the
Lord desires, of holding back the
body any more than the Eternal
Soul, nor is our
intellect the Eternal Soul's master.
Rather, whether or not we
wish, we see that there is One who is superior, that
these favors are given by Him,
and that of ourselves we can do absolutely nothing;
deep humility is impressed upon the
Eternal Soul.
From this experience comes
the need to return to
everyday life;
wings have
sprouted enabling one to fly with ease; the fledgling has shed its down.
The Eternal Soul ascends, taken
up to the highest tower.
The
Eternal Soul looks at those below as one who is out of danger.
In this state of divine grace the Eternal
Soul sees very clearly now.
Fix the
Eternal Soul on
true vision and
everlasting wisdom.
Keep this wisdom always in mind, especially
in the beginning.
Remember
the short time everything lasts and
how everything is nothing.
It becomes clear
it is necessary to forget these things
in order to live.
Intellectual humility is nothing
in comparison with the true humility.
The Lord
bestows a strong desire to advance in communion through prayer.
Eternal Soul, offering
itself up, feels sure, while humble, that it is redeemed.
The Lord casts out servile
fear and grants a feeling of awe.
Ascension of the Eternal
Soul to the Lord is Ecstacy.
The body is left so light that all
its weight is gone.
This
feeling reaches such a point as to be compared with walking on clouds.
I was conscious in
such a way that I could understand I was being
elevated.
The brightness of the
sun therein melts the
spirtual
corruption away.
The longest space of time in this suspension of
all the senses is very short.
If it remain suspended for a half hour,
this would be a very longtime.
As there is no accurate method of
categorizing consciousness
one finds it hard to know what is actually happening.
While
seeking the Lord in this way, it feels with the
most marvelous and gentlest delight that everything is almost
fading away through type of swoon in
which breathing and all the bodily energies gradually relax.
The
Eternal Soul desires periods of solitude in order to enjoy this new
found spiritual sustenance.
Awareness dawns, an understanding the depth of
the Lord's compassion.
In arriving the Eternal Soul
loses its craving for worldly
things.
The beginning of all blessings is the compassion of the
Lord.
The flowers of the
garden are already at
the point in which hardly anything is lacking for them to bud; and the Eternal
Soul sees this very clearly.
To one who has no experience this
explanation will appear confusing.
Hard to explain an
experience one cannot even begin to put into words
Only those who
have had this experience will understand me, for I do not know how to describe
this being raised up if it is not understood through experience.
The
Eternal Soul is so satisfied with the Lord that as long as the recollection
lasts, the quiet and calm are not lost since the will is united with the Lord
even though the sense's are distracted as little by little the will brings
the intellect and
the memory back to
recollection.
This
quietude and
recollection is something that is clearly felt through
the peace bestowed on the
Eternal Soul, along with complete contentment and calm and
a very gentle delight in being alive.
It appears to the Eternal Soul, since it hasn't gone further, that
there is nothing left to desire. But there is!
Further prayer creates union of the Eternal Soul
with the Lord's endless compassion and what this union is, I do not know how to
explain.
These matters are expounded in
mystical
theology; I would not know the proper
words. Neither do I understand what the
mind is; nor do I know how
it differs from the Eternal Soul or the spirit. The Eternal Soul,
mind and spirit all appear
to be the same thing to me, although the
Eternal Soul sometimes goes
forth from itself.
The way the
Eternal Soul goes forth from
itself is comparable to what happens when a fire is burning and flaming as it
becomes a forceful blaze. The flame then
shoots very high above the fire, but the flame is not by that reason something
different from the fire but the same flame that is in the fire.
I am attempting to explain
what Eternal Soul feels when in Divine Union.
What Divine Union means is that two
separate things become One in Spirit.
"You spent
all night crying, "My Lord! My Lord!"
He who heard your "My Lord' My
Lord" has come.
Your grief lasted so long! Look, healing is here:
Your door was locked, look, here
is the key.
You mourned and fasted before the Table of Heaven:
Break your fast now, for the new Moon
is born.
Be silent, be silent, for by the command of God
The shock of amazement annihilates all
words.
Rumi
It frightens those whose intellects
are concerned with things of the Earth that they have
no intellect by which they can understand
divine truths.
This category of union I wish to explain often
happens especially to me since the Lord
frequently gives me this
category of favor.
The elevation of
the spirit, or joining with heavenly compassion takes place within this very
union.
For the Lord takes to Himself the will and even
the intellect so
that it might not
engage in discourse but with
rejoicing in Him
like those who are now contemplating and who
see so much that they don't know where to fix their gaze looking now here, now
there, without being able to perceive clearly any one thing.
The memory remains free, but is
merged with the imagination.
This
union resembles the death
agony with the difference that the suffering bears along with it great
ecstacy.
It
is an arduous, delightful martyrdom since it admits no earthly thing.
The Eternal Soul clearly
understands that it desires only Union.
Just as joy suspends the senses, so it
is suffering that suspends them here.
