Course XXII - Teaching 14: End of Stimulating Affective Meditations

Subject: Resurrection of Hes. Effects: Rapture.
An evening, a daybreak, the sight of a tranquil valley from the peak of a mountain, moonbeams over countless sea waves, the pure smile of a child, in short, the whole beauty of the world penetrating and permeating limited boundaries of the individual being, and liberating his soul who, although fleetingly, gets a wonderful glimpse of his identity with the whole Creation. It is at these moments when the soul seemingly leaves behind the steady surveillance of the will that was chaining it to the individual being, and soars on the wings of the expansive consciousness and fuses with the unique and eternal essence of the Creation hidden behind varied and transient forms of its manifestation.
But all these momentums of cosmic identification produced by stimuli of physical senses in the individual being, even recognizing how great and good is this identification for the soul, should not be mistaken for Spiritual Rapture.
Spiritual Rapture is the Divine Mother’s Grace, who captivates the consciousness of the individual being and makes him glimpse the divine world doing without his senses. This is why when saints and mystics of all times come back from their states of spiritual rapture cannot find words to describe their experience, but they would gladly leave behind their earthly life in order to live this experience again if this is the Divine’s will.
But by the example and teachings of these saints, the man knows that this Divine Grace demands a loving readiness from the individual being, manifested by right intentions to achieve purity of the mind and heart.
The Son knows that he can get the Divine Grace by thinking of and loving only the Divine Mother. But by the experience left by other more advanced beings, also he knows he must walk through an intimate path to reach those holy goals –a path of renunciation, detachment, inner seclusion and loving offerings. By aiming at it, the Son gets the assistance of the Holy Masters, of Cafh’s Method of Life and its Teachings and Spiritual Gifts, and of Prayer and Meditation Exercises.