Ecstasy, lit. "to stand or place out, outside." Thus, when ecstatic, one is outside their usual self. Sometimes, one can be outside the consciousness of self, as in deep meditation. Ecstasy does not always mean emotionally exuberant. Persons in meditation may often experience a quiet, unemotional bliss. Among the spiritually inclined, this "coolness" becomes their normal inner disposition. "Hot" states, emotional in nature, can arise but swiftly dissolve back into the "cool" beingness.
* * *
A deer thirsts for water from a flowing stream; likewise, my whole being thirsts for You, my God.
*Hebrew Bible, Psalm 42.1
* * *
Someone wrote of hearing two Sufis presenting prayer in music. She said, "It grabbed my heart powerfully." A few days ago, I listened repeatedly to a song. It captivated my heart, too, though it was much unlike my usual taste in music (see below).
We can enjoy moments of spiritual delight. We can appreciate they are invitations to relax into the depths of the Heart, to rest there in Love with Love. We can dance in the Courtyard, and the dancing leads us into the Inner Sanctum.
This Love knows no one religion or spiritual path. There is only one Heart. Love is Love. There is only one Altar to bow before.
* * *
* * *
A Hindu who worshipped Krishna sat with the Sage. She was grieving the loss of the delight of feeling her Beloved near. On prior visits with the Sage, he could see her love for Krishna.
I used to feel Krisha so close, as you know. I would go into silence, and my heart would be touched. I would often shed tears and wish never to leave that blissful state. Now, I feel nothing. What's happening?
This aridity is common among those who engage in inner Prayer. The dryness is a means of being weaned from reliance on sensible passions, be they of dislike or delight.
What am I to do? How long will this be?
Desire only your Beloved. Do not try to return to previous pleasant feelings. The aridity will end in time. Grasping for delightful affections will cease. If these arise, you will be thankful; otherwise, you will rest in the Quiet, equally thankful. You will come to know an abiding, unchanging closeness. This sense will abide with you regardless of shifting sentiments. You have enjoyed sharing with your Beloved on the shore. He calls, "Come, my Love, live with me in the depths."
What are those depths? Where?
He and you are those depths. The depths are one. Yet, though a one, you and He remain two.
*Brian K. Wilcox. "Meetings with an Anonymous Sage."
* * *
Loving feelings are fleeting, and their loss leads us back to the need and desire for Love. Love must disappoint us. Love withdraws from us, so we may come to the aspiration, "I want only You." With Love, inner restlessness dissolves, and one senses joy and peace. One sees that what they most sought could not be found without but only within the Heart.
* * *
This love for the Beloved, the Muslim Sufi Rab'ia (b. 713 ) celebrates -
With my Beloved I alone have been, When secrets tenderer than evening airs Passed, and the Vision blest Was granted to my prayers, That crowned me, else obscure, with endless fame; The while amazed between His Beauty and His Majesty I stood in silent ecstasy Revealing that which o'er my spirit went and came. Lo, in His face commingled Is every charm and grace; The whole of Beauty singled Into a perfect face Beholding Him would cry, 'There is no God but He, and He is the most High.'
*Use of photography is allowed accompanied by credit given to Brian K. Wilcox and title and place of photograph.
*Brian's book, An Ache for Union: Poems on Oneness with God through Love, can be ordered through major online booksellers or the publisher AuthorHouse.
