Mystic Union * Ramakrishna

Amy EdelsteinBlog, Contemplation, Traditional SpiritualityLeave a Comment

Ramakrishna How foolishly you try, O mind, to know the nature of Reality. You are searching in vain, as a mad person seeks treasure in a pitch-black, empty room. God is known by ecstatic love, there is no other adequate mode. Truth is only experienced by recognizing all as God, never by discriminating neti, neti: “This is not God. That … Read More

Contemplation * Thomas Merton

Amy EdelsteinBlog, Contemplation, Traditional SpiritualityLeave a Comment

Thomas Merton Contemplation . . . is the experiential grasp of reality as subjective, not so much “mind” (which would signify “belonging to the external self”) but “myself” in existential mystery. Contemplation does not arrive at reality after a process of deduction, but by an intuitive awakening in which our free and personal reality becomes fully alive to its own existential depths, … Read More

On Religious Inquiry * Vimala Thakar

Amy EdelsteinBlog, Contemplation, Traditional SpiritualityLeave a Comment

Vimala Thakar Religious inquiry involves willingness to court failure. If we are too much concerned with doing the correct thing and are afraid of making mistakes, then fear creates inhibitions and prevents the openness necessary for learning. Sometimes we’ll make mistakes, slip and fall but as children learning to walk, we pick ourselves up and go on joyously, carrying no … Read More