The Speaking Silence: A Guide to Prayer-Centered Meditation

By Edwin Shendelman

How do you respond to your longing for a deeper life that touches all aspects of your being?

In our challenging times, many are searching for ways to connect to inner resources of quiet and spiritual renewal. Some people turn to prayer, expressing the deep longing of their heart to connect to the divine. Other people draw their attention within, seeking the stillness of meditation.

Prayer and meditation enliven the heart and enlighten the mind, opening the doors within us to greater peace and freedom. The Speaking Silence draws on the teachings of the some of the world's great spiritual traditions of prayer, meditation, and contemplation to present a contemporary guidebook to accompany your journey. Whether you are a religious person looking to tap the spiritual resources of your tradition or have a general interest in spirituality, or a seasoned explorer of consciousness and inner states, The Speaking Silence will provide a rich feast for your heart, mind, body and soul. Both practical and inspiring, this book will teach you some of the important concepts and ideas that can undergird the practices of prayer, meditation, and contemplation, along with a diversity of spiritual exercises to unfold them daily in your life.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tellwell Talent
• Release date: Aug 27, 2021
• ISBN: 9780228864400

Edwin Shendelman

Edwin Shendelman is an instructor in prayer-centered meditation, contemplative energy practices, and Qigong. He has explored many of the world's spiritual traditions with an emphasis on prayer, meditation, and contemplative practices for more than forty years. Since 2013 he has offered classes and courses in applied mysticism and related topics in Toronto, Canada.

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The Speaking Silence

The Speaking Silence

Copyright © 2021 by Edwin Shendelman

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law.

Tellwell Talent

www.tellwell.ca

ISBN

978-0-2288-6439-4 (Hardcover)

978-0-2288-6438-7 (Paperback)

978-0-2288-6440-0 (eBook)

And I looked, and behold, a stormy wind coming from the north, a great cloud and flashing fire, and a glow round about it, and from its midst, the vision of the Speaking Silence, in the midst of the fire. --Ezekiel 1:4

The Word is Spoken in Silence, and it is in silence that we hear it. --St. John of the Cross

If you could be silent from the thinking of self and willing of self for one hour you would hear God’s inexpressible words. --Jacob Boehme

Table of Contents

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

FOREWORD

INTRODUCTION: PRAYER: FINDING THE NATURAL RHYTHM OF YOUR SOUL

Part One: The Spectrum Of Devotion

CHAPTER 1: THE SOUL’S TRUE HOME: RETURNING TO THE LAND OF THE HEART

CHAPTER 2: EXPRESSIVE PRAYER: SPEAKING FROM YOUR HEART

CHAPTER 3: EMPATHIC PRAYER: LISTENING WITH YOUR HEART

CHAPTER 4: PRAYING WITH THE BODY: POSTURE, GESTURE AND MOVEMENT

Part Two: The Inner Dimensions Of Prayer

CHAPTER 5: RECALLED TO LIFE: PRAYER AS AN ACT OF REMEMBRANCE

CHAPTER 6: DIRECTED AWARENESS: CULTIVATING ATTENTION AND INTENTION IN PRAYER

CHAPTER 7: THE LANGUAGE OF THE HEART: AWAKENING THE DEVOTIONAL ATTRIBUTES

CHAPTER 8: THE INNER STRUGGLE: DEALING WITH DISTRACTIONS IN PRAYER AND MEDITATION

Part Three: In The School Of Contemplative Prayer

CHAPTER 9: LUMINOUS DARKNESS: FOUNDATIONS OF THE CHRISTIAN CONTEMPLATIVE TRADITION

CHAPTER 10: THE FOUR VEHICLES OF EXPERIENCE: A WAY OF JOURNEYING INTO THE INTERIOR

CHAPTER 11: THE SPIRITUAL SUN: AWAKENING THE CENTRAL CHANNEL

CHAPTER 12: THE STATIONS OF THE SOUL: UNCOVERING THE DEVOTIONAL ARCHETYPES

Conclusion

THE END OF MEDITATION AND THE HORIZON OF HOPED-FOR-BEING

APPENDIX ONE: GUIDED PRAYER-CENTERED MEDITATION PRACTICES

NOTES

GLOSSARY

RECOMMENDED READING

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

First, to my parents, (z’l’): Thank you for raising me as best as you good to could to make me a moral and ethical person and bequeathing to me a dual religious heritage, Jewish and Christian.

