"I saw One like a "son of man" coming, on the clouds of heaven; When he reached the Ancient One and was presented before him, He received dominion, glory, and kingship; nations and peoples of every language serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that shall not be taken away, his kingship shall not be destroyed.(Daniel 7)

INTRODUCTION III

Isn't the above prophesy interesting, in that a human being will come after Daniel, seen on the clouds of heaven, who will be given kingship and everlasting dominion by God, and that peoples of every language and nationality will glorify, honor, and serve him. Has any human being come, so far, who is honored, and served, by peoples of every nation, and whose kingship is eternal? Surely, such a one must have come in fulfillment of all the prophesies. But who is He, Who will be honored and glorified even by the heavenly host? And the answer is ringing in our ears, if we have ears to hear: For the voice of another prophet was heard, sounding in the wilderness, "Behold the Lamb of God! Behold Him Who takes away the sins of the world." And then a powerful voice of ultmate authority came from heaven, speaking to all those present, as Jesus was baptized by John, "This is my beloved Son, hear ye Him!"

THE "NEW AGE" AND RELIGIOUS STRUGGLE OF EAST VERSUS WEST

On the other hand, we must remember that Eastern Religion grew up outside this stream of Old Testament, Divine Revelation. They were not awakened from spiritual lassitude by thousands of years of Messianic prophesy culminating in the voice of one crying in the wilderness: "Behold the Lamb of God! Behold Him Who takes away the sins of the world!" They knew nothing of the Word made Flesh Who dwelt among us, nor of a human being raised by God to eternal kingship, honor, and glory, nor anything about a Union of Persons in a Trinity of Unselfish Love. For individual mystics in India and Asia had enlightenment experiences of a solitary state of cosmic consciousness, which seemed to coincide with inspiration that told them their self-existance was an illusion, and only God exists, and they are, therefore,... really God!

"Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?

Gen 3:2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: But of the fruit of the tree which [is] in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.

Gen 3:4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and YE SHALL BE AS GODS, "KNOWING" GOOD AND EVIL.

Gen 3:6 And when the woman saw that the tree [was] good for food, and that it [was] pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make [one] wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat."

And the subtle and sophisticated point of view of the "Ye shall be as gods" through "knowledge" or "spiritual enlightenment" repeated by Indian theology is profoundly powerful and seductive and has led many in the West astray. Carried to its logical conclusion, it exalts the creature to the level of the Creator, and produces derivative religions which produce statements like the following:

"Don't keep searching for the truth; just let go of your opinions."

"The more you think about these matters, the farther you are from the truth."

"The struggle between good and evil is the primal disease of the mind. You are already perfect. You are already very God, if you could just awaken to the fact."

"You created the world and everything that happens to you."

This same angelic consciousness that seduced our first parents in the Garden continues to win souls today, with a subtlety of philosophical understanding that can only be penetrated through the Wisdom of the Holy Spirit. We tend to disbelieve that our spiritual battle is against principalities and powers that will use everthing at their disposal to destroy us. Make no mistake about it, this "man-made" wisdom, characteristic of religions of the East, is powerfully destructive , with its "illusionary ego" and dogmas proclaiming that "man and God are the same being.' It is the main source for New Age thought and an abundance of heretical doctrines down through the centuries that have resulted in moral bankruptcy and the loss of Christian Faith for those who foolishly entertained them.

The New Age deception says man must not worship God with his whole heart, soul and mind, in line with the First Commandment. O no! Such worship of the Other weakens man and keeps him from fulfilling his human God-potential. The "truth" the New Age gurus bring to us is that man must worship "himself" with his whole, heart, his whole soul, and his whole mind. Rules requiring obedience, humility, and self-giving keep man in a state of self-abasement, which hides his innate God-power from him. Growth in spiritual knowledge, on the other hand, reveals man's divinity to him, and is, therefore, the greatest good, while self-giving love to the other is the greatest sin man commits against his true self and true powers. Therefore, "one who kneels" is the greatest sinner.

The New Age says it was through growth in spiritual knowledge that Jesus and Buddha and the great spiritual teachers of history "awakened" to the God Reality of their own souls and became, as they are today, "ascended masters." These masters are capable of being contacted through mediums,(new-age prophets),channeling and seances, even now. Don't worry about sin in your life, they say, for it will go away all by itself once you "awaken." Seek spiritual knowledge such as that provided by the ascended masters. Their greatest joy is to provide spiritual instruction to the souls trapped in the darkness of ignorance on the earth plane, such as those who belong to Churches and organized religion, and still experience guilt over sin.

