Art by Ann Poucher
The true "contemplative" is not one who prepares his mind
for a particular message that he wants or expects to hear, but
is one who remains empty because he knows that he can never
anticipate the words that will transform his darkness into light.
He does not even anticipate a special kind of transformation.
He does not demand light instead of darkness. He waits in
silence, and, when he is "answered," it is not so much by a
word that bursts into his silence. It is by his silence itself,
suddenly, inexplicably revealing itself to him as a word of
great power, full of the voice of [the Silence].
for a particular message that he wants or expects to hear, but
is one who remains empty because he knows that he can never
anticipate the words that will transform his darkness into light.
He does not even anticipate a special kind of transformation.
He does not demand light instead of darkness. He waits in
silence, and, when he is "answered," it is not so much by a
word that bursts into his silence. It is by his silence itself,
suddenly, inexplicably revealing itself to him as a word of
great power, full of the voice of [the Silence].
Thomas Merton
from: The Climate of Monastic Prayer
from: The Climate of Monastic Prayer
(one of the last books he prepared for publication)
~
Personal Note: Although I do not consider myself a
"contemplative", as a "Mystic", I have had similar
experience with silence/Silence. The labels don't
really matter. It is the "remaining empty" in silence,
listening without agenda, that allows for the "direct
experience" of the Ineffable - aka - the Voice of
The Silence...
"contemplative", as a "Mystic", I have had similar
experience with silence/Silence. The labels don't
really matter. It is the "remaining empty" in silence,
listening without agenda, that allows for the "direct
experience" of the Ineffable - aka - the Voice of
The Silence...
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