The following (text only) is based upon a foreword I wrote
‘Enflame thyself with prayer’
in 2003 for a book entitled Prayer written by Dudley Wright.
First published by Ibis Press in 2004.
First published by Ibis Press in 2004.
‘Enflame thyself with prayer’
I have thought about these words a great
deal over the course of my adult life. Time and experience have taught me that
at its best prayer embodies the noblest thoughts, aspirations, concepts and
ideals of human kind. Indeed, throughout history prayer has often been
committed to posterity in poetic form, which is in itself interesting because from
the earliest times poetry has been acknowledged by many to be the highest
expression of the literary art. Thus it is only natural that prayer and poetry should
combine.
As I continue to meditate upon this theme I am mindful
that the spiritual ethos that sustains prayer has never really been disturbed
by the political changes and movements in religion. Religious forms come and go
but ‘prayer’ has never been called upon to justify or define itself, it has ever
been a part of the fabric of the human soul and thus of society. However, the
same cannot be said of 'society' today. It is probably more true than not to argue that the established world
order more or less ended with the outbreak of war in 1939 and out of its ashes
emerged a new order whose immediate appetite was and continues to be materialistic, and, very ‘SELF’ focused.
This appetite, since being unleashed, has given
rise to an unprecedented growth in world consumerism, which, along with related
developments in science and technology, has effected a dramatic change in the soul
of human culture. It is a change that seems to have caused more destruction to this world and the creatures that live upon it than in the entire known history of human existence.
It would appear to be the case that humanity has become permeated with a materialistic philosophy that often assumes the name of Humanism but is in fact a form of Materialism. that is self-serving and invariably hostile to religion, the spiritual life and all spiritual thinking; a philosophical stance radically different to that of Renaissance luminaries such as Erasmus, Thomas More and Ficino, who along with other spiritually minded thinkers founded the great intellectual movement known as Humanism.
Humanism began in Renaissance Italy during the early part of the 15th century. Its originators sought to revive the study of classical Greco-Roman thought embodied in rediscovered ancient texts that had been lost to the major part of the western world for centuries. The movement was called ‘Humanism’ because it provided a basis for an education in Humanitas (better known today as the Humanities). Its philosophical focus was the intrinsic worth of Man, emphasising human welfare and the fulfilment of human interests in this life without undue reference to the transcendental or spiritual world.
The main exponents of Renaissance Humanism were concerned with promoting religious and social tolerance. One of the chief advocates, Desiderius Erasmus [1466-1536], one of the most important literary figures of the Renaissance period, campaigned for many years for peaceful reform in the undivided Church, rather than the internecine conflicts that came with the Reformation.
It would appear to be the case that humanity has become permeated with a materialistic philosophy that often assumes the name of Humanism but is in fact a form of Materialism. that is self-serving and invariably hostile to religion, the spiritual life and all spiritual thinking; a philosophical stance radically different to that of Renaissance luminaries such as Erasmus, Thomas More and Ficino, who along with other spiritually minded thinkers founded the great intellectual movement known as Humanism.
Humanism began in Renaissance Italy during the early part of the 15th century. Its originators sought to revive the study of classical Greco-Roman thought embodied in rediscovered ancient texts that had been lost to the major part of the western world for centuries. The movement was called ‘Humanism’ because it provided a basis for an education in Humanitas (better known today as the Humanities). Its philosophical focus was the intrinsic worth of Man, emphasising human welfare and the fulfilment of human interests in this life without undue reference to the transcendental or spiritual world.
The main exponents of Renaissance Humanism were concerned with promoting religious and social tolerance. One of the chief advocates, Desiderius Erasmus [1466-1536], one of the most important literary figures of the Renaissance period, campaigned for many years for peaceful reform in the undivided Church, rather than the internecine conflicts that came with the Reformation.
Another, Sir Thomas More [1478-1535],
revealed to the world in his Utopia a model society based on the natural
reasoning power of humanity without spiritual revelation, whilst Ficino
[1433-99] a protégé of Cosimo Medici and head of the New Academy of Florence,
translated for the first time the complete works of Plato into Latin as well as
various other works on Neoplatonism. It should not be forgotten that Humanism
was a movement conceived within Christianity by Christians and nurtured by Christians
such as Ficino, Nicholas of Cusa, John Colet and Pico della Mirandola. It was
also championed by popes Nicholas V, Pius II and Leo X.
Today, those who call themselves humanists
are almost all agnostics, materialists, or avowed atheists. It should also be
noted that Materialism has long been a part of the human intellectual
landscape. Indeed one of the most notable of the early exponents of Materialism
was the Greek philosopher Leucippus [5th century BC], who, along
with his student Democritus is credited with being the originator of the theory of Atomism, an
essentially materialistic description of the universe. However, the more modern
cult of materialism, which emerged during the late 17th century,
much influenced by the writings of Thomas Hobbes [1588-1679], is far more
extreme than the philosophy of Leucippus and Democritus in its denial of the
existence of God, of the soul and of the continuity of life after death,
promoting instead the pessimistic viewpoint that human life along with all of
its beliefs, aspirations and loves is nothing more than the result of the
random combining of atoms that ceases at the moment of death, thus reducing our
perception of consciousness to a temporary biological function.
By claiming the credit for being the
philosophy underlying the amazing scientific and technological developments of
the 19th and 20th centuries, the proponents of
Materialism have in the name of Humanism, unjustly, in my opinion, dominated the intellectual landscape
of our culture, contributing to the dismantling of religion and the secularisation of
society. As a result the word ‘prayer’, now reveals less and less of its meaning
in modern everyday language and is becoming increasingly difficult to explain objectively.
Thus the question ‘what is prayer’ is a question that is probably more
pertinent now than at any other time in our history. But how is it to be
answered? Are we to view prayer as the last hope of the desperate as argued by
the proponents of Materialism, whose philosophy provides little more than the
cold comfort of a grim and meaningless existence? Or, are we to view prayer in
spiritual terms and accept it as a means by which we can elevate our hearts and
our minds in fellowship with God, and in communion therewith develop a greater
understanding of our existence, and of this wonderful creation in which we have our
being?