For the New Age teaches that love of self is the greatest love of all, and the only evil is "ignorance" and failure to realize that one is already perfect, and already very God! All of nature is divine and, like oneself, is part of God. Evolution, of course, is gradually leading the whole human race toward this knowledge of universal cosmic consciousness, or God Consciousness. We can help it along by our efforts. Once everyone on the planet awakens to their divinity, there will be only Joy, only very God!..... On the other hand, the sad reality is that this New Age philosophy leads one to a friendly attitude toward the seven deadly sins, and the "very pride" and "very conceit" which blinds one to one's eternal "very creaturehood," ever dependent on the gift of the Self-Giving, Transcendent Love of the Creator God coming through His Only-Begotten Son, Jesus Christ.

THE SEDUCTION OF PANTHEISM AND FAITH BASED ON INTELLECTUAL SPECULATION

"Pantheism, indeed, is the great deceit which awaits the Age to come. A religion speculative and self-indulgent; a religion of beauty, imagination, and philosopy, without constraint, moral or intellectual. (John Henry Newman, Difficulties of Anglicans, 1850)

The New Testament warns about being seduced by spirits in the last days teaching the doctrines of men based on knowledge through "Cosmic Consciousness." Well, we're seeing it happen in front of our eyes, but our egos are tied up with being "open-minded," and "easy-going" in regard to truth and morals. It has infected the Church, and, sad but true, thousands of Christians and Catholics have lost their way into this moral wasteland of New Age Cosmic Consciousness today. (see Buddhism "Resources").

For the god of the East disdains humanity, along with the world of a distinct Creation. In his Universe, man was created by accident, man is an illusion, a plaything, something that must be eliminated, along with the illusion of a separate Creation, so that this god can continue in his blissful, self-absorbed, isolation. This god takes no notice of the fall of a sparrow, nor does He care about us, or count the hairs on our head. The God of Abraham, on the other hand, The Living God, is a God of Persons Who Love One Another. He is an Infinite God of Trinitarian Relations, Who possesses within His Infinite Being, in an eminent degree, all the possible variations of being we find in the created Universe and humanity, including, relational Personal Love.

The True God is a Father Who knows us by name, and created us so that He might share His Bliss, His Mystery, and His Self-Giving Love with us, and His Creation. For as we know through our own experience, self-giving goodness is diffusive of itself, and seeks out others with whom to share its treasures. And this God, Whom we rightly refer to as Father, Loves us with all the beauty and tendersness of a Mother, as He watches over us and counts the hairs on our head. And, in line with these qualities of His Nature, He created a world that reflects the qualities of relational love, a Garden of Delight, wherein we, His children, might participate, in a created mode, in the Eternal Mysteries of His Relational Nature: Fatherhood, Motherhood, Maleness, Femaleness, Personal Love, Friendship, Service to others, Joyous Shared Bliss, and all manner of Relational Self-Giving.

And when we went wrong, like so many children we have all known or been, and refused the parental plan for which we were created, and started to worship ourselves, and the gods of Creation, and turned away from one another in disobedience, hatred and selfishness, He did what we would expect a Father would do. He let us suffer some of the consequences of our behavior, and then, personally came looking for us, with a new plan wherein He would personally undertake the punishment we deserved, and deliver us from the mess we had made, appearing on earth in a non-threatening form, a Son, a babe growing into manhood, a being we could understand and love.

And yet we, even today, like disobedient children from the beginning, make mockery of the freedom we possess, and continue to refuse Him when He tells us to come home, and to listen to His message of Parental Love, and the discipline showing us the way to happiness. For we would rather believe in the other cosmic god, who knows nothing about discipline, or the hairs on our head, or our Original Home, and who lives in solitary oblivion, lording it over an accidental creation bearing no resemblence to him, or Pre-Existing, Eternal Truths. And, anyway, this god is a lot of fun and easier to believe in, for as the flower-children have told us, he is a party-god who lets us destroy ourselves and one another, while eating all the fruit forbidden by the One Who calls Himself, Our Father.

