Nuts and bolts of mystic/contemplative prayer, versus...(#4)




 "normal" prayer. And which really is misleading, as each blends seamlessly with the other.

There are active lives and there are contemplative lives, with infinite shades between them. The same goes for active prayer and contemplative mystic prayer. But, in a nutshell, active prayer ("normal" as most understand the word "prayer) is an action undertaken by the self and uses the intellect. Catholics would say there is mental/meditation prayer as opposed to contemplative prayer. In active prayer, there is a self who performs actions, an intellect which ruminates over meanings and feelings, or dutifully recites rote prayers or readings while reflecting upon their personal import, and reflects upon what God might mean or want us to know. If you think about it, it is rather hard to know what anybody at all wants, if you do not know them at all. 

Contemplative/mystic prayer is the seeking of a direct experience of God without use of the discursive intellect. As said earlier, the intellect will always fall short in seeking to comprehend the infinite God. The finite is incapable of grasping the infinite. Plato could reason himself to the idea of God, but that reasoning is not an experience of God. The finger pointing at the moon is not the moon itself, nor is a map to be confused with the actual territory itself.

And as already said, there are infinite shades between totally active worldly lives and contemplative lives totally lost in union with God, infinite steps from the former to the latter, and likewise between active prayer leading to contemplative prayer. This is emphasized to point out they are not opposed/contra/versus despite limitations of language, but complimentary, with the lower leading to higher, while the higher guides the lower, in that activities will be properly guided by love.

However, one thing contemplative prayer is NOT, is "zoning out" in some comfortable relaxed gray state via centering prayers, mindfulness exercises, mantras, "Jesus prayer" or rosaries and etc.. This is a false spirituality, no matter how beneficial it might be from a relaxation therapy point of view. Also, since unusual experiences can arise via these methods, any of them can be dangerous if deluded paths are followed.

So, as for what it IS, it is time for this author to step back (after a brief polemic rant) and provide solid sources from worthy and well practiced holy writers in the next blog entry, I promise, cross my heart, hope to die, etc etc etc. This entire little blog is only written for other seekers as a starter-kit by an author who was a seeker from earliest age who found virtually no help from clergy who should have been able to help (given their job description and everything, you know?). 

I doubt any seeker reading this has ever had a pastor/shepherd attempt to show their flocks how to (positively, concretely, no ifs, ands, or buts) experience God. I seriously doubt the vast majority of worshippers of any stripe have ever had a leader teach any such thing....and yet, these same Churches, Bishops, Priests, Pastors, Synods, Councils,  etc. bemoan the collapse of local, national, and international churches with plummeting numbers of worshippers.

 They have forgotten that people attend to find answers to deepest questions such as the meaning of life and death, and if there is a God, how can I experience this God so that I know God is real?

Which really is inexcusable, both from the standpoint of clergy foisted on flocks while often themselves clueless as how to experience God and them unable to show others, but also inexcusable from the standpoint that there are many, many fine sources of such information, where clergy are often ignorant of even these sources and unable to pass even them along to seekers. Clergy have devolved to office managers in the majority of cases, while truly holy clergy united to God at the deepest level are rare beyond description.

So, as a fellow student of the school of hard knocks, I will pass along, in the next blog entry or two, some very nice instructive writing by truly holy writers and spiritual guides/directors which are far more instructive than any thing I could say or condense in blog entries of my own less than stellar writing skills.

(photo compliments of Jason Strull at Unsplash.com)

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