1. Why Is Spiritual Fencing So Important After the Tapping Retreat?

Spiritual fencing means actively guarding your thoughts to stay close to God after the Tapping retreat. The retreat helps you “get up, pick up your mat, and walk” (John 5:8), where “picking up your mat” means taking control of your thoughts through spiritual fencing. At the Mat level of illusion, your thoughts start to waver, making you vulnerable to temptation. Without spiritual fencing—filling your mind with prayer, meditation, and Scripture (Psalm 16:8)—the devil can break your spiritual boundaries, pushing you toward the Lot, Boat, or Pot levels, where convictions weaken, false beliefs solidify, and sinful habits spread. St. Ignatius of Loyola warns that the devil disturbs our thoughts to lead us astray (Spiritual Exercises, First Week, Rule 9).

Jesus modeled spiritual fencing when He faced the devil’s temptations. After fasting and praying for 40 days, Jesus resisted Satan’s temptations in the wilderness (Luke 4:1-13). But the devil didn’t give up; he left to return at an “opportune time” (Luke 4:13). Later, when Jesus spoke about His suffering and death, the devil saw an opportunity through Peter’s words: “This shall never happen to You!” (Matthew 16:22). Even as the Son of God, Jesus faced human fear and pain at the thought of crucifixion. In Gethsemane, He prayed, “Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will” (Matthew 26:39). He repeated this prayer, showing His human struggle, but chose obedience out of love for His Father: “I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love” (John 15:10). Through Peter’s well-meaning words, the devil tried to influence Jesus’ thoughts, but Jesus recognized the trick and said, “Get behind Me, Satan!” (Matthew 16:23). This shows the devil’s cunning, using even the care of someone close to break boundaries. Jesus refused to entertain the conversation, knowing even a small talk could plant harmful thoughts. This teaches us that spiritual fencing is crucial at every stage—even at the unitive level, where you’re closest to God. The devil never stops trying to influence thoughts, and if boundaries are broken, you risk identity distortion and a spiritual fall. If you’ve fallen after a retreat, it’s likely because your thoughts were influenced when you were weak. Without spiritual fencing, where you control your thoughts instead of them controlling you, you can’t “walk” and may slip back to where you started.

2. How Does a Person at the Pot Level of Illusion Affect Someone at the Mat Level?

The four levels of illusion—Mat, Lot, Boat, and Pot—show how spiritual weakness grows. At the Mat level, your thoughts waver, weakening your spiritual boundaries. A person at the Pot level, fully caught in sin and a false identity, can influence you by tempting you with wrong ideas or actions. They act as a “Lot,” pushing you to the Lot level, where your convictions start to change. If you stay there, you may reach the Boat level, where false beliefs solidify, and you drift from God, like Jonah fleeing his mission (Jonah 1). Without repentance, you could end up at the Pot level, living in sin and pulling others down, like Eve influencing Adam (Genesis 3) or Eli’s sons leading others astray (1 Samuel 2:12-17, 22-25). This cycle repeats as each new Pot-level person tempts another Mat-level person. Jesus showed how to resist such influences by guarding His thoughts (Luke 4:13; Matthew 16:23), teaching us to stay vigilant to avoid this downward spiral.

3. Why Does Spiritual Dryness Come After the Tapping Retreat?

Spiritual dryness—a feeling of emptiness or distance from God—often follows the Tapping retreat, even if you’re meditating and Tapping sincerely. This isn’t a sign of failure but of God’s work in your soul. The retreat highlights three reasons:

1. Purification: The emotional and spiritual highs of the retreat can lead you to focus on feelings of consolation. When these fade, dryness purifies your intentions, redirecting your focus to the “God of consolation” rather than the consolation itself.
   itself. St. John of the Cross explains: “God withdraws consolations to purify the soul and bring it closer to Him” (The Dark Night of the Soul, Book I, Chapter 8).
2. Humility: Dryness reminds you that spiritual growth is God’s gift, not your achievement. Without these lows, you might become proud. St. Ignatius of Loyola says: “In dryness, God tests us to prove our love for Him” (Spiritual Exercises, First Week, Rule 7).
3. Perseverance: Dryness builds your ability to seek God without emotional rewards, strengthening your faith. St. Paul compares this to growing from “milk” to “solid food” (1 Corinthians 3:2). Over time, this cycle of highs and lows leads to spiritual stability, preparing you for the unitive level, where neither feelings nor dryness shakes your faith.

4. Why Do I Forget to do the Actions and  Resolutions in Meditation, and How Can I Fix It?

Forgetting to make resolutions during meditation is common, especially early in your spiritual journey. The retreat compares meditation to painting a picture of Christ in your mind, where resolutions are like planning how to live out that picture. You might forget because you’re focused on the meditation’s insights or feelings instead of turning them into actions. This journey is like the Parable of the Sower (Matthew 13:3-23), where God’s Word grows in different soils, representing spiritual stages. At the beginner level, you reach a union of will, wanting to be like Jesus but struggling with resolutions, achieving maybe 30% consistency. This is normal as you start growing.

At the advanced and contemplative levels, you reach a union of action, where resolutions shape your behavior, achieving about 60% consistency. At the unitive level, you reach a union of life, where Christ-like thoughts and actions become natural, achieving 100% consistency. Here, you bear fruit, influencing others toward God, as St. Therese of Lisieux said: “My only way to show love is to not miss any opportunity for sacrifice” (Story of a Soul, Chapter 12). Even at this level, the devil tries to break your boundaries through thoughts, so spiritual fencing remains essential. Don’t be discouraged if you forget resolutions—it’s a process. Keep meditating, trusting God to shape your heart.

5. Is Meditation Really Important?  What if I try to Grow in Holiness without Meditation?

Yes, meditation in the power structure is essential for spiritual growth. The Tapping retreat teaches us to “get up, pick up your mat, and walk” (John 5:8). The retreat’s powerful experience is “getting up,” where you feel God’s presence. When you do TAPPING daily, you are ‘getting up’ daily.  You will be able to rise from your fallen state and you will feel the presence of God dwelling within you. But you will keep falling again and again.

Spiritual fencing is “picking up the mat,” consciously occupilying your minds  and taking control of your thoughts instead of thoughts controlling you. Meditation is “walking,” where you grow closer to Christ’s nature through the WALKING principles (7 principles of Vox Divini Meditation). Without regular meditation, you.will stay stuck in a cycle of spiritual ups and downs, rising and falling without steady progress.

Meditation helps you grow from a union of will (wanting to be like Christ) to a union of action (acting like Christ) and finally to a union of life (living like Christ). If you do not take care to progress steadily in spiritual life through meditation (“walk”) you risk falling back to the Mat level. This makes it easy for devil to  influence you on your thoughts. After all “Like a roaring lion your adversary the devil prowls around, looking for someone to devour” (1 Pet 5:8).  How will he devour? He has to break your boundaries in the mind level, or in your thoughts. That’s why St. Pauls demands a transformation by the renewal of minds (Rom 12:2) which takes place concreatly in Vox Divini meditation.