More from the Cloud of Unknowing - A gentle way of prayer
Christian Meditation: Weekly Teachings PodcastShow Notes
A member of our practice community recently emailed and said:
‘After years and years and years of ‘trying’ to connect with God, Jesus, the Bible, through different churches, and feeling a miserable failure because I wasn’t feeling the same as everyone else around me seemed to be, I think I’ve actually found what it was that I was looking for. It was inside me all along. It’s such a wonderful discovery and an absolute revelation.’
By coincidence (or perhaps it was spiritual synchronicity, or providence), I received this wonderful email just as I was completing my notes for a talk on the teaching of an extraordinary spiritual master, and some of what he has to say about spiritual ‘feelings.’
I emailed back, asking if I could include some of their words in the talk. They replied, ‘of course,’ and added: ‘The amount of times I have felt I was going backwards in my relentless attempt to go forwards when people said “The Lord has given me a word…” And now I feel I can relax and let it all unfold. Wonderful.’
I thanked them and wrote, ‘And never worry about ‘going backwards’ or going forwards. God is our being. It doesn’t get closer than that.’ ‘And so I understand,’ they replied. ‘What a wonderful thing to know!’
What struck me most in this exchange was the sense of relief. After years of trying, something has begun to relax. The need to try and ‘feel’ something, to ‘connect with God’ through a particular kind of tangible experience, has begun to fall away. In many ways, this is not just one person’s story. It reflects something much more widespread.
Remember St Paul’s words that we should ‘pray without ceasing’ (1 Thessalonians 5:17). Using the Cloud author’s language, if you interpret Paul’s words physically, you are likely to end up with a sore jaw, exhausted, and having annoyed everyone around you. If you understand his words spiritually, then unceasing prayer can be seen as an orientation of mind, a disposition of heart, a way of being that you can carry through the day.
More from Christian Meditation: Weekly Teachings Podcast
In the first Beatitude, Jesus points to the wellspring from which all the Beatitudes flow: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Jesus is not speaking about the economically poor, but of those who know their utter dependence on God, who no longer need to exercise power and control over others and the world in order to sustain their sense of identity.
A contemplative reading of the story of the Parable of the Prodigal Son can yield a rich teaching for the practice of meditation and the cultivation of attention.
There is a beautiful story of a young monk so eager to do his tasks correctly that he was oblivious to what was hiding in plain sight.
In his excellent book The Beatitudes of Peace, the prominent peace activist Fr John Dear recalls visiting Gandhi’s ashram on the outskirts of Ahmedabad in India.
A theme that comes through very clearly in many of the emails we receive is how important it is to know that to practice this way of meditation is to participate in an ancient tradition; and that this ancient way of silent prayer doesn’t just benefit us individually, but benefits all people, all beings.