Contemplation, in the Christian tradition, is always grace. It’s not the result of a technique or force. As we pass through, in God’s own time and in a way that we cannot observe or anticipate, this is grace, we enter into the dimension of spirit. So first we are on one level of consciousness, which is the surface level, next is the deeper but unconscious level, and next is the ego level of consciousness, which is our sense of separation. But here (fourth level) we move in beyond separation into the spirit, and into this dimension of spirit. And where the spirit is, St Paul says, there is unity.
( The Brick Wall of the Ego 1 by Laurence Freeman OSB )
