Secret of God

[Anonymous No.15031383]

Pseuds and larpers your time has come to an end. Upon reading this post you will experience great enlightenment.

"For the first time you [lift your heart to God with stirrings of love], you will find only a darkness, and as it were a cloud of unknowing [...] Whatever you do, this darkness and the cloud are between you and your God, and hold you back from seeing him clearly by the light of understanding in your reason and from experiencing him in the sweetness of love in your feelings. [...] And so prepare to remain in this darkness as long as you can, always begging for him you love; for if you are ever to feel or see him...it must always be in this cloud and this darkness."

—The Cloud of Unknowing and Other Works. Translated by A. C. Spearing. London: Penguin. 2001. pp. 22. ISBN 0-14-044762-8.
This is brought about by putting all thoughts and desires under a "cloud of forgetting," and thereby piercing God's cloud of unknowing with a "dart of longing love" from the heart. This form of contemplation is not directed by the intellect, but involves spiritual union with God through the heart:

For He can well be loved, but he cannot be thought. By love he can be grasped and held, but by thought, neither grasped nor held. And therefore, though it may be good at times to think specifically of the kindness and excellence of God, and though this may be a light and a part of contemplation, all the same, in the work of contemplation itself, it must be cast down and covered with a cloud of forgetting. And you must step above it stoutly but deftly, with a devout and delightful stirring of love, and struggle to pierce that darkness above you; and beat on that thick cloud of unknowing with a sharp dart of longing love, and do not give up, whatever happens."[8]

As one pursues the beating of the cloud of unknowing as compelled by spiritual stirrings of love in the heart, the intellect and sinful stirrings will often pull the contemplatives focus away from God and back to the things of physical world and of the self. The author thus enjoins the contemplative to "vigorously trample on [any new thoughts or sinful stirrings] with a fervent stirring of love, and tread them down beneath your feet. And try to cover them with a thick cloud of forgetting, as if they had never been done by you or anyone else on earth. [...] Push them down as often as they rise."[9]

>tldr you cant know/feel god because you're cucked by analytical western mind
>stillness of mind pretty much eastern philosophy /meditation
>reach to god through your heart
No matter how many scriptures you read its all useless until you actually feel reality of god,belief is poor substitute for real knowing.
I knew this intuitively before(im nondualist) but thanks to Guenon pbuh i searched for christian contemplation method.

[Anonymous No.15031482]

Holy based

[Anonymous No.15031483]

>>15031383
You're describing relationships in general

[Anonymous No.15031589]

>>15031483
Shut the mind and active heart only relationship advice one needs for his whole life

[Anonymous No.15031796]

>>15031383
Trinity! Higher than any being,
any divinity, any goodness!
Guide of Christians
in the wisdom of heaven!
Lead us up beyond unknowing and light,
up to the farthest, highest peak
of mystic scripture,
where the mysteries of God's Word
lie simple, absolute and unchangeable
in the brilliant darkness of a hidden silence.
Amid the deepest shadow
they pour overwhelming light
on what is most manifest.
Amid the wholly unsensed and unseen
they completely fill our sightless minds
with treasures beyond all beauty.

For this I pray; and, Timothy, my friend, my advice to you as you look for a sight of the mysterious things, is to leave behind you everything perceived and understood, everything perceptible and understandable, all that is not and all that is, and, with your understanding laid aside, to strive upward as much as you can toward union with him who is beyond all being and knowledge. By an undivided and absolute abandonment of yourself and everything, shedding all and freed from all, you will be uplifted to the ray of the divine shadow which is above everything that is.

