Preparing for the Mystic Life

For anyone seriously seeking a mystical life, the ultimate preparation is purity of heart, according to all the desert Ammas and Abbas. Writing on this, George Maloney says:

Did not Jesus promise that the pure of heart would be blessed and would see God (Mt 5:8)? Christians, whether in ancient times or in the 21st century, on Mount Athos or in the Bronx, have purified their hearts and have entered into a contemplation of realities unknown and unseen by others who may not pray as deeply. God wishes to communicate himself to all human beings more directly and immediately so that they experience the Trinity's indwelling, not through concepts, but by a direct "seeing" of God's presence through deeper faith. (Discovering the Hidden Reality: A Journey Into Christian Mystical Prayer, 4)

The purity of heart necessary for this journey comes, not so much through avoidance of sins as through a dedication to the truth. To become pure of heart means we must return to that nakedness found in the Garden of Eden story of Genesis. We must walk and talk to God without pretense or falsity. We must be earnest in our seeking, so earnest that when obstacles arise before us, we ardently seek their resolution, not their destruction or avoidance.

Such purity of heart comes through faithfulness in the journey. It comes from the vision becoming ever more clear, so that we become more sensitive to things of God, or more accurately, to the God dwelling within. In a sense, our journey requires that we peal away the layers that blind our eyes of faith, until we are continually aware of the presence of God. This isn't as extraordinary as it may sound, because it happens gradually to the heart of one sincerely seeking. And as a seeker, the more you seek, the more "normal" it becomes to be aware, until you yourself are dwelling with that presence continually.