More on Contemplation
December 29, 2008
Today I’m influenced by these words of Thomas Troward: “The circle of vital influence may expand as the individual grows into the wider contemplation of his/her unity with Infinite Being…”
Here we understand how important contemplation is in sounding through our true person.
The state of contemplation is the zone where I get to connect to the most vital principle of all. That principle is that ‘I am one with the One Source and Power of the Universe.’
Troward states that the ‘circle’ of influence grows as the ‘individual’ grows into the contemplation or ‘awareness’ of unity with the One Being who is the Substance and the Support of all being.
Further in this essay on the Harmony of Spirit by Troward he states… ‘there is a lost word of power which humanity has lost.’ ‘It is the word “I AM” and ‘Because I am what I am, I may be what I will to be.’
So this is a reminder to me that I, personally need to be aware of my connection with Source. I need to contemplate that. I need to get into the zone. If I can’t, I need to ‘ask’, ’seek’, ‘knock’, in short ‘demand’ that I be shown my connection. This insistence is the beginning of sounding through the person. It is taking initiative and it is making a choice. It is the first step in realizing that ‘person’ and its expression is the way the infinite expresses itself.
In contemplation I begin to ‘claim’ that truth and I begin the path of discovering for myself, that I AM and because Iam what I am, I am able to be what I will to be. This is no head knowledge but an experience that is source and beginning of SoundingThrough.
So much for the word that came to me today. More to come. See you soon.
Peace
Norm
Contemplative Presence. Contem…what?
December 28, 2008
Mary is the contemplative presence. I mean, what is ‘contemplation’? I see in that word the word ‘template’. There is also the word ‘temple’. The word ‘contemplation’ in Latin is made up of two words meaning ‘with‘ and ‘temple‘.
‘With’ ‘temple‘ simply means to be in the space. Temple is a sacred space. ‘With’ ‘temple‘ means to be in that space. In modern terms we might say ‘in the zone’. The zone is the place where the action goes into slow motion and the player in question can see the whole playing surface and all the players and it becomes easy to make the next move in a brilliant way.
So, ‘contemplative presence’ really means just being there and being observant and without judgment. Mary’s response, to the angel who appeared to her, was: ‘how can this be, that I should bare a child, when I have not known a man?’ Here we see a simple observation, a matter of fact observation that is simple and pure.
Mary, as indeed all of the characters in scripture, is simply a ’symbol’ of something higher. I venture to say that Mary is a ’state’. In human evolution Mary represent the ‘human’ now able to ’stop’, ‘look’, ‘listen’, ‘ask questions’, ‘take initiative’ and ’select a response’ that will cause a new string of effects. In the great scheme of things, as we wrote earlier Mary is the ‘Ancient Gate‘ to a new consciousness, a new ability for humankind. So Mary is the symbol of this new space and is the very energy of contemplation, of being in the zone, that is available to any one of us.
The above is about Sounding Through. If we are to Sound Through and to express our authentic self, we need to access this state. To do so is merely an act of ‘faith’. I need to recognize that the ’state’ is there and that I can merely ask that state to be active in my life. I am then on the path of expressing the person that I am.
I’ll unfold more soon.
Norm
Contemplation? What is that?
December 16, 2008
Today I’d like to elaborate on Mary as contemplative presence. When we contemplate something we ‘look’ at it and we consider it. But the deeper dimension of contemplation is to look at something in the mindset of meditation. It really is a form of ‘concentration’, of interior visioning. It is not so much led by the rational mind but by the calm spirit of reflection.
The rational mind throws up pictures and tries to ‘figure’ things out. The word contemplation is related to the idea of looking at a template. The template is a form. The contemplative looks at templates of Good, Truth and Beauty, for example. By keeping the focus on those patterns these begin to manifest in our lives.
It is said of Mary in scripture that she kept silence and contemplated these matters in her heart. She gave birth to a seed that came from God, so the story goes. Instead of rationalizing this out she contemplated, in faith, what the angel said to her. She focused on the pattern. She did not get led astray by trying to ‘figure out’ how this could be.
So the role of Mary continues to be that of holding the template of Good, Truth and Beauty in view and thereby making it easier for each of us to begin to focus on higher matters rather than on the small aspects of the life we are living.
She is a contemplative ‘presence’ in that she is very much part of the culture of higher consciousness that each of us is meant to come into. This presence of Mary holds the truth while we go through our issues and come to have a desire for Higher things.
So much for today!
Peace
Norm
Welcome Mary Into My Home
December 15, 2008
What does it mean to welcome Mary into my home? To me it speaks of an act of ‘faith’.
In the symbol, Mary we have a sign of human consciousness having arrived at a certain place. This is the purely human dimension.
To welcome Mary means to identify with what is happening on the human level and so allowing that energy to have its effect on me now. When we identify with something we bring that truth into our consciousness.
In the spiritual evolution of things this presence and person called Mary is a level of consciousness where a ‘breakthrough’ happened.
This human person ‘sounding through’ caused a new level of awareness to be available to all of us. So the welcoming part is the identification with part and this is the way to connect in real time with what is happening in that force. Mary was the cause of a shift in human consciousness. She was, as it were, a co-creator of this new step in evolution. Hence, she is fully implicated and I believe that her consciousness is at the head of the pack and so we can access that energy and wisdom by acknowledging its reality and welcoming it into our life and in that way to have its effect in our lives.
So through the ‘faculty’ of ‘faith’ I tap into and become a conscious participant in this stream of expanding awareness. From there I can come into my own and contribute my unique part to the process.
As humans we share in each others fate. We are not alone but we have our existence in harmony, in fellowship with each other. This fellowship is our ‘home’. In welcoming Mary into my home I am welcoming myself into the larger home of human fellowship that Mary is at the base of and the symbol of.
Peace,
Norm
Human Evolution And Christ Consciousness
December 13, 2008
Taking up from yesterday’s line; ‘new growth in human evolution’.
The totally ‘human’ dimension that is Mary is symbolic of your and my reality. The human is made to enter into awareness of the Infinite, Unlimited Truth. It has a starting point.
Mary as the gate is the end of one era and the beginning of another. The symbol Mary can be seen as the point where ‘lack’ mentality ends and where the feeling of ‘abundance’ begins.
What is the connector? As the story goes, Mary was deep in prayer (some would call it contemplation), when the angel (the thought) came to her that she was blessed among women and that the Thing that would come through her was being conceived not from human seed but from the Divinity. Her response of ‘be it done to me as you have said’ was a response of total ‘faith’.
So the connector point is faith that the old human condition of being isolated and lacking is now replaced by abundance and the belief that this is so because the Infinite is accessible to the finite human consciousness.
Hence, that faith is really the gate to new consciousness. For the first time it was felt that God and humanity are one. From that day she began to ‘learn’ and thereby grow into the Christ Consciousness she mediated, gave birth to into the world.
And so she continues to grow in wisdom and stature ever since that point of her awakening. She continues to contemplate the Infinite Thing she bore into humanity. Her own consciousness is expanding ever more deeply into the Infinite.
The gate having been opened, makes it possible for every one of us to enter into this greater awareness that is Oneness with God, or Christ Consciousness. In this awareness we grow and evolve.
I’m finding it interesting to hear myself expand on this subject. I expect more to come.
Peace is all around.
Norm
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