Different Levels of Meditation and Contemplation
There are different levels of meditation and contemplation.
Level 1 : Daman level (meaning “to cease or be silent”) Meditate within your heart on your bed and be still (Hebrew – “daman”) – Psalm 4:4.
This is the beginning when all the noise of the thoughts of the mind and the emotional noises of our affections have been silenced and stilled.
Level 2 : Raphah level (meaning “to let go”) Be still (Hebrew – “raphah”) and know that I am God – Psalm 46:10.
This is the level where you begin to let go. It is moving into “spirit consciousness” as in Diagram 6 of Chapter 3 in this book. One moves from soul consciousness to spirit consciousness.
Level 3 : Demamah level (meaning “calm, silence”) And after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still (Hebrew – “demamah”) small voice – 1 Kings 19:12.
It is at this level that one begins to hear the still, small voice of God in one’s own heart and spirit.
Level 4 : Qavah level (meaning “bound together with the Lord”) But those who wait (Hebrew – “qavah”) on the Lord shall renew their strength: they shall mount up with wings like eagles – Isaiah 40:31. Same Hebrew word used in Genesis 1:9 where God caused the water to “be gathered together” (Hebrew – “qavah”) or more accurately translated “bound together.”
At this stage there is union with the Lord (John 15:5). The Lord is abiding in us and we in the Lord. It is a tremendous sense of being in oneness with the Lord – God in us and we in Him.
Level 5 : Chakah level – the earnest, expectant, agape love level of the deep things of God. For since the beginning of the world, men have not heard nor perceived by the ear, nor has the eye seen any God besides You, Who acts for the one who waits (Hebrew – “chakah”) for Him – Isaiah 64:4. Paul repeats this Scripture and spoke from his understanding of what this verse means by replacing the word “wait” with the word “love” (1 Corinthians 2:9).
At this level, one begins to see the mysteries of God and the deep things of God. Things which eye has not seen nor ear heard, nor entered into the heart of men.
- The Spiritual World (Peter Tan)
