Good. Sir, I will say I feel better today than I heard yesterday. But maybe just let us start, you know, getting a little, you know, make a little resume of yesterday's attempt. It was mostly negative. And then the positive part came, it was too late. But I don't want to get in any kind of process like that again, you know, this morning. So just a... I wrote this down, you know, to give a little resume on yesterday's thing. As you remember, we started with the problem, you know, of prayer today, that if you take the meaning with the word prayer, you know, or to pray, as in our times, namely the meaning of a petition addressed immediately to God.

[01:08]

You have a direct line, you know, and here's where I often have people ask for prayers, you know. To grant is a petition to grant a favor, to bring about an event. which the petitioner desires. The underlying idea is, I am helpless, but God is omnipotent. The attitude which expresses this kind of primary supposition is the attitude of kneeling. I am little, but you are great. Now that's... Then, of course, one asks oneself, how does this kind of thing fit into an evolutionary world in which God works, at best, through the law of evolution?

[02:10]

Then, of course, you know, the prayer becomes a kind of appealing to a deus ex machina. Instead of working oneself according to the inner law of things. Meet reality as reality is and cooperate with the inner, let's say, law of reality. And prayer on this background then appears as an escape from reality, as into a dream world. What is necessary then for the man today is the demythologizing. Why prayer, you know, easily could be understood as a mythologizing of reality. Then the other big, let's say, objection against prayer or obstacle to prayer is the idea that prayer introduces a split, introduces a split, aura,

[03:26]

et labora, or the famous Benedictine motto, ora et labora, work and pray. And instead of, which supposes that we are living in two worlds, and that this split between these two worlds goes even into our act of living The work, if it's aura and labor on this kind of in working, this kind of either inclined to take a work which in itself takes so little of your attention and your concentration that it leaves you free to pray while you work. As sitting on a tractor and plowing the fields. I don't know how much attention that means. But there is, you know, that's one way.

[04:30]

Or to say while you are working, you have at the same time, you know, think of or put yourself into the presence of God. That introduces this kind, again, this kind of split. It prevents you, you know, to do your work with full application of mind and of body. And this is, let's say, the real would-be, the, let's say, natural way of glorifying God as the Creator. Therefore, one does not need any explicit good intention which is understood as a special act with which one, for example, starts prayer. Work is prayer. So these kind of, you know, special arrangements and managements, you know, are not necessary.

[05:33]

And then one could say, therefore, don't be afraid of building the Tower of Babel because there is no real split between our building and for example the order of redemption itself because the incarnation has healed the gap between flesh and spirit therefore to a christian the very act of loving human beings and helping them puts you on the side of christ And it is not necessary to love explicitly for Christ's sake. In the famous parable, those on the right side were helping without knowing anything about Christ. That's the famous, I mean, I just quote that.

[06:41]

And then there is another thing, another problem, which is very acute today, and that is the problem of formal prayer. because it seems that formal prayer again introduces a split between a preconceived pattern and the free creativity of the spirit. And this problem, of course, becomes especially acute in the whole question of communal prayer. Now, viewing and having these things in mind My proposition is this, you know, that certainly prayer is essentially a total act of a total person. It's not an escape from reality, but is sinking into reality, into the depth of reality.

[07:43]

But in order to pray this way, It is necessary that prayer arises out of the heart of man. That it really be adoration in spirit and in truth. And this formula, adoration in spirit and in truth, which as you know, occurs in the Gospel of St. John, Of course, itself can only be understood, you know, what is the spirit and the truth. Well, that is the eternal agape in spirit and in truth. The agape which is the reality, the basic reality of God who is true, is the agape, and of the creation who is the expression of God's agape.

[08:46]

And not only in the world of creation, but in the world of redemption. These two things do not constitute two different realms of being. But of course, this kind of, I wouldn't say, totality and inner personal character in spirit and in truth, this kind of prayer has to rise, and I would say can only, is only capable to rise, out of the heart through the realization of the fact that God is our Father. And if we use, I'm just referring to the things we read and we are listening to in the... in the refectory, you see, but the still point, you know, the confrontation between Zen and Christianity or Zen and Christian mysticism.

