The Center for contemplative practice
A Lay Cistercian Looks at Spiritual Reality
WHAT DO YOU SEE?
CONTMEPLATION: THE DOOR TO ACCESS YOUR INNER SELF: To probe deeper into reality, I am going to ask you to answer three seemingly innocuous questions, all of which are the same but all may be monumentally different, depending on your response.
QUESTION ONE:
This question uses your mind to probe deep into the physical universe, a deep dive into the realm of the matter, time, and energy. Go to a place of solitude in your life. Look at this photo for five minutes. What do you see? In the space below, write down only that which you can see with your eyes. Don’t editorialize. Don’t go any deeper than what the photo displays.
WHAT DO YOU SEE?
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WHAT DO YOU SEE?
QUESTION TWO: This second question uses your mind with your senses to probe ever deeper into both physical and mental universes, the realm of the visible universe with the capbility to find meaning beyond matter. Go to a place of solitude in your life.When you look at this photo for ten minutes, what do you see? In the space below, write down that which you can see with your eyes, as you did in Question One, but now add these questions, “What does this photo mean to you, if this is a picture of your life? What is in the cup? Who does the cup represent? What is the significance of a cloudy window? How does this photo help you contemplate your inner self? How does your mind help you to see associations and probe questions about meaning that Question One does not address? What does this picture tell you about your life? Write your ideas down in the following space.
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WHAT DO YOU SEE?
QUESTION THREE: This third question uses your mind to probe ever deeper into reality, the physical, the mental universes with the addition of the spiritual universe.within, the realm of the heart. Remember, contemplative spirituality means you look for the meaning of life within God’s Kingdom and you apply it to this life. Go to a place of solitude in your life. When you look at this photo for fifteen minutes, what do you see? This third photo is the same as the other three but with a difference. Look at this question not only with your mind, but also focus sitting next to Christ with your heart resting next to His heart. For Question One and Two, you have been asked to look ever deeper into your inner self. When you look at the photo now, what it is the cup you see? What you see now is God’s playground and you are playing in it. How does this photo describe the Mystery of Faith, the meaning that reaches beyond physical and mental universes, embracing both visible and invisible realties?
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Write down a sentence describing what you have discovered about how all reality fits together in one sentence. I know, it is impossible. So was God becoming human.
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LEARNING POINTS:
- There are three universes (physical, mental, spiritual) out there, not just two (physical and mental)
- Reality does not make sense without three universes.
- If you live in only two universes (physical and mental) you won’t see the third one, spiritual.
- When you rest next to the heart of Christ, you are energized by Love in the same way you get a suntan by laying in the Sun and exposed to its rays.
- The first universe is one of time, matter and energy. It is the platform for life on earth. As far as we know, it is the only place in the universe that has life, much less sentient life. The law is the natural law and all follow it.
- Humans share the pyhysical universe with other living beings, with one exception. Humans are in a universe by themselves, the only ones that know that we know. This is the mental universe. The law is both the natural law but humans have free will to choose their purpose in life and how to view reality.
- Humans live in the physical universe, the mental unierse, but get to choose the spiritual universe. The law is the physical one, and the mental one of choice but the spiritual universe is God’s playground. He makes up the rules.
- We can choose to be god (Adam and Eve) or be consistent with our human nature. God chose to become one of us to show us how to live Forever in an alien universe.
- To be spiritual, according to God, you must deny yourself and take up your cross daily and follow Christ. And what did Christ give us as just one rule to follow? “Love one another as I hae loved you.”
- The Church Universal helps sustain us on earth in a school of love to help us practice to live Forever.
- Lay Cistercians use the Cistercian charisms and practices as part of this school of love as set forth in the Rule of St. Benedict. We hope to become what we practice.
Not everyone has what is true. Christ told us he is the way, the truth, and the life. Any one of us must live in three universes to prepare to fulfill our destiny, to know, love, and serve God in this world and be happy with God in the next. Christ became one of us, human nature (Philippians 2:5-12) so he could tell us: “You have a place waiting for you when you die. I see it because I am one of you but I am also God on the other side. I want you to be with me Forever. I am preparing a place for you because you are adopted sons and daughters. Love is not just an human emotion, I am love. You must choose to love freely to approach what probably does not make sense to your human mind. If you see with the pair of glasses I give you, they may be foggy, but you can get some idea of the purpose for which you were created. There is only one thing you need to do to be with me, love one another as I have loved you. Come, share your Master’s joy.”
Not everyone sees the Mystery of Faith. We can access it somewhat with our minds and also a little with our heart. Only Christ could see it clearly, the rest of us only see through a foggy window like the one above. Through, with, and in Christ, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, we can approach the Mystery of Faith, the great cloud of unknowing. In Heaven, we will be one with pure energy, fierce love, beyond time and matter.
That in all things, God be glorified. — St. Benedict
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