How to Contemplate, continued:
A common block to receiving wisdom through contemplation is perceiving the text that is being contemplated as straightforward and easy to understand. Maybe you are contemplating a sentence that is short, simple and clear. “I get it,” the mind says.
Well … that doesn’t mean there isn’t more to be gained through contemplation. Joseph Benner had realization after realization, resulting in a book called “The Impersonal Life,” through contemplating one short quote continuously. The quote: “Be still and know that I am God.” (Psalm 46:10)
Consider this story on contemplation by William Samuel, written in his book “The Awareness of Self-Discovery”:
“Once, in China, I was given a simple verse to read and then to give my interpretation. I was ready to give an answer immediately but was informed that I had twenty-eight days to think about it. ‘Why so long?’ asked I, with the usual impatience of a Westerner.
“’Because nothing has been read once until it has been read twelve times,’ was my answer. ‘Read and reread.’
“I did. Twelve times twelve to make twelve readings … and I heard a melody I could not have heard otherwise. Since then I have known why it is that certain lines in the Bible (or any other book) that have been read countless times will one day, upon just one more reading, suddenly take on a grand new significance.
“So reader, with a very gentle touch, read and re-read. If you are earnest, and act with the earnestness you are, one day when you least expect it, you will hear and feel your Heart within complete [the] words without.”
The quote William Samuel was asked to contemplate for 28 days was: “The same moon shines on ten thousand rivers.”
Regina’s Personal Contemplation of Lesson 115:
Salvation is my only function here. Getting to know my Self is my only function. For what other purpose could I have been born except the purpose of knowing my Self? The gift of life is given so we can celebrate life. The gift of awareness is given so we can love awareness. The gift of spontaneity is given so we can enjoy the miracle of spontaneity. I will embrace this birth by becoming intimately enthralled with my Self. This Regina-suit is the perfect medium for getting to know what I am.
My part is essential to God’s plan for salvation. If the plan is for the whole to be happy and celebrate, how can that be done without me? Can the whole be happy without my happiness? Can the whole celebrate without my celebration? I am integral to this plan. Most importantly, I can only know its gifts through my individual cooperation with it.