[09:57]

I think it's a very problematic approach. God is our Father, but you see this using, let us say, the Father name in relation to God does, of course, in the context of the New Testament and in the Old Testament does not mean that God is understood then as a father figure. But it simply means that God loves us first. Of course, there is a big distinction between father figure and God loving us first. We are very much inclined in our days to put everything on a kind of a simple denominator, one denominator, but that's not true. As the agape too, and our belief in agape is not flight into the womb, even I would say if I should belong to the womb,

[11:07]

Therefore, it means, you know, that we are the conviction, the essence of our inner faith, of the heart of our own personal reality as Christians, is the conviction, the experience, I would say, that we are being loved. And prayer is in this context not a desperate attempt. to get something out of God. I would say that is really kind of father figure. Nor is it a work in the sense of something I have to do in order to make myself acceptable to God. Nor is it an exercise. which in last analysis is based on habit. I think that was a devastating category for us in the past, you know.

[12:15]

Get, you know, the children to do it in the hope that they will be automatically continued all through their lives, you know, starting with putting a dime into the collection on Sundays, you know. down to learn to go to church, you know, and so on. Go to church on Sundays, get the habit, you know. And then, now then we hope for the best. The quality of the spirit and the truth in this connection is being lost sight of to a certain extent. So it does not mean either that prayer belongs into a sacred world, a temple world, which is different from the ordinary or secular world. A world as, for example, in Zen, a world of recollection, free from distractions, so that I have to develop first a technique how to, let us say, recollect my mind, or how to reach the still point, the quiet, the passionless indifference,

[13:33]

That is the Zen problem, all of a sudden. But that is, of course, a matter of a technique. A word that in that way would be free from all anger, of all reactions of revenge, free from all aggression. How many atavisms we find in the Psalms if we would approach them with these categories. and if we look at the psalms the psalms simply are not this kind of prayer that comes out of a quiet mind the psalms are filled with all kinds of passions hate hate for the enemies of god we sing on sundays you know i mean this cut their heads off, you know, so that, you know, the whole valley is just, you know, covered with heads, you know, have the kind of funny feeling on a Sunday.

[14:43]

But, I mean, there it is. You know, it's interesting to get, and maybe we could, you know, get into some details about these things. You see, it's evident, you know, the song ahead, and you've got to repeat with it. ... [...] I forget, but I'll ask you, you know. Yes, you know, the most kind is the thing. Most kind is the thing. You, you, [...]

[16:01]

But what does Javi mean? What is this word? It's of course a personal inner manifestation of the essential personal characteristic or depth, heart, We have this, you know, we have a step, and one should realize this step, where an acquaintance passes over into friendship. Of course, in the German language it's better because in English it's all you, at least now. Unfortunately, in the sacred language we have given up the thou. We have dropped it from our...

[17:02]

from our vocabulary. But in some ways, it's a pity. It's a pity. You know, in the German language, we have a distinct difference between sie, you, and thou, du. And we say that the difference, you know, the transition from one to the other is, what we call doodson, you know, doodson. Address you as you. One thing is that one cannot address somebody as you, as do, do, whom one doesn't know. So this kind of, at the first, you know, meeting, say, why do I Jim or Jack or something like that, people who don't know, you know, is a questionable kind of custom. Dutzen means to enter into a new relation.

[18:06]

Our Lord says that. I don't call you servants anymore. That's the kind of Z, you, sphere, you know. In Austria one says servus. Servus. You greet somebody, servus. You're a servant, you know. But Christ says it was... And I don't call you servants anymore. I call you friends. That is the explicit transition from the you-sphere into the thou-sphere. That means from the generic, you know, let us say abstract knowledge, into the immediate and personal contact. The real encounter. I and thou. Therefore, Yahweh is not the same as Elohim.

