Mysticism & Gospel of Thomas – No. 92 – The Path of Meditation

Verse - The Path of Meditation

The Path of Meditation - Jesus said, "Seek and you will find." In the past, I did not tell you the things you asked me. Now I like to tell you, but you no longer ask."

Comment

This warning must be understood correctly, not just here and there, but always we should be turned inward, awake and receptive to the inner word. In order for us to move from searching to finding, from self-reflection to self-knowledge and from there to knowledge of God, we must concentrate ever more consciously on inner guidance in the seclusion of self-reflection silence as well as in everyday life, to overcome the barriers of subjective consciousness and to awaken to the transsubjective inner reality in order to become aware of our inner light and immediacy with God.

This points us to the most important means and the safest way to hear the inner word: the path of meditation. In order to make clear what self-reflection meditation means for us, we must first point out what it is not. It has nothing to do with the abuse of meditation for external, worldly purposes that has become fashionable today. It is not a mere technique of relaxation and spiritual harmonization, as is recommended and practiced in psychotherapy. Rather, it is the bridge to contemplation, to self-immersion and immersion in God.

The path of Meditation

It does not serve to develop the ego and nurture the personality, but to reveal the divine self. In it, knowledge is not sought and achieved, but rather certainty and divine wisdom. It is not a training of thought and consciousness with the aim of making the unconscious conscious. For in the realm of the unconscious, neither self-knowledge nor Christ-knowledge is possible. To do this, one must penetrate beyond the unconscious and superconscious to the core of the human being: to the divine self.

Meditative self-reflection has nothing to do with psychological phenomena and experiences that temporarily occur on the inner path, but only with the self. Clairvoyance and other extrasensory abilities still belong to the psychic realm, not the spirit. The development of the inner senses cannot be brought about by the ego either; they open up of their own accord when the ego steps back and the self takes over. Where the goal of meditation is only the knowledge of higher worlds, nothing essential has yet been achieved.

For the only essential thing is the self, because it is the direct access to God, the gateway to becoming one. The seeker of truth must leave the supernatural behind him as well as the sensual in order to penetrate to the essence; to the contemplation of the spirit, to the knowledge of the self.

Gnosis and Magic

This is where the opinions differ. Some take the path of gnosis and magic, which lures with the awakening of the magical powers of the soul and growing power; others follow the path of mysticism, which leads through the gate of devotion and depersonalization to purification, enlightenment and becoming one. Meditative self-reflection cannot be taught, because here everyone must seek, find and follow their own path inward, on which no one can accompany them.

Where it is required that one follows a master as a student, the one who follows another remains in the forecourt of the temple. He can only enter the Holy of Holies alone - over the threshold of self-reflection. For this he needs no external teacher; here he is guided only by the inner guide: by Christ within him.

And how does one achieve true self-reflection?

It begins with surrendering to the silence of the inner self, which is being silent in God. This inner silence has two things in common with sleep; it leads to the recovery of strength, to the creation of new strength; and it brings about this renewal not by the length of time, but by the depth of the immersion. Just as the depth of sleep depends on the degree of relaxation, so the depth of silence depends on the degree of letting go and surrender. The deeper layers of being are reached in silent self-immersion, the more noticeable the surge of strength and the inner healing and enlightenment become.

In silence, the person obsessed with greed and purpose finds himself. Everything that is inappropriate to his nature gradually falls away from him. He learns to see himself as he really is, not as everyday life has distorted and disfigured him. He recognizes where he stands, what has been done wrong and what has been done right, where his real strengths and tasks lie and what opportunities for inner and outer growth are open to him. He discovers how far he is guided from within and how gratifying it is to be aware of inner control and guidance and to let it calmly guide him towards the light. He learns to listen to the inner voice and to follow it more consciously.

And with this begins a series of initiations that become ever more comprehensive and blissful as long as he dedicates part of his time to silence and puts what he has recognized as right into practice in everyday life. Ultimately, self-reflection is the awakening to the Christ within us. And the ultimate goal of all meditation is precisely the unfolding of our Christ nature, the resurrection of the divine spirit within us. Just as Jesus freed himself from the bonds of matter, unleashed the full power of the Spirit of God and conquered the world and death, so we too should awaken from the death of the lower within us to the deathlessness of our higher self, to the power and fullness of God within us.

For Christ, who rises again and again victoriously over the transience of the world, is within us; his resurrection should take place in us, the Christ sun should rise from midnight darkness in us, as Goethe recognized in 'Faust' as the true Easter mystery:

They celebrate the resurrection of the Lord; for they themselves have risen from the dark chambers of low houses.