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The videos “There is None Else Beside Him” remind me of my favourite book from Christian Mysticism called “The Practice of the Presence of God” by Brother Lawrence.
On his deathbed he says:
“I thank our Lord that you have received some relief from your suffering, for I know that this was what you have been wanting. I have been near death often. I have never been as content as I was then. Therefore I did not pray for relief, but I prayed for strength to suffer with courage, humility, and love. How sweet is it to suffer with God! However great the suffering may be, we receive it with love. It is paradise to suffer and be with Him.
If we desire to enjoy the peace of paradise in this life, we must accustom ourselves to intimate, humble, loving communion with Him. We must keep our spirits from wandering away from Him on any occasion. We must make our heart a spiritual temple where we can adore Him continually. We must watch incessantly over ourselves, so that we may not do, say, nor think anything that may offend Him. When our minds are focused on God, suffering will be filled with peace and solace.
In the beginning it is very difficult to arrive at this state, for we must act purely in faith. Even though it is difficult, we also know that we can do all things with the grace of God, which He never refuses to give to those who ask for it earnestly. Knock, and persevere in knocking. I assure you that He will open to you in His time, and immediately grant you what He has delayed giving you during these many years. Adieu. Pray for me, as I pray for you. I hope to see Him soon.”
He then goes on to say:
“God knows best what we need, and everything that He does is for our good. If we realized how much He loves us, we would always be willing to receive both the sweet and the bitter equally and indifferently from His hand. Everything that came from Him would please us. The most painful afflictions appear intolerable only when we view them in the wrong light. When we understand that it is the hand of God that dispenses them, and we know that it is our loving Father who humbles and wounds us, then our sufferings lose their bitterness. They even become sources of consolation.May all our energy be devoted to knowing God. The more one knows Him, the more one desires to know Him. Knowledge is commonly understood as the measure of love. The deeper and more extensive our knowledge is, the greater will be our love. If our love of God is great, we will love Him equally in pain and pleasure.
Let us not amuse ourselves by seeking God or loving God in order to receive blessings from God, no matter how lofty those blessings may be. Such blessings, however great, cannot bring us as near to God as one simple movement of faith. Let us seek Him by faith often. He is within us; do not seek Him elsewhere. Are we not rude and blameworthy, if we leave Him alone and busy ourselves with trifles, which do not please Him and may even offend Him? These trifles will one day cost us dearly.
Let us be devoted to Him earnestly. Let us cast away everything else from our hearts. He desires to possess them exclusively. Beg this favor from Him. If we do our part, we shall soon see the transformation within us that we desire. I cannot thank Him enough for the comfort He has given you. I hope by His grace to see Him in a few days. Let us pray for one another.”
A couple of weeks ago, after I received my COVID vaccines, He inspired me to “keep my gaze on Him, without asking anything from Him”. I was specifically inspired to “never ask anything from Him, but only to keep looking at Him”. Throughout the next two weeks, I felt incredible physical pain that completely took me apart. Still, He granted me the strength to keep looking at Him only. For this, He granted me the incredible ability to endure any pain without much suffering. After two weeks of constantly “keeping my gaze fixed on Him”, however, He established the sense of “having achieved great things myself” in me again.
Thank you for the article “There is None Else Beside Him”. It gives me courage to keep walking this path and shows me how easy it is to take achievements or even failures upon oneself. I feel how He constantly tries to establish in me the sense of “being proud of my achievements”, but He also granted me the ability to keep my gaze fixed on Him and relate everything to Him, nevertheless.
I can imagine that the only thing that does anything in this world can only be a giving force. A receiving force can never create anything or change anything. It can just absorb what is being given to it.
Therefore, it stands to reason that the Will to Receive can only change its perception of reality by re-adjusting its relationship towards the Creator.
What was my best experience from the previous course?
At times, intense joy overcame me. At other times, intense frustration overcame me. The best experience, however, were experiences in which I stumbled across setting a certain intention and suddenly I felt a “click” in my heart or in the energy field around me. Like something “inverses” and suddenly there is joy and peace.
What do I expect from this course?
To learn more about how to navigate life (by consistently creating this “click” in the heart)
What most inspired me in the course?
That our desires are not to be suppressed, but worked with (corrected / molded / redirected / transformed).
What have I learned about myself in the process?
That I am looking for something specific. Equivalence of Form with the Creator (altruistic intentions). This was not clear to me before. I have danced around this point for a long time, but it was never conscious. So, I was never able to consciously pick a path that leads me directly to this goal.
What do I wish for my fellow students in their spiritual development?
I wish to all my fellow students (but also to all of humanity) that the path to spiritual attainment is as easy, clear and comfortable as possible.
From your previous reply I read the article “The Worse, the Better” which put my heart at ease somewhat. Thank you very much.
Still, it is becoming abundantly clear to me how EVERYTHING I do is a result of an egoistical calculation. This is tremendously frustrating.
Now, the only thing I really have to work with is my intention. This has been clear to me for a long time now. Right now, my intention is to “do everything for the sake of the Creator”. I hold on to this intention. Hour by hour, day and night.
I also realised that this very intention itself is based on an egoistical calculation as well :(.
Please tell me that holding on to this intention is enough. I am used to physical pain, I am used to frustration and whatnot. It is not a problem anymore. BUT I need one intention I can hold onto. Otherwise, I have no means of going through the pain.
By climbing the ladder consisting of 125 steps.
As far as I have understood, the 125 steps are nothing but degrees of the relationship between egoistic and altruistic intentions. We can only understand things by contrasting them to their opposite.
So, we start by comparing our egoistic intentions with the altruistic intentions of the Creator in a given situation. In order to understand “what the Creator was thinking”. Then, we add to our egoistic desire a Masach (screen) which is an altruistic intention.
As far as I have understood, we cannot just replace all of our egoistic intentions with altruistic ones. The reason is that we want to discover and attain the ultimate altruistic thought in all of its details and all of its various denominations, first. So, we begin by adding an altruistic intention that is only about 1/125 of what is actually possible.
Through that, the Creator reveals himself, and as soon as he conceals himself again, we can start discovering again. This time, we will become able to add 2/125 altruistic intention of what is possible.
