Elemental Awareness

“It is not hard to master this way of thinking. I am certain that even the most uneducated man or woman, accustomed to a very primitive type of life, can easily learn it…And so, go down to the deepest point of your mind and think of yourself in this simple, elemental way…In any case, do not think what you are but that you are.”
—Privy Counsel, Ch. 2

The author expresses some amusement at the difficulty that the highly educated sometimes have with this practice, accustomed as they are to using their intellect to solve problems. He also recognizes the differences in language that different contemplatives might use in describing wordless prayer, based on their experience (that whereas he talks about going down, others might think of it as going up.)

At any rate, it all comes down to the “elemental awareness” of our own being. He forcefully reiterates that this is not introspection, and does not involve identifying the qualities of being at all. The awareness of one’s brokenness and sinfulness will be strong during contemplative practice, but studying this condition is thinking, not praying. Rather, he counsels that we instead lift our whole being, brokenness and all, just as it is, toward the Divine Being, with a simple confidence that the offering of our whole being is enough.