However, this is far removed from our common
understanding of prayer, which rarely transcends the notion of pleading or
asking for a special favour from a divine source, which in itself is interesting as the
etymological root of the word ‘prayer’ is derived from the Latin prex
meaning an entreaty or request, typically from a deity. Be that as it may, no
matter how accurate this definition may be, it is insufficient to describe the
vital part that prayer plays in the soul’s intimate relationship with God,
which is far more than begging or plea-bargaining with divinity. It is an act
of friendship, of love; of personally sharing with the source and destiny of
our being what we can never share with another person. It is communication at
the most intimate and essential level, a communication initiated by the soul
and reciprocated by God.
It
is then not surprising that from the earliest times prayer has been central to
the life of humanity, indeed, many of the earliest records we have are prayers
or hymns to the Divine. The people of Ancient Egypt may well have been
pragmatic, they were after all survivors, but they were not philosophical
materialists. To them life on this earth meant far more than mere survival,
they recognised that the end of a human life was but a beginning of another
superior life. That much is obvious, even from a casual examination of the
records they left on the walls of the earliest Pyramids. These ‘Pyramid texts’,
as they are called, date from the 3rd millennium BC and constitute the oldest
corpus of religious literature available to us. They contain a vast amount of
information concerning the Egyptian understanding of the spiritual life.
Without doubt many of the prayers of ancient Egypt, as of any other culture,
were prayers of need, or at least perceived need. As, for example, this excerpt
from a prayer accredited to a certain Nebensi, a scribe and artist of the
Temple of Ptah:
[O thou god Hetep]
“…Let me gain dominion within the Field, for I know it, and I have sailed among its lakes so that I might come into its cities. My mouth is strong; and I am equipped against the khus; let them not have dominion over me. Let me be rewarded with thy fields, O thou god Hetep; that which is thy wish shalt thou do, O lord of the winds. May I become a Khu therein, may I eat therein, may I drink therein, may I plough therein, may I reap therein, may I fight therein, may I make love therein, may my words be mighty therein, may I never be in a state of servitude therein, but may I be in authority therein…” [Sir E.A. Wallis Budge (Trans.), The Book of The Dead, London, 1899, p327]
Yet they also embodied some of the more
sublime human ideas and concepts. The following is attributed to the scribe
Mes-em-neter, a servant of the God Amen:
“Hymn of praise to thee O god who makest the moment to advance, thou dweller among mysteries of every kind, thou guardian of the word which I speak. Behold, the god hath shame of me, but let my faults be washed away and let them fall upon both hands of the god of Right and Truth. Do away utterly with the transgression which is in me together with my wickedness and sinfulness, O god of Right and Truth. May this god be at peace with me! Do away utterly with the obstacles which are between thee and me…” [The Book of the Dead, p.63.]
The prayers of ancient Egypt span several
millennia and enshrine an intimate relationship between the soul of the people
and God. For the Egyptian the spiritual world and the mundane world permeated
each other in the perpetual rhythm of life, thus establishing meaning at the
very root of human existence, and it seems difficult to imagine today that for
thousands of years a whole civilisation was grounded in a spiritual ethos that
gave certainty to the meaning of existence. Yet Egypt was not alone in its convictions.
In the fertile lands of Mesopotamia that lie between the rivers Tigris and
Euphrates, civilisations were established one upon another. The ancient culture of Sumer
gave way to the founders of Babylon who in due course gave way to the
Assyrians. Each one rooted, as was Egypt, in a world that had both a mundane
and spiritual dimension. In a Sumerian epic the following hymn occurs:
“O lord, in thy city which thou lovest, may thy heart be at rest. In the temple of Nippur, thy city, which thou lovest, may thy heart be at rest. When thou joyfully enterest the temple Shumera, the dwelling place of thy heart’s contentment say to thy wife, the maiden queen of Nippur, What is in thy heart, say to her what is in thy mind, say to her the kindly words of one who is forever king.” [Stephen Langdon, The Mythology of All Races - Semitic Mythology, Boston, 1931 p.125]
Close in spirit to this Sumerian hymn is a
prayer addressed to the god Bel by an Urigalla or high priest on the
second day of the Babylonian New Year Festival. It is a plea for the protection
and wellbeing of the people of Babel.
“Bel, without equal in his anger; Bel, merciful king, lord of the lands, Causing the great gods to be favourably disposed; Bel, whose glance overthrows the mighty; Lord of kings, light of mankind, fixer of destinies. Bel, Babel is thy seat, Borsippa is thy crown. The wide heavens compose thy liver; Bel, with thine eyes thou dost behold the universe; With thine oracles thou dost control the oracles; with thy glance thou dost give the law; With thine arms thou dost crush the mighty; thy people thou dost grasp with thine hand; When thou dost see them thou dost take pity on them; thou causest them to see the light; they declare thy might. Lord of the lands, light of the Igigi, who dost bestow blessing; who will not speak of thee? Who will not declare thy might? Who will not tell of thy glory? Who will not praise thy kingdom? Lord of the lands, whose dwelling is in E-ud-ul; who dost take the hand of him who has fallen; have mercy on thy city, Babel! Establish the liberty of the children of Babel, objects of thy protection…”[S. H. Hooke, Babylonian & Assyrian Religion. Oxford 1962 p101-2]
In the foregoing prayers it is easy to see
that the concerns of the high priest are for the well being of the people and
for the administration of society. In principle they are no different from the
prayers of our own generation. The concerns are the same – for peace,
prosperity, good government, and the general health and humour of the people and
their rulers.