This same spirit, which Christ referred to as a liar, and "the father of lies," was referred to by St Paul in Galatians 1:8, "But even if we, or an angel from heaven preach any other doctrine to you than that which we have preached, let him be accursed." Since the Garden of Eden, this "angel of light" continues to appear to mankind in various forms of occult, pagan, channeling, seances, and visions, and teaches a little bit of truth, overlaid with an overwhelming preponderance of error, sometimes connected with some sort of sexual bait, knowing mankind's predominant weakness, in an effort to divert mankind from the Incarnate Redeemer, the Promised Messiah, foretold by Almighty God in thousands of years of Biblical prophesy. It is teaching all manner of lies and Anti-Christ doctrines through the New Age seances today.

DECEITFUL SPIRITS

Note carefully what John, the beloved disciple, has to say about the true spirit of God to whom we pray: "Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: "Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:" And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: (lJohn4:1)

"The Christian economy, therefore, since it is the new and definitive Covenant, will never pass away; and no new public revelation is to be expected before the glorious manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ."...Christian faith cannot accept "revelations" that claim to surpass or correct the Revelation of which Christ is the fulfilment, as is the case in certain nonChristian religions and also in certain recent sects which base themselves on such "revelations".(Catholic Catechism, Part One, Section I, Ch. III, para. 66)

And while we recognize that God is a Merciful God, and that He hears the many good and holy people of Islam and other faiths, who pray and follow their conscience, and thereby draw grace made available for salvation through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, we are nonetheless required to sort objective truth from error, so that they may avoid the obvious snares and roadblocks to happiness and the fullness of grace imbedded in their doctrines, and so that the radical Love and life-giving truth of Jesus Christ may be available to the greatest number of mankind.

CATHOLICISM RESPECTS OTHER RELIGIONS WHICH PROMOTE KINDNESS AND LOVE OF NEIGHBOR

Nonetheless, In "Crossing the Threshold of Hope, pp. 91-93, Pope John Paul II reminds us that Islam and Christianity, as well as Judaism, have a great deal in common that should make them spiritual brothers rather than enemies. He says:

"The Church has a high regard for the Muslims, who worship One God, living and subsistent,merciful and subsistent, the Creator of heaven and earth. As a result of their monotheism, believers in Islam are particularly close to us." and:

"...the religiosity of Muslims deserves respect. It is impossible, for example, not to admire their fidelity to prayer. The image of believers in Allah who, without caring about time or place, fall to their knees and immerse themselves in prayer, remains a model for those who invoke the true God."

THE CATHOLIC CHURCH DOES NOT RESPECT RELIGIONS WHICH PREACH RELIGIOUS HATRED FROM A POSITION OF RADICAL FUNDAMENTALISM.

the Pope points out that we have nothing in common with Islamic "fundamentalists" who preach religious hatred, revenge, terrorism and murder. Such fanaticism does not represent the true spirit of Islam, any more than the Ku Klux Klan represents the true spirit of Christianity. The Pope states that they present a "concrete difficulty" in Christian-Muslim relations. In spite of this difficulty, however, their existence is no excuse for Christians and Muslims to refuse to join together in dialogue and spiritual brothershood, in order to achieve a deeper religious understanding and to secure the blessings of peace for all men.

Moreover, Father Jordan Aumann tells us that all authentic spirituality, whatever the source, will ultimtely teach the doctrines of Jesus Christ, insofar as they are authentic:

"In the strict sense of the word, the only authentic spirituality is a spirituality centered in Jesus Christ and through him to the Trinity. This is true not only because created grace, the vital principle of the spiritual life, comes to us only through the mediation of Jesus Christ, but also because those who cultivate the spiritual life must consciously or unconsciously follow the teachings of Christ, regardless of :their religious affiliation. Vatican Council II has promulgated this doctrine in the declaration on non-Christian religions:"(Fr. Jordan Aumann, "Spiritual Theology," Doctrinal Foundations)

"The Catholic Church rejects nothing of what is true and holy in these religions. She has a high regard for the manner of life and conduct, the precepts and doctrines which, although differing in many ways from her own teaching, nevertheless often reflect a ray of that truth which enlightens all men. Yet she proclaims and is in duty bound to proclaim without fail, Christ who is the way, the truth and the life (John 14:6). In him, in whom God reconciled all things to himself (2 Con 5:18-19), men find the fullness of the religious life." (Vatican Council II, Declaration on the Relation of the Church to Non-Christian Religions, n. 2.)

