A Spiritual Practice
Spiritual Direction
Reach Out With Rainbows
Who or What is God?
The Prayer of Silence
From: Free Yourself of Everything -- by Wolfgang Kopp
Awareness of the divine essence as our innermost true self first requires absolute silence and release of all that God is not. It implies no less than turning away from the external toward what lies hidden within (en krypto). It is a turn from the external, or realm of opposition, to the internal -- the all-embracing totality of divine being. It is the way of meditation beyond objectivity, the way of inner silence before God.
Remaining quiet before God is a "prayer of silence" through which we listen to that which secretly speaks to us in the "inner room of the heart." This prayer is the same as what is meant by Jesus' urging: "When you pray, go into your room to your Father who is in the secret place" (Matthew 6:6)
What is hidden deep in our innermost being lies in silence and stillness, and in the silence of the deep springs the eternal, inexhaustible, original source of all being. Countless words trouble the soul; where words fall silent, the everlasting begins.
Keeping inwardly silent before God is the implicit precondition for perceiving the everlasting within us. If God is to speak, then all thinking, imagining, and supposing must stay quiet. All faculties must remain silent and prepare a place of inner stillness for God to speak in us.
"According to Rabbi Irwin Katsof's book How to Get Your Prayers Answered, the Hebrew word for prayer is li-heet-pallel. The latter part of the word -- pallel -- means to inspect, examine, while the initial part -- li-heet -- makes the term reflexive. Therefore, prayer is self-inspection, self-examination." Helene Ciaravino
"I am convinced that intense self-introspection does not require large amounts of time. It requires only short meditations which regardless of the form they take, in essence, amount to a prayer -- a plea to the higher self for help and guidance. This sets in motion a direction so that amidst busy-ness and hard work -- that higher self will manifest and the inner man will get through to communicate -- which you will experience as insight or mini-realizations -- that translate into a change of being." Bob Cergol:
"Well, we have to distinguish between two kinds of prayer. There is one kind of prayer which is petitionary -- asking for my tummy-ache to get better or for the weather to improve, or someone to stop behaving nastily to me. That kind of petitionary prayer is not of interest to me, and I don't think it is effective. I suppose it may be for some people. It could act as a kind of magic if you put faith in some providence out there who will work this magic for you. But it's not for me.
"The other kind of prayer, which is very different, is like this: Say I desire the health of someone I love very much, or my own health, or my own ability to do my job, that kind of thing -- which are really very deserving requests -- but adding always at the end 'Thy will be done.' I would like this, but not my will but Thy will be done. Then the question is who is praying to who? and of course in the last absolute resort it is who you really are having a conversation with who you really are. It's a kind of internal process within your true identity, and not only important, but indispensable." Douglas Harding
The following spiritual practice is based on the one suggested and used by Petrea King, the well-known Australian author, inspirational speaker, counsellor and workshop leader. In her first book, Quest For Life - a handbook for people with cancer and life-threatening illness, Petrea shares what she has learned from her battle to survive a devastating setback. Her Quest for Life Foundation was established in 1990 and is now located at Bundanoon in the beautiful Southern Highlands of NSW.
Each day at 4 PM (or any time that suits your schedule) find a quiet place and sit in a comfortable chair. Bring your awareness wholeheartedly into the present moment. Without effort, attend to your
Be aware of your weight and posture, the pressure of the chair, the floor, your clothing against your skin, the touch of the air against your cheeks and hands and all the sounds within and outside the room.
Allow your eyes to gently close over, take some long slow deep breaths and feel your body soften and relax with each outward breath.
Then visualize that you're sitting under one end of a rainbow.
Imagine all the iridescent colours that surround and envelop you and take a moment to breathe in your favorite colours.
Extend the other end of the rainbow out through the ceiling to all those who are the particular objects of your concern.
No matter what the condition of their form or outward circumstances, remember that, like you, their Formless nature is untouched by the ups and downs of living or those things that come and go.
Feel your oneness with Life and your connectedness with all forms. Feel the pure Light of Consciousness arising within you and reaching out to the object of your concern.
Extend your love and blessings across the rainbow to the one in need.
Repeat this practice for each person or situation that comes into your awareness. When the session ends, maintain the rainbow connection in the background as you take up other activities.
Remember too, you can envision rainbows for loved ones or friends in need of love or support at any time. You can envision them for people you're separated from by distance, divorce or illness.
Rainbows can be envisioned for those affected by floods, disasters or other distressing situations which often leave us feeling helpless. They can be envisioned between family members if someone is feeling distressed, sick or overwhelmed. They can be envisioned for exams, medical tests or treatments.
This is not some 'New-Age' idea, but something practiced by spiritual communities in one form or other for hundreds, if not thousands of years. It is, for instance, what the early Quakers meant when they spoke of "holding a person or situation in the Light" -- the Light of Consciousness. It is this radiant Light -- the Beingness beneath our human-beingness -- that makes the rainbows we envision so effective.
Sometimes, after you've held a person or situation in this special rainbow light, other ways you can help come to mind and if this happens, you have the opportunity to take further action. Making or allowing yourself to be one end of a rainbow in this way enables more consciousness to awaken in you and this in turn will bring more energy, creativity, guidance, peace and harmony into your life experience.
If you feel you have a special need and would like Pete or Pearl to envision a rainbow of loving support for you, just send a request.
"When a rainbow, reaching from Beingness to an object of our concern, is pictured in the Light of Consciousness, regenerating love shines from the Source to that object and helps more than the mind can ever know". -- Pete Sumner
Visualize them bathed in the light and color of the rainbow, filled with its hope, peace and contentment, connected by a bridge of love.
This practice can also be a great help to children who have to deal with challenging, sad or distressing situations. It can also be a comfort for their parents. For full details of Petrea King's Rainbow Ritual for children, Click Here. Petrea has also written a delightful children's book on this subject entitled, 'You, Me & the Rainbow' which is currently available.