Thank you to spiritual teachers:

Dhyani Ywahoo, founder and director of the Sunray Meditation Society: From you I learnt the meaning of spiritual practice, received my first template of the Inner Tree of Life, for redirecting me to my spiritual roots, and spiritual healing.

My prinicipal Qigong teacher, Yulan Fucius: You gave so much, and asked for so little. Your kindness, compassion, impeccable guidance, and spiritual transmission has inspired my life and spiritual practice until now.

Valentin Tomberg: Even though I did not meet you in the flesh I have felt guided by your writings, Meditations on the Tarot: A Journey into Christian Hermeticism and Lazarus, Come Forth, like no other spiritual writer. May we meet on the other side.

To other spiritual teachers, mentors, and guides:

Sifu Philip K.H. Mo, Guro Nonoy Jerry Gallano, Rabbi Meir Uri Gottesman, Joseph Cohen (z’l’), the late Professor Emeritus Don Evans, the late Shaykh Cemil Aksoy, Diana Denton, Reverend Cynthia Bourgeault, Vassula Ryden, the late Bishop Roman Danylak, and the late Dr. Isabel Massey.

To all the other Saints and Risen Ones: for the visible and invisible guidance.

To the spiritual communities that have nourished my spiritual growth:

The Sunray Meditation Society, Chabad-Lubavitch of Toronto, the Toronto Jewish Renewal Havurah, the Church of the Holy Trinity (Anglican), the Sufi Order of the West/Abode of the Message, the Halveti-Jerrahi Tariqat, True Life in God, the Ukrainian Catholic Church, City Light Church, and Haven Church Toronto. You are all outposts of heaven on earth, may you grow, prosper, and flourish.

To all my spiritual companions and fellow-journeyers:

To Shawn Goldman, with whom I have shared many spiritual journeys, deep conversations over the last thirty years: Thank you for your companionship and being another Jewish brother in Christ.

To Paul Naftuli Harney, a true spiritual brother from whom I have learnt much: Your example, your visions, and your person, is a constant inspiration. Thank you for being a Christian brother in Klal Yisrael.

To Stephaniya Yakovlyeva, thank you for accompanying me on my journeys through the Ukrainian Catholic community, your warmth and gentleness of spirit are unforgettable.

Also, to the late Katherine Marielle, Tony Wong, Aryeh Gottfryd, Rabbi Justin Lewis, Richard Norman, Julia Ames, Michelle Fiorini, Brenda, Mark, and Peggy from the Don Evans meditation group, Edit, Daisy, Rita, and Ann-Marie of the Yulan Qigong Wisdom Group, the TLIG prayer group in Toronto, Natasha Lotus, Eddie Janocek, Dr. Yuriy Sapillo, Roger Buck, Pastor Anthony Dube, and Dr. Michael Michna. As the Sufis say: Grapes ripen smiling at one another!

To all others who have given much timely support and friendship including: Lawrence Fergus, Olena Konyk, Oksana K., Ludmyla Koel and Nasir Nazarchik Yakovlyev. May God Light your paths.

To all my students, past, present, and future: It has been, and is, a joy, an honor, and a blessing teaching you—what amazing fellowship we have shared together!

I wish to thank Marko and Ramona of the Institute of Traditional Medicine for giving me the space and welcome to teach my first courses. Thank you for believing in me.

I especially wish to thank Joann Tudor to hosting graciously my advanced classes in her home. You are a blessing.

To my brother, Alex: Your support in so many ways has made all the difference. The service you give supporting the broken and grieving is an inspiration. May you find the utmost for His Highest.

To my late sister: For you, whose life was cut short may you be planted like a tree in the Eternal Light-World. Thank you for all the support you gave me.

