The Cloud of Unknowing (Shambhala Pocket Library Book 19)

by Anonymous

I’m saying that during contemplation, don’t have any special relationships. Forget everyone, friend or enemy, family or stranger. To do this work perfectly, you must neglect everything that is not God. And let me tell you what this discipline will do for you. It will change your heart. It will make you so kind and dynamic in loving that when you stop doing it and mingle with the world again, coming down from contemplation to converse with or pray for your neighbor, you’ll discover that you love your slanderer as much as your friend, and that you love any stranger as much as a relative—in fact, sometimes you’ll be more partial to your enemy than to your friend. I’m not saying that you should ever completely abandon the work of contemplation, which would be a sin, but you will find that the demands of love sometimes require you to shift gears out of contemplative prayer, so that you can care for others.