"A
pane of glass free from anything that is not pure glass
can
be transformed into a ray of sunlight."
Selections have
been melded together to form a "pane of [pure] glass"
Each days' readings
should be as "a ray of sunlight" to the User.
The
selected writings of Mystics and Visionaries
are
not at all useful for "Discursive
Meditation".
Note: The
Selections simply do not lend themselves
to usefulness as fodder
for Discursive Meditation.
<<>>
In the format
/ template of a Breviary (a.k.a. "The Prayer of Christians"),
there are,
in the Novice Version, 124 “Hours”
(i.e. 31 Days
x 4 “Hours” for each day*).
Scripts stretch
back to those of ancient Christian Contemplative's
and span forward
to the graphic insights of present-day Visionaries ...
accomplished
laborers at Contemplative Prayer.
* the first two Hours (Matins and Lauds**) are intended for Morning Prayer;
the latter
two (Vespers and Compline**) for Evening Prayer.
** Matins /
Lauds / Vespers / Compline taken from the Jewish manner of dividing a Day.
<<>>
True spiritual experience
lies beyond the arena of words and thoughts:
“We
constantly have to remember that
all the words we use to speak of The Ultimate
are only pointers to what is totally beyond.”
(Bede Griffiths)
<<>>
Between
the Clouds can be a virtual guard-rail for
the Contemplative
Path that ascends to the heights.
As Brother
Roger of Taize mused,
“Sometimes
contemplation is like
balancing
on the edge of a razor blade,
with
a meadow full of wildflowers on one hand,
and madness on the other.”
<<>>
As Cloud of Unknowing
is predominantly educational,
synergistic
epigrams are often injected into the text as a focal
point for the contemplative labor of the present moment.
<<>>
Instructional documents,
selected for
The Practitioner’s
constant, cyclical
review*,
are vital, for…
Contemplation’s labor can be hazardous.
* these documents are a double-edged
sword:
the "Practitioner" may well make use of
them as
a Handbook for a fledgling Contemplative.
Thus, the placement of these educational
writings
can be drawn-on as one may be suddenly and
spontaneously thrust into the role of Spiritual Director.
<<>>
CONTRIBUTORS
Anonymous
Author of The Cloud of Unknowing;
The Desert
Fathers
Teresa of
Avila; John of the Cross;
Thomas Dubay,
S.M.; Michael Nevins;
Laurence Freeman, O.S.B.; Francis Fenelon;
Edith
Stein; R. Rohlheiser, O.M.I.;
Boehme; Pere Jacques;
Brother Lawrence; R. Waldo Emerson
Contemplative Outreach (www.centeringprayer.com) ;
WCCM (www.wccm.org) ;
Hans Urs von Balthazar; William
MacNamara, O.C.D.;
Joseph
Sandman; Tagore;
John Main, O.S.B.; Joyce Rupp
Annie Dillard; Karl Rahner, S.J.
Thomas Merton; Karl Jung;
Christopher Blumhardt;
George Maloney, S.J.; Brother Roger of Taize;
A. St. Espurey; Bede Griffiths, O.S.B.;
Peter Damien; Rufus Jones;
Abraham Joshua Heschel; Doris Grumbach;
Kabir; W.W. Meissner; Denise Carmody;
Deng Ming-dao; Thomas Keating, O.C.S.O.;
D.H. Lawrence; Meister Eckhardt;
C.S. Lewis; Juan Jiminez;
Stephen Mitchell; The Tao;
Evelyn Underhill; Melvyn Matthews;
Dom John Chapman; Elizabeth of the Trinity;
Jean Pierre de Caussade, S.J.; Victor Gollancz
<<>>
In a special [Contributors[ category are 3 Mystics /
"Exemplars" of what Pope John Paul II called
"The Spirituality for
the Third Millenium".
A Profile of these three women can be found by clicking:
www.contemplativerudder.com/NewDivineClouds.pdf