To all the Unknown Friends, and all those keep the light of faith and spirituality burning without division and sectarianism

FOREWORD

Mysticism is found in most of the world’s religions and spiritual traditions. Mysticism is the experiential aspect of those traditions. What conventional practitioners of these traditions believe notionally the mystic seeks to undergo experientially. In some of these traditions the esoteric or mystical element is given a special name such as Kabbalah or Hasidism in Judaism or Sufism (tasawwuf) in Islam. In other traditions, such as Christianity, it is not given a distinct name, but is present at its heart and center.

Mysticism is the conscious desire for and journey into communion and union with God while uncovering our essential nature. In all forms of mysticism there is development and expansion of inner states through spiritual practices. These inner states help the mystic to attain a high degree of spiritual unity. This book introduces the spiritual practice of Prayer-Centered Meditation, an integration of Prayer and Meditation leading to Contemplation—the realized state of the mystic.

There are many forms of prayer. This book focuses on the forms of prayer that is broadly connected to the goals of mysticism. These forms of prayer are enhanced by meditation practice defined as engaging our cognitive, affective, energetic, and somatic dimensions of our being at a deep level. In this way we access the deepest levels of our mind (cognitive), heart (affective), subtle energy body (energetic) and physical body (somatic) while in prayer. The integration of the forms of prayer with meditation is Prayer-Centered Meditation.

The teachings and practices of Prayer-Centered Meditation is a comprehensive approach to spiritual growth that can stand alone as your primary spiritual practice. It can also be complementary to many other spiritual practices both traditional and alternative. Christians and Jews will find The Speaking Silence: A Guide to Prayer-Centered Meditation to have resonance to teachings and practices they are already familiar with along with many new and unique perspectives. People interested in devotional mysticism of all types whether Christian, Jewish, Islamic or Hindu will find in these pages an approach to spiritual practice that is both striking and familiar. Explorers of consciousness through spiritual practices such as Buddhism, yoga, tantra or mindfulness will find a complementary Western gate into consciousness exploration.

Prayer-Centered Meditation has much in common with other approaches to mystical prayer known in such terms as Contemplative Prayer, Noetic Prayer, Centering Prayer, Hesychastic Prayer, Prayer of the Heart, Theophanic Prayer, Mental Prayer, and Christian Meditation. Prayer-Centered Meditation differs from the above approaches primarily in the greater breadth and scope of its theory and practice.

Prayer-Centered Meditation also shares much with other types of meditation. Implicit in Prayer-Centered Meditation are practices of mindfulness, work with subtle energies and the subtle energy body, the use of positive affirmations and intentions, and the cultivation of essential states of consciousness. Prayer-Centered Meditation differs from the above approaches in that they are wrapped in a devotional spirit and praxis.

Within the contents of this book is a course of study in the theory and practice of prayer, meditation, and contemplation. While a comprehensive theory is introduced its goal eminently practical: To assist, you, the reader to deepen your spiritual life through concrete spiritual practices. The teachings are shared in a non-sectarian spirit. While the teachings and practices of some of the world’s great spiritual traditions are introduced, no religious affiliation is necessary to learn or practice these. I leave these teachings in yours, the capable readers hands, the Holy Spirit, and your Angel.

INTRODUCTION: PRAYER: FINDING THE NATURAL RHYTHM OF YOUR SOUL

THE SOUL OF PRAYER

What is prayer? On the surface it seems that defining prayer should be easy, yet the more one looks at it, the more difficult clear definitions become. This may be because people tend to define prayer in terms of how they pray and there are different modes and innumerable methods. But the modes and methods are only the body of prayer; to have a proper definition it seems that we will have to get to know its soul.

Perhaps the most common way that people think of, and experience prayer is petitionary prayer where we ask God for one thing or another. Those who are active in a religious community will also understand prayer as in terms of participating in the prayers of their tradition, liturgical prayer in a loose sense of the term. Others might simply call prayer talking to God. But all of these are ways and means of prayer, valid in themselves but not quite the essence of that movement of the soul that we call prayer.

