This quote from "into the silent land" speaks to my daily meditation sessions. In other words ones contemplation moments should not be restricted to that which appears to be comfortable. One needs also to experience the negative, the uncomfortable allowing one to release all that can block ones awareness of oneness with the divine mystery.
It is not a question of having only acceptable thoughts, but of thoughts thoroughly observed as they appear and disappear in awareness. No thought or feeling should appear in the valley of awareness unobserved
Martin Laird's book is highly recommended reading for those seeking a structured approach to contemplation. Father Martin is the author of A Sunlit Absence: Silence, Awareness, and Contemplation (2011), Gregory of Nyssa and the Grasp of Faith (2007) and Into the Silent Land (2006).
I am a particular fan of Gregory of Nyssa recommending his guidance into the interior life. (1)
Reaching back some 17 years when I began posting on the Catholic News Discussion Board I have written often on the works of Carl Jung with a view to providing the reader with a so called rationalistic approach to the influence of the divine mystery on our daily life. Carl Jung is particularly popular among Catholics for his willingness to discuss coincidence, or synchronistic accidents that can lead us to understand that chance is never a solitary accident.
Carl Jung's father was a pastor in the Swiss Reformed Church enabling Carl Jung to receive a thorough Christian education that influenced much of his work on the human being's relationship with the universal consciousness. Carl Jung's theories are in my opinion an exploration into the deeper regions of the spiritual experience helping the reader to better understand the inexplicable phenomena that occur to many, if not most of us with no easy rational explanation other than to reference the influence of the divine presence.
My daily meditation sessions are totally unstructured. Nor do I assume the Lotus position, preferring an armchair, encouraging my thoughts to wing me into a world where anything can happen.
Chance encounters with the divine mystery need not be restricted to moments of silent contemplation, for they can also appear out of nothingness with a determination to instruct, or advise.
I'll endeavour to address the matter of my own experiences with the inexplicable in a future post.
(1) http://presenters.theschoolofmeditation.org/content/letter-40-gregory-nyssa
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