THOUGHTS ON PRAYER - 4

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Mysticism, as the technique of the

consciousness of the presence of God,

is altogether praiseworthy, but when such

practices lead to social isolation and culminate

in religious fanaticism, they are all but reprehensible.

Altogether too frequently that which the overwrought

mystic evaluates as divine inspiration is the uprisings

of his own deep mind. The contact of the mortal mind

with its indwelling Adjuster, while often favored by

devoted meditation, is more frequently facilitated

by wholehearted and loving service in unselfish

ministry to one's fellow creatures.

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The great religious teachers and prophets

of past ages were not extreme mystics. They

were God-knowing men and women who best

served their God by unselfish ministry to their

fellow mortals. Jesus often took his apostles away

by themselves for short periods to engage in meditation

and prayer, but for the most part he kept them in

service-contact with the multitudes. The soul

of man requires spiritual exercise as well as

spiritual nourishment.

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Religious ecstasy is permissible when

resulting from sane antecedents. but such

experiences are more often the outgrowth of

purely emotional influences than a manifestation

of deep spiritual character. Religious persons must

not regard every vivid psychologic presentiment

and every intense emotional experience as a divine

revelation or a spiritual communication.

Genuine spiritual ecstasy is usually associated

with great outward calmness and almost perfect

emotional control. But true prophetic vision

is a superpsychologic presentiment.

Such visitations are not pseudo hallucinations,

neither are they trancelike ecstacies.

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The Urantia Book

Part III, 91, 7

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