Hortus Conclusus

On Prayer:

Here is now decided whether the seeker, having arrived at the second demand, is also already truly entitled to ‘ask’!

‘Asking’ here is not a plea for something to be granted which one would as it were hope to gain from ‘without’! ‘Asking’ here is the release of a spiritual power which brings about the manifestation of what has already been acquired through ‘seeking’ and ‘finding’. –

In true ‘prayer’ one cannot ‘ask’ for anything other than what has already been given from eternity in the will of original being.

But one can only attain possession of what has been given in this manner if one has in self-immersion given up one’s own will, and allowed it to sink into the will of the eternal being. – –

Thus he who truly ‘prays’ is already granted in advance whatever he asks for…

Nonetheless, even genuine ‘prayer’ can certainly be directed at quite specific and particular things; however, the efficacy of the ‘asking’ is by no means without any limits! – –

This efficacy is precisely determined by what the one asking could truly acquire from all that is given; thus it was not at all foolish when times enflamed with belief were convinced that the prayers of some people achieved a certain result, whereas all the prayers of others achieved nothing…

It is insignificant whether those whose prayers were regarded as more efficacious had been taught the mystery of true ‘prayer’ rationally or only intuited the truth darkly. –

Even if they were moved by fusty superstition to do the right thing unconsciously, they were indeed able to heighten the effect of their prayer to a level which appeared to others as ‘miraculous’. – –

Nevertheless, accounts of these masters of genuine ‘prayer’ often tell how their prayers achieved nothing in certain cases, – whether because of the unbelief and hardness of heart of those for whom they prayed, or because they sought to ‘pray for’ something for themselves which they could not ‘pray for’ for themselves…

It would truly be an exaggeration to want to call true ‘prayer’ something like ‘omnipotent’ as the might of the eternal original being sees its limits in itself because the eternal Godhead can not work against itself. –

On the other hand, only very few people today know from their own experience what true ‘prayer’ can achieve. – – –

Some, however, became acquainted with the power of ‘prayer’, although they certainly had no idea why they were ‘heard’; thus they came up with their own explanation where their imperfect insight was incapable of providing clarity.

They had come, their souls in anguish and completely unconsciously, to immerse themselves in their profoundest depths and thereby to ‘find’. Thus became their own what they then – again  unconsciously – were able to ‘ask for’ correctly; and in the same way they learnt to ‘knock’ in the proper manner so that the temple doors had to open up to them. – –

Since indeed it is possible for every man here on earth to ‘pray’ correctly, fully aware of the sublime act, if he only learns to ‘pray’ and does not just wait until physical suffering or bitter torment of the soul teach him from the unconscious, – so it would signify contempt for divine help, if all who had received correct teaching did not seek thereafter to act according to that teaching…

Now it seems, admittedly, very strange to many that one should learn to ‘pray’ in the same way as any skill that can be learnt?!

But all those in the past who consciously practised ‘prayer’ here on earth as a sacred heavenly art had only come to this art through teaching and their own learning. – –

Indeed, the ancient sacred account reveals to us that those pupils of the great Man of Love who asked him to teach them to pray must have already attained some sublime insight, as only their awareness that prayer can be learnt motivated the question they put to the Master.

They certainly already knew enough prayers by rote and did not ask: “Lord, teach us a new prayer”. On the contrary, – they said clearly and unambiguously:

“Lord, teach us to pray!”

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Even if the whole of the ancient account were nothing other than pure fiction, the writer would have revealed himself as a man of knowledge; for only such a man could have put these unambiguously clear words into the mouths of the exalted Master’s pupils. – – –

It is necessary now to teach how one must ‘ask’ in order to ‘receive’.

It is with this purpose that I repeat once more that the ‘asking’ required by true ‘prayer’ must be far removed from all supplication and begging.

It is not the point to finally soften a heart of stone, or to extract a gift that is not the beggar’s due!

He who has created his entitlement to ‘ask’ by correct ‘seeking’ and ‘finding’ only has to ensure that he asks, as it were, – intelligible: – that he maintains the correct attitude which leads to the release of those powers through which ‘receiving’ becomes reality.

This ‘asking’ is a calm, completely peaceful and confident shaping of a precise imagining which can be seen as a ‘model’ of what one is ‘asking’ for. –

But as soon as the will of the one who prays has created this imagining and concentrated it into the greatest possible solidity, he must completely submit, leave and entrust himself along with his creation, to the eternal will of original being.

Here everything depends on the whole individual will being immersed, with the ‘model’ that it has created, into the will of original being in such a way that not even the slightest movement of the will arises from the sea of eternal will, – that not even the smallest part of the ‘model’ is left which  has not been filled and permeated by the waves of this sea.

If what is requested in this way through ‘prayer’ is at all ‘given’ in the eternal will of original being, and if the one who asks in this way has already attained it as his own through his ‘seeking’ and ‘finding’, then what is requested will be granted in the very moment when absolute immersion in the original will takes place. Only the inevitable lapse of earthly time is needed for the effect of the prayer to manifest itself, assuming that he who asks understands at the same time how to ‘knock’ correctly. – – –

The only, yet truly insurmountable, resistance such asking can encounter within man himself is  doubt! – –

With respect to the possibility of concession, he who prays can surely only intuit and guess.