In ancient Israel the same principal
concerns are addressed. The most important scriptural reference point is the
Bible, particularly the first five books, known as the Pentateuch and the Torah
(Law). They contain divine instruction (law – Torah) given by God to the people
of Israel about how they should live in the world and how they should order
their lives around God. Later books of the Bible contain many prayers and hymns
that demonstrate the intimate and dynamic nature of Israel’s relationship with
God, particularly concerning the Torah. For example, in the first Book of Kings
it is written that Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence
of the assembled people of Israel and prayed thus:
“Lord God of Israel, there is no god in heaven above or on earth below like you, who keep your covenant and mercy with your servants who walk before you with all their hearts. You have kept what you promised your servant David my father; You have both spoken with your mouth and fulfilled it with your hand, as it is this day. Therefore Lord God of Israel, now keep what you promised your servant David my father, saying ‘You shall not fail to have a man sit before me on the throne of Israel, only if your sons take heed to their way, that they walk before me as you have walked before me.’ And now I pray, O God of Israel, let your words come true, which you have spoke to your servant David my father. But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain you. How much less this temple which I built! Yet regard the prayer of your servant and his supplication, O my Lord my God, and listen to the cry and the prayer which your servant is praying before you today: “that your eyes may be open toward this temple night and day, toward the place which you said ‘My name shall be there,’ that you may hear the prayer that your servant makes towards this place…[1 Kings 8:23 – 29]
The prayers of Israel are probably nowhere
better enshrined than in the Psalms, many of which are traditionally attributed
to King David, the father of Solomon. The Book of Psalms consists of 150 hymns
and prayers of which two examples are given below; the first describes an
ethical basis that must be a fundamental pre-requisite for a wholesome and
sustainable society, the second, Psalm 23 ‘The Lord is my Shepherd’, is
arguably the most famous of all of the psalms. For many people it has been a
guiding light throughout their lives, and a constant source of comfort in
difficult times:
Psalm 15 Lord, who may abide in your tabernacle? Who may dwell in your holy hill? He who walks uprightly, and works righteousness, And speaks the truth in his heart; He who does not backbite with his tongue, Nor does evil to his neighbour, Nor does he take up a reproach with his friend; In whose eyes a vile person is despised, But he honours those who fear the Lord;He who swears to his own hurt and does not change; He who does not put his money at usury, Nor does he take a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things shall never be moved.
Psalm 23 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for you are with me;Your rod and your staff, they comfort me.You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; my cup runs over.Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
It is clear that the golden thread of
spiritual understanding, which from ancient times connected us to the spiritual
world, wove its way down through ancient Egypt to Moses and the people of
Israel, and then into Christianity. As Christianity emerged out of Judaism it
was inevitable that early Christian religious life would continue to some
degree the same practices and disciplines of Israel, consequently, many of the
prayers used by early Christians were prayers used in common by both Jew and
Christian. Thus, apart from the teachings of Jesus and His Apostles, the
scriptures were then, as now, a major source of inspiration for many Christian
prayers; however, the most important prayer in Christian terms has ever been,
and always will be, the prayer taught by Jesus Christ himself.
Known as the ‘Pater Noster’ or ‘The Lord’s
Prayer’, it embodies the same essential relationship between humanity and the
divine as established in Egyptian, Babylonian, Assyrian and Jewish religions,
of which it could be argued that Christianity is but a continuation. Yet, the
Lord’s Prayer contains an element that is unique in that it is a prayer that is
accepted by all Christians as being given to humanity by God, rather than an
entreaty from humanity to God. It is consequently far more intimate in its relationship
than anything that man alone had previously devised, indeed, for countless
people, both religious and secular, this prayer has been the focal point of
prolonged contemplation; its simplicity should not be taken at face value.
There also follows another early Christian prayer that is typical in that it
demonstrates our perpetual need to involve the divine in our daily life.
The Lord’s Prayer Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done,In earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors, And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory for ever.Amen
A Morning Prayer Helper of Men who turn to you, Light of men in the dark,Creator of all that grows that grows from seed, Promoter of all spiritual growth, have mercy, Lord on me And make me a temple fit for yourself. Do not scan my transgressions too closely, For if you are quick to notice my offences, I shall not dare appear before you. In your great mercy, in your boundless compassion,Wash away my sins, through Jesus Christ, Your only Child, the truly holy,The chief of our souls’ healers.Through Him may all glory be given you, All power and honour and praise, Throughout the unending succession of ages. Amen [Adalbert Hamman (Ed.), Early Christian Prayers, Chicago1961 p62-3]
Hymn of the Kouretes Io, Kouros most great, I give thee hail, Kronian,
Lord of all that is wet and gleaming,Thou art come at the head of thy Daimones.That we make to thee with harps and pipes mingled together,And sing as we come to a stand at thy well-fenced altar.For here the shielded Nurturers took thee, a child immortal,From Rhea, and with noise of beating feet hid thee away.And the Horai began to be fruitful year by yearAnd Dike to possess mankind, and all wild living thingsWere held about by wealth-loving Peace.To us also leap for full jars, and leap for fleecy flocks,And leap for fields of fruit, and for hives to bring increase.Leap for our cities, and leap for our sea-borne ships,And leap for our young citizens and for goodly Themis.[Jane Harrison Themis, Merlin Press, London 1963. p.8-9]
Hymn to Demeter Demeter with her lovely hair, sacred goddess,I begin to sing of her and her daughter,The surpassingly beautiful Persephone,Farewell goddess. Save our cityAnd guide my song.[J. Cashford (Trans.), The Homeric Hymns Penguin Classics, 2003, Hymn XIII, p112]
And yet, as efficacious as such prayers
might be, it is nevertheless a matter of fact that just as every life has its
turn on the world stage, so every civilisation has its day and then declines as
another rises to take its place at the forefront of the honours list, and so it
was with classical Greece, which in its own fashion gave way to the emerging
power of Rome. Initially the religion of Rome was a family religion, where each
family constituted a little church whose centre and focal point was Hestia (or
Vesta) the 'goddess of the hearth'. Upon this model the state religion of Rome
was foundered. Hestia was the guardian of family life both for the state and
its citizens; a temple to Hestia stood in the centre of Rome wherein burnt a
sacred fire that was never allowed to go out. However, if the Roman military conquered
Greece then Greek religion conquered Rome. Greece became the elderly tutor to
the younger Rome, particularly where religion and philosophy were concerned.
Greek anthropomorphism displaced Roman animism and their love of ritual, pomp,
sacrament and aestheticism overwhelmed the simpler Roman cult.
In time the prayers of Rome and Greece
merged both in form and spirit, as the needs and pantheons of both were
essentially the same. The following example is taken from one of four prayers
found in Cato’s ‘Farm Almanack’ and addressed to the god
Mars, is typical of the Greco-Roman world. It illustrates the intrinsic sense
of relationship that humanity had always shared with the divine and is wonderfully
direct and purposeful.
