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Mystic prayer means

Conversations and Morning Walks

1975 Conversations and Morning Walks

Mystic prayer means to think of God's activities. So that is smaraṇam.
Room Conversation with Jesuit -- May 19, 1975, Melbourne:

Jesuit: And is everybody able to take the nine processes?

Prabhupāda: Yes. It is not difficult.

Jesuit: And do you have a, what I may call a training in contemplation, in which you get...

Prabhupāda: That is smaraṇam. Memorizing. Thinking of God's activities.

Jesuit: And, er, now in mysticism, Christian mysticism, Western mysticism, we have, say, the seven castles of St. Theresa of Avila, and we have a process of contemplation which we call infused, which God gives. Ordinary prayer, which anybody is able to make. Theresa would speak about the three castles, the first three castles.

Prabhupāda: Three castle?

Jesuit: Mm. In her book, Interior Mansions. But the real mystic prayer, well, is not given to everybody. Do you have... Do these men get trained in mystic prayer, contemplation?

Prabhupāda: Mystic prayer means to think of God's activities. So that is smaraṇam.

Jesuit: Smaraṇam. Not so much thinking of them as just being really in His presence and open to receive love and to be active. Do you know what I mean?

Prabhupāda: Well, but bhakti is activity. Bhakti is not passive. Active. Just like hearing. It is activity. Similarly glorifying, this is activity. Smaraṇam, remembering, memorizing, that is activity.

Jesuit: That is true. I see that. I think I sort of see a higher form of activity, where the senses really have taken over...

Prabhupāda: Sense means activity.

Jesuit: Intuition. Something higher than...

Prabhupāda: Sense, when you use your sense, just like śravaṇam, hearing. So you use your sense. So this is activity.

Jesuit: I see that. I understand that.

Prabhupāda: You engage your ear. That means activity. I glorify, I speak, I engage my tongue in glorifying. That is activity. But as soon as there is sense activity, that is activity.

Jesuit: Hmm. But to get that real stillness and quiet in which...

Prabhupāda: No. Bhakti is not stillness. That is neutrality. Stillness means you stop your material activity. That is stillness. But your material activities, when you stop it, that is stillness.

Page Title:Mystic prayer means
Compiler:Rishab
Created:06 of Mar, 2012
Totals by Section:BG=0, SB=0, CC=0, OB=0, Lec=0, Con=1, Let=0
No. of Quotes:1