Your Instructor
Clint Sabom is an award-winning writer and former aspirant monk. His poetry has been published in The Tulane Review, The Eclectic Muse, and his articles have appeared most recently in Paste Magazine. He is the author of Preparation For Great Light: Recollections Of A Christian Mystic. This is the kind of book that you don’t usually get from spiritual writers early in their career – where they candidly reveal the significant religious experiences that have shaped them – available now on Amazon. Clint works as Special Projects Coordinator at Dabel Brothers Publishing. Clint is a founding member of Contemplative Light.
Course Description
For anyone who craves to deepen their contemplative process and more fully embody and integrate the the higher stages of the mystical path, Contemplative Perspectives: Frameworks for the Divine offers an opportunity to travel through the various states of awakening and understand the territory. With the historic practice of The Jesus Prayer as a jumping off point, we explore the experiential aspects of the Purgation/Illumination/Union path of Christian Mysticism. To help make these traditional dimensions and phases of the spiritual life more accessible for the contemporary seeker, we also use the most relevant material from Integral Theory, Mindfulness, and Psychology.
Course Objectives
- Integrate the practice of the Jesus Prayer into your daily life and observe the changes and shifts that happen as you progress.
- Deepen your experience of states of consciousness and understand these from the perspective of The Christian Mystical Path and Integral Theory. Become more understanding and dwelling within these states.
- Break through the next barrier in your contemplative practice. After one state of awareness becomes integrated, new states open up after that. There is always another layer of the onion to unpeel. What is this for you? This course provides practical exercises and a wide array of theoretical perspectives to help make that happen
If you are familiar with Integral Theory, this course focuses on the Causal and Witnessing state-stages of the Waking Up Process using The Jesus Prayer as our contemplative practice in accessing and integrating these states into everyday awareness.
If you are familiar with Christian Mysticism, this course focuses on the contemplative path to God, using The Jesus Prayer through the stages of purgation, illumination, and divine union.
Material
This is a self-paced course. You will have lifetime access. Most of our students find that is helpful to circle back through this course material as your prayer life and practice grows and evolves over time. Content includes:
- Audio meditations on the process of saying The Jesus Prayer.
- Diagrams and charts about Christian mysticism, World Mysticism, and Integral Spirituality
- Visual presentations with lecture about the nature of different states of awakening
- Audio talks about non-dual perspectives from other religions
- Written practical advice for saying the prayer on an ongoing basis. Growing with the prayer.
If all this is somewhat new to you, don’t worry, included in this course is a simple introduction to The Jesus Prayer, its practice and history as well as background on the Christian contemplative tradition: a good source of review for those familiar with it, and a good foundation of context for those learning it for the first time. There are also charts that introduce Integral Theory and Buddhist metaphysical concepts in a clear, accessible way.
In the words of a current student:
The integral Jesus Prayer method is really taking shape. I find that as I pray, an image or thought comes to mind. I continue to repeat the prayer while submitting that thought to God, asking God for help in the area the thought is about. Sometimes I find it’s about Christ having mercy on a certain aspect of myself, a certain area of my life, or sometimes it expands outwards to my family, or a group of people. Typically it’s just a mental image and the Jesus Prayer at the same time. I’m finding the integral Jesus Prayer as a way of submitting everything to God without having to find the ‘right words’. Just knowing that situation or aspect has been submitted to God and God will help me in ways that are beyond words and my own understanding is a wonderful gift of grace.
Martin T.
