A restructuring of consciousness takes place [as a result of contemplative practice]…

In its definition of contemplative prayer, Contemplative Outreach—St. Louis names perhaps the scariest, most wonderful, and most critical fruit of contemplation: a restructuring of our very consciousness. Rather than simply altering our vision of God and reality, contemplation the lens through which the vision is received. Contemplative teacher Cynthia Bourgeault describes the change of consciousness in this way:

it means seeing the world as whole… it is a wilderness journey indeed, overturning not only most of our familiar reference points, but even the structures of consciousness through which they are maintained. “Dying to self” proves itself to be something like an onion skin, peeled back to reveal still further layers of dying—until finally there is nothing left except the All.

The pattern of Jesus teaches us that such radical death to self must necessarily precede new life in Christ. When we move beyond the boundaries of the normal dualistic awareness into the vast unitive consciousness of the Divine, we can feel lost and untethered for a time, as we will find ourselves far from the trivialities of life to which we normally cling for security. But holding on no longer, we fall into God, and the Divine consciousness becomes our own.