The Saint within

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Cleansing the mind of negative thoughts, the feelings are indescribable as one advances and performs in the awareness of the saint within. Therefore, one should not deny the lowly ego it’s highest entitlement, which is to dive now and again into this special air of the saint that we inwardly admire. The goodness is quiet, it does not flash, but progresses with the inner growth of the individual. It is a deep and simple quiet that cannot pass as rhetoric because it is made up of minute pieces that soon become forgotten charities. It may be felt through the touch of a hand, a friendly smile, a kind look or a heartfelt compliment.

Christian Mysticism
 
What is being promoted by that website is a New Age approach that is very UN-Christian. BEWARE!

If you want to learn about true Christian mysticism/contemplation, I recommend Fire Within by Fr. Thomas Dubay.
 
The link OP provides is very New Age looking.

Your profile says you are Catholic.
Be very careful about what you read.
 
I don’t see it as New Age nor as un-Christian.

Its contemplation explained with different wording and literary style, but its the same in many ways.

I prefer Catholic authors, such as Fr Dubay and Fr Keating, but I’m not going to reject what is true, just because it isn’t written by a Catholic priest.

Jim
 
You should reject that site because it is NOT the truth. It is New-Age “All are One” and “All are God” mumbo jumbo.
 
I gathered this from various websites. I might be wrong, but I don’t like the sound of it.

What is Christian Mystism?
1- Christ is the sole end of Christian mysticism. Whereas all Christians have Christ, call on Christ, and can (or should) know Christ, the goal for the Christian mystic is to become Christ—to become as fully permeated with God as Christ is, thus becoming like him, fully human, and by the grace of God, also fully divine.

2- Whereas Christian doctrine generally maintains that God dwells in all Christians and that they can experience God directly through belief in Jesus[1], Christian mysticism aspires to apprehend spiritual truths inaccessible through intellectual means, typically by emulation of Christ.

What is a mystic?
  • A mystic is someone who intuitively senses that God is within, someone who seeks to go deep inside to see for him or herself who God is and what God is like. A mystic strives to move beyond dogma, into the knowing that comes through direct experience.
 
beckycmarie said:
You should reject that site because it is NOT the truth. It is New-Age “All are One” and “All are God” mumbo jumbo.
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What you’re refering to being NOT the truth?

I didn’t see “all are God,” as you put it, maybe I missed it, but what I saw is an explanation of God’s omni-presence, which is in Christian theology.

Jim
 
Let me point out one un-truth from the original post that is an example of what I’m talking about.
Therefore, one should not deny the lowly ego it’s highest entitlement, which is to dive now and again into this special air of the saint that we inwardly admire.
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That is saying that contemplation is basically one giant ego-stroke in which we admire ourselves.

Isn’t contemplation supposed to be focused on God, not on ourselves?

And yes, God is omnipresent, but New Agers tend towards pantheism.
 
water said:
I gathered this from various websites. I might be wrong, but I don’t like the sound of it.

What is Christian Mystism?
1- Christ is the sole end of Christian mysticism. Whereas all Christians have Christ, call on Christ, and can (or should) know Christ, the goal for the Christian mystic is to become Christ—to become as fully permeated with God as Christ is, thus becoming like him, fully human, and by the grace of God, also fully divine.

2- Whereas Christian doctrine generally maintains that God dwells in all Christians and that they can experience God directly through belief in Jesus[1], Christian mysticism aspires to apprehend spiritual truths inaccessible through intellectual means, typically by emulation of Christ.

What is a mystic?
  • A mystic is someone who intuitively senses that God is within, someone who seeks to go deep inside to see for him or herself who God is and what God is like. A mystic strives to move beyond dogma, into the knowing that comes through direct experience.
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Christian contemplation brings us to union with Christ, and in the process, Christ gives us the transforming grace which transforms us to be Christ-like. To be Christ-like, means to have the characteristics of the divine, which is what God had in mind when he created us, i.e. we are made in His image.

As a lover takes on the characteristics of the beloved, so too do we take on the characteristics of Christ, as we grow in deeper union with him. This is the teaching of St. John of the Cross BTW.

I can understand the caution for new Christians in this web-site, but for those who are into contemplative prayer, I think they’ll recognize what is being said and will understand it.

Jim
 
The things water posted about Christian mysticism from another website are true. What water posted is not the position of the website in the original post.

The website linked in the original post is NOT about Christian contemplation, but once again, are new age concepts. “Christ Conciousness?” Give me a break. :rolleyes:
 
Organized religion is the voice of authority and it can meddle, tinker and mean well, but to break up old patterns of thought and behavior, we need to open ourselves to new possibilities.
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Catholicism is an organized religion. In this religion, we have the Holy Spirit who brings all possibilities. What is this new possibility it talks about? Especially without the Holy Spirit?
With the highest **exercise of ****our intellect **we know the purpose of our existence and can proceed to **live intelligently according to **it, if we direct our physical and mental activities to the pure consciousness of God.
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It says as long as we are aware of God, we can live intelligently according to our intellect. That is too far away from being Christ centered and practicing the presence of God.
We know we are on the right path because God’s pure consciousness makes cheerful every action and person contacted. Once we are in touch with the spirit within we can offer more to others, religion or the church.
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This “spirit within” appears to me as the human spirit.
The experience of joy and the supernatural enlightenment of Christ is not about sins, hell or Satan, but the glorious** energy **of the soul.
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Many New Age theory talks about love, joy, enlightenment, wholeness, but never has anything to do with sin, repentance or purification. They talk a lot about energy also.

