What Mystics Mean by the Word "Meditation" - Meditation vs. Meditation

 

What Mystics Mean by the Word "Meditation" - Meditation vs. Meditation 

There is always value in pondering the wisdom of various sages. “Whoever discovers the interpretation of these sayings will not taste death.” (Gospel of Thomas, saying one) In the case of Thomas, the goal of the pondering is discovering an existence beyond the body, beyond this world, and so one leaves behind -- transcends -- doctrine, information, theology and mind itself as one enters into the spiritual domain, becoming a gnostic, a mystic, a knower of that experience for one's self.  

I always avoid using the word meditation in connection with contemplating the meaning of verses as evangelical Christianity uses that word to mean that, and at the same time is utterly opposed to the mystical definition of meditation, which is direct experience of the spiritual dimension. When I use the word meditation, it's about this: 

"Give ear; withdraw your souls from all that appears but is not truly real; close these eyes if yours, close your ears, withdraw from actions that are outwardly seen; and you shall know the reality of Christ and the whole secret of your salvation." (Acts of Peter)

"Be still and know that I am God." (Psalm 46:10) 

Evagrius of Egypt wrote: “The offspring of pure prayer is swallowed up by the Spirit. From this point on, the mind is beyond prayer, and prayer has ceased from it now that it has found something even more excellent. No longer does the mind actually pray, but there is a gaze of wonder at the Inaccessible Things which do not belong to the world of mortal beings.”

“When I have gone to the Light, preach to all the world and say to them: ‘Do not cease seeking day or night and do not let yourselves relax until you find the Mysteries of the Kingdom of Light, which will purify you and make you into pure Light and lead you into the Kingdom of Light.’ (Pistis Sophia)

"I am inviting you into the exalted, perfect Light. Moreover as for this Light, when you enter it you will be glorified ... you will become ... the way you first were when you were Light." (Trimorphic Protennoia, Nag Hammadi Library)

“Thus as a result of recollecting all these things the impulses of the mind are extended from the sphere of material things towards those impulses which are without limit, that is to say, wonder at the New World, and the faculty of vision which belongs to contemplation [of God]. For when the vision of the mind is mingled with the Light…., all its impulses become infinite. For none of the Visionaries or ‘Gnostics’ is able to distinguish the identity of the mind as a result of the vision of that glorious Light that is seen ….. for all the innermost chambers of the heart are filled by that blessed Light….”. (Joseph the Visionary)

"The stage when the mind is silenced and swallowed up in the light of the vision of lofty and sublime contemplation; the mind is mingled with the divine visitation." (paper on, Joseph Hazzaya [the Visionary] and the Spiritual Itinerary) 

“Blessed are those who have approached the divine Light, who have entered it and been absorbed by it, mingled in its brightness.” (Saint Symeon)

A parallel of the initiation saying in Thomas [saying 17] in the Mandaean scriptures: “Thou hast showed us that which the eye has not seen, and caused us to hear that which the human ear has not heard. Thou has freed us from death and united us with Life, released us from darkness, and united us with Light…. Thou hast shown us that which the eye has not seen, and caused us to hear that which the human ear has not heard.” (“Canonical Prayer Book of the Mandaeans”, E.S. Drower)

“We speak without tongue,

we see without eyes,

we hear without ears,

we walk without feet, and

we work without hands.”

(Guru Nanak)

The Divine Ground of Being, the Center of the Soul

 

The Divine Ground of Being, the Center of the Soul

"There is a speaking of God in the core of the soul where no creature can enter or speak, for only God lives there and only He speaks. God speaks there when the soul puts aside all that is created, when she silences her powers and gains a vision into the foundation of her pure essence. In this pure and silent soul God the Father speaks and she hears His voice." (The Book of the Poor in Spirit by a Friend of God, Johannes Tauler, approximately 1300-1361)

An old favorite quote. Glad to have found a copy of this spiritual classic online. Those medieval mystics go nicely together with the gnostic texts.

One of My Favorite Mystics: Joseph the Visionary - Light and Sound on The Path

 

One of My Favorite Mystics: Joseph the Visionary

The Sants have said the Light and Sound are within everyone and that over the centuries there have been mystics within the various world religions acquainted with Inner Light and Sound Meditation. This includes Christianity. For instance, this example from the writings of Joseph the Visionary of the Syriac tradition: 

"We say that we see Light in the sphere of spirituality; but this is not like material light. We also say that we have spiritual food there; but that food is not like what we have here. We further say that our mind perceives there the Sound of the spiritual hosts and that it there has speech and conversation; but that speech is not like the speech that we have with one another. The Sound heard there by our mind is so ethereal that our senses are not able to receive it, and a fleshly tongue is unable to speak or tell that which is revealed there to the understanding."

