Table of Contents

Part 1 Universal Darkness 1

1 In the Beginning… 3

2 Darkness and the Purer Vision 5

3 Darkness, Word, and OM 7

4 Darkness as the Source of Life 10

5 Death and Darkness 12

6 The Darkness in Which We Worship the Divine 16

7 God of the Israelites Dwelt in Darkness 20

8 Treasures in Darkness 23

9 Fading to Silence, Becoming Children 28

10 The Sacred Power of Darkness 32

11 Be Still and Know That I Am God 37

12 Stillness and St. Ignatius 43

Part 2 Personal Darkness 49

13 The Powerful Experience of Darkness in the Retreat 51

14 Seeing God Face-to-Face 54

15 Seeing Gods Face Is an Invitation to Die 58

16 Power in Weakness 61

17 The Darkness of Addiction 66

18 Saved by Her Son 69

19 The Power of Forgiveness 72

20 Sparks in the Darkness 76

21 Life in the Darkness of My Religion 81

22 Failure and the True Self 85

23 Healed but Not Cured 92

24 Lost and Found 97

25 "Wealth in Poverty 101

26 How to Live, How to Die 104

27 Chaos and Tension toward Integration 107

28 The Transition from Xavier to Ignatius 110

Part 3 Darkness and the Journey of Life 113

29 Reverence: Key to the Treasures of Darkness 115

30 Hero's Journey and Hindu Stages 120

31 Journey of the Feminine 125

32 The Feminine Face of God 131

33 Mary: God's Feminine Face in Christianity 138

34 Life's Deeper Mysteries: A Conversation 143

35 Old Age, Fear, and Love 149

36 Creation and Sin: Two Views Make the Whole 153

37 Being Set Apart 160

38 What the Darkness Brings 164

39 Hating Father and Mother 166

40 Spiritual Repose: Culmination of the Spiritual Journey 169