The goal should be to define prayer not by its many forms but by coming to its essence, not to inventory all its methods but to uncover its fundamental intent. There is a soul of prayer that lives through its varied forms and methods. Like a heart beating that pulses blood through the diverse limbs of its body but is one heart so we can grasp the living heartbeat of prayer. An early English Christian mystical text called The Cloud of Unknowing spoke of prayer as a naked intent going all the way to God. It is perhaps important to strip temporarily the outer garment of prayer to expose its soul.

All prayer presumes that the person has become oriented to God. There is no prayer without the turning to God called in Hebrew T’shuvah and Greek metanoia. This is translated by the English word repentance which is here defined as turning our being to the reality of God and away from what would impede this re-orientation. The soul stands between two worlds and is constantly between two different spheres of gravitation. We can be drawn entirely into materiality and the human social existence, or we can instead of this or alongside this begin to gravitate to the world of God or heaven. This should not be taken to mean a turning away from the natural world or Cosmos for the Earth is full of His Glory. The world here means our fractured social existence and pre-occupation with material things. Nor does this imply that by turning to God we are turning away from people. By putting God first, we will love better—both God and people.

The first part of our definition of the soul of prayer could be:

PRAYER BEGINS WITH THE RE-ORIENTATION OF THE SOUL TO GOD. THIS IS TRUE WHEN WE START OUR SPIRITUAL JOURNEY AND AT EVERY MOMENT THAT WE START TO PRAY AFTER OUR JOURNEY’S BEGINNING.

We are theotropic beings in essence¹. Like a plant we turn in the direction of the Light, the Light of God. But notice that the moment of return to God is repeated every time we pray as we are constantly moving on the path of return. The fact that all prayer starts with a re-capitulation of our original turning back to God defines it as the Way of Return.

This re-orienting of our soul to God is the diving board, the launching point for the soul into the world of prayer. Once the soul is immersed in the practice of prayer it will move through an active and receptive mode, doing and being. This is quite essential to understand. For the spiritual life including all forms of spiritual practices has a rhythm of movement (or work) and rest. In its active or doing mode prayer can be defined this way:

PRAYER IS THE CONSCIOUS MOVEMENT OF THE SOUL TO AND IN GOD. THIS IS EXPRESSED IN ALL THE MODES AND METHODS OF DEVOTION AND THE SHAPING OF THESE THROUGH APPLYING THE INNER DIMENSIONS OF PRAYER.

The Active Mode of the Soul is expressed as great longing and devotion to God, searching out different modes and methods to experience closeness to God and ways to enhance the prayer experience through training the Inner Dimensions of Prayer including practices of recollection, directed awareness and the devotional attributes (emotions, affective states) of the soul.

In its receptive or being mode prayer can be defined in this way:

PRAYER IS THE SOUL COMING TO REST IN THE PRESENCE OF GOD. THIS IS EXPRESSED IN CONTEMPLATION, RELEASING ALL THAT IMPEDES THAT REST AND RECEIVING GOD IN THE FORMS OF VISION.

The Receptive Mode of the Soul (being) is expressed as a sinking into the nature of your inner experience as you pray; coming to its vital essence by relaxing and releasing into your Essential Nature or as it is also called, the Ground of the Soul. This prepares you for the Prayer of Union with God, the unfolding of Gnosis (visionary beholding of God while in a state of Union) and transformation through God (Divinization).

Now let’s take the first sentence of each of these definitions and put them together for a working definition of Prayer Centered Meditation:

PRAYER-CENTERED MEDITATION INCLUDES: THE RE-ORIENTATION OF THE SOUL TO GOD (T’SHUVAH, METANOIA AND REPENTANCE); THE CONSTANT MOVEMENT OF THE SOUL TO GOD (THROUGH DEVOTIONAL PRACTICES AND INTERIOR EXERCISES TO ENHANCE THESE); THE RESTING OF THE SOUL IN GOD AND RECEIVING GOD INTO OUR DEPTHS (THROUGH CONTEMPLATION, GNOSIS AND VISION).

