Contemplative Prayer and Meditation

We can allow ourselves to consider for a moment, the sum of all our experience of healing, wisdom, insight, understanding, compassion, peace, and consider the potential out of which all of these good things flow. No belief required, just experience. We don't have to consider everything in concrete detail, of course. A moment to just consider the sum of all of that good experience that we know about, personally.

What we have experienced in our own life, what we have seen within us, was in potential, before it became actual, and we can direct our attention toward the sum of such experience, and toward that potential. We can also add the sum of all direct observation of such good things as they concerned other people, and we can add the sum of all such good things we have ever heard about, and all that we can infer in the sum of all existence at the moment, and all of it in the past, present, and future.

We can direct our attention to the idea of the sum of all of this potential, wherever and whenever it has become actual to some degree or other, and we can be consoled by this sort of contemplation, nurtured by it. And with some intuition or creativity or day-dream visions, we might even be guided somehow, in ways that can be aesthetically rewarding, or in ways that unleash some of our own potential and energy and creativity, some of our own wisdom. Perhaps we may receive something from beyond, signifying spiritual participation with the source of such good potentials and good things.

It was only the last sentense that involves a metaphysical assertion. Otherwise, we were directing or attention towards things in our experience, and imagining or remembering how other similar things were in other people's experiences or were observed by us, and simply recognizing the idea of all of this good stuff together.

To an atheist or agnostic, to a skeptic, to a doubter, this may be seen as a mind-game. However, it does not require the acceptance of any dogma or assumption. To bask in such ideas for a little while, to enter a contemplative state, where one is receptive to subtleties, nuances, and non-verbalized aspects of such ideas, is what this is about. You really can't imagine all of this together, with all the details, completely, it is too much for the imaginative faculties of your mind. Words really can't capture such ideas except with hints.

By exploring what such ideas suggest -- in a way that invites the whole mind and heart to be receptive to the feeling of such ideas, the intuitive suggestions that are implied, and whatever resulting mental state, thoughts, memories, or energies of our psyche -- we can be nurtured, we can reconnect with our intuition and various deep aspects of our mind.

To a person who feels that there is a source of such potential that is more than simply 'reality' or 'brain', there are perhaps mystical or spiritual associations with such practices, or metaphysical notions.

What a Gnostic Path Offers

The Gnostic path does not ask you to believe, the Gnostic path invites you to participate, if you are so drawn. On the basis of what you experience and understand according to your own insight, or your own measure of gnosis, the Gnostic path asks you to take certain questions seriously, to explore certain themes, and to seek wisdom in certain teachings. What results from your asking and exploring and seeking, may be very unique to you. You may disagree with Gnostic teachings or various Gnostic texts. You may or may not find some wisdom in such teachings and texts. But if good and spiritual fruit comes forth, then it was not in vain.

One of the reasons why a Gnostic would contemplate, would be to connect with the hidden spiritual source mentioned in Gnostic texts and teachings, or to focus upon various passages, figures, or themes, to understand them on a deeper level, beyond words or beyond ordinary understanding. One could also seek guidance or assistance, through such contemplation.

A Recommended form of Contemplation

Contemplative prayer involves openness, listening, being ready and willing to receive. I recommend that one's contemplative prayer practice begins and ends with a recognition of the most sublime principle (i.e., spiritual participation with the source of such potential we have been referring to, the source of such good.) The center, the focus of one's contemplative prayer may be a single question, or a single word, a single character from a single text, a single passage of a text, a theme or issue, or simply silence. If the mind is distracted in some way, one can gently draw it back to such a focus.

I would suggest such a practice, with any Gnostic text or teaching that draws your attention, or with any issue or pressing paradox.

Often I will use the concept Desired-Wisdom, as a focus. I generally use the Greek, “Theletos Sophia‚”, and sometimes I will contemplate ‚“the Spiritual Essence of Wisdom Shaped by that which is Spiritually Desired-for‚”. I may state that sentence, and then repeat ‚“Sophia Theletos‚” or ‚“Theletos Sophia‚” a couple times, slowly, recognizing the meaning. And if my mind wanders I simply gently remind it by repeating the two words. For a few moments quietly, I continue. There may be a considerable period of silence, without any words. Again, I suggest beginning and ending such a practice with some kind of acknowledgment of the most sublime principle.

Meditation

Some forms of meditation simply seek to redirect the mind to breath or to what the body happens to be doing, or take the subject of change, etc. Other forms progressively attend to concepts that are linked together. One reason why a Gnostic may wish to engage in such meditations, would be to gain some insight into the nature of perception or the nature of bodily cravings. This can conceivably lead to a bit of freedom from impatience or better composure in the face of bodily urges and distractions.

Freedom from traps of the body and mind, freedom from control-systems of the cosmos/this world, freedom from programming of culture, of religion, of the flesh, healing of the soul, such are the things Gnostic teachings emphasize, and in that context, various meditations and mindfulness practices may be helpful, may lead to experiences that help us gain insight, or may free in some way, to some degree, from some trap.

In the context of a Gnostic path, such freedom, such liberation, is about recognizing what is inside of you, and disentangling yourself from this world and it's traps, delusions, lures, and games. Gnosis is about recognition of the difference between spirit and matter, the difference between the spiritual qualities that are the best of what we see in our potential, as contrasted with the qualities that are the worst of what we have seen in this world, the difference between the best of what we have experienced at the core of our humanity, as contrasted with the ignorance of matter, the perverseness of this world, the addictions, fears, and confusions of the flesh.