Illumination is light in the mind, the integration of heaven and earth, the light-filled explosion that occurs when the mind has embraced its Source. Illumination is not of this world. It lifts us above the lies of the world by helping us to detach from them. Illumination is both our source and our destiny, the reason we came here and the reason we stay. We are here to achieve an uplifted mode of being. We are meant to return to the living light, which casts out the darkness of our mental mis-creations. Illumination is a deepening sense of the sacred, the spiritual laser that cuts through the blocks to our liberation, or breakthrough which is a movement into ourselves, the door to the next phase of our evolutionary journey.
Everyone who loves casts a light in whose presence the darkness of the world cannot continue to exist. We must believe, we must hold onto this, we must do our part to let the rays of light shine through us. All life unfolds in phases of three: First there is the realm of spirit or pure possibility. Then the arc moves from higher to lower, spirit to matter, love to fear, creativity to stagnation. Those two phases are not the end of God's mystical blueprint. All powerlessness stems from failure to understand this point: the key to empowerment, personal and collective, is the understanding that, although darkness stalks light, the light will always reassert itself. No matter what is happening, the universe is invested in healing. Night is followed by morning. Crucifixion is followed by Resurrection. God always has the final say.
The mystical journey is devotional awareness by which we examine the meaning behind our experience and thus gain the spiritual power to endure. It is a space of greater knowing and we move from hope, through worldly despair and ultimately on to illumination or victory. The mystical life is a life lived with an understanding of its place within God's plan. Without this understanding, we are blind and stay stuck in a pattern of endless repetition, or sleep. We can choose to be awakened by a higher form of mind through love.
Nothing is more powerful than an agreement between two people. The more a thought is shared, the stronger it becomes. We have the power to heal the world and we join together in worship and prayer. The path to healing is the path of the pilgrim. The pilgrimage is a process by which we change what we think and transform who we are. Prayer is the pilgrim's walking stick. We pray for the capacity to forgive, to see the innocence in people and to surrender all things to God. We pray to enter the mystery, to remember now, to no longer forget. The highest level of prayer is not a prayer for anything. It is deep and profound silence, in which we allow ourselves to be still and know Him. In that silence, we are changed. We are calmed. We are illumined.
I have heard it said that prayer is when we talk to God and meditation is when we listen. Meditation is a time of quiet when the mind is freed from its attachment to the hysterical ravings of a world gone mad. It is a silence in which the spirit of God can enter us and work His divine alchemy upon us. Our brains literally emit different brain waves as we receive information more deeply than we do during normal waking consciousness. There are many forms of meditation, and when we ask in our hearts for God to reveal our path to us, the mystical process of the inner teachings begins to unfold to our conscious mind. There is Jewish meditation, Christian meditation, transcendental meditation, Buddhist meditation, the workbook of A Course in Miracles and many more paths. What matters is not the path; what matters is the destination. All genuine spiritual teachings lead us back to the reality of God.
Meditation and prayer are our greatest hope for world salvation. Prayer is a conduit for miracles. It changes people at a cellular level and each one who changes brings others miraculously closer to enlightenment. Spiritual work is not easy. It means the willingness to surrender feelings that seem, while we're in them, like our defense against a greater pain. It means we surrender to God our perceptions of all things. We are renewed and cleansed as we receive the pure and vibrant energy transmissions being sent by God to heal us, imprinting us with salvation and rebirth. If we choose to remain with meaningless thoughts, preoccupied with meaningless things, then we will continue to experience meaningless patterns of existence. We have the choice, at every moment, to leave the world of death behind us and enter, through prayerfulness, the gates of heaven. There is a gate. It is not illusion or metaphor, but rather an energetic force field in which the thoughts of fear are transformed to love, the darkest nights illumined by dawn.
Dear God,
Show me the light at the center of my brothers.
Show me the light at the center of myself.
Show me the light at the center of the world.
Where I see guilt, show me innocence.
Where I focus on mistakes, show me how to focus on efforts at good.
Help me have faith in the goodness of others.
Help me have faith in Your spirit within me.
Thus may darkness be cast out.
May I cleave to the light that is my heart.
This is my prayer.
May I see the light in everyone.
Amen.
Thank you, Marianne Williamson, for your illuminating wisdom. Blessings. xo
