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Meditation: Difference between revisions
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Prayer, '''meditation''' and | [[Prayer]], '''meditation''' and [[decree]]s each have their place in attuning the soul with God and invoking his blessings, to which all are entitled. | ||
Prayer that is not based on a fear of punishment or a desire to gain personal favors from the Deity is intended to focus in the supplicant’s heart the purity of God’s love for him, even as he, through adoration, builds a ladder of love to God. | Prayer that is not based on a fear of punishment or a desire to gain personal favors from the Deity is intended to focus in the supplicant’s heart the purity of God’s love for him, even as he, through adoration, builds a ladder of love to God. | ||
Meditation, when properly engaged in, opens the doors of the mind to the wisdom of God that enables man to understand and implement God’s love. | |||
And | And decrees are invocative of the power and the faith that activate the flame of God’s wisdom and his love and make these practical in our daily living. | ||
Thus, prayer magnetizes the love ray, meditation establishes the wisdom ray, and decrees focus the power ray. The regular, rhythmic use of these three avenues of communion with the Holy Spirit blends the individual’s energies with the white Light of the Christ, in whom he may contact every aspect of the consciousness of God. | Thus, prayer magnetizes the love ray, meditation establishes the wisdom ray, and decrees focus the power ray. The regular, rhythmic use of these three avenues of communion with the [[Holy Spirit]] blends the individual’s energies with the white Light of the Christ, in whom he may contact every aspect of the consciousness of God. | ||
== The purposes of prayer and meditation == | |||
The following definitions of prayer and meditation were given by beloved [[Kuthumi]] in the book ''Prayer and Meditation'': | The following definitions of prayer and meditation were given by beloved [[Kuthumi]] in the book ''Prayer and Meditation'': | ||
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The admonishment of your beloved [[Hilarion]], known unto many as Saint Paul, was “Think on these things.”<ref>Phil. 4:8.</ref> To meditate, then, is to let the thoughts of God that flow into the heart rise into the head, that the Knower may also become the known. Meditation is an exchange of man’s imperfect thoughts about himself and his Creator for the perfect thoughts held for him by the Creator. Identifying now with the eternal God, who is his Creator, the highest in his nature becomes the joint creator of himself. Thus, in a very real sense, as man draws the perfection of God into his world, he becomes the arbiter of his own destiny—a co-worker in the sublime—and he becomes as God is, self-created and creating.<ref>{{P&M}}, chapter 9.</ref> | The admonishment of your beloved [[Hilarion]], known unto many as Saint Paul, was “Think on these things.”<ref>Phil. 4:8.</ref> To meditate, then, is to let the thoughts of God that flow into the heart rise into the head, that the Knower may also become the known. Meditation is an exchange of man’s imperfect thoughts about himself and his Creator for the perfect thoughts held for him by the Creator. Identifying now with the eternal God, who is his Creator, the highest in his nature becomes the joint creator of himself. Thus, in a very real sense, as man draws the perfection of God into his world, he becomes the arbiter of his own destiny—a co-worker in the sublime—and he becomes as God is, self-created and creating.<ref>{{P&M}}, chapter 9.</ref> | ||
</blockquote> | </blockquote> | ||
== Preparation for meditation == | |||
<blockquote> | <blockquote> | ||
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It should be understood that at inner levels, according to the teachings of the Great White Brotherhood, a period of meditation is regarded as a journey into the temple. We call this temple the Temple Most Holy; and it is, in a very real sense, the laboratory of the Spirit.<ref>Ibid., ch. 10.</ref> | It should be understood that at inner levels, according to the teachings of the Great White Brotherhood, a period of meditation is regarded as a journey into the temple. We call this temple the Temple Most Holy; and it is, in a very real sense, the laboratory of the Spirit.<ref>Ibid., ch. 10.</ref> | ||
</blockquote> | </blockquote> | ||
== How to meditate == | |||
<blockquote> | <blockquote> | ||
Meditation ought not to be prescribed by the meditator. He may choose a subject of the higher order upon which to reflect; but he should always permit the hand of God to lead him in thought, that the meditations of his heart and mind may be directed exclusively by his Holy Christ Self and mighty God Presence, I AM. | Meditation ought not to be prescribed by the meditator. He may choose a subject of the higher order upon which to reflect; but he should always permit the hand of God to lead him in thought, that the meditations of his heart and mind may be directed exclusively by his [[Holy Christ Self]] and mighty [[I AM Presence| God Presence, I AM]]. | ||
Among the dangers in meditation which many have faced is the altogether human penchant for the psychic (because it is so readily available) and the wish to find a unique teacher in the higher realms or perhaps a “spirit guide” who will convey some exclusive concept which one can then parade before his fellowmen. | Among the dangers in meditation which many have faced is the altogether human penchant for the psychic (because it is so readily available) and the wish to find a unique teacher in the higher realms or perhaps a “spirit guide” who will convey some exclusive concept which one can then parade before his fellowmen. | ||