This week Zoe is reading The Dark Night of the Soul by Gerald May, subtitled: A Psychiatrist Explores the Connection between Darkness and Spiritual Growth. The book explores the dark night through the writings of two of the best known Christian mystics: John of the Cross and Teresa of Avila, and addresses some of the… Continue reading Review: The Dark Night of the Soul by Gerald May
The Five Remembrances come from the Upajjhatthana Sutra, which means ‘Subjects for Contemplation.’ The Buddha recommended reciting these verses every day to help you remember that life is precious and time is short. The Five Remembrances are simple statements of the facts of life and death. So meditating on them is about accepting reality as… Continue reading Glossary: Five Remembrances
Like a great film or play everyone should see – behold yourself.
“We are trying to get ourselves in the centre of our soul, in the ground of our being and in the midst of the myth trying to live through us. This won’t solve all the world’s problems, but it makes life beautiful, deep and rich, giving us the right kind of longing and helping others as well.” – Michael Meade
Last time we looked at the language of deification in the Unitive State. Here we finish the extracts from Evelyn Underhill’s Mysticism with the second style of language used by mystics to describe the experience of union, that of spiritual marriage, and explore the source of the mystic’s joy: “At this point we begin to… Continue reading The Mystic Way 15: Spiritual Marriage and Joy
Last time we looked at the characteristics of the Unitive Life. Here we continue the extracts from Evelyn Underhill’s Mysticism to explore the first style of language used by mystics to describe the experience of union, that of deification: “We have said that the mystic of the impersonal type, the seeker of a Transcendent Absolute,… Continue reading The Mystic Way 14: Deification in Union
Last time we looked at ego death in the dark night of the soul. Here we continue the extracts from Evelyn Underhill’s Mysticism to explore the true goal of the Mystic Way: Union. This isn’t the same as the earlier illumination stage, but the final stage where the mystic is one with the Absolute. So… Continue reading The Mystic Way 13: The Unitive Life
Last time we looked at some of the forms of the Dark Night of the Soul. Here we continue the extracts from Evelyn Underhill’s Mysticism to explore the final and most challenging step of the dark night, that of the death of the self: “The various torments and desolations of the Dark Night constitute this… Continue reading The Mystic Way 12: Ego Death in the Dark Night