In this
suffering the Eternal Soul is
purified like gold in the
crucible.
Whoever may have experienced the Compassion of the Lord
will know something about it; since what happens is so obscure, it can not be
explained more clearly. I can only say that the Eternal Soul appears to be
joined to the Lord, and there remains such certitude about this union that the
Eternal Soul cannot help believing in the truth of this union.
As the
Eternal Soul basks in the Compassion of the Lord all the senses
fail and they are so suspended that in no
way does one think they are working. If one is
reflecting upon some scriptural event, it becomes as lost to the
memory as it would be if there
had never been any thought of it.
If one reads, there is no
remembrance of what was read; nor
is there any remembrance if one
prays vocally. Thus this bothersome little moth, which is the
memory, gets its wings burnt
here; it can no longer move. The will is fully
content basking in the
Compassion of the Lord, but it
doesn't understand how it desires this compassion. The,
intellect, if it
understands, does not know how it understands; it can not
comprehend what it
understands.
The Eternal
Soul is left with such freedom over all things that it does not even know
itself. The Eternal Soul does
not know how so much good was given it, but it well understands the tremendous
benefit that each of this joyful ecstasies bears with it!
No one believes this if
they have not experienced it!
When
thought is in
bondage
Truth remains Hidden,
everything is murky and
unclear,
the
burdensome practice of judging
brings annoyance and
weariness."
Hsin Hsin Ming
Soon the Eternal
Soul becomes obsessed with serving the Lord not just a little but as much
as it can although these desires do not spring from the Eternal Soul but from
the Lord to whom the Eternal Soul has given the
keys of its will.
As
virtue grows stronger the
Eternal Soul begins to
perform great deeds by means of
the fragrance the
flowers give. The Lord desires that they bloom so that the
Eternal Soul may see that it
possesses virtue although the Eternal Soul is very clearly
aware that it could not have acquired
this virtue in and of itself and in that moment understands the heavenly
Gardener granted these favors through
divine mercy and
divine grace.
The Eternal Soul understands that it is enjoying a
good in which are gathered together all goods, but this good is
incomprehensible.
All the senses are engaged
in this joy in such a way that none is free to be taken up with any other
exterior or interior thing.
Here the humility that remains in the
Eternal Soul is much greater and more profound than in the past.
Here I see the evil that sin causes in
us since spiritual
corruption so holds us in its power that we cannot do what we desire to do
in order to be always in union with the Lord.
The Eternal Soul begins
to be of benefit to its neighbors almost without knowing it or doing anything
of itself. Other Eternal Souls
recognize this Eternal Soul because now
the fragrance of the
flowers has reached the point in which it attracts many other
Eternal Souls.
In
regard to thinking of wordly things, the Lord granted me the favor to
understand the truth that my reflecting on things of this Earth would require
no small amount of boldness.
Other
individuals will benefit
from such reflection, especially if they have gone through studies. In my
opinion a background of studies is like a
treasure to aid in this practice of union with the Lord if the studies are
accompanied by humility.
I hold that:
Discretion is required in every
thing;
Those who in fact risk all for the Lord will find that they have
both lost all and gained all;
The intellectual
mind clearly understands that ascension is
given to the Eternal Soul so that it may ascend;
Spiritually corrupt
individuals have a
tremendous fear of true knowledge which is accompanied by humility and
virtue;
There is now one
living who sees directly the great illusion in which we walk and the blindness
in which we suffer;
Spiritual
corruption will not deceive with illusions the individual of prayer who
consults honest knowledgeable men, unless this individual wants to be deceived;
If the Lord has given you the grace to enjoy His compassion, you will
through your intelligence
and knowledge understand what is being said here;
It is one
grace to receive the Lord's favor;
another, to understand which favor and grace it is; and a third, to know how
to describe and explain it;
One does not know how to speak of union
with the Lord, nor do I think anyone will believe me or understand it is
possible unless they have experienced it themselves;
If by nature
someone is loving and grateful, the memory of the previous favors the
Lord has granted does more to bring such a
individual back to the
Lord than all the infernal punishments
imaginable;
Frequently the body is made
healthy and stronger for it was really sick and full of great sufferings
because something wonderful is given to the Eternal Soul in this union with the
Lord!
How great is the true
knowledge of the Eternal Soul brought to ecstacy by the Compassion of the
Lord; it beholds everything without being ensnared! How
ashamed it feels of the time when
it was ensnared! How frightened of its
blindness!
What
pity it feels for those who
are still in this blindness,
especially if they are individuals of prayer whom the
Lord already favor!
The Eternal Soul wants to cry out in order to make
known how deceived they are. Sometimes the Eternal Soul even does so and
a thousand persecutions rain
down upon upon it. Teachers consider this
individual lacking in humility, especially if she is a woman, and point out
that she desires to teach the one from whom she should be learning.
