As we Progressively Realize our interexistence and unity with One Another and God, we discover that the Absolute Deepest desire in our Heart is to Know and Love God.
Just as in any relationship, to Progress into every deeper intimacy and intercourse with God, we must get to Know God.
The best Way to get to Know God is to discover the inner Silence that allows us to hear His Word. There is no substitute for direct Dialogue with the Divine.
However this inner Sanctuary takes Time, Discipline, Practice, and Focus to cultivate. It's doors are unlocked and its riches bestowed by the Spirit of God in direct proportion to the degree to which our Spirit is being United to God.
As we learn to cultivate the Silence and hear the Word of God, we also begin to get to Know God by reading and listening to the Word of God as it has been discerned and spoken by those who have gone before us.
To get to know God, we begin by listening to His Voice, as directly and personally and without mediation as possible.
Because the Spirit of God is within us, Communion with God is not subject to the mediation or authority of pastors, priests, or gurus.
And yet, if we were training to be Martial Arts masters, we would be foolish not to study and absorb as much as we could from the most widely respected and revered Masters who have gone before. And until we reached Mastery our Selves, say after 15 years of intense study and external validation of our Progress and achievements, we would be exceedingly foolish to stray from the Straight And Narrow Path carved over the millennia by the Masters.
In the Martial Arts, when one is learning the Way, there is a concept called Shu, Ha, and Ri.
Shu, Ha, and Ri relate to levels of Mastery in a learning system designed to transmit a Way.
Shu is the level of the beginner. In the beginning, one must follow the teachings of the Teacher exactly. It is often called Follow Me Form. Do not ask questions. Do not attempt to improvise. Only attempt to do exactly what the Master says to do and does.
Ha is the level of the intermediate. At this level, the Learner begins to intuit and see how the patterns interrelate, and sense the Deeper hidden principles and synergies. They begin to articulate and propose their own Understanding of the Art And Science of the Way they are learning, and this level often takes them up to their first, second, or third degree blackbelts. At this level, it is very tempting for the Learner to break away too soon, to arrogantly believe they Know, and begin to do things their own way. They are learning to question. They are beginning to see the oversimplifications and cracks in the elementary teachings and forms. However they do not yet Know the answers.
Ri is the level of Mastery, through which one discovers that in order to actually embody the Spirit of the Way, one must continually Break The Rules In Order To Do What Is Right.
From a religious lens, this level of Mastery can be witnessed repeatedly through the stories of Jesus, who constantly violated the strict rules and teachings of the religious order of his day in order to manifest Wise Right thought, words, and action intuitively from the Spirit of God.
Shu and Ha speak to The Letter Of The Law.
Ri speaks to The Spirit Of The Law.
So let us, the humble Learners, turn to the Masters of the Way of God, and give our attention to The Prophets.
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