He cannot know with certainty whether what he prays for belongs to those things which have been given in the original will for all eternity. He has just as little certain knowledge as to whether he is already ‘entitled to receive’ his request in its entirety.

Thus he also cannot know if he has already been conceded his request in a special case, and it would be an arrogant presumption to expect it in all circumstances…

And yet he must not doubt for a moment that everything must be conceded unto him that can be conceded according to the conditions!

He must completely banish the question: – whether he will ‘receive’ what he requests or not, from his thinking and feeling! – –

He must, as it were, ‘neutralise’ all wishes and hopes within him!

He must unreservedly unite with the will of the original being; he must melt completely into this will without allowing the slightest doubt to emerge about the certainty of his request being conceded, inasmuch as the possibility of such concession exists! –

This too would be ‘learnt’; only he who learns it will become master over all doubts! – –

But over time, the more the evidence stacks up to show that correct ‘asking’ carries within it concession in the manner it can materialise, the easier it will become to vanquish all doubts before they can place themselves as obstacles in the way.

But if he has effectively overcome doubt, he who prays must certainly not become arrogant in his confidence!

Above all he must not believe that he can himself determine the manner in which his request is to be granted, nor must he presume to enforce, so to speak, a time convenient for himself…

None of this is within his permit!

He must leave all these things to those exalted mights assigned by eternal original will, to keep destinies under their spiritual influence, so that the chain of occurrence always joins especially those links necessary for calling forth, without disrupting the physical laws of the earth, effects brought about in the realm of the spirit, – in the realm of original causes…

Thus it may happen that it seems as though a ‘request’ has gone unheard. But meanwhile all powers are in motion to bring about its concession, which of course may then take place in a way different to the one the person praying believed it would be received.

Often the day comes, after a long time, when the person praying finally learns to see that he has already been conceded his request, and in a better way than he could have hoped for…

The promise that someone who prays will certainly ‘receive’ must not be confined merely to things pertaining to earthly life. Those who simply see it 

from an earthly perspective must tell themselves that the promise may also be fulfilled if the person praying receives different things from those asked for. – –

But what is above all relevant for this promise, and so instructive for the teaching which is to be imparted here, is that those things which from eternity have remained reserved for earthly man for all eternity, can be ‘received’ through correct asking.

One should do one thing and not neglect the other on its account!

Since things pertaining to this earthly life press upon man of this earth with utmost insistence, he should indeed use the power of ‘prayer’ to lighten his earthly load, or to offer his fellow man  help when all external possibilities of helping have been exhausted or shown to be insufficient. –

Primarily ‘prayer’ is given to man so that he might once more possess his eternal inheritance: – so that he might ‘receive’ that which is called by a very slippery word in the language of so-called ‘theologians’ – grace. – –

What is truly meant here, however, by those who still knew about these things, is anything but a gift of arbitrariness!

Even eternal original love, from which everything emanates which is in ‘being’ and in ‘existence’, can not change its own ‘structure; – it cannot negate ‘law’ which exists through its own eternal being for the sake of love, but must see the stipulations of law fulfilled, if it is to be able to assume unto itself once more that which has been estranged from  it. – –

And so it is true ‘asking’ which again enables the stream of eternal love to flow through the consciousness of earthly man…

The ‘asking’, which is not begging and the desire to bargain, but a calm offering up of oneself, in the surest certainty that the reception of the divine stream of love will not be held back, – cannot be held back. – – –

Here is nothing other than a spiritual law which must be fulfilled before the effect takes place!

Therefore, just as the seeker only found within himself what he previously sought in vain outside himself, he who asks now receives within himself the necessary living stream of love. – –

In his previous state he can be compared to an electric motor which, all components having been checked, is now ready to operate; however, a current of energy coming from the power source does not yet flow through it.

But now the connection is made: – the motor is set in motion by the current; – then it awaits its application, for the power would flow through it in vain were there no opportunity to make use of its motion. –

Through this analogy are illustrated the three requirements of true ‘prayer’.

‘Seeking’ and ‘finding’ can be compared to the technical examination of the motor, including its innermost components.

‘Asking’ and ‘receiving’ are recognised in establishing the connection, and the electrical current flowing through it.

‘Knocking’ and ‘opening up’, on the other hand, can well be compared with connecting the motor to the machines it will drive and the activity thereby brought about.

Yet this analogy, taken from the field of technology in modern times, is meant to be nothing other than a hint which might support my words.

Those who have no need of this hint, or those who feel unsettled by my lack of timidity in deploying an analogy taken from everyday life, can simply ignore what I would nonetheless wish to have inserted into the fabric of my text!

And so I think I have already built the bridge leading from the second requirement of true ‘prayer’ to the third. I hope that all those I address here will now follow me further as we cross this bridge.