PRAYER: THE NATURAL STATE

In his masterwork on prayer, Quest for God: Studies in Prayer and Symbolism, Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel describes prayer as an ontological necessity.² This means that: Prayer is the natural state of the soul. Prayer emerges from and returns to the deepest depths of our being like flames from a burning log. The natural state of the soul expressed in prayer has two interrelated aspects, what could be called Essence and Attribute or Being and Doing. Prayer is the being and doing of the soul after awakening from spiritual sleep and death in the process known as Returning to God and being born-again.

In being the person at prayer is sinking into the Ground of the Soul, resting in its natural state of empty and luminous Awareness, alive in its fundamental attributes and qualities and with a fully awakened subtle energy body. In being the person is resting and surrendering into God. In doing the person at prayer is the soul in the pure act of specific devotional modes and methods and interior practices. In doing the person unites to God via the active practices of prayer.

The relationship between being and doing is like wood or coal and its flames. The fire (doing) is latent in the wood (being) so emerges out of it, yet it is the fire that consumes the wood turning it into heat and light. The specific practices of prayer magnify the innate radiance of the soul; prayer is not simply a matter of resting in your True Nature. Our devotion expands our Soul.

People who define prayer primarily in what they do might say something like:

•When I pray, I just talk to God in my own words.

•I go to Church, and I pray along with the Liturgy, sometimes I may pray the Rosary beforehand.

•"I go to synagogue and davven³ with the rest of the congregation."

•I really love contemporary Christian worship music, so when I pray I turn on some of my favorites and sing along with it.

People who define prayer primarily in terms of what they experience (the sense of Being) might say something like:

•When I pray, I sense God’s Presence as this energy that fills my body and I just soak in this feeling.

•I sit down before the altar in the Church, and I am absorbed in the Presence that seems to radiate from there.

•I don’t use any words, but I practice quieting my mind by defocusing my attention, for me this is prayer for God is found in silence.

•I go to this park I love and when I am there God seems to be shining out from the nature around me and I commune with that.

THE RHYTHM OF PRAYER

In practice the way that doing and being is expressed in prayer is in the rhythm of word and silence or devotional practices and meditation. Action or doing is the expression of prayer in devotional thoughts and words. Being is meditation as the focussing on our inner experience as we pray. In this there are two paths, two rhythms.

In the first path something leads to nothing, doing to not-doing. Here the trajectory of prayer is from words to silence, from doing to being. We exhaust the potencies in the heart and mind in the words of prayer until they come to rest. Here then we abide in silent adoration of God grasping at nothing, abiding in Pure Presence.

In the second path nothing leads to something, not-doing to doing. Here the interior quiet of abiding and Pure Presence is taken as the Base, the starting for the flaming forth of the thoughts and words of prayer. This state is taken as a Base for it cuts off the forces of the obscuration of mind and then proper prayer can commence.

Both these paths are valid paths. You can start with thoughts and words (of prayer) to arrive at the state of the silent abiding and Pure Presence. Or you can start with the state of silent abiding and Pure Presence and begin to pray (in thoughts and words). The sum of both these ways is The Speaking Silence.

The title of this book, The Speaking Silence, is taken from an enigmatic word found in the Book of Ezekiel. Ezekiel, in describing one his visions spoke of what is called in Hebrew, the hashmal. Linguistic analysis of the word indicates that its closest meaning is found in the breakdown of its two syllables: Hash meaning speaking and mal meaning silence. A lot of people think that prayer is found in speech and meditation (or contemplation) is found in silence. But in truth, prayer includes both speech and silence. Prayer unfolds in words and without words. Both poles of speech and silence indicate not contradictory movements in the life of prayer but complementary ones.

Speech in prayer is its devotional practices, both modes and methods. It includes the mode of expressive, spontaneous prayers of the Heart and the praying while listening empathically to the words of traditional prayers. Silence in prayer includes the outer silence of not saying, not speaking and the inner silence of the ceasing of discursive thinking and the uncontrolled productions of the imagination.

Meditation in prayer is to engage the internal engines of Memory (Recollection as a spiritual state and practice), Directed Awareness (Attention and Intention), and Affective, devotional states to enhance the prayer experience. It is also being aware in a completely present and penetrative way of the changes in your cognitive, affective, energetic, and somatic states while at prayer.