And are we now, in order not to offend anyone, going to reject the Love that disclosed its Nature to us in unmistakable language that we could not fail to understand: "For not considering Divinity something to be grasped at, He emptied Himself, becoming pain, sorrow, and suffering, so that such self-emptying, and the suffering of this life, might become the Way for us to share the Spirit of Unselfish Love, and merit participation in the Life of the Son with the Father in the Holy Spirit. For by dying for us on the Cross, He manifested in Time the nature and depth of the Eternal Relational Love within the Trinity. He showed us the Selfless "heart" of Trinitarian Love, exposing its true nature and unfathomable depth, by the ignominy and magnitude of His Self-Sacrifice. For unlike the "legalistic" religious attitude prevalent in Old Testament times, or the Religion built on fanaticism, the astounding Revelation of Jesus Christ, the stumbling-block, which the lying spirit has fought, and is still fighting, to keep from the world, is of a God Who Loves beyond our capacity to reasonably understand, Who loves even sinners while they are yet in their sin, Who loves even His enemies..."enough to die for them," and Who wants us to love one another in the same manner."

For in the Divine Life of the Trinity, Love has revealed its quality and its power through "Sacrifice." Love of the Beloved, and Sacrifice for the Beloved, become defining aspects of the same Spiritual Reality. The Divine Person Sacrifices All, and gives everything to the Beloved. The Father shows His Love for mankind in Sacrifice: "For God so loved the world, that He gave his only-begotten Son." The Son's Love is manifest in Sacrifice: "Father if it be possible let this cup pass from me, nevertheless, not my will but thy will be done." And we, too, if we are to be a part of this Love, must drink of this same cup, and in Communion with the Son, offer ourselves in Sacrifice and Self-Giving Love, to the Triune Heart beating in the Soul of the Universe.

And in the light of this Revelation of Self-Giving, Sacrifical Love, which can alone give life to the world, saving mankind from hatred and despair, do we now ignore it in favor of an intellectually safer, less-rigorous, non-Incarnational task? Are we going to posit an easy faith in a Super-essential, Invisible, Mystery Being, Whom we can never really know anthing about, and Who maintains Himself Aloof from mankind in Impersonal, Self-Sufficiency? Are we going to pretend that we're too sophisticated to believe in Christian Revelation, pathetically seeking respectability among the scientists and intellectuals of the post-modern world through excessivley apophatic worship of an unknowable god, made in their image, who fits in comfortably with an anything goes, materialistic lifestyle? Do Globalization and East-West dialogue mean we leave Jesus and the "scandal of the Cross" behind, back with the Latin Mass and the pre-Vatican II Church? Are we going to run from the Cross of Jesus Christ, the symbol of the Self-Giving Love of the Trinity, as it confronts the spirit of the world, the spirit of cosmic consciousness, and un-Scriptural, man-made monotheism with the Incarnational, Blood of the Lamb, shed for all men for all time? Do we think that by watering-down the Truth He refused to deny under torture and Crucifixion, our age will escape the sacrifice that has always accompanied those who walk in His footsteps, spreading the Good News of His Transforming Love in this world? Shall the servant now be above the master?

For, in our haste to be open-minded and ecumenical, and with, perhaps, the best of intentions, we have overreached the bounds of good judgment, and undermined the very truths which point the way to true spirituality. And have we not paid a heavy price for this lack of discernment, as we have allowed the Faith of Jesus Christ to be weakened and undermined by some of those within the very Citadel dedicated to its preservation? For superficial, lukewarm Christianity has no power to change lives, and has nothing to offer either the world of suffering humanity, nor the spiritual aspirations of those raised on the religions of India, Asia, and Arabia. Is it not time for each of us to take personal responsibility for restoring the solid truths of our Faith to the pre-eminence they deserve?

In this regard, it is critical to re-establish the philosophical and theological truths underpinning true Contemplative Prayer. For disregard of these truths has lead to the excessive emphasis on apophatic prayer, and the neglect of Revelation and cataphatic prayer. It has also caused the spiritual abberations that abound in today's religious milieu. And, difficult and painful as it may be to stand behind the Truth, failure to do so leaves mankind without an accurate spiritual compass, resulting in eventual misery and despair for everyone. For experience has shown that the knowledge of enlightenment and transcendental Truth coming through Contemplation is an intuitive and, therefore, obscure affair not easily penetrated by language, words and intellectual analysis. That's why there are so many books dealing with the subject and trying to make sense of it. That's why mystics and visionaries down through the centuries, lacking the underpinnings of sound theology, have been proponents of all manner of mystifying, self-serving, heretical and contradictory doctrines.

