"St. Paul’s journey from Jerusalem to Damascus would have taken several days on horseback. It is reasonable to believe that on such a long journey, St. Paul would have spent much of his time in prayer and mediation, particularly at the hour of prayer at which his vision took place. This means that when his vision occurred on that road, as suddenly as it did, knocking him from his horse, this vision lay within his realm of interpretation. Within his spiritual practice, such a vision would have been seen as a gift bestowed upon only a few who were blessed to share the experience of Ezekiel and the other prophets. However, when St. Paul receives his vision, it is not an angelic figure which he sees upon the throne or divine glory, but Jesus Christ, seated on the throne-chariot of Yahweh. St. Paul’s vision on the road to Damascus is not just a vision which informs him that Jesus is the Messiah, it also powerfully showed him that Jesus Christ is God. It is on this basis that St. Paul can proceed in his epistles to speak of Jesus Christ as the incarnate second hypostasis of the God of Israel." - https://blogs.ancientfaith.com/wholecounsel/2018/07/24/st-paul-the-mystic/ #Merkabah #Hesychasm #PrayerOfTheHeart #JesusPrayer #Theosis #Divinization #Prayer

"We awaken in Christ’s body as Christ awakens our bodies, and my poor hand is Christ; He enters my foot and is infinitely me. I move my hand, and wonderfuly my hand becomes Christ, becomes all of Him (for God is indivisibly whole, seamless in His Godhood). I move my foot, and at once He appears like a flash of lightning. Do my words seem blasphemous? Then open your heart to Him, and let yourself receive the one who is opening to you so deeply. For if we genuinely love Him, we wake up inside Christ’s body where all our body, all over, every most hidden part of it, is realized in joy as Him, and He makes us utterly real, and everything that is hurt, everything that seemed to us dark, harsh, shameful, maimed, ugly, irreparably damaged, is in Him transformed and recognized as whole, as lovely, and radiant in His light. We awaken as the Beloved in every part of our body." - St. Symeon the New Theologian (949 – 1022)

#Hesychasm #PrayerOfTheHeart #JesusPrayer #Theosis #Divinization #Prayer
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One of the most mystical lectures from the point of view of Alexandrian Valentinian Christianity: a contemplative text known as The Treatise on Resurrection (Nag Hammadi Codices Book One, 4). It pertains to self or soul realization, divinization. https://youtu.be/tmQQt640xmI

#divinization #theosis #gnosis #valentinus #naghammadilibrary #treatise onresurrection #gnostic #christianity #christianmystics #christianmysticism #secondcenturyad #Youtube