Prayer at the Lustration of a farm “O Father Mars, I pray and beseech of thee, that thou wouldst be well willing and propitious to me, to my house, to my dependents; and for this reason I have ordered that the suovetaurillia should be led around my fields, my land and my farm, that thou shouldst hold back, and drive away sickness, visible and invisible, desolation, ruin, damages and storm; and that thou shouldst cause to grow and prosper the fruits of the soil, the grain, the vineyards and the thickets; that thou shouldst keep in safety the shepherds and the sheep; that thou shouldst give prosperity and health to me, to my house and my dependents. For these reasons, and because, as I have said, I am lustrating and causing to be lustrated my farm, my lands and my fields, mayst thou be increased by this suovetaurillia which is being offered to thee. O Father Mars mayst thou be increased by this suovetaurillia which is being offered to thee.” [Marcus Pocrius Cato, 234-149 BC, Roman Tribune.]
In this prayer, as with all of the
foregoing, the relationship between humanity and the divine is clearly an
important part of daily life. Perhaps this is because in the ancient world life
was precarious, and people sought every advantage, alternatively, perhaps it is
because there is something within each of us that intuits another realm of
existence, and desires knowledge and experience of it, no matter how clumsy or
naïve the means. How we describe that something may be open to discussion, but
to all intents and purposes there is an innate need within us all to live our
life in a spiritually meaningful context, which the rewards and distractions of
this world do not fulfil. The desire to commune with the divine, then, is not
so much a conceit or a delusion as a primary instinct lying at the very roots
of our being.
Thus, from a personal perspective prayer is far more meaningful than any dictionary or encyclopedia definition might suggest. It may be understood on one level as the natural expression of our need to commune with God, sharing our most intimate thoughts, hopes, aspirations, intentions, fears and doubts with our creator in the same way as children commune with parents, or lovers with one another. And as we have seen, at a mundane level the prayers of humanity are concerned with very human needs. After all, we are gregarious creatures who generally seek fulfilment in communion with each other so why not with God? Deprived of human company we sicken because communication is fundamental to a healthy and meaningful life, the lack of which can result in loneliness, depression and other psychological disorders. The same may be said regarding a meaningful spiritual life. Deprived of the opportunity to communicate with the divine essence that we call God, who is the very source, ground and destiny of our existence, we have no benchmark or polestar to set our life’s course by and ill health may well occur in the form of self-obsession and the inevitable addiction to the basic human failings of avarice, gluttony, anger and lust.
On the other hand, to know that we may commune unhindered with the essence of the created universe; to know that essence as God, who is ever attentive and sympathetic to our concerns; to know that we will always be heard in absolute confidentiality; to know that there is nothing that stands between us and that supreme godhead other than our own inhibitions, is to know that we are anchored securely and meaningfully in the cosmos. Thus, we can in this knowledge unfold our lives in a context that has purpose and meaning both within and beyond the constraints of the mundane world, and furthermore, live in harmony with every other creature that inhabits creation. But, such communication requires of us that we not only speak well but that we also listen well, and that we listen attentively with an inward ear, otherwise there is little possibility of the soul hearing the voice of the divine because the spiritual world does not announce its presence noisily, ‘as the babbling of baboons’, but silently, like the falling of snow. Thus, if we would hear the voice of the spirit then we must disconnect, if but for a moment, from the internal chatter of the mind and listen attentively in the silence that ensues. In understanding this we may recognise, as did St. Paul that Man consists of two parts: the first part a terrestrial, mortal being and the second part a celestial, immortal being, the first a creature of earth and the second a creature of spirit, St. Paul alludes here to a great mystery concerning the means whereby the “Man of dust” is transformed into the “Heavenly man”. It is a mystery that applies not only to our earthly life but also to our spiritual life, and prayer is essential to both, thus:
“All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one kind of flesh of men, another of animals, another of fish and another of birds. There are also celestial bodies and terrestrial bodies; but the glory of the celestial is one and the glory of the terrestrial is another. There is one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for one star differs from another star in glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption. It is sown in dishonour, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. And so it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. However the spiritual is not first, but the natural, and afterwards the spiritual. The first man was of the earth, made of dust; the second man is the Lord from heaven. As was the man of dust, so also are those who are made of dust; and as is the heavenly man, so also are those who are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly man.” [1 Corinthians 15:39-49]
This same insight is implied in the
writings that were compiled by the followers of Orpheus, who understood that
human nature consists of two distinct parts – a mortal physical nature, derived
from the Titans, and an immortal spiritual nature derived from Dionysus. Legend
has it that the Titans, encouraged by the goddess Hera, slew the infant god
Dionysus and consumed him, for which terrible deed Zeus slew them with his
thunderbolt. From their remains man was created: part immortal and part mortal.
From this premise they taught that the body was the tomb or prison of the soul,
and that salvation was only to be attained by overcoming the mundane world, of
which the body is a part. Consequently, the soul could only free itself by
sublimating the passionate titanic nature and regenerating the divine Dionysian
nature that lies within, and prayer was an essential part of that process. This
is expressed clearly in following Orphic hymns and prayers, which are obviously
concerned with the life of the soul beyond the mundane world and the influence
of the physical body - St. Paul’s ‘man of dust’.A Confession Lord of Europa’s Tyrian line, Zeus-born, who holdest at thy feetThe hundred citadels of Crete, I seek to thee from that dim shrine,Roofed by the Quick and Carven Beam, by Chalyb steel and wild bull’s bloodIn flawless joints of cypress wood made steadfast. There in one pure streamMy days have run, the servant I, Initiate of Idaen Jove;Where midnight Zagreus roves, I rove; I have endured his thunder-cry;Fulfilled his red and bleeding feasts; held the Great Mother’s mountain flame;I am set free and named by name a bacchus of the mailed priests.Robed in pure white I have borne me clean from man’s vile birth and coffined clay,And exiled from my lips away touch of all meat where life hath been.[Jane Harrison, Prolegomena. London 1963 p.479]
The Petelia Tablet Thou shalt find on the left of the House of Hades a Well-spring,And by the side thereof standing a white cypress.To this well-spring approach not near, but thou shalt find another by the lake of memory, Cold water flowing forth, and there are Guardians before it. Say: “I am a child of Earth and of starry Heaven; But my race is of Heaven alone. This ye know yourselves. But lo, I am parched with thirst and I perish. Give me quicklyThe cold water flowing forth from the lake of memory.”And of themselves they will give thee to drink from the holy well-spring, And thereafter among the other heroes thou shalt have Lordship… [Jane Harrison, Prolegomena. London 1963 p.573]
A comparable understanding is to be found in ancient Egypt, Indeed the Pharaoh was known as the Lord of the two lands, of Lower and Upper Egypt, a title that has also been described as a metaphor concerning the terrestrial and celestial world. Indeed, the larger part of the religious life of Pharaonic Egypt was concerned with the relationship between them, and it is a matter of fact that no other civilisation has demonstrated so much interest in the comings and goings of the soul between them. In ancient Egypt it was understood that when a body died a spiritual body could be raised up from it, through the power of prayer. This art was known only to the sacerdotal orders, whose rites and the teachings concerning this process, were maintained in the strictest secrecy. Few people were privy to their mysteries, although it is on record that several non-Egyptians were given access to them, Moses being one[ Acts 7.22], Orpheus another [C.H. Oldfather Diodorus of Sicily, vol. 1, London, 1933 Loeb Classical Library].
