The course of spiritual experience - the whole CSG book 5 chapter 1.4
Although we may be in a position to worship God who is the center of our faith, our position is unclear. Then where should we start looking for that position?
Although we may be in a position to worship God who is the center of our faith, our position is unclear. Then where should we start looking for that position?
God, the subject partner, has surely given humankind the foundation to respond to Him as His object partner. Therefore, contained within that foundation of the horizontal mind there must be a standard for the mind to be perpendicularly oriented in a direction toward the vertical. That direction surely exists.
Seeing first-hand the pain and suffering of human life, for a very long time I have devoted myself to find
a way to save humankind. This led me on a path of meditation and anguished searching for the truth. It
was a thorny path that led me through intense spiritual battles
Through my life of constant prayer and meditation from an early age, I finally encountered God and
received His absolute truth.
In order to have spiritual experiences, first you need to pray. You need to focus your mind. If you can, you should descend to the zero point. What is the quickest way to achieve this? To go to the zero point, the quickest way is to humble yourself. That is why people who practice Zen meditation focus on the question, “What is the mind?” The answer is very simple. As God is the eternal, ideal subject of goodness, the mind can at any time achieve the position of an unchanging object partner in front of that subject being.
Once you enter a state of love, you will find that each and every being exists as the only, unique being. When the Buddha said, "In heaven and earth, I alone am the honored one," he was not speaking casually. In a state of unity between his mind and body, he was saying, "As it is now and was in the past, heaven and earth are in harmony.
Our mind constantly redirects us along our way. It tells us, “Turn around. Return to the ancient place. Return to the deepest place in your mind.” This is why Buddhism encourages us to meditate. The reality of our life on earth is that through our original mind’s guidance we sorrowfully seek our original selves. Once we have purified ourselves and returned to the ancient place, it is excruciating to recall our past, even in dreams. God’s goal is to eliminate this kind of sorrow-filled life.
You should take your time to experience joy with your mind. For others, it may seem like you are all alone; but during this time you should befriend your mind. Sit down with your mind in a quiet place and meditate. Then you will be put into a deep state of prayer. In this way, you will enter a world that no one but you knows. You need such experiences.
The second part of shedding the fallen nature comes from the fact that, by no fault of our own, we are descendants of the Fall and have inherited fallen nature from birth. Therefore, it is the urgent task of each of us to bring about three great revolutions in our individual lives. I refer to the revolution of atonement, the revolution of conscience, and the revolution of heart.
A religious life consists of embracing the lifestyle of denying the body’s desires and conforming to the wishes of the mind. We must do it for a period of three to five years or even more, until it becomes habitual. After that, we are told to pray without ceasing. Since the mind easily falls prey to external influences, you need to offer devotions from the midway position. Do that until you have gained three to four times your present power.
© BLI - Thomas Schuh 2024