[Anonymous No.15031814]

The much desired face of the Lord once passed Moses by, and thus the soul of the lawgiver kept ongoing
outside its present condition as it followed the Word who led the way. Who does not know those ascents
which Moses attained? He was always becoming greater and never stopped in his growth. He had
attained growth even at the beginning when he considered the reproach of Christ more exalted than the
kingdom of Egypt, and chose to be ill-treated in company with God's people rather than to enjoy for a
time the pleasures of sin.
He grew again when, at the time the Egyptian was oppressing the Hebrew, he
fought on behalf of the Israelite and killed the foreigner. Surely you perceive the spiritual meaning in this
history. Once more he excelled himself when he devoted a long time to the philosophical life as a solitary
in the wilderness. Next, he was enlightened by the fire upon the bush, and his hearing was illumined with
the beams of life by means of the Word. There he stripped from his feet the dead coverings of skins. He
destroyed the Egyptian snakes with his rod and removed his people from the tyranny of Pharaoh. He was
led by the cloud, divided the sea, drowned the tyrant, sweetened the waters of Marah, struck the rock, was
nourished with the food of angels. He heard the trumpets, braved the burning mountain, touched the peak,
came under the cloud, entered the darkness where God was, received the covenant, and became an
unapproachable sun to those who came near because light radiated from his face. Indeed, how could
anyone relate all his ascents and various theophanies? Nevertheless, this man who had experienced such
things, this very Moses who through such attainments had been elevated to divinity, still was not satisfied.
He besought God to see him face to face, although Scripture had already testified that he was counted
worthy of speaking with God face to face. But neither his speaking as friend with friend nor the intimate
conversation with God stopped his desire for more. Rather, he says, If I have found favour in your sight,
make yourself known to me. God granted the requested favor. He who said, I have known you above all
men, passed by him while he was shadowed by God's hand at that divine place in the rock so that after
God passed by he could only see his back. Scripture teaches by this, I think, that he who desires to behold
God sees the object of his longing in always following him. The contemplation of his face is the unending
journey accomplished by following directly behind the Word

[Anonymous No.15031823]

"Nevertheless," I replied, "I do not understand how I can be certain that I am in the Spirit of God. How can I discern for myself His true manifestation in me?"

Father Seraphim replied: "I have already told you, your Godliness, that it is very simple and I have related in detail how people come to be in the Spirit of God and how we can recognize His presence in us. So what do you want, my son?"

"I want to understand it well," I said.

Then Father Seraphim took me very firmly by the shoulders and said: "We are both in the Spirit of God now, my son. Why don't you look at me?"

I replied: "I cannot look, Father, because your eyes are flashing like lightning. Your face has become brighter than the sun, and my eyes ache with pain."

Father Seraphim said: "Don't be alarmed, your Godliness! Now you yourself have become as bright as I am. You are now in the fullness of the Spirit of God yourself; otherwise you would not be able to see me as I am."

Then, bending his head towards me, he whispered softly in my ear: "Thank the Lord God for His unutterable mercy to us! You saw that I did not even cross myself; and only in my heart I prayed mentally to the Lord God and said within myself: 'Lord, grant him to see clearly with his bodily eyes that descent of Thy Spirit which Thou grantest to Thy servants when Thou art pleased to appear in the light of Thy magnificent glory.' And you see, my son, the Lord instantly fulfilled the humble prayer of poor Seraphim. How then shall we not thank Him for this unspeakable gift to us both? Even to the greatest hermits, my son, the Lord God does not always show His mercy in this way. This grace of God, like a loving mother, has been pleased to comfort your contrite heart at the intercession of the Mother of God herself. But why, my son, do you not look me in the eyes? Just look, and don't be afraid! The Lord is with us!"

After these words I glanced at his face and there came over me an even greater reverent awe. Imagine in the center of the sun, in the dazzling light of its midday rays, the face of a man talking to you. You see the movement of his lips and the changing expression of his eyes, you hear his voice, you feel someone holding your shoulders; yet you do not see his hands, you do not even see yourself or his figure, but only a blinding light spreading far around for several yards and illumining with its glaring sheen both the snow-blanket which covered the forest glade and the snow-flakes which besprinkled me and the great Elder. You can imagine the state I was in!

[Anonymous No.15031842]

When Moses pitches his tent outside the camp - that is, when he establishes his will and mind outside the world of visible things - he begins to worship God. Then, entering into the darkness - that is, into the formless and immaterial realm of spiritual knowledge - he there celebrates the most sacred rites.

