Sunday. A moment of contemplation and am recovering from stinking cold. So to healing.

Good day to you my few but cherished brother and sisters. I was laid low with a rotten cold yesterday, that went on my chest and so didnt fell well enough to blog. So how about I now share some more from The Seventh Mansion. I hope this for you is as powerful as it is for me. A little aside. Someone once said, `if the only prayer you ever say is, thank you Jesus, that will be enough.` When I do that prayer it makes me think of all the things I am thanking him for. Taking on human form. Healing people. Dying for us and then overcoming death. Preparing a place for us to go home after this brief time on earth. Sending the Holy Spirit to be our comfort.

A Moment of Contemplation

Even in the Seventh Mansion, where Teresa merges with God, she encourages us to remain introspective and humble at all times. This is so that, when you are given - or graced with - higher truths, you will be ready to utilize them. You must be willing and prepared to use truth, not just to speak about it, Truth is a tool, a force through which you move life forward, When you go from not knowing that thoughts and attitudes influence your reality to knowing it, you are being given the grace of truth. You must change you life and live according to that truth. You cannot do otherwise. An instinctual gut reaction is guidance, truth from God. You may want to dismiss that guidance because it is too overwhelming and you do not want to become aware of that particular truth, but you cannot deny that you are aware of your guidance. You can no longer deny that you hear the voice of God.

THE MYSTICAL ROOTS OF HEALING

A genuine healing of the body, the heart, and the soul is fundamentally a mystical experience. Besides searching for the meaning and purpose of our lives, we strive to solve the mysteries of our psychic imbalances and physical illnesses. Yet, these days, the need to find the root cause, or reason, for why we break down has become so obsessive that it is a pathology unto itself.

During the years that I gave medical intuitive readings, the people I was trying to help frequently turned their readings into "crime solving" sessions-they were looking for the person or situation that caused the stress or unhappiness that led to their illness or depression or other condition. Many seemed to think that finding this criminal stressor would automatically result in a healing.

Crime solving and witch hunts do not heal, as many people eventually discover. Forgiveness is what heals, not discovering causes, not assigning blame. A genuine healing does not occur in the domain of reason and rational thought. The mind is not an instrument capable of healing the body, much less the heart or the soul. For most people, the mind is full of hissing reptiles that can hardly be silenced-fears, illusions, misgivings, endless anxieties, and misinterpretations of what people have said or done to them. Yet people think this chaotic instrument called the mind has the stamina and focus to dissolve cancer in the cell tissue and stabilize all the systems of the body. Hardly.

Healing is not a rational experience that can be brought about by simply visualizing healthy cells running through your body and replacing malignant ones while the rest of you lives a life so filled with fear that you are unable to make the essential choices you need to in order to release you soul to take over. Unless you are willing to let your soul fully take charge without any conditions, you will never completely heal.

Genuine healing is not physical. It is greater than your rational mind. Indeed, you have to transcend the boundaries and the reptiles of your rational mind to open yourself to the grace that can dissolve illness. During the mystical experience of a healing, your soul becomes more empowered than your body mind, and heart. It frees itself from the ground rules governing you physical body and your physical life. Your soul becomes more empowered than your body when you truly, deeply, unconditionally surrender the whole of your life to the divine-including your need to know what will happen next and whether you are going to be safe and healthy. You need literally or symbolically to get on your knees in a position of humility and break down or break through the control that reason holds over you. Finally, you do the most unreasonable act imaginable-you trust an invisible force much greater than yourself to reorder the whole of your life. Let God clean house for you. The prayer, "Lord, get me out of my own way," helps many people who want so much to be able to surrender in trust, but cannot do it. Then you say, "I let go and let God."

I remember when I must of been around nine or ten years old. I went to our Church, Christ Church, here in Luton. It was not during a time for service and so I hadn't expected to see anyone. I don't know why. I suppose I wouldn't have been surprised to see the vicar. Anyway, what I saw was a stranger lying arms outstretched on the floor. Completely still and in silence. Here was there motionless for ages. Back then I thought the man a bit strange and hoped (cant remember if I prayed!) that he wouldn't suddenly notice me. Now around forty odd years later, I get it.

