Contrary to what is too often stated, meditation cannot of itself provoke illumination;

rather, its object is negative in the sense that it has to remove inner obstacles that

stand in the way, not of a new, but of a preexistent and « innate » knowledge of which 

it has to become aware.

 

Man is by definition a thinking being and consequently he cannot regard thought as 

useless a priori, no matter what is deepest intentions may be; hence his starting point  

must necessarily be thought, not only for the needs of the outer life, where this is self-

evident, but even in his spiritual effort to go beyond the plane of mental limitation.

 

Since he thinks, man must consecrate this faculty to the « one thing needful », as he 

must consecrate all his other faculties, for everything has to be integrated into the 

spiritual; whoever takes thought for the word must also take thought for God, and 

this holds true for every fundamental activity of the human being, since we must go 

to God with all that we are.

 

Every spiritual path, independently of its mode or level, comprises three great 

degrees :

 

     - Purification, which causes « the word to leave man ».

 

     - Expansion, which causes « the Divine to enter into man ».

 

     - And union, which causes « man to enter into God ».

 

The role of meditation is thus to open the soul, firstly to the grace which separates it 

from the word, secondly to that which brings it nearer to God and thirdly to that 

which, so to speak, reintegrates it into God; however, this reintegration may be  

according to circumstance only a fixation in a given « beatific vision », that is to

say a still indirect participation in the Divine Beauty.

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                                                                   Frithjof SCHUON