The darkness is that formless, immaterial and bodiless state which embraces the knowledge of the prototypes of all created things. He who like another Moses enters into it, although mortal by nature, understands things that are immortal. Through this knowledge he depicts in himself the beauty of divine excellence, as if painting a picture which is a faithful copy of archetypal beauty. Then he comes down from the mountain and offers himself as an example to those who wish to imitate that excellence. In this way he manifests the love and generosity of the grace he has received.

[Anonymous No.15031878]

>>15031383
tl;dr

[Anonymous No.15031885]

>>15031383
Yet another thread of effeminate schizobabble by a man with the mind of a scared child.

[Anonymous No.15031906]

>>15031885
sir take your meds you are losing it

[Anonymous No.15032012]

BRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAP

[Anonymous No.15032105]

>>15031796
Woah after saying this prayer my wife gave birth to a trinity of nigglets. So this is the power of cuckianity wow. Thank Yahweh, Yeshua and the Holy Jew!

[Anonymous No.15032174]

>>15032105
This thread is about Christianity not Protestantism

[Anonymous No.15032214]

>>15031878
>tldr complete mind/inner stillness
>reach with heart longing/love toward heaven mommy or daddy whatever your preference
>plug the heart cable into god/source socket
congrats you experienced god crisis of faith averted .

[Anonymous No.15032218]

>>15031383
based, /lit/ is a non-dualist board

[Anonymous No.15032383]

Good posts, shame no one seems willing to receive them.

[Anonymous No.15032408]

>>15031383
Mmm. Basically bhakti yoga?

[Anonymous No.15032512]

>>15031383
God gave us experience and reason and revelation to guide us, to balance each other out.

If you let experience dominate you you'll fall into spiritual delusion and heresy. Look at Quakers with their "inner light" stuff, some of them become universalists/LGBT promoters and adopt all sorts of heresies because they are run by emotion purely. The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? Jer 17:9

If you let reason dominate you your faith will be dry and unmotivating and decrepit....

So a balance must exist, between man's soul, heart, and mind.

>No matter how many scriptures you read its all useless until you actually feel reality of god,belief is poor substitute for real knowing.
Gnosis is very secondary. We are asked for simple and humble faith to work good. Gnosis can pomp you up and make you proud, that's very dangerous.
And more importantly Gnosis cannot save you by itself.

[Anonymous No.15032786]

>>15031383
based

[Anonymous No.15033801]

Cloud of Unknowing is pretty awesome, yeah.

[Anonymous No.15034301]

>>15032512
>>15032512
I'm not op, but I did post all those quotes. I agree with this for the most part. I will say though that while we certainly should not rely on our own experience, particularly when it is a mystical or supernatural encounter with God, I think we can rely on the consensus of experiences of true Christians who precede us. That's why I posted quotes from sts. Dionysus, Gregory, and Maximus, as well as the story of the transfiguration of St Seraphim. Not just because they sound right to me, but because they are all in agreement, they came from men whose personal sanctity is almost beyond question, and despite the great difference in time(1st, 4th, 7th, 19th century) there is great continuity between them.

Regarding the Jeremiah quote, out is indeed true and that is why purification of the great through prayer, repentance, and ascetic labors is a necessary prerequisite to Theology in the truest sense.

Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.
Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.
Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.
Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee.

The grace of true knowledge and the ability to convert sinners is given only after the purification of the heart.

The threefold way to Salvation lies first κάθαρσις (purification, purging the heart of evil), then in θεωρία (contemplation of God and His divine mysteries), and lastly in θέωσις,(deification, transformation of the mean into the likeness of God).

I think it's pretty safe to say that all of us in this thread are not even on the first step, just posting what those who went before us and ascended to great spiritual heights have said on the subject

[Anonymous No.15034640]

>>15032383
the fact that his thread is pretty much dead but the rape limerick thread has been going strong for 18 hours really says something about this board.

[Anonymous No.15035506]

>>15032218
I want to challenge you non-dualists to a duel