Fr John says, “we’re able to look into the depths”. He uses this very widespread image in mystical literature, about water settling down and becoming calm. And when it is calm you can see to the depths, you can see the bottom of it. Gregory of Nyssa, has a beautiful passage using that image. So when our minds are very turbulent, you can’t see to that depth of your own being. You are just washed away by your mind, and the waves of thoughts. But as you ignore that, as the mantra leads you to a greater stillness, a greater clarity you can see into the depths of your own being. And that is the beginning of real self-knowledge, and with it comes real self- acceptance and therefore healing.
( Attention and Love 1 by Laurence Freeman OSB )
