Page 1 2 3 
Go
New
Find
Notify
Tools
Reply
  
J. Apophatic Meditation Methods Login/Join
 
posted Hide Post
Sometimes it's wise not to push too hard when something doesn't want to happen, Jacques. A "blocked ear" of the sort you describe isn't necessarily a problem. It might simply be a bud that's not ready to flower. It's always best to pray and love with the consciousness we have rather than to strive to live in a state we do not have. In the living with what is given, there is a gradual expansion that happens, but in the Spirit's own good time.
 
Posts: 7539 | Location: Wichita, KS | Registered: 09 August 2001Reply With QuoteReport This Post
posted Hide Post
Cool Phil, i must say that the only problem I have with the blocked ear is that it is a bit irritating.
 
Posts: 716 | Location: South Africa | Registered: 12 August 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by Phil:
[qb] I've had right ear energy ordeals for years and have searched and read widely on this topic, with few of my questions answered. The way I've come to understand it is that what's being experienced is the resonance of energies in the acupressure points of the ear.
- see http://www.americanacupuncture...acp_points/ear02.gif

Gently massaging the ear using your thumb and forefinger can help . . . sort of a "poor-man's massage." Wink The energy on the right side of the body is weaker than the left and when you "raise the thermostate" using some kind of apophatic practice like centering prayer, this sometimes shows up in the ears. [/qb]
Phil, soon after I started trying to practice contemplative prayer I started getting "sinus pressure" in the area between my eyes, sometimes it would be subtle sometimes a little painful, but always it is a distraction. Before this time, I never had this type of sensation before... could this be a result of the same type energies you discuss above?

Thanks,

Caneman
 
Posts: 99 | Registered: 25 February 2006Reply With QuoteReport This Post
posted Hide Post
Caneman, it could well be some kind of subtle/psychic energy intensification. That's not unusual when one first begins a contemplative practice of some kind. Is this still a problem for you? Usually it goes away after awhile as one's nervous system becomes better adapted.
 
Posts: 7539 | Location: Wichita, KS | Registered: 09 August 2001Reply With QuoteReport This Post
posted Hide Post
Phil, the sinus pressure has decreased significantly both in frequency and duration.

Along those lines, the first several months I would experience strong waves of His presence, electrical zaps through my body, "crunches" where my abdominal area would tighten up and I would have to bend over, and jerking of the arms... all of this has mellowed out also over time.

Now I rarely receive sudden and intense impulses of energy... His presence now comes subtly and builds from there, and usually felt in the chest area, sometimes like I am on fire! But it is always very pleasant, sweet, peaceful, and affirming.

Thanks,

Caneman
 
Posts: 99 | Registered: 25 February 2006Reply With QuoteReport This Post
posted Hide Post
A Question about Centering Prayer:

I have been practicing C.P. for well over 10 yrs. (more or less) I have read most of Keating's book on C.P. but I still can not quite grasp what the difference is between "Letting go of thoughts", and resistance, or repression of thoughts. Can someone clarify that for me?

Also, it seems over the years, and esp. since I went on the C.P. retreat a couple of years ago, my times of C.P. have gotten worse... more monkey mind than ever, and am finding it extremely hard to stay with it.. Now I wonder .. if after doing CP for as long as I have, if I changed to another form of prayer, would I be taking a step "backward" in my prayer life, or what?
 
Posts: 538 | Location: Sarasota, Florida | Registered: 17 November 2003Reply With QuoteReport This Post
posted Hide Post
Katy,
I see centering prayer as welcoming thoughts,the whole of me,not as repression.I go into the feelings of tension,fear,anger,behind the monkey mind thoughts,without replaying the tapes.I ask God for help,ask God if this is how He wants me to pray,and to please direct my way to Him.I find it easier to pray without words,so I do a version of contemplative prayer that has no sacred word.I sometimes use my breath to center ,you probably know more about this than I do,and I sometimes return to the Holy Face or the Holy Glance.I don't think it matters,what matters is the consent to God's action and love.I have found it difficult to find a spiritual director who is also a contemplative.It seems that both your yearning for more at church,and your sense of dissatisfaction with contemplative prayer are great topics for spiritual direction.
The world is full of advice,I hope you can see through this to a sister in Christ.
 
