Prayer and Meditation

Here we are offering prayers and meditations appropriate to the Mysteries of the Second Coming. We hope to embrace the great treasury of spiritual traditions in the life of humankind. This subsection will include prayers, spiritual formulas, mantras and quotations from Holy Scriptures and Initiatic books. We warmly recommend the reader to reflect and meditate on the suggested prayers in the context of the Second Coming Mysteries.

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Mandala Meditation

 

One of the main tasks of the Mandala of the Heavenly Jerusalem is to provide a basis for reflection, meditation and initiation.   For this purpose it converts some of the greatest visions in the spiritual history of humankind, such as those of the prophet Ezekiel, the apostle St. John and the Tibetan guru Tomo Geshe Rimpoche, into a constructive field for inspiring spiritual work.

For instance, the New Jerusalem in St. John's vision can be identified with a colossal cosmic-spiritual Zodiac-Mandala with the Lord God Almighty at its centre who, as an immense spiritual Sun, radiates Light sustaining the whole of Creation.  The four universal directions (East, South, North and West), with three gates on each side, symbolise the four seasons of the great cosmic-spiritual year and the twelve signs of the celestial Zodiac.  Each one of the twelve gates is a gate of a particular initiation and leads to the celestial Temple of that initiation.

The celestial Temples symbolise the three-fold structure of the Universe revealed by the world religions.  We can call them Temples, Mansions, Palaces, Gardens, Worlds, but in essence they encompass the totality of the Universe and enshrine life in the presence of the Living God.  Each celestial Temple represents a unique aspect of Creation and the wholeness of the human being as its micro-model.  Figuratively speaking, we can relate each celestial Temple to a unique metaphysical architecture modelling the Universe. 

The Highest Priests and Priestesses in the Temples are the Masters themselves and their feminine counterparts.  They manifest one or another universal principle of God and fill the whole Temple with Divine Light, Love, Wisdom and Truth.  The Masters, surrounded by their closest disciples (initiates, saints, apostles, bodhisattvas), in union with their feminine counterparts, perform an  eternal  Divine Service  before myriads of their followers.  They  shine  with dazzling white  light  which  integrates all colours of  the  Divine Rainbow  and  reveals the ultimate Truth about God, Creation and the Human Being.  All Temples have a common altar - the Throne of God from where the Masters and their feminine counterparts perform the eternal Service.  In each Temple, however, the altar (the concept of the Throne of God) takes a different form, the one most appropriate and inspiring for the followers of the particular tradition.  In these celestial Temples we will receive the initiations of the Masters.  

The spiritual work on the Mandala of the Heavenly Jerusalem can take many different forms.  These range from a single Mandala-meditation (lasting about an hour) through a wide variety of workshops, seminars and initiatic cycles, up to extended Summer gatherings and spiritual schools.  One of the richest forms of course is the one-year initiatic school consecrated to Step Four.  In this school the meditative work based on the Mandala becomes a great milestone on the Rainbow Path and leads to an entry into the Holy City through the various gates.

In this section it is impossible to describe, even to list, the great variety of types of meditations based on the Mandala.  For illustration let us give just one example of a Mandala meditation.  Figuratively speaking, we can name this meditation 'Knocking at the doors of the Heavenly Jerusalem'. 

If we meditate on mantras and spiritual formulas from the various religions, they will serve as keys which will enable us to enter into the spiritual worlds of these religions.  For instance, the great Buddhist mantra Om Mani Padme Hum symbolises the mystery of the three perfect bodies of Buddha - Dharmakäya, Sambhogakäya and Nirmänakäya - related to the three-fold structure of the Universe (see part One, p. 21): 

 

In the OM we experience the Dharmakäya and the mystery of the universal body; 

in the MANI the Sambhogakäya and the mystery of the mantric sound, as the awakener of psychic consciousness, of inner vision and inspiration;

in the PADMA we experience the Nirmänakäya and the mystery of the all-transforming mind;

in the HUM we experience the Vajrakäya as synthesis of the transcendental body of the Three Mysteries... 

(Lama Anagarika Govinda, Foundations of Tibetan Mysticism).

 

So, by meditating on Om Mani Padme Hum, we can link with the Buddhist spiritual world and taste the flavour of this approach to the essence of Being.  Thus, metaphorically speaking, we will knock at the doors of the Buddhist Temple.  In a similar way we can find appropriate mantras or formulas fitting for each spiritual tradition - for example, Om Tat Sat Chit Ananda (Hinduism), I am that I am (Judaism), I am the Resurrection and the Life (Christianity) and so forth.

