Day 16: Contemplative prayer, part III

I'll wrap up my contemplative prayer trilogy of posts with another quote (from the same book):

As the unconscious is emptied out, the awareness of the deepest level in us is also an awareness of the deepest level in everyone else. This is the basis for the commandment to love one's neighbor as oneself. When you truly love yourself, you become aware that your true Self is Christ being expressed in YOU, and the further awareness that EVERYBODY else enjoys this potential too. Augustine had a phrase for it: "One Christ loving himself." That is a good description of a mature Christian community. You are aware that a power greater than you is doing everything...

Instead of seeing only someone's personality, race, nationality, gender, status, or characteristics (which you like or do not like), you see what is deepest -- one's union or potential union with Christ. You also perceive everyone's desperate need of help. The transcendent potential of most people is still waiting to be realized, and this awakens a great sense of compassion. This Christ-centered love takes us out of ourselves and brings our newly found sense of independence into relationships that are not based on dependency, as many relationships tend to be, but that are based on Christ as their center. It enables one to work for others with great liberty of spirit because one is no longer seeking one's own ego-centered goals but responding to reality as it is.