Thomas Keating, Invitation to Love:
The Way of Christian Contemplation. New York: Continuum, 1995. 151 pages.
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Chapter 19. he Essence of Contemplative Prayer
Contemplative prayer also is not a psychic or parapsychological phenomenon. Though these phenomena may indeed signal a transition from mental egoic to intuitive consciousness, this only means access to new energy, not freedom from the false self.
The essence of contemplative prayer is not the experience of mystical phenomena, which, like the charismatic gifts, are probably also meant to encourage the Christian people in times of difficulty such as war, disaster, and persecution.
"The essence of contemplative prayer is not the way of external or internal phenomena, but the way of pure faith. This is the narrow door that leads to life." Our experience, what we feel, is not the most important part. Like the two nuns whose stories Keating briefly retells, we may arrive at transforming union either with or without exuberant mystical experiences.
St. John of the Cross said that contemplative prayer is a ray of darkness. The darkness of faith is the evidence of things not seen; and "the way of pure faith is to persevere in contemplative practice without worrying about where we are on the journey, and without comparing ourselves with others or judging others’ gifts as better than ours."
It is commitment to the journey and faithful practice rather than spiritual experiences that lead to the transforming union. Though we cannot perceive it through our natural senses, "the divine light of faith is totally available in the degree that we consent and surrender ourselves to its presence and action within us."