I can myself get down on the ground and in a position of complete surrender make myself a living cross for prayer.

Its coming up to 8am now and I shall make a coffee and wake my son up, who stayed overnight and then we can take Buster the German Sheppard out in the wintry wood, behind these apartments.

May the power of Love, which my name for is God, be with you today and always. Please pray for the lost ones who have recently stolen from me, to be kept away from my refuge here.

Blessings love and peace be upon you. Your brother Peter

Fish on Friday & the snow reminds us of Christmas here.

Okay this photo above shows my Buster furthest from the camera, and a neighbours dog from this morning over the park.

Good day to the selected, but cherished few that visit my blog. Well the snow reminds us Christmas here. Of course there wasn't any snow in Bethlehem. Well as I was thinking some good thoughts, I pondered if the three wise men could have be Zoroastrians. Do you know, when I put that in the search engine; low and behold others have wondered the same. If there was a Zoroastrian place of worship within a few miles I`d have gone and enquired as to what they thought about it. Of course they may be like Christians and some are very open minded and some narrow! At our church, which is called All Saints I believe we are open to the whole gambit and of course are able to change our views. Then again Luton is such a multi cultural town. You can of course find barrow loads of Churches here, of all different denominations. A handful of Mosques, Hindu temples, a synagogue. There`s a Chinese temple in a house across the road. That's an obscure religion which I cant recall. Not Taoist. Anyway, my point is, in Luton as in the UK generally, we welcome all. In general most are good spiritual people. Or at least that's what we go to our respective places of worship to work at becoming. I remember on a course I attended at a church in the Philippines, the leader said, "It no good saying you believe there is a God, even Satan believe God exists. You must pledge yourself to follow Jesus!"

Well I do. Sometimes I fail and fall. Picking myself up though, or even being given a helping hand, I carrying on with my cross. I did think sometime ago, how come if God came to earth in Jesus and took my wrongdoings upon the cross, how come bad stuff still happens to me. Then I worked it out. Nothing is bad if I no longer live, but Jesus lives in me. Why? Because even if evil is done to me and I say `Father forgive them for they know not what they do", Then that affords me some grace which is good for the soul.

I have met some quite dispicable people over the years. From Ian Brady and the Kray twins here, to a corrupt policeman and his hired killers in the third world. I have met some very saintly people. Yet I have not yet met a human being who I could say is always either 100% good, or bad. I should relish meeting the good one, but would hope to be able to flee in terror at the evil one. I am not saying there arent those who are totally evil through and throught to the very core, but by Gods grace I havent come across their path. How dear it would be to be in the company of one so holy I should want to follow them around as a disciple. Well I guess and this is where the salvation army are onto a winner, I can. Jesus said however you treat the least of my people you treat me. So If I not only am good to those in need, but remember to pray as much as I can and there are so many ways to pray, then hopefully I will shake of the old man and Christ can live in me. The power of prayer is my sledge hammer with which I beat down the ego, when it tells me to seek revenge on those who have lied and stolen from me. The Holy spirit says, `Peter, my child you cannto say you have given your life to follow Jesus and then believe you have ownership over eathly possesions. Your very soul belongs to god in Heaven, your body is here to do His bidding on earth. If I no longer live, but Christ lives in me, then I must pray for those I come across who dont choose yet to follow the path to salvation. My one little prayer for them may make the difference to them done the line. People didnt give up on me when I was in approved school, then borstal, prison and finally Broadmoor. Nor when my darling Tracy died and the police arrested me and put me on trial at the Old Bailey. So if I can get stabbed in the Philippines whilst fighting of thugs trying to kill me, then pray for them, I can let go of bad feelings for people who pretend to be friends and then steal from me. The sad thing is, I dont really own one grain of rice, its all Gods. How about I end this fish on Friday with some scripture from the Holy Bible.

