Hi Cynthia,
First I’d like to thank you for your contributions, The Wisdom Jesus, Way of Knowing and Centering Prayer. All three, for me, have done a lot to not only clarify, but help transform my thinking from a dual to a non dual mode. My question is about experiences I’ve had during centering prayer. Sometimes while sitting, my normal mode of operation is in full swing. Anything and everything is going through my mind. On a handful of occasions recently something else has happened. Now two predominant thought/feelings have been with me for years. The first is that it is much simpler than we’re making it out to be. And the second is that there is a space between where something fundamentally different can happen. While sitting this between action has taken place. Between a thought or feeling or sensation, a different action has taken place inside of me. On one occasion I saw the split between personality and ego. On another came the realization that we have a life, as opposed to the constant searching for one that seems to be the norm. We have one and all we need to do is participate. Both of these and others were accompanied by a feeling of joy and clarity that lasted several hours into my work day. The reason I’m writing, is that I’ve yet to see anything about this space between. And where I did read your article on mystical experiences during centering prayer should be avoided (I’m not sure if these are)? Your help on this would be appreciated.
Thank you,
Mike Jones
Yes!!!!!!! Exactly!!!!
And you can get away with not calling it a mystical experience because, since it happened in “the space between,” it’s really a mystical NON-experience: simply a direct connection with the power and clarity of what the Tibetan Buddhists call “rigpa,” or pure awareness. And yep, you taste it in the space between the thoughts.
I’ll be expanding on this a bit more in my new book, THE HEART OF CENTERING PRAYER, which will be hitting the bookstores in early December. (You can already pre-order online.)
I very much appreciate the balance and maturity with which you’re integrating this!
Blessings,