Posts: 29 | Registered: 01 April 2009Reply With QuoteReport This Post
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by Katy:
A Question about Centering Prayer:

I have been practicing C.P. for well over 10 yrs. (more or less) I have read most of Keating's book on C.P. but I still can not quite grasp what the difference is between "Letting go of thoughts", and resistance, or repression of thoughts.


Hi bdb Smiler

Katy, sorry if this isn't what you mean at all, especially since I haven't read Keating's book. But some imagery I've used before to clarify things for myself is that for "letting go of thoughts" I imagine taking off a coat.

Trying to repress thoughts, for me, feels like trying to hold back traffic--it doesn't work and it's a completely different sense in me than the natural sloughing off of a coat I don't really need to be trudging around in. It seems to me that if I do have what I'm guessing may be similar to your "monkey mind", it's trying to tell me something, as annoying as it is. Is that possibly similar to what bdb said about going into the feelings? Sorry if I'm misunderstanding the topic.
 
Posts: 578 | Location: east coast, US | Registered: 20 July 2009Reply With QuoteReport This Post
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by bdb:
Katy,
I see centering prayer as welcoming thoughts,the whole of me,not as repression.I go into the feelings of tension,fear,anger,behind the monkey mind thoughts,without replaying the tapes.I ask God for help,ask God if this is how He wants me to pray,and to please direct my way to Him.I find it easier to pray without words,so I do a version of contemplative prayer that has no sacred word.I sometimes use my breath to center ,you probably know more about this than I do,and I sometimes return to the Holy Face or the Holy Glance.I don't think it matters,what matters is the consent to God's action and love.I have found it difficult to find a spiritual director who is also a contemplative.It seems that both your yearning for more at church,and your sense of dissatisfaction with contemplative prayer are great topics for spiritual direction.
The world is full of advice,I hope you can see through this to a sister in Christ.


O.K.. that is pretty much the way I see it.. just not "replaying the tapes... to not repress the thoughts, nor "replay" them, but to just accept them.. a subtle difference.

I guess I don't have to do it exactly as Keating describes.. but like you, have my own version.. especially to focus on my breathing as my prayer word.

Thanks for your comments.
 
Posts: 538 | Location: Sarasota, Florida | Registered: 17 November 2003Reply With QuoteReport This Post
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by Ariel Jaffe:
quote:
Originally posted by Katy:
A Question about Centering Prayer:

I have been practicing C.P. for well over 10 yrs. (more or less) I have read most of Keating's book on C.P. but I still can not quite grasp what the difference is between "Letting go of thoughts", and resistance, or repression of thoughts.


Hi bdb Smiler

Katy, sorry if this isn't what you mean at all, especially since I haven't read Keating's book. But some imagery I've used before to clarify things for myself is that for "letting go of thoughts" I imagine taking off a coat.

Trying to repress thoughts, for me, feels like trying to hold back traffic--it doesn't work and it's a completely different sense in me than the natural sloughing off of a coat I don't really need to be trudging around in. It seems to me that if I do have what I'm guessing may be similar to your "monkey mind", it's trying to tell me something, as annoying as it is. Is that possibly similar to what bdb said about going into the feelings? Sorry if I'm misunderstanding the topic.


I am not too good at imagery... I tried Ignatian prayer, but felt it just wasn't for me.

I agree with you about trying to repress thoughts... doesn't work.. also, being left brained, and with so much "input", it seems I always have so much to process, and if I don't, well, someting just doesn't feel right in my brain. If I take a long enough time to settle down, then sometimes my mind will quiet down, but that seldom happens.

Yes, I think you understand the gist of it.. :-) Thanks.
 
Posts: 538 | Location: Sarasota, Florida | Registered: 17 November 2003Reply With QuoteReport This Post
posted Hide Post
quote:
it's a completely different sense in me than the natural sloughing off of a coat I don't really need to be trudging around in.


That describes it perfectly. I like that!
 
Posts: 538 | Location: Sarasota, Florida | Registered: 17 November 2003Reply With QuoteReport This Post
posted Hide Post
[QUOTE]Originally posted by bfulbright:
These comments are right up my street, and I entirely agree. the English mystics have much to teach us, and the Greek fathers. i think a lot depends on our temperament and some people are naturally drawn to the Apophatic way.
 
Posts: 25 | Location: Buckinghamshire U K | Registered: 13 April 2013Reply With QuoteReport This Post
  Powered by Social Strata Page 1 2 3