...God`s grace has been revealed, and it has made salvation possible for the whole human race and taught us that what we have to do is to give up everything that does not led to God, and all our worldly ambitions; we must be self-restrained and live good and religious lives here in this present world, while we are waiting in hope for the blessing which will come with the Appearing of the glory of our great God and Saviour Christ Jesus. (Titus 2:11-13)

So this is your brother Peter wishing you peace and love in the name of Jesus and all the saints.

ttfn

My Journey back to entering The Castle with St Teresa of Avila.

AUTHENTIC CONTEMPLATION

Some of Teresa`s nuns remarked that they could remain in their states of contemplative ecstasy forever, perhaps trying to impress her with their sentiments. Her response was, "This is impossible." For Teresa, mystical experiences are spontaneous; they have a timeless feel but last only moments, they have a far longer-lasting influence.

As a result, God remains in the soul. God in the walls of your soul has a profound effect on you. For instance, you might usually find it difficult to meditate. Meditation is all about seeking God and is usually a state of mind. But once you`ve found God, the soul doesn`t see any reason to wear herself out searching for God through the intellect, for she has already found a direct route.

There`s an old Zen story of a traveler who encounters a wandering monk with a great burdem of sticks on his back. The traveler asks the monk if he knows the way to enlightenment. The monk nods that he does, so the traveler asks him, The monk immediatly drops his burden."And what happens after the enlightenment?" the traveler asks. In answer, the monk picks up his bundle and continues on his way.

As Jack Kornfield writes in After the Ecstasy, the Laundry, "We all know that after the honeymoon comes the marriage. After the election comes the hard task of governance. In spiritual life, it is th same: After the ecstasy comes the laundry. "Even after mystical union, you life next. You meditate or pray not to avoid your life or your loved ones, but to face them, to be better with them, to do better for them.

There is no place lift to go but directly into the Seventh Mansion, directly into the embrace of the divine.

Exit Prayer

I am a channel of grace. As I leave my Castle, grace surrounds me and grace protects me. I enter my life under the blessing of God and I remain open to receive guidance from my soul.

Have a good day my brothers and sisters. Its nearly 4.45am here in Luton, England. My faithful hound Buster, who like me has been up almost two hours, will enjoy going out for a run. So I had better wrap up warm, put my running shoes on and enter the affray which is today.

May God bless you and keep you in the Love which goes beyond our understanding.

Your brother Peter

Over the park with Buster shooting without flash.

Good day to you. I like the way the light is moving about in waves.

Can you make Buster out in the picture on the right?

On the left is a nice still photo. Obviously shot in colour. Yet the real light and dark greys are predominant. Just the lights of the town behind to show there is human habitation. I like the shape of the fir trees contrasting with the others.

This is what came from my camera without flash

It was still quite dark as you can see from the top photos. So this is what? A surreal/impressionist Buster the dog?

Funny that the writing is all over the place and yet I am feeling calm, tranquil and apart from having a stinking cold and a headache am looking forward to the day.

Quotes for today (and yes I don't give a quote every day, but then like buses, three can turn up all together.)

Absence of attachment to sense-objects is liberation; desire for sense - objects is bondage. Understand this fact, and then do as you please. ASHTAVAKRA GITA

This is your brother, Peter bidding a good day to all beings. Peace and Love to you all.

Back to the same old street, Yet I am a new man.

Good day my brothers and sisters. I stretched the view dowm the street from my balcony. It reminded me that its good sometimes for us to stretch ourselves. Not just physically, though thats good. See how cats of all sizes enjoy doing it. Also we must also stretch our own view of what our capabilities are. I have been spending a couple of hours dealing with peoples online prayer requests and must get on with some housework. Just a reminder that if anyone wants to email me then I should like to hear from you at theartistpgk@talktalk.net. Bye for now

EVENING POST: In the sixth mansion with saint Teresa of Avila

Good day to you my brother and sisters. The Buster and I are in our apartment doing our own seperate things. Me as you can guess on the keyboard. Buster, I expect you would be able to guess , in a month of Sundays, is curled up asleep. This gives me opportunity and time to share some more writing with you by Caroline Myss;

CHARACTERISTICS OF MYSTICAL

EXPERIENCES

The divine comes upon or speaks to the soul unexpectedly. In the Sixth Mansion, you open yourself to mystical encouters or visitations but you do not expect them. Teresa never expected any of her experiences with God, and this teaching of no expectations is among her most important contributions. Even though these raptures can seem miraculous, Teresa cautions us not to expect miracles. Stay mindful of your limitations; stay humble. You are a vessel, a conduit for grace, not a generator.