The following is a prayer used in the
making of a Sahu or spiritual body. It was believed that “If the
prescribed prayers were said and the appropriate ceremonies were properly
performed over the dead body by duly appointed priests, it acquired the power
of developing from out of itself an immaterial body called a Sahu which
was able to ascend to heaven and dwell with the gods therein.” [Sir
E.A. Wallis Budge op. cit. p. lviii.]
Of making a Sahu “Homage to thee, O thou that dwellest in the holy mountain of Amentet. Osiris the royal Scribe Nekhtu-Amen, victorious, knoweth thee, and he knoweth thy name. Deliver thou him from the worms which are in Re-stau, which live upon the bodies of men and women and which feed upon their blood, for Osiris, the favoured one of the god of his city, the royal scribe, Nekhtu-Amen, victirous, knoweth you, and he knoweth your names. Let this be the first bidding of Osiris Neb-er-tcher who keepeth hidden his body. May he give air and escape from the Terrible One who dwelleth in the Bight of the Stream of Amentet, and may he decree the actions of he that is rising up. Let him pass on to him whose throne is within the darkness, who giveth glory in Re-stau. O Lord of Light, come thou and swallow up the worms which are in Amentet. The great god who dwelleth in Tattu, and who is unseen, heareth his prayers, but those who are in affliction fear him as he cometh forth with the sentence of the divine block. I Osiris, the royal scribe Nekhtu-Amen, have come bearing the decree of Neb-er-tcher, and Horus hath taken possession of his throne for him. His father, the lord of those who are in the boat of father Horus, hath ascribed praise unto him. He cometh with tidings … and may he see Annu (Heliopolis). Their chief standeth upon the earth before him, and the scribes magnify him at the door of their assemblies, and they bind his swathings in Annu. He hath led captive Heaven and he hath seized the earth in his grasp. Neither the heavens nor the earth can be taken away from him, for behold he is Ra, the first-born of the gods…” [Ibid p. 47]
Similarly, in Ancient Greece, the Eleusinian
Mysteries, ancient
before Pythagoras was born, were concerned with the philosophical death and
subsequent regeneration of the soul as a spiritual or divine being. The sacred
rites of Eleusius were so honoured and respected throughout the ancient world
that no-one ever broke the code of silence imposed upon those initiated into
these Mysteries thereof, although fortunately they were alluded to in a veiled
way by several writers, including Aristophanes, Plato and Plotinus. The
following Hymn concerns these mysteries. It is attributed to Orpheus, the acclaimed
reformer of the Eleusinian Mysteries, and is given in the translation of Thomas
Taylor:
Orphic Hymn I shall utter to whom it is lawful; but let the door be closed, nevertheless, against all the profane. But do thou hear, Oh Musaeus, for I will declare what is true … He is the One, self-proceeding; and from him all things proceed, and in them he himself exerts his activity; no mortal beholds Him, but he beholds all. There is one royal body, in which all things are enwombed, Fire and Water, Earth, Aether, Night and Day, and Counsel [Metis], the first producer, and delightful Love - For all these are contained in the great body of Zeus. Zeus, the mighty thunderer, is first; Zeus is the last; Zeus is the head; Zeus is the middle of all things; from Zeus were all things produced. He is male, he is female; Zeus is the depth of the Earth, the height of the starry heavens; He is the breath of all things, the force of untamed fire; The bottom of the sea; Sun, Moon, and Stars; Origin of all; King of all; One Power, One God, One great Ruler.[Thomas Taylor The Eleusinian & Bacchic Mysteries New York 1875 (see Wizard Bookshelf 1980) p166.]
This hymn speaks plainly now of what was
once a great mystery revealed only in metaphors and allegorical tales. Perhaps
this was for the best. Perhaps, at first, it was the only way the integrity of
the liturgy and the religious calendar could be sustained in a world where
literacy was generally irrelevant. After all, the world had survived for
millennia without the need for a literate society; relying instead on
historians, priests and poets who maintained reasonably accurate records in the
form of stories and poems. However, times change, and with the introduction of
an effective alphabet during the 6th or 7th century BC
onwards more and more people learnt the art of reading and writing.
The following instructions from the Enneads
of Plotinus describe a means by which initiates could elevate their
consciousness to experience something of the divine. In this instruction
Plotinus alludes to a spiritual teaching that was probably central to the
Mystery schools, not only of Eleusis, but of all the schools of that era:
On the vision of God“Let us, then, make a mental picture of our universe: each member shall remain what it is, distinctly apart; yet all is to form, as far as possible, a complete unity so that whatever comes into view shall show as if it were the surface of the orb over all, bringing immediately the vision of the one plane, of the Sun and of all the stars with the earth and sea and all living things as if exhibited upon a transparent globe. Bring this vision actually before your sight, so that there shall be in your mind the gleaming representation of a sphere…
“Keep this sphere before you, and from it imagine another, a sphere stripped of all magnitude and of spatial differences; cast out your inborn sense of Matter, taking care not merely to attenuate it: call on God, maker of the sphere whose image you now hold, and pray to Him to enter. And may He come bringing His own Universe with all the gods that dwelleth in it – He who is the One God and all the gods, where each is all, blending into a unity, distinct in powers but all one god in virtue of that one divine power of many facets. More truly this is the one God who is all the gods...”
