Discussion Post I Submitted for my Atlantic University TP5000 Course – June 4, 2019
Edgar Cayce and Jack Kornfield approach meditation from different angles. In Kornfield’s A Path with Heart, he ties meditation to the “art of awakening.” Specifically, he notes that with the practice of meditation, “we can learn new ways to approach our difficulties and bring wisdom and joy alive in our life.” And thus, by doing so, “we can awaken the best of our spiritual human capacities” (1993, p. 56).
Cayce sees the regular practice of meditation – along with prayer, intercession, and service – as a vehicle for piercing our critical mind, and reaching deeper levels of the psyche. As Harmon Hartzell Bro says in Edgard Cayce: A Seer out of Season, meditation according to Cayce thereby raises to the surface “the true and natural bent of the soul” (1989, pp. 91). Cayce views the “natural bent of the soul” as “noble.” The practice of bringing the noble parts of us to the surface through meditation is a way of discarding what separates us from God, thereby revealing our true purpose, helping the soul grow, and making us stronger physically and mentally. (1989, pp. 91-92).
Both Cayce and Kornfield see meditation as an extremely important spiritual tool to aid us in expanding ourselves to greater levels of consciousness. While Cayce may use different terminology, he sees meditation similarly to Kornfield in that it’s a means of bringing to the surface the best of who we are as humans. With Cayce’s Christian background, he sees the ultimate purpose of every human to be in closer communion with God in order to do His will, and it is this process of becoming closer to God where we become truly human. Kornfield’s sees the outcome of meditation as a means to help us see our greater surroundings, and therefore to experience the universe as it truly exists. As he notes, the aim of meditation is to open us to the “here and now,” which is the “great mystery of life, the great music of life” (1993, p. 325).
References
Bro, H. H. (1989). A seer out of season: The life of history’s greatest psychic. A.R.E. Press: Virginia Beach, Virginia.
Kornfield, J. (1993), A path with heart. New York, NY: Bantam Book.