One characteristic of the mystical experience is the pain that is not a pain, a sensual, mystical fire that ignites within the soul. The fire takes you over, but, just before the point where you feel that you are about to burst into flames, it goes out, leaving you wanting more of God. The experience ends as instantly as it began, lasting only seconds, not minutes. Another, similar expereince is to feel as if you suddenly burst into flames and a powerful fragrance has engulfed you and spread through your senses. Unlike the pain that is not a pain, this mystical experience activates a divine fire of love.

The divine may also speak to the soul through intellectual visions. These transmissions are in absolutely clear words that are spoken "even though He speaksthem in secret." During an intellectual vision, you are disconnected from the world, and though the soul is able to remember the revelation in every detail, you cannot communicate it verbally. This is a deeper, more personal experience than in earlier mansions when the divine appeared in signs or symbols that you had to interpret. These visions are not fleeting or volitional. During a true vision, a powerful stirring occurs and then suddenly everything goes quiet. Without any effort on the soul`s part, wisdom overcomes unconsciousness and certainty replaces all doubt. Teresa also describes visual revelations, or imaginative visions, which she says are useful because they match up more with our animal nature; our senses are engaged.

In intellectual visions, the soul suddenly feels the presence of God beside her, not with the five senses but through the intellect. According to Teresa, deception is not possible in an intellectual vision. The effects it creates inside the soul are so beneficial that the spirit of evil could never be responsible for them. Goodness flows from the vision. This experience could not be the result of a mental imblance, either, because the results are too glorious. The soul is awash with a profuound serenity and left with a special knowledge of God. God alerts you that he is always beside you. The constancy of devine companionship gives rise to a most tender love for God, awakening a more profound purity of consciousness because the prsence at you side makes your soul more sensitive to everything.

The still, small voice is a common way through which God speaks to us. Yet, many times I have suspected that the voice people tell me they heard was simply their imagination, because the details and demands were fairly earthbound, Every now and again, though, I meet someone who radiates a certain grace that indicates a rich inner life. Now, as ever, if you ask for inner guidance, you are going to receive inner guidance And it will come through your interior channels. A letter will not drop out of the sky into your lap; the phone will not ring with God on the other end, you will not be transported into the next phase of your life without effort.

The Bible and other sacred literature are filled with stories of spiritual voices, from Moses and the burning bush to Mary receiving the message that she was avout to become mother of Jesus. People have told me countless wonderful stories of a voice that told them to sell their homes, or quit their jobs, or that they would marry the man or woman they were with. Two women told me that they heard a voice tell them that, regardless of what the medical tests said, they would indeed get pregnant. And they did.

People often ask me, "I am praying for guidance, but I don`t hear anything. What am I doing wrong?" I have even had people say they must be using the wrong prayers, as if prayers were magical spells. Many people receive responses to their prayers through intuition rather than a direct communication from God, which can be overwhelming. You need a ferocious degree of stamina in order to deal with both the experience of guidance and the message. You need to trust in the authenticity of your experiences and unconditionally trust in God.

Teresa, one of God`s great conspirators, heard the voice of God in many expressions. The five characteristics of a genuine spiritual voice are as valid today as they were a half millennium ago:

1) It is so clear that the soul remembers every word as well as the tone. The messages carry divine power and authority.