[Stephen MacKenna & B.S. Page (Trans.) Plotinus The Six Enneads, Chicago 1952, Fifth Ennead, tractate VIII Ch. 9 p245]
Plotinus was born in Lycopolis in Egypt at
the beginning of the third century AD. For more than ten years he studied
philosophy at Alexandria under the guidance of his master Ammonius Saccas,
eventually moving to Rome where he remained for the rest of his life. He
published nothing, and as far as we know wrote only the various essays and
lecture notes that constitute the substance of the Enneads. After his
death his notes were edited and published by his student Porphyry.
The essence of his teaching proposes three
principal modes of being to which he applies the term ‘Hypostases’. The first
he defines as The One, which is the prime source and principle of all
being, the very ground of existence. The second is the Divine Nous or
Mind, in which exist the archetypal ideas and prototypes of all Creation. The
third, proceeding from the Divine Nous, is the World Soul, below which
lies the realm of Nature, which constitutes the outer life of the World Soul,
and last of all there is undifferentiated Matter - the last consequence of the
outpouring of the One; it forms the lowest stage of the universe, and is thus
understood to be the antithesis of the One.
The Hypostases of Plotinus
The Hypostases of Plotinus
Plotinus taught that the World Soul consists
of two parts. First; a higher celestial part through which it contemplates the
Divine Nous and second; a lower terrestrial part, through which it generates
the material cosmos according to the archetypal model contained within the
Divine Nous.
Human souls proceed from the World Soul,
and like the World Soul may also be subdivided into two or more parts, for a
human being, he taught, is a microcosm wherein the principles of the Hypostases
are reflected as Spirit, Soul and body. Below the sphere of the soul lies the
material world, in which the soul’s conjunction with matter and a material body
takes place, and which Plotinus taught was a fall or descent from a higher
state of being. It is from this fall or descent that the soul seeks redemption,
and, to which Plotinus devotes much of his attention.
Plotinus’s model of the cosmos is
significant, in that he describes in literal terms what previously had been
taught through metaphor and allegory and only experienced by the initiate
during the celebration of the Mysteries. At the centre of this celebration,
with all of its pomp, ceremonial and drama, the consciousness of the initiate
would have been elevated through the use of evocative prayer to experience the
World Soul in the form of Demeter, and then after a different fashion, to
experience the Divine Nous in the form of Dionysus. Plotinus believed that it
was possible for individual souls, through the practice of contemplation, to
rise to the level of the Divine Nous, and there, in spiritual union, be
absorbed back into the One.
Plotinus describes what are effectively the
most important objectives of the Mystery Schools, which were the direct
experience of, and union with, divinity. The first part, often thought of as
the ‘Lesser Mysteries’, was concerned with the separation of the soul from the
carnal nature of the physical body. The second part, often described in one way
or another as the ‘Greater Mysteries’, was essentially concerned with the
elevation of the soul beyond the phrenic nature of the psychic world into the
presence of divinity. Similar processes may be discovered in the Mysteries of
many cultures, but particularly in the western line that flowed out of Ancient
Egypt.
In places, the western line, or tradition,
interacted with other traditions. One such interaction was with the cult of
Mithras, a cult that originally emerged out of the Persian religion of
Zoroastrianism. In Rome the two merged and the Mithraic Mysteries became a
fundamental part of Roman life. Little evidence remains of the Mithraic cult
and its Mysteries, other than the sculptures and inscriptions preserved in the
ruins of its temples, and little of its liturgy has survived. Yet, Mithraism
was once the religion of the Roman army with centres throughout the Empire.
Indeed, it can be argued that if Constantine had failed in his objectives,
Mithraism, and not Christianity would most probably have become the religion of
the Empire. However, Christianity triumphed and in the centuries succeeding
Constantine Mithraism faded into obscurity, albeit with some assistance from
the Christian authorities. The following prayer is taken from what is believed
to be a rare surviving ritual from the Mithraic Liturgy; it contains elements
found in Egyptian, Judaic and Greek prayers and hymns that suggest a comparable
understanding of the inherent spirituality of man.
Mithraic Prayer of Invocation O Primal Origin of my origination; Thou Primal Substance of my substance; First Breath of breath, the breath that is in me; First Fire, God-given for the Blending of the blendings in me; First Fire of fire in me; First Water of my water, the water in me; Primal Earth-essence of the earthy essence in me; Thou Perfect Body of me – name – fashioned by Honoured Arm and Incorruptible Right Hand, in World that’s lightless, yet radiant with Light, in World that’s soulless, yet filled full of Soul! If verily, it may seem good to you, translate me, now held by my lower nature, unto the generation that is free from Death; in order that; beyond the insistent Need that presses on me, I may have vision of the Deathless Source, by virtue of the Deathless Spirit, by virtue of the Deathless Water, by virtue of the Deathless Solid, and by virtue of the Deathless Air; in order that I may become reborn in Mind; in order that I may become initiate, and that the Holy Breath may breathe in me; in order that I may admire the Holy Fire; that I may see the Deep of the New Dawn, the Water that doth cause the Soul to thrill; and the Life-bestowing Aether which surrounds all things may give me hearing. For I am to behold today with Deathless eyes – I, mortal born of mortal womb, but now made better by the Might of Mighty Power, yea, by the Incorruptible Right Hand – I am to see today by virtue of the Deathless Spirit the Deathless Aeon, the Master of the Diadems of Fire – I with pure purities now purified, the human soul-power of me subsisting for a little while in purity; which power I shall again receive transmitted to me beyond the insistent Bitterness that presses on me, Necessity whose debts can never go unpaid – name – according to the Ordinance of God that naught can ever change. For that is beyond my reach that, born beneath the sway of Death, I should unaided soar into the Height, together with the golden sparklings of the Brilliancy that knows no Death. Stay still, O Nature doomed to perish, nature of men subject to Death! And straightway let me pass beyond the Need implacable that presses on me; for that I am His Son; I breathe; I am! [G.R.S. Mead, Echoes From The Gnosis Vol. vi, A Mithraic Ritual. London, 1907, p18-21]
It is evident that from ancient times
humanity recognised the spiritual dimension of life and sought to come into
contact with it – an aspiration that inevitably evolved unique forms of
expression according to the varying natures of different cultures. However,
that was all to change as the ancient world was irrevocably transformed by the
empire building of Alexander the Great, who gave the ancient world a new focal
point and a common language that enabled the philosophical and religious
beliefs of many cultures to interact. Alexander opened up the world in a way
that was to have far reaching effects for within a century of his passing Rome
became the focal point of the known world and succeeded to much of Alexander’s
empire; subsequently, for more that five hundred years, ‘civilisation’ meant Roman
civilisation. During the first centuries of our era the Roman Empire had become
a melting pot of countless speculative ideas and belief systems, many of which
were a pot-pourri of spiritual ideals and dynamics compiled from many sources
and traditions. Out of this melee Christianity emerged as the dominant
religious and political system. As times changed the schools of the Mysteries
disappeared, partly proscribed, and partly absorbed into the mainstream of
public religion; some moving beyond the immediate reach of the administration.