-- Joseph the Visionary, Syriac Mystic, The Wisdom of the Pearlers: Anthology

Receiving Inner Guidance in the Silence of Meditation -- Spiritual Awakening Radio Podcast

Receiving Inner Guidance in the Silence of Meditation -- Spiritual Awakening Radio Podcast

Today, wisdom from the Masters or Mystics of the East and West on the power of silence to guide our every step, so each step brings us closer to our most noble goals, leading us into a life of love, peacefulness, an enlightened existence. The art of listening in the silence of meditation provides us with countless opportunities to see clearly without the usual day-to-day distractions, perceiving the events of our life from a higher vantage point. Silence allows angels to whisper advice into our ears. It also makes it possible for the authentic self to rise to the surface, introducing a new divine power or grace into this dimension of reality. It imparts insight, and ultimately, wisdom borne out of the depths or womb of contemplative silence gives birth to the realization of the soul itself. Most of the time we human beings are distracted surface-dwellers. We live from the levels of conscious mind and ego, with our attention hopelessly held captive by the turbulence and agitation of our day-to-day circumstances. If we can develop a daily meditation practice, learn to take a break and detach ourselves, allowing some space for the silence to speak to us, we will gain access to a higher wisdom. If we can pause and listen, taking time each day to meditate, this will provide opportunities for angels, the Inner Master-Power or the Great Invisible Spirit to communicate, to whisper into our inner ear.

@ Apple Podcasts:

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/spiritual-awakening-radio/id1477577384

@ Spotify:

https://open.spotify.com/show/5kqOaSDrj630h5ou65JSjE

@ Amazon:

https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/ca7918b0-4005-4724-a2e5-b27f51ecdba6/spiritual-awakening-radio

@ Audible:

https://www.amazon.com/Spiritual-Awakening-Radio/dp/B08K561DZJ

@ PodBean:

https://www.podbean.com/podcast-detail/2cs9c-a1297/Spiritual-Awakening-Radio-Podcast

@ The Spiritual Awakening Radio Podcast Website:

https://SpiritualAwakeningRadio.libsyn.com/website

@ YouTube:

https://youtu.be/dN61IeUQHpc

@ The Internet Archive:

https://archive.org/details/MeditationInnerGuidance

Or @ Wherever You Follow Podcasts (Apple, Spotify, Google, Amazon, Audible, Podcast Addict, PodBean, CastBox, TuneIN, etc...):

https://linktr.ee/SpiritualAwakeningRadio

"Learn to sit still and be mentally still, and the silence thus generated with be more vocal than words spoken and written; and you will have an instantaneous solution not only to your own personal problems but to the problems of others as well." (Kirpal Singh, The Way of the Saints)

"I will come to you in the silence." (Acts of Thomas)

“Silence gives us a new way of looking at everything.” (Mother Teresa)

"To be pure and still means to be open to purity and stillness -- as a result you can intuit the truth." (7th Century Da Qin Scripture of China -- The Jesus Sutras of the Church of the Light)

"Within each of us there is a silence, a silence as vast as the universe. And when we experience that silence, we remember who we are." (Gunilla Norris)

"Deep within us all there is an amazing inner sanctuary of the soul, a holy place, a Divine Center, a speaking Voice, to which we may continually return." (A Testament of Devotion, by Thomas Kelly, Quaker mystic)

"Bestow upon us a spirit of knowledge for the revelation of your Mysteries, to come to a knowledge of ourselves: where we have come from, where we are going, and what we should do in order to live." (Book of Allogenes, Gnostic Gospels, Nag Hammadi Library)

"Through the faculty of meditation man attains to eternal life; through it he receives the breath of the Holy Spirit -- the bestowal of the Spirit is given in reflection and meditation." (Abdul-BAHA, Bahai Faith)

All for the Love of Wisdom, Radio, and Podcasting,

James Bean

Spiritual Awakening Radio

https://www.SpiritualAwakeningRadio.com

Spiritual Awakening Radio (and Sant Mat Satsang Podcasts), heard on various community, public radio stations and the web, explores the world of spirituality, comparative religion, world scriptures and other books, East and West, God, meditation, out of body or near death experiences (inner space), the vegan diet and other ahimsa ethics - education for a more peaceful planet.

The Explorer of Inner Space is not Alone

The Explorer of Inner Space is not Alone

"It is impossible to confine love to the temporal and transient levels of life, and it is impossible to confine the grandeur and majesty of God to the dimensions of the mind. When I had come to a partial realization of this fact, wise adepts of the inner realms provided me with guidance through the fragrant mystic universe, the spirito-mental region. They showed me their many magnificent planets of light and wonder. It was they who ultimately persuaded me to roam and explore untold realms of gold within myself. I had no fixed starting place in time and space, for I dwelt in a multi-verse that was co-extensive with all the ages. But my inner world was still limited by the boundaries of creation; I needed the guidance of a spiritual adept, within the physical world itself, to give me new birth into the freedom of eternity." (George Arnsby Jones, An Odyssey of Inner Space, Peacehaven Press)

"There are those who have wandered among the darting comets and the shimmering orbs of sounding fire. The soul-explorer is not alone, for there are those who have traveled the highways of the inner cosmos; far more than one may at first realize." (George Arnsby Jones)

"I think I would say that the universe has a purpose, its not somehow just there by chance ... some people, I think, take the view that the universe is just there and it runs along -- its a bit like it just sort of computes, and we happen somehow by accident to find ourselves in this thing. But I don't think thats a very fruitful or helpful way of looking at the universe, I think that there is something much deeper about it."  (Roger Penrose)