2) It is unexpected. Frequently, these messages come when we are preoccupied with other thoughts, and they so thoroughly eclipse the usual mind-body conversation that they jolt us into paying attention. They often reveal a future that the soul never believed could or would happen. Imagination cannot make that up if it`s never accourred to the mind. Because this communication interferes with the rational mind`s preoccupations, it is a strong indication that the communication is not self-generated.

The message also converts into powerful action for good. Imagine a time when you were sad ou upset by something. If a person who truly does not care about you says, "Oh, things will be okay. Don`t worry about it," you would feel no comfort at all. But if someone you love and trust says, "Be not troubled," you would feel that she was sent by God to deliver that message to you.

Many people have shared stories with me of how a dear person happened to show up at the right time, delivering just the right message, a coincidence that they viewed as divinely choreographed, Teresa would hear, "It is I, fear not," during some of her more troubled moments

and would be well. to be continued at number 3

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It is time, my fellow travellers in space and time, to bid you goodbye for now. If it is meant by the grace of God for me to continue this writing about an inner path to God and Our Souls, then I assure you this is my desire.

May the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, be with you now and always.

Your brother Peter.

More from entering two more rooms in, The Castle, about St Teresa` spirituality.

THE SECOND ROOM

Are You the Goal or Is God?

You can lose your focus on the spiritual path making yourslf the goal instead of mystical illumination. This happens, understandably, because you are in your body and in your life and your body can become weak and your life can become overwhelming. But your body and your life are in service to your soul - that is the vision you must strive to animate. When you lose your focus and are taken in by an earthly concern that causes you suffering, enter into a dialogue with your soul in which you ask to see the symbolic meaning of your suffering.

Soul Work: Let your soul reveal the deeper meaning of the suffering you are temporarily enduring. Detach from the grip it now has on your life. Rise above the suffering; see it from high above. Ask your soul to illuminate your interior, to transform your suffering into insight and purpose. Pray for this profound act of transformation.

THE THIRD ROOM:

How Do You Embrace Grace?

Grace is divine fire, cosmic power, that runs through your being, calming your body, inspiring your thoughts, healing your physical pain, preventing you from an accident, guiding your inner journey. Grace is the indescribable breath of God entering into your being while you pray. Grace is the energy you call upon to help another person in need of comfort, healing, or inspiration. To embrace grace, become aware of its presence in your life, mindful of the reality of this divine substance.

Soul Work: Ask your soul how you can know grace as an essential force in your life. Pray and be still so that you become aware of what your charism-your special grace-feels like when it inters your system. Practice consciously embracing grace with your soul. Come back to this room. As you practice, your capacity to contain grace for others expands.

BE MINDFUL OF EVIL

Evil was a genuine adversar tor Teresa and had many manifestations. She was not physically chasing demons down the halls of her convent, but she saw evil as ever present, a force against which you must be on your guard. Doubs and fears qualify as the workins of evil; for example, doubting your inner experiences of God is evil. The force of evil finds a weakness in your psyche and takes advantage of it at every possible opportunity. If you have a fear of being rejected, for example, evil would animate that fear every time you felt insecure. You would interpret everything you heard in every conversation through your fear of rejection, drowning out all other reasonable interpretations. This noise in your head would then lead you to make poor choices in your relationships and other areas of your life.

Prayer and faith are your protection. I ance asked a very blessed mystic for advice about some matter that would require that I meet with a person whom I considered harmful. His counsel to me was tho prepare for that meeting by spending a couple of hours in prayer. He said, "You must always prepare to meet evil by building a field of grace with prayer. Evil cannot penetrate grace. " I understood then that the individual I was meeting was not evil; a psycic field of evil had gathered around him and was taking advantage of his fears; as a result he was making decisions that harmed many people. But I built a field of grace that allowed me to be near him and not lose my center.

Evil is a very real force, just as goodness is a real presence in the world. Never be so proud as to believe that because we live in a modern world with electrical lights and plumbing and computers, darkness and the devil have vanished.

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Copying out the above has given me a peaceful spirit which I hope with prayer will stay with me throughout the day. I pray that it will bring you something positive. With love from your brother in Christ, Peter.