 

For many spiritual groups and movements meditation begins and ends with the singing of Om - the sacred word-vibration of the Universe.  Our Mandala meditation could also adopt this practice.  Then, a possible format for this Mandala meditation could be as follows:

 

 

Mandala Meditation 

To begin               Sing Om three times in rich harmony;

Hinduism             Om Tat Sat Chit Ananda

Buddhism            Om Mani Padme Hum

Judaism              I am that I am

Christianity         I am the Resurrection and the Life

Islam                    Lä iläha ill' Alläh 

The Master          God is Love

Peter Deunov's    God is Wisdom

Tradition              God is Truth

The Holy Spirit     Holy, Holy, Holy  

                             Is the Lord God Almighty

                             Who was, who is, and who is to come

  

Close                    Sing Om three times in rich harmony

Beginning with the singing of Om three times in rich harmony concentrates  the mind on the highest vibration of Being and creates the spiritual atmosphere within the group.  After 3-5 minutes the group continues by saying three times the first mantra, Om Tat Sat Chit Ananda.  This mantra activates the vibrations of the Hindu Holy Trinity (Om Tat Sat), the ability to understand it (Chit) and the state of bliss and ecstasy in its contemplation (Ananda).

For 5-10 minutes (depending on the spiritual stream within the group and the spiritual contact of the leader of the meditation, if there is such) the group concentrates and meditates on the Hindu spiritual  world.  The purpose of this short meditation is to link with  the  love and light emanating from the Hindu spiritual culture, to feel the  blessings of the great Hindu Masters, to enter the Heavenly  Jerusalem  through  this  gate  and  to  receive  living fruits of  illumination  from the Hindu celestial Temple. We have to experience this Temple as one of the 'many mansions' in the Heavenly Jerusalem.  In a similar way we meditate on each of the other spiritual formulas and then finish the meditation with the singing of Om.

Groups performing this Mandala meditation can of course vary the formulas and mantras.  Moreover, it is very important to include formulas which invoke the spiritual presence of the feminine counterparts of the Divine Masters.  For example, a perfect formula for linking with Our Lady, the mother of Jesus Christ, is 'I am the Immaculate Conception'.  Groups are also encouraged to add appropriate mantras and formulas for other traditions  if  they know  the  spiritual gates  which  these  traditions open.   Whatever  the  choice,  however, each group should adhere to  the  main  purpose of  this  Mandala  meditation - to link in love,  joy  and  harmony with many existing spiritual traditions, and to knock at their initiatic doors leading to the Heavenly Jerusalem.

 

The Mandala meditation can be done not only with formulas and mantras but also with music (appropriate to each spiritual tradition), with pictures or with various combinations of these elements.   Any time  of  the  day  is  suitable  for  performing  the meditation but of course the most powerful times are sunrise, noon, sunset and midnight.  The Mandala meditation can also be done in any place, but obviously sacred places, hills, mountains and the outdoors are preferable.  The number of participants may vary from a single person to groups of thousands.

 

The suggested Mandala meditation, 'Knocking at the doors of the Heavenly Jerusalem', is just one example of a possible Mandala meditation.  It is evident that the Mandala of the Heavenly Jerusalem contains an enormous potential for reflection, contemplation and meditation.  We can summarise that through Mandala meditations human consciousness will enter a new cosmic-spiritual system of co-ordinates.  In it will be balance, synchronisation and constructive harmony between all polarities: between heavenly and earthly forces, masculine and feminine Divine energies, micro and macro, inner and outer planes of existence of the human being, between the past, present and future in the spiritual history of humankind, between East and West, North and South in human culture and so forth.

 

Successful Mandala meditations will result in illumination, transfiguration and self-realisation.  In love, joy and ecstasy we will enter  into the reality of the Holy City,  the  'new Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God'.  It will appear before us as a living heavenly Mandala illuminated by the great light of all the Divine Masters and their feminine counterparts.  In this high state of consciousness we will merge with the universal bodies of the Divine Masters and will receive their initiations in the Temples of the Holy City.  Thus the prophetic words will be fulfilled:

'Now God's home is with mankind!  He will live with them, and they shall be his people.  God himself will be with them, and he will be their God.'  (Revelation 21: 3)

The name of the city from now on will be, 'The-Lord-Is-Here!'   (Ezekiel, 48: 35) 

                                                     AMEN