The following hymn, written in the late fourth century by St. Gregory Nazianzen
of Constantinople, clearly echoes something of the Mystery Schools:
O All-transcendent God (What other name describes you?) What words can sing your praises? No word at all denotes you.What mind can probe your secrets? No mind at all can grasp you. Alone beyond the power of speech, all men can speak of springs from you;Alone beyond the power of thought, all men can think of stems from you. All things proclaim You – things that can speak, things that cannot. All things revere You – things that have reason, things that have none. The whole world’s longing and pain mingle about you. All things breathe you a silent prayer, a silent hymn of your own composing. All that exists you uphold, all things in concert move to your orders.You are the end of all that is, you are one, you are all;You are none of the things that are, you are not a part and not the whole.All names are at your disposal; How shall I name you, the only unnameable? What mind’s affinities with heaven can pierce the veils above the clouds? Mercy, all-transcendent God, what other name describes you? [Adalbert Hamman op. cit. p.162]
If there was a place where the ethos of the
Mysteries survived it was in the monasteries that appeared with so much force
and vitality during the latter part of the fourth century. These small
communities of people, dedicated to a life of prayer and meditation, continued
the spiritual aspirations of the Mystery Schools, but after a different
fashion. Alas, little of the schools has survived the test of time, except
perhaps, in the writings of Dionysius the Areopagite, otherwise known today as
Pseudo-Dionysius, who is generally believed to have been a Syrian monk whose
life spanned the end of the fifth and beginning of the sixth century. The Dionysian Corpus consists of five titles The
Divine Names, The Mystical Theology, The Celestial Hierarchy, The
Ecclesiastical Hierarchy and Epistles. These profoundly influential
books are not simply historical documents; they are essentially a spiritual
teaching whose subject is the nature of the interior life of the soul and the
permanent reality that is the substrate of its existence, and whose expression
is an exquisite reflection of the mystical philosophy and spiritual life of the
ancient world sublimated in Christianity. In the words of Dionysius himself;“These things thou must not disclose to any of the uninitiated, by whom I mean those who cling to the objects of human thought, and imagine there is no super-essential reality beyond, and fancy that they know by human understanding Him that has made darkness His secret place. And if the Divine Initiation is beyond such men as these, what can be said of others yet more incapable thereof, who describe the Transcendent Cause of all things by qualities drawn from the lowest order of being, while they deny that it is in any way superior to the various ungodly delusions which they fondly invent in ignorance of this truth.”[C.E.Rolt (Trans.) Dionysius the Areopagite York, Ibis Press 2004 p192]
“Unto this Darkness which is beyond Light we pray that we may come, and may attain unto vision through the loss of sight and knowledge, and that in ceasing thus to see or to know that which is beyond all perception and understanding (for this emptying of our faculties is true sight and knowledge), that we may offer Him that transcends all things the praises of a transcendent hymnody, which we shall do by denying or removing all things that are – like as men who, carving a statue out of marble, remove all the impediments that hinder the clear perspective of the latent image and by this mere removal display the hidden statue itself in its hidden beauty.” [Ibid, p. 194]
The influence of Plotinus, and indeed of
much of the ancient world is obvious in the Dionysian Corpus. Indeed, it may be
said that through this Syrian monk the ancient world was able to pass on a most
important legacy – as many have since discovered. His work is a call to a life
of prayer and meditation beyond the reaches of the mundane world, but this does
not exclude the majority of us of engaging in prayer, nor of benefiting from
what he has to say. Remember, prayer is communing with God and the only
pre-requisite is that we engage attentively and with respect. However, prayer
does also lie at the heart of a sacred science of spiritual development barely
known beyond the quiet waters of the sanctuary. This sacred science requires
spiritual tools and methods, and in prayer we have the most useful and
effective tool that we can ever hope for, because it is part of us and is both
readily available and immediately accessible. Prayer is the means by which we
can open the doorway of the sanctuary that lies within the hidden temple of the
heart. Thus it is said “Invoke often and inflame thyself with prayer” - a
simple truth known to those who frequent its cloisters and without which the
work of spiritual regeneration would be virtually impossible.
However, the kind of prayer that opens the
doorway of the inner temple requires something more than superstitious
sentimentality and a vague belief in deity. It requires more than the mindless
repetition of vaguely understood words, because prayer is first and
foremost a personal relationship between the soul and God, therefore, the
clearer the concept the soul has of ‘God’ the more able is the soul to
focus its attention upon God. Such an undertaking, when approached in the right
way, is capable of releasing the soul from its prison of self-image,
consequently, one of the most important tasks we can undertake is the conscious
development of a more mature concept of God. But, if we are to do this, then we
must begin with acknowledging that God is not some vague abstraction or distant
entity, but the source, ground and destiny of our being, and that creation is
both sane and full of love, proceeding in every detail as God planned it, and
as such it is perfect. We may not understand that perfection, but then do we have
a clear idea of what we mean by the term ‘perfect’? The word describes that
which is complete and without flaw and as such in its absolute sense applies to
God alone, for God is by definition that which is perfect. Unfortunately, all
we can rely on to assist our judgement are relative correspondences and
reference points gleaned from our life experiences, which are as yet
insufficient for comprehending the absolute nature of God, and because of our
incomplete understanding there is always the possibility of assuming that
creation is like God - in a state of absolute perfection, a condition that is
obviously untrue.