"The theological reason for this confused and obscure knowledge is that the contemplative light of the gifts of the Holy Spirit is cast upon the act of faith to illumine it extrinsically and subjectively, but not intrinsically and objectively, since faith is of things not seen. Only the light of glory (lumen gloriae) will give us a clear and distinct contemplation of God and his mysteries, and this occurs in the beatific vision. In this life, however, so long as we live by faith, the knowledge of the contemplative must necessarily be obscure and confused." (Fr. Jordan Aumann, "Spiritual Theology," Ch.12 Grades of Prayer)

For experience has shown that the proper understanding of Contemplative experience cannot be left to the consensus of practitioners, or to the contradictory explanations of individual mystics. It can only come from careful study, within the Church, by those who specialize in making transcendent Truth accessible to human understanding, drawing on the principles of mystical theology under the guidance of the Wisdom of the Holy Spirit.

For the world badly needs transformation if goodness is to survive. And this means the world needs the transforming power of contemplative prayer which brings it the Supernatural Love manifested in Jesus Christ. This Love is infinitely beyond the Eastern Cosmic Consciousness, the spirit deadening Old Testament legalisms, and the Compassion of Islam which is essentially limited to fellow believers. This is God's Ultimate Revelation, sent to mankind from the heart of the Trinity, and teaching man to love all his neighbors, to stop hating those who are different, to love sinners while they are yet in their sin, and to forgive others, as did Christ on the Cross, during the very time they are causing us misery, abjection, and suffering. For the Cross is the Incarnational symbol defining the very nature of Eternal, Self-Giving Love. But, in order for that to happen, first, we as individuals must undergo transformation so as to participate in the Supernatural Power of a Triune Love filled with Infinite Forgiveness, Mercy, and Compassion.

And if we have not already begun the process, it is because we, like doubting Thomas, are choosing to withhold our love until we are so certain of the results that it is impossible to be tempted by doubts. But such intellectual certainty will never happen in anybody's lifetime. For the love to which we are called is only available if we "freely" choose to respond to the grace offered us. And there is no freedom, and hence no love, where our wills are naturally coerced into action by absolute intellectual certainity. Therefore, at all times in the journey of Faith, we must personally risk something by going beyond the power of the intellect in answering the call of grace in order that our love may be truly "free," and worthy of the name. And in like manner, we must turn to God with trust in our hearts and ask Him to help us to begin regular periods of prayer and to make the necessary lifestyle changes. For He has emphatically told us:

"Seek, and ye shall find!...Ask and it shall be given to you!... Knock, and it shall be opened unto you!

"For every one that asketh receiveth! And he that seeketh findeth! And to him that knocketh it shall be opened!

"For if a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent?

"So if ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him!"- (Luke 11: 9-14)

For if there is to be love, we must "seek" it. Love which is coerced, or automatic is not worthy of the name. We must exercise our freedom, which is to say we must "seek" and we must "choose" the Beloved! He has already shown us the Way in the Life, Death, and Resurrection of His Son, Jesus Christ. So now we must "respond" to His call within our soul.

And once we have responded, let us begin the transformation process by undertaking regular prayer, today. A basic prayer program might include twenty minutes to half an hour in the morning when one first arises, a few moments of prayer at mid-day, and, if possible, the same amount of time in the evening before dinner, as one spent in the morning. In any case, the time spent in prayer in the morning is most important for starting the day off right. And the best way to support this prayer life is to keep an internal image of Jesus in mind throughout the day by silently repeating His Holy Name to oneself in the shortened form of the Jesus Prayer, "Jesus have mercy."

For prayer is not an option for any human being. It is the most important activity one can engage in because it opens one's freedom to Supernatural, Self-Giving Love. For it has been revealed to man, that a person who freely chooses hatred and evil in this life, rather than unselfish love, will take that spirit with him into the next life. And then, in company with certain angelic beings, he will have forever to enjoy his proud, self-imposed isolation and hatred of others. For, as the world plainly shows us, in the suffering and catastrophic evil of which unregenerate mankind is capable, we have no more important business in this life, than to learn unselfish love, and to prepare our hearts for "transformation," so that we may find happiness in this life, and eternal joy in the next life.