On the surface of their talk, all is well. It could be confusing and disguising if we just read it without stopping to think and reflect what they really are talking about.

In this age, we really ought to be careful about what we read and what we allow ourselves to be exposed to.

When I read that page, my spirit feels uncomfortable.
 
If one emphasizes that we all have far to go to be perfect in love and wisdom and the knowledge of God, and that we should strive to go beyond mere concepts and know Him ever more deeply and directly, this is true. But if they say that dogma is unimportant-that correct doctrine as put forth by the CC is unnecessary as the foundation of our walk, then they have far to go in their understanding.
 
Agreed, fhansen. The “Christian Mysticism” website suggests we go into ourselves and contemplate our own spirits, rather than contemplating the indwelling Trinity which every soul in the state of sanctifying grace has.

That site also suggests we can achieve contemplation through our own efforts. Contemplation is a gift given by God, and not something we can force through our own efforts.

I recommend sticking to sources loyal to the Church if one wants to learn about this topic.
 
As Catholics we should celebrate knowledge and value critical thinking. In the past Christian law condemned those who said the sun did not revolve around the Earth. Ideas will expand our minds and can never hurt our souls. Jesus gave us a simple teaching that stimulates and expands our thinking. He does not want us to be uninformed and dumbed down. He plants a seed and wants it to grow. One idea gives birth to another and those thoughts grow into a strong tree that can give shade, shelter and rest to the weary. May we all progress to the altar of our soul by going through the gate of our mind and not shutting it or being afraid of what might happen.

We can throw stones and toss about names like children, but we should debate a concept if we don’t like it.

One person argued One God was rubbish. I was always taught that there is One God. This person needs to develop the concept. Are they stating that there is more than one God?

When people explain their relationship with the Supreme which is different than mine I don’t attack, but am overjoyed and inspired by their love. We are inspired to try to bring our love to everyone at God’s party. Not a party where people get belligerent because God is not an abusive, belligerent god, a god who does not love everyone. Catholic means universal and God is universal, may we accept the loving side of God and not try to build a wall around God so we don’t have to share Him. We don’t have to be afraid of God or anything that brings us closer to God. Why spread fear? Love is more powerful.
 
soma said:
Catholic means universal and God is universal, may we accept the loving side of God and not try to build a wall around God so we don’t have to share Him. We don’t have to be afraid of God or anything that brings us closer to God. Why spread fear? Love is more powerful.
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Hi soma, welcome to CAF!

God is truth - He is a loving God and a just Judge. No one can build a wall around God except himself/herself. The Catholic Church is teaching the Truth, and those who plug their ears up build the wall around themselves.
 
soma said:
May we all progress to the altar of our soul by going through the gate of our mind and not shutting it or being afraid of what might happen.
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As a Catholic, you should be concerned with approaching the altar of God instead of worshipping your own soul.
 
InLight247
Catholicism is an organized religion. In this religion, we have the Holy Spirit who brings all possibilities. What is this new possibility it talks about? Especially without the Holy Spirit?
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But the website doesn’t dispute this, but only said that organized religion “CAN”, inhibit the spiritual growth on a person. If you read about the mystics of the Catholic Church, they were persecuted by members of the church, and it wasn’t until after time, that their teachings were understood and embraced by the Church. St. John of the Cross was placed under arrest by his own order.
It says as long as we are aware of God, we can live intelligently according to our intellect. That is too far away from being Christ centered and practicing the presence of God.
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I think it says that our intellect will draw us to God, if we follow it. Pretty much what Pope Benedict has been teaching.
This “spirit within” appears to me as the human spirit.
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The spirit of God dwells in each one of us. This is Catholic doctrine.
Many New Age theory talks about love, joy, enlightenment, wholeness, but never has anything to do with sin, repentance or purification. They talk a lot about energy also.
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Jesus taught about love joy and compassion, before He taught about sin. Love is the way to God and the way to over come sin, because without love of God and neighbor, you will fail in time of temptation.
In this age, we really ought to be careful about what we read and what we allow ourselves to be exposed to.
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I think we have to be more careful about jumping to conclusion that such writings are evil and dangerous.

Heck, beckycmarie is now pointing the OP to a link about Satan’s strategies. How she came up with this idea after reading the article, is beyond me. 🤷

I saw nothing satanic in the article or website, to jump to such a conclusion, merely because its not Catholic, is more dangerous and sets oneself up where they begin to embrace religious bigotry.

Jim
 
To OP:
Nobody is spreading any fear, nobody is condemning anybody either.

All we are trying to say is there are many classic teachings that are authentic and recommendable. And we don’t want anyone to be led astray by any concept not Christ centered, especially for people who are new in the faith.

That’s all.
 
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