Prayer is also an art, an art that
combines thought and feeling in a manner that is best
summed up in the ancient formula; ‘Enflame thyself with prayer and invoke
often’. This means that one should involve real feeling when
praying, for such prayer is a vehicle, which under the right conditions, will
bear the soul aloft as if upon a magic carpet to higher and more sublime levels
of consciousness. Yet, for so many people emotions are rarely experienced other
than as a reaction to a specific event, and more often than not are associated
with powerful and very physical sensations. This is not surprising considering
that society barely recognises the need for emotional development beyond the
ability to function within the normal constraints of everyday life. Such
primitive, self-focused conditioning limits the potential for spiritual
development in that it imperceptibly supports egoism - which is the antithesis
of spiritual Gnosis. Self-less or non-selfish emotions, however, invariably
involve giving - the joy felt when a gift is well received or when a
deed is commended – and this elevates the soul. The simple pleasure experienced
by everyday kindness inspires not only personal well-being but the desire for
the well-being of others, which is only a short step away from fulfilling the
Lord’s wish that we “do unto others as you would have them do unto you”. Fulfilling this commandment is perhaps one of
the most liberating steps we can take. It frees our thoughts and emotions from
the selfish instinctive urges that dominate our life and engenders the
realisation that inasmuch as we are part of creation, we are a part of the
Divine. It is in this ideal state that we can best direct our combined thoughts
and feelings towards God. This chemistry of the very substance of the soul
drives prayer, like Cupid’s arrow, straight to its object of love - God.
In prayer the motive is of fundamental importance for when prayer is directed towards spiritual development its potential for effect is maximised, but when directed towards material objectives its potential is minimised. This must be understood in the context of the purpose of our existence, which we are taught is to seek the kingdom of Heaven [Matt. 6.33].. Seeking the ‘kingdom’ is essentially an inner or supernatural quest that takes the seeker beyond the world of the senses into realms where there are more important factors to be considered than the demands of our worldly needs. In this interior world the soul discovers how its earthly experience is merely a reflection of events taking place therein. Such wisdom that may be gained in this world is gained through prayer because in this spiritual environment prayer has a direct and immediate influence as it is essentially of the same spirit and nature of the substance found therein. However, expecting changes to be made in the exterior world of the senses through our prayers would be imprudent, as that would require altering the patterns established by Natural Law, which is most unlikely to succeed directly. That it is noble to pray for the material well-being of others - praying for the health and safety of people, praying that they may have sufficient for their needs or that they may live in peace without threat or hindrance, is highly commendable and not to be under-estimated, for although our prayers may not have any obvious or direct effect they still have the power to influence - indirectly.
To understand what this means consider as
an example a typical situation where our prayers may be called upon: a country
is in political turmoil, its government is using extremely harsh measures in attempting
to establish some kind of order. The consequence of this is that many people
are being imprisoned, tortured or killed indiscriminately by some or all of the
factions involved. The economy is in a state of collapse, food production has
ceased and famine and disease threaten. This is a very real situation in many
countries today and is a situation that demands from any sensitive individual
that the very least they could do, apart from giving material assistance, is to
pray for peace and order to be restored. It may not seem very much but
the consequence of the combined prayers of many individuals intent upon the
same objective generates a force, a force that will influence the hearts and
minds of those involved in such conflicts with a real desire for peace. This
indirect but powerful influence is generated by prayer offered to God on
their behalf, because in offering one’s prayers to God they are transformed
from a partisan goodwill into a universal expression of divine
love. In this elevated and transformed state the essence of our prayer becomes
acceptable to the souls involved in such conflicts. Through the power and love
of the Divine and in accordance with Natural Law, the moderating influence of
our prayers is able to assist reason and compassion to overcome hatred and the
desire for revenge, Thus in due course peace and order are restored. The scale
is irrelevant, whether it is one person praying for another, or a small group
praying for world peace: no effort is futile.
When prayer is directed towards spiritual
development its effectiveness is unquestionable. For when the soul is truly
caught up in prayer it is in communion with the Divine - which communicates
with the soul by transforming thought into realisation. Doubt blows away like
chaff before the wind, thought ceases and consciousness leaps the barriers
separating it from its source. The soul is nourished by the radiant light of
pure love and in this blessed light grows strong in holiness. Then the delusion
of separateness fades away allowing Truth to filter through the coarse fibres
of its earthbound consciousness and stimulate the seed of Gnosis. Prayer of
this nature requires commitment to its development. Its immeasurable potential
is realised only through regular practice. There are no short cuts or easy
options when dealing with such prayer for it is the secret language of the
soul, and consists not merely of words but of a chemistry of being, a chemistry
that combines concentration, purity of intention, emotional control, clarity of
thought and humility.
The time and place are also of great
importance - a quiet place free from interruption where one may gather one’s
thoughts and be still as the Lord taught. Turning within and fixing
one’s attention upon the light within the inner temple, it is possible to
perceive a great truth underlying the dynamics of this chemistry; a truth that
not only reveals the essential commonality of the human spirit, but also
reveals the true nature of the Self. Unfortunately many prefer to
avert their gaze when thus confronted, for old tribalisms linger in the memory
and take a long time to change - especially when the will to change is
reluctant. This is a great shame because the answer to many of our problems lies
in discovering this inner reality. Thus, when Dudley Wright wrote “Prayer is
not the condescension of the Eternal to the human, but rather the ascension of
the human towards union with the Eternal” he revealed a fundamental truth that
so many have either forgotten or have never realised. Indeed, our civilisation
has for so long thought of prayer as being simply a petition from the weak to
the strong, from the poor to the wealthy, from the meek to the powerful, that
the essence and purpose of prayer has long been hidden behind a veil of
misconceptions. Consequently, in this increasingly secular world, the use of
prayer declines whilst the need for meaning in life grows ever more urgent.
When understood rightly prayer opens a door that gives us access to a greater world of consciousness than we commonly imagine and enables people to articulate their spiritual life in a meaningful and wholesome context. It is a door wherein the emancipation of the soul is attained not through denying or rejecting the Divine, but in engaging and communing with it. The mundane world is not the only world for we are not only children of earth but also “of Starry Heaven” indeed, “Our race is of Heaven alone” for the Divine is the source, ground and destiny of our being, and it is in that and in that alone we shall find the context and meaning of our life.
The mind is a garden named delight,Wherein God dwells concealed from sight.Therein pray, as did Jesus before Easter day.Then thou shalt know, with vision clear,
That Heaven’s within us now and here.Sorrows on earth shall sometime cease,In the presence of the Lord of Peace;For He has risen, that we may beOne with Him Eternally. [Oratio ODP Publications, Bristol, 2013 p. 63]
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