The true Contemplative Life is one that fulfills this purpose and all our aspirations. It is a life of ultimate transformation and satisfaction, built on the solid Truth and teaching of Jesus Christ as found in the Church, and in which one finds "the one thing necessary" for a happy life: a loving relationship with Almighty God. And it is through the goodness and regeneration found in such lives, that hope takes root in the world as all mankind reaps the benefit from such lives and such goodness. All of the desires we have for ten thousand things are satisfied and surpassed in the Contemplative Life. Instead of obtaining all the worldly things we think will satisfy these desires, we obtain, instead, the "Source" of all satisfaction. By Contemplatively participating in God-Consciousness, we are given the "whole world" and everthing in it to enjoy as He does, and in the unattached, unpossessive manner originally enjoyed by our first parents. It is a life in which there is no more aimless seeking and yearning, for we have found the satisfaction of all our seeking, and the Mysterious Source Who provides, good measure, running over, the fulfillment of that yearning.

And if one wonders how these things can be, since one has not as yet experienced these things for oneself, consider the reality of the joy one experienced when one first fell in love with another human being. Consider all of the joy and ecstasy of the new romantic relationship. And think about how everyone else reacted when you tried to explain to them what it was like. And try to remember how it transformed your consciousness and everything else in life became insipid and unimportant in comparison to the joy of being in love with that particular person. And this person lived a separate existence "outside" the being of your soul.

And then... try to imagine such a relationship raised to the ecstatic level of falling in love with a Person of Divine Beauty, Power, Intelligence, Tenderness, and Magnificence, who fully reciprocates one's love, and who dwells "within" one's soul. Imagine how one's consciousness would be transformed and how everything else in nature would appear in comparison to that relationship! Imagine the thrill experienced each time one glanced "within," and found this wonderous Person "abiding" there "within one's own being," and radiating love, compassion, kindness, and mercy! For this is "exactly what happens to those in advanced states of Contemplation"...and they are very much aware of the bliss of that supernatural union of love! And their consciousness "experiences" the joys of that union! All the saints speak of this joy and bliss found in the love for which we were created. The psalms of David sing of it! Isaiah, Ezekiel, Jeremiah and the other prophets repeatedly tell of it, the ecstatic joy, and the "Torrent of Delight" found in the House of the Lord! Do we think Contemplation and the fire of love leading to "spiritual marriage" with such a Divine Being, within ourselves, is somehow less than our experiece of human romantic love, outside ourselves?

In the words of St. Teresa, "For apparently, as this heavenly water begins to flow from this source of which I am speaking -- that is, from our very depths -- it proceeds to spread within us and cause an interior dilation and produce ineffable blessings, so that the soul itself cannot understand all that it receives there. The fragrance it experiences, we might say, is as if in those interior depths there were a brazier on which were cast sweet perfumes; the light cannot be seen, nor the place where it dwells, but the fragrant smoke and the heat penetrate the entire soul, and very often, as I have said, the effects extend even to the body... People who have not experienced it must realize that it does in very truth happen; its occurrence is capable of being perceived, and the soul becomes aware of it more clearly than these words of mine can express."(St Teresa, Fourth Mansions)

St John of the Cross tells us: "Those who do not relish this language God speaks within them must not think on this account that others do not taste it. St. Peter tasted it in his soul when he said to Christ: Lord, where shall we go? You have the words of eternal life [Jn. 6:68]. And the Samaritan woman forgot the water and the water jar for the sweetness of God's words [Jn. 4:28].

To some, like those who have not as yet experienced the joys of Contemplation, or who have refused to make the necessary sacrifices, giving up the spiritual path before completing their journey, these ecstatic joys of Contemplation may seem an exaggeration. Nonetheless, the evidence is overwhelming, as noted by St Teresa and St John, that most experience contemplative prayer in a manifest manner that is , outside of the dark nights, an experience of delight. Like Brother Lawrence, Catherine of Siena, Fr John Arintero, and Fr. Garrigou LaGrange, they are "aware" of God's Presence in contemplation, enjoying God in a living way, which is to "taste" an ineffable sweetness in the experience of Jesus' Holy Spirit. And a careful review of the evidence from the Scriptures, the lives of the saints, such as St. Teresa above, and from the experiences of authentic spiritual seekers throughout the ages, shows that the true destiny of those humble seekers, who commit themselves to God, beginning in this life, is to an exalted, supernatural state of happiness, and blissful participation in the fullness of God, about which exaggeration is not possible!