As
a result they condemn this Eternal Soul because they do not know the loving
impulse that moves it. For at times the
mind can not help but
disillusion nor endure not
disillusioning those whom it loves and desires to be set freed from the prison
of spiritual
corruption, since the
spiritually
corrupt life that it formerly lived was nothing else than a prisoner's
life; nor does it appear to the Eternal
Soul to have been anything other than a prison.
The Eternal Soul deplores the time in which it was concerned
about its reputation and deplores the deception it suffered in believing that
what men called 'honor' was true honor.
The Eternal Soul sees
how this belief about 'honor' is the greatest lie and that
all of us are involved in it.
The Eternal Soul laughs to itself over the time when it esteemed money
and coveted
wealth, although in this
matter of coveting money, I do not think I
ever confessed a fault; but it was
fault enough to have esteemed it. If
with money I could have bought the good I now see in
myself, I would have esteemed it highly; but I see that this good is won by
giving up everything. What is it we buy with this money we desire? Is it some
thing valuable? Is it something lasting? Oh, why do we desire it?
Miserable is the rest achieved that costs so dearly.
Frequently
one obtains hell with money and
buys everlasting fire and pain.
In
spite of what I am, I experience
great consuming impulses to
tell this truth to those who are rulers.
This Eternal Soul
recognizes well, from far off, those who have only a lot of words and those who
have confirmed their words with works. It understands the small amount of good
that the former do and the great amount that the latter do and this is
something that anyone who has experience sees very clearly.
The Eternal
Soul understands that authentic honor
stands not with error but with
Truth.
The more that compassion and humility grow, the greater
the fragrance of these
flowers of virtue give off, both for oneself and for others. It is
true that in this joyful ecstasy the Lord can
work in the Eternal Soul in such a way that only a
little labor is still required in order that it reach
epiphanous contentment,
for no one who does not have this experience will be able to believe what the
Lord gives the Eternal Soul in
this stage. In my opinion no effort of ours brings us to
epiphanous contentment.
I became so accustomed to
understanding what Truth is that everything
else appears to it to be play. I sometimes
laughs to myself when I see seriously relgious and prayerful
individuals making a big
issue out of dogma. They claim that the
dissemination of dogma is important so
that they might bring about more good.
They would bring about more good in one day than they would in ten
years if for the Lord they thought a lot less of the prestige of their
office.
From the time the Lord began to grant me His favor up until now,
His fortitude has always been increasing; and in
His goodness He has held
me in the palm of His hand so that I might not turn back.
I do
hardly anything on my part; I understand clearly that it is the Lord who does
everything.
Hence it appears to me that
an Eternal Soul upon whom
the Lord bestows these favors will receive them with humility
always understanding
that it is the Lord Himself who grants them and that we ourselves, who do
almost nothing, could be placed in the company of any
distracted and
spiritually
corrupt group of people and the Eternal Soul will not be
distracted or
coerced; on the
contrary, this experience will strengthen it and serve as a means to greater
growth.
This is now a strong Eternal Soul that the Lord chooses to
benefit others, even though the fortitude doesn't come from
the intellect. Little by
little, as the Eternal Soul approaches the Lord in this stage, He communicates
to it very deep secrets.
When my Eternal Soul reached the stage where
the Lord granted it such great favor by unifying my Eternal Soul with the
Soul of the Lord, the
spiritual
corruption in me disappeared as the Lord gave me strength to break away
from it.
Teresa Sanchez de Cepeda y
Ahumada
"You have feet - why make out you are lame?
You have hands - why then hide your fingers?
When a master puts a
spade in a servant's hand
He doesn't need words to make his meaning
clear.
Our hands, like that spade, are signs of God;
Understand the signs He flashes into your
heart
And give your life to
be in harmony with them.
He'll give you hint after hint about the
mysteries;
He'll remove your burden and give you authority.
Are
you carrying His burden? He'll give you the strength.
Are you receiving
His order? He'll grace you His
grace.
Accept His Order and you'll become His witness:
Look
for Union with God and you'll become one with Him."
Rumi
The existence of God,
of consciousness greater than self,
is a necessity for non-psychopathic
human minds.
In nature all things are perfect even though it may not seem so to
us as they may not exist as we wish them to exist.
Nothing in existence
can not be considered to exist outside of nature.
The words spoken by
Jesus the Tannaim
speak of Heaven on Earth as
a state of mind not as a
removed physical realm.
Jesus the Tannaim was
attempting to awaken within us a
different way of looking at our existence.
If we allow the
perfection of nature to be seen
by our Eternal Soul then we
can feel eternity and experience a oneness with God - communion with the
Creator and Sustainer.
An individual who experiences a feeling of
oneness with the Creator and Sustainer feels a oneness with nature and has
experienced what people throughout history have termed a
mystical religious
experience.
The mystical religious experience of
the presence of God can not be put into
words as there are no words to
describe the undescribable.
An individual experiences so much
inner peace,
relief and intuitive
enlightenment in this
mystical religious
experience of feeling the presence of God that the feeling
demands sharing.
And that
is why we have sacred texts written by mystics ! |
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