01.03 Philosophy: Instruction on Reading

In our reading habits we are like drivers who have been speeding along, intent on reaching our destination, when we begin to notice that things along the side of the road don’t look quite the way we expected. At some point, we begin to think that we might have missed something or misinterpreted a road sign that we passed a few miles back, and then suddenly the thought strikes us that we have been driving rapidly in the wrong direction! As you turn your car around and start driving back to take another look at that sign, now you may find yourself in a slower, more perceptive frame of mind.

We are utterly preoccupied with deciding what the sentences we read and hear mean to us. Even more than that, we are preoccupied with deciding whether we agree or disagree, approve or disapprove of what we take the sentences to mean. And, because we are so preoccupied, we generally do not pause to take note of what the sentences we read actually say. This rush to interpretation and judgment is strongly encouraged by our modern, digital age which offers us too many opportunities to speed read. Perhaps we need to consider how we originally began to read. Nowadays most of us have learned to suppress vocalization as we read. When we first learned how to read, reading meant reading aloud: speaking, reproducing the words exactly as they are on the page. To read you had to speak; you had to become the voice of the author.

A Master’s Word is part of divine teaching, and to read this Word requires the practice of Divine Reading. To an owned slave the Master is that godly figure: someone to be revered, adored, worshipped, and respected, and any word emanating from the Master is seen to be of divine providence and needs to be read as such. A slave should perfect the art of Divine Reading whenever given a text, edict, instruction, or any other form of written word produced by his Master.

The intention of Divine Reading is to subvert the customary mode of reading. It intends to afford a slave some critical access to his interpretive activity. The purpose is not to leave a slave with the notion that the text means whatever he wishes to make it mean. Divine Reading provides a slave with the opportunity to connect on a deeper level with the words and intentions of his Master.

The practice of Divine Reading intends to create occasions for joining in conversations with a Master, not merely to learn what he thinks, but to think with him and learn from him. This is an active mode of reading, which serves to inspire and develop a slave and bring him a little closer to that omnipotent figure who rules over him and controls his every thought, word, and deed.

The practice of Divine Reading also avoids debates about the status of authorial intent. Instead, the practice of Divine Reading aims at a practical demonstration of the power of respect for authorial intent and, through that, a demonstration of the power of respect for the Master himself. The practice of Divine Reading explores the possibility that a respectful reading of a Master’s Word is an exceptionally powerful means for generating new understanding. It is about learning to read with the mind and heart, open to a Master’s presence, as if he were reading the words himself. And as he practices Divine Reading a slave gradually lets go of his agenda and opens himself to what a Master wants to say to him.

After a few moments of silent grounding with deep breathing, the first stage of Divine Reading is the actual reading where the slave reads the Master’s Word, slowly and reflectively so that it sinks in, and then it should be read a second time, ideally aloud, so that the words are carried from the eyes, then ears to the mind. The second stage is reflection where a slave thinks about the text he has been assigned and ruminates upon it so that he takes from it what his Master wants to give him, (and not his own personal interpretation). In this stage, significant words or phrases are repeated and chewed over. Let them resonate and listen for echoes. By doing this the words transcend from the mind towards the heart.

The third stage is response and flows naturally from the second. At this point, the significant words or phrases are digested and become part of the slave. They flow within and become alive. A slave, in this stage, leaves thinking and reflection aside and simply lets his heart and soul speak to his Master. This begins a conversation about how to apply lessons learned and also to reveal hidden truths.

The fourth stage of Divine Reading is rest where a slave lets go of all words and thoughts. He simply rests in the Master’s Word, sometimes feeling a sense of awe and adoration. A slave listens at the deepest level of his being to his Master who speaks within. As he listens, he is gradually transformed from within. This transformation will have a profound effect on the way a slave lives, and the way a slave lives is the test of the authenticity of this method of reading and communicating remotely with a Master. A slave must take what he reads in the Master’s Word into his daily life.

The final stage of Divine Reading is recording. A slave simply records the outcome of the practice. This could be an inner truth, part of an internal conversation with his Master, or simply keywords or phrases taken from the actual text.

The natural movement throughout the whole process is towards greater simplicity, with less and less talking and more listening. Gradually the words of a Master begin to dissolve and the Word is revealed before the eyes of a slave’s heart. The Master’s Word is alive and active and will transform each slave who practices this method if he opens himself to receive what his Master wants to reveal to him.