If taken in isolation; it seems to refer to instructions for some kind of meditation, or meditative prayer.
It contains two aspects: be still surely refers to what we need to do. Presumably we should cease to move physically, and stand, sit or lie still.
But implicitly we should also still our minds - that is, cease to be distracted both by external 'inputs' and by internal 'chatter' of the associative chit-chat of memories, speculations and day-dreams.
But and know that I am God - might imply two almost opposite things:
It might mean that when you are still you will attune-with the stillness of God - and therefore achieve some awareness of a divine state that is unchanging, timeless, peaceful.
Reality is still - and if we are also still, we might experience reality.
So, by our stillness we can know the stillness that is God.
But I understand the phrase to mean something very different indeed: that when we are still, we can know the presence of God as a living, changing, active Being: a person with us
It is our stillness that allows us to become aware of God's moment-by-moment creating of the world, of reality. It is this contrast, not a similarity; which enables us to experience the presence of God.
We may briefly become still - but God is never still.
Thus, by our stillness we can know (by experience) the dynamic, living consciousness of God; God in our presence here-and-now.
Back in 2012 I began a serious meditation practice with the explicit intention to awaken to the nature of reality. I was invoking my Holy Guardian Angel on a daily basis and waiting for something to happen. After a few weeks of invokation I was taking the trash out at work when I suddenly had a strong inclination to look upwards. It was a sunny winter day and The sky appeared beautiful. Then it was as if a veil dropped from my vision and I beheld directly the glory of creation. It appeared radiant. Nothing actually looked different but it was as if the glory and Beauty of The Eternal or God was overlaying everything. This eternal was within me and in all of creation. This eternal was an absolute unchanging stillness and it stood in stark contrast to the world of flux and time. The phrase "The Kingdom of God is within you" popped into my head and I felt pure joy. I wanted to tell everyone about it!
ReplyDeleteThen it faded away and I came back to earth but after that I knew what to look for. One must contrast the still world of eternity or Being with the world of time and motion and flux through prayer and still meditation until one realizes the two worlds are united or rather the world of flux and becoming proceeds from the eternal. Eventually you realize that you can't tell the difference between the two. The world of eternity is like an unyielding stone wall against which blows the winds of time and change. It's stillness and calm and wholeness. I won't get into my understanding of the Godhead and the Logos because I'm already rambling and I need to sum this up.
Looking back at all I've experienced in my growth in wisdom I can see the presence of Christ with me all the time even when I was unconscious of Him.
Anyway, you might find Alan Chapman's Magia teachings interesting. They're very good but Chapman is not a Christian but rather a sort of Neoplatonist but his teachings and practices are superb