[19:09]

Elohim in Hebrew stands for the generic names, the family name. Let us say God's family name. Elohim. It's a plural. So it means, in fact, we would translate it with the word perhaps divinity. We speak and move in the divinity sphere, you know. We move in the you sphere, not in the thou sphere. So here, therefore, as soon as the uniqueness, and that is what means, Israel, listen, your God is one. That means unique. He is your thou. That's what it means. Therefore, listen to him as you are thou. and your thou means of course that you that you are related to him see as father and son or as in the old testaments always as the bridegroom to his bride and that's of course a thing which is not on the youth sphere but it's in the thou sphere of course it becomes even more clear as soon as

[20:32]

Christ, you know, then says, you know, whatever you ask in my name. He equates himself with the name Jarve. He is, in that way, the name of God. If we think about it, you see already a proposition like this simply involves the divinity of Christ. Otherwise, it's just inconceivable. but not divinity even in a general way, of course. That would be then polytheism. In the person way, that would be the Trinity. That's the whole difference. So in my name, in my name, of course, in that way is an eternal name. This Yahweh is the one who was, who is, and who shall be. That's expressed in the name spirit and truth.

[21:34]

Truth is the, in the Old Testament, simply the everlasting character of the loyalty, the eternal loyalty of the one who loves us as a person from his heart. That's truth. That's truth. Loyalty. So, you see, the Psalms in that way, in our prayers, address to God in His proper personal name. And that, as I say, brings us out of the abstract, generic society sphere into the sphere of personal relations. And this, of course, this is possible only as far as this love, this personal love, this personal depth relation is established by Yahweh himself.

[22:48]

Therefore, we cannot simply, you know, that would be what the Old Testament says, taking the name of God in vain. that is speaking of God as Java without having any idea about this inner relation between the I and the thou that is speaking, taking the name of God in vain that means just taking it you know that you have the kind of button you see that you press for additional power or in emergencies if that's in secret but that is not to see that's taking the name of god in vain but is of course this name has to be revealed to you are here are you saying my personal name to the one by whom i want to be called with my name that's not a thing which is

[23:53]

simply a matter of taking for granted and so on. No, this is a matter of receiving. The other one, free, love is always free. Therefore, love has to be freely given and love has to be declared. Otherwise, no marriage. But partners have to declare themselves. The man has to start with it. That's more of a western development. ... [...]

[25:21]

Well, I was afraid to steal it. I think I'm smart enough. I don't know it. I think I lost in the C.O.C.A. for the last 30 years. You know, I don't know. [...] ... ... ... [...] I use that for this case, name that.

[26:23]

They use that for this one, and it's like it. Now, it's normal. Now, I'm going to see it. [...] but of the name of the name of the [...] name ... ... ... ... ...

[27:47]

It is the event. I think it's the issue. I just want to make it more. I [...] want to make it more. The first thing I was going to do was I was going to do it. [...]

[28:49]

What, now, we don't know what the, the knowledge, not once. If, yes, or the, or the hell, and the time, but, for the fix, it, it, not all, not the water in it. But, it is like, it's, [...] it's. They have more free ones that are easy to climb up. Yeah, I don't know. In fact, they need to give these three, they are still climbing. So what do you do before climbing? If I missed, at night or night, they let me know I was in eight. You cannot be touched by the desire of vengeance.

[30:09]

You cannot be touched by any desire. See, that's always what I think that this author we are listening to doesn't understand at all. that this is, of course, something completely different from what happens in Christianity, where God, as it were, says, you know, you are my son, I am your father, I am your bridegroom, I rejoice over you. And therefore, just be yourself. Because this is the only way, you see, for example, if one would try, I think this may lead us again astray and do something else. But it simply is this way, you know, that the, you know, I think psychologically absolutely true, you see, that man in his relation to God, you know, the citizen of the city of God.

[31:15]

absolutely has to say and may express his first reactions but he can express his first reactions because he knows distinctly that his first reactions are first reactions and by bringing them before God what is expected Now that all this kind of, therefore, it's so beautiful, you know, we speak about prayer as incense. That means we have the glowing charcoal and we put some kind of, you know, perfume on it, you know. But this whole thing is being consumed and transformed in something that then rises as what they call the prayers of the saints. But that's, of course, what belongs to this, is that whatever I tell God, I tell him in this absolute parousia what I tell him as father.

[32:16]

And that means as the one who loves first. And therefore my speaking out, so to speak, you know, it's a thing that one puts so much attention to, you see, speak out. And it's right, you know. Speak out, but in the realm of the agape. Not speaking out, but putting a fist on the daemon and say, this is the way I want you to be done. No. Put it before java. That means get your first reaction. Say, this is what I feared. But then, in addressing myself to you, I take another breath. A second breath. I kind of... you know, enter into a different sphere. Out of this, let's say, what we'll call atavistic, if you want to use the word here, or primitive sphere, oh, my, that's the way I think, into, I take a second step.

[33:25]

I enter into a different world. I take this deep breath. One cannot address God without deep, and say, Father, without taking a deep breath. It's impossible. And that is what I do. I put it into his hands. And by doing it already, you see, my entire kind of inner workings have changed, have been changed. And in that way, the hatred that was in me, by the very fact that I told it so, you see, and put it before God, is already, you know, in the process of being overcome. by the holy spirit you know to my open myself when i play and say and invoke the name of god as my father so that is what is done for example if you take no of course the bear is wrong always the same kind of calamity but i i took you know here i took his psalm which is uh... which is

[34:32]

the idea to me and I think in just touching upon a concrete psalm one might, you know, get out of the generalities and do the concrete situation. This is the Psalm 3 and maybe you could take that to yourself and just read it. It starts in this English translation of the Grail, so it starts this way. How many are my foes, O Lord? If you see the Hebrew text you see immediately That Lord is not the last word of the sentence, but the first word of the sentence. Javeh. How many are my foes? How many are rising up against me? You realize that Javeh is the object of our Shema. Listen to Israel. Your God is one, unique. The unique is always in opposition to the generic thing to the many see the whole generic world I would say the whole you world so in German the world is is is in opposition so to speak to the one world the unique that means the person the person how many are my foes oh lord

[36:00]

How many are rising up against me? How many are saying about me? There is no help for him in God. How many are my foes? How many? How many? How many? Three times. Three times. And that is I. You see, this psalm was always there for it. Got so into my own kind of inner workings because the psalm three. is the psalm with which we used to open, you see, our prayer life in the adventures, you know, in the night. The night is always the ze world, you know, the you world, the alienation world, you know, night. Light is the you, the thou world, you know. That's what light means in that way. You can't see the other one's face. At night you can't. That's the decisive difference. I rejoice in the light, not just to watch the birds, you know, or the green leaves, you know, but to see faces, whatever you say.

[37:09]

That's the important thing. The best thing you can look at in this world, you know. So, but without light, you know, you always have an anonymous something before you, and your instinctively action is from what got what is this not that that that because by nature we live in the alienated work maybe that's one of the consequences of it uh... what is it called the sin which in the same slide mysterious always in the same it's you know i mean it's right there you know that that But you, Lord, are a shield about me. You see the whole difference? You see? This is by the ve-ata, you know. You see, you have here the whole zi thing, you know. And then, and then as different, in difference to that, you know, rising out of it.

[38:13]

Ve-ata is in the Hebrew, and that means, but thou. See, there is this generic kind of anonymous fear, you know, is simply going up in smoke, right? But you, O Lord, thou, O Lord, Jahwe, you are a shield about me, for heaven's sake, not only to protect, you know, my left side where I'm, you know, hanging out with my right, you know, to be free, but no, a shield about, you know. It's not only a one-sided thing. It's all around, all around. See, that's the thou sphere. It's the sphere in which enmity is finished totally. Everybody who fights is split, you know. He has to protect himself with a shield on one side and gets his sword free on the other side, ready to kill.

[39:15]

But this is different, you know. The thou is different. That is, anybody who has any idea about love, any experience about personal love, friendship, you know, bridal love, he absolutely knows this is a shield about me. My glory who lift up my head. You see, only love can do that, you know. Power can never do it. Power as such never lifts up our heads. We make this way, you see. But lifting up the head, you know, that's only to see the face. And what face? The face of love, you know. That's what lifts us up. I cry aloud to Javi, and he answers me from his holy mountain, Zion. Zion, which is the place of his dwelling, you see. Where he said, my heart will be there. My ears will be there.

[40:19]

My eyes will be there. You know, see, it's this place of the thou that makes his abode, you know, outside. So he answers me from his holy mountain. That means, as thou, see. Dear friends, we have to finish this thing.

[40:38]

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