Entrance into the Holy State

October 18, 2015

Entrance into the Holy State

                  As we continue to talk about the difference in “Being” and “being” in class and as I prepared for my midterm I fully understood how difficult and complicated it can be for one to enter into the Holy state.  In Landscapes of the Sacred the author, Lane, writes, “A third axiom closely related to the first two, concerns the means by which entrance is made into the place of numinal presence.  It affirms that simply moving into an allegedly sacred place does not necessarily make one present to it” (page 29).  This point became very clear to me through our discussion on the Appalachian Trail and the different effects that the journey has on different individuals.  One can most definitely walk the 2,000 miles and complete the journey, but have the truly completed the journey?  This is the point that Lane describes in his writing, he explains how one cannot simply enter the spiritual state by simply being there.  An individual must retain the extensive importance of the sacred place and experience self reflection in order to fully experience the spiritual state.  Without this experience the sacred place turns from one of great importance to one of merely just another beautiful scenery or piece of architecture.  With this idea in mind it reflects how in depth the spiritual process is and how the process of kenosis is extremely important.  Kenosis is the process of emptying one’s self through the mind in order to make room for the spiritual needs inside the mind.  Throughout the journey I can see how this process could be very important in taking advantage of the full spiritual experience through the emptying of thoughts to make room for what is important in the spiritual aspect.