PART II IN A SERIES ON MEDITATION and FAITH
We learned in the last blog that we are born meditators: contemplative prayer, meditation, is found in some form in every major world religion.
Christian Meditation is a tradition introduced by the mothers and fathers of the desert in the 3rd and 4th century and reintroduced to the western world by Father John Main in 1974. The word meditation and its connection with the Latin - sto in medio, ‘I stand in the center’ indeed means learning to live out of your center. Your center is the place deep inside where God, Supreme Being, Creator, resides - bringing life, beauty, and truth.
When we pray we use the mind and the heart. Most of our training in prayer, however, is limited to the mind which thinks, questions, plans, worries, fantasies. The heart is what knows – it loves.
We were taught as children to say our prayers; praying was talking to God about needs, desires, wants