ABOUT THIS BOOK

The Speaking Silence: A Guide to Prayer-Centered Meditation explores prayer as a fundamental spiritual practice to help you to connect deeply to your own inner nature (soul), experience healing of alienation from your true self and explore your fundamental union with God’s Presence. In it are twelve chapters that act as lessons that make a course of training in devotional practices, meditation within prayer, and mystical contemplation.

The Speaking Silence draws on the timeless Wisdom teaching and heart-advice of the inner life from Christian and Jewish spiritual masters, Saints, and mystics. The Christian mystics and Saints having the strongest formative influence on this book include the Rhineland mystics (Christian mystics of German and Flemish-speaking lands) such as Johannes Tauler and Jan van Ruusbroec; the Carmelites St. Teresa of Avila and St. John of the Cross; Jacob Boehme, the Father of Protestant Mystical Theosophy; the Christian Hermeticism of Valentin Tomberg; the contemporary Christian Charismatic Movement.

Jewish spiritual practices including pietistic, mystical, and contemplative traditions deeply inform the teachings and practices shared in this book. These traditions are approached in a primary way through the lens of the Hasidic movement, the mystical and charismatic movement started by Rabbi Israel ben Eliezer, known as the Ba’al Shem Tov (Master of the Good Name) in 18th Century Ukraine and active in many lineages until today. This view is enhanced through the perspectives of the contemporary Jewish Renewal Movement.

In this book, you will find an approach to prayer and meditation that progressively deepens in theory, practice, and in the fruits of spiritual experience. This book is divided into three parts representing major aspects of Prayer-Centered Meditation. Each chapter in these parts will highlight one component of Prayer-Centered Meditation practice, exploring it theoretically followed by advice on how to practice.

PART ONE: THE SPECTRUM OF DEVOTION introduces the fundamental devotional practices of Prayer-Centered Meditation. Devotional practices are the scaffolding, the outer structure from which this spiritual practice is built. The principal devotional practices are spontaneous, expressive prayers of the heart, praying traditional prayers with empathy, and embodied prayer practices. These devotional practices are grounded in the fundamental gesture of the soul of returning to God.

PART TWO: THE INNER DIMENSIONS OF PRAYER introduce the practice of meditation within prayer. Meditating within prayer is applying our memory as the practices of recollection, directed awareness as the practices of attention (mindfulness) and intention, and the cultivation of the devotional attributes of the heart. This section is rounded out with a discussion of how to deal with distractions in prayer and meditation.

PART THREE: IN THE SCHOOL OF CONTEMPLATIVE PRAYER is the introduction to the state beyond meditation called mystical contemplation. Contemplation is the experience and practice of abiding in God. We explore the general meaning of mystical contemplation, the practices of formless contemplation in the Christian tradition, how the four vehicles of experience—cognitive, affective, energetic, and somatic—are transformed in contemplation, the special practice of activating the Central Channel of the subtle, energy body, and the devotional archetypes as stations of the soul.

CONCLUSION: THE END OF MEDITATION AND THE HORIZON OF HOPED-FOR-BEING is a series of philosophical reflections on the quintessence of the path of Prayer-Centered Meditation. They are not instructional in a conventional sense like most of the rest of the book but reveal the process of Prayer-Centered Meditation from within. Meditation ends when the Face of God shines into our inner being in contemplation, gathering us into completed reality—the Hoped-for-Being.

APPENDIX ONE: GUIDED PRAYER-CENTERED MEDITATION PRACTICES presents a written form of how I might guide meditations in a class setting that are roughly parallel to the structure of various chapters. Instruction in practice is given throughout the book but here you can get a sense of how you might hear them. Short of direct, personal instruction they are the best imaginal reconstructions of the actual process of Prayer-Centered Meditation.

Part One: The Spectrum Of Devotion

CHAPTER 1: THE SOUL’S TRUE HOME: RETURNING TO THE LAND OF THE HEART

What is this in our life always ready to surface? By turning our attention within we discover that beneath the surface of our everyday life is another life within us, the life of the soul. This life is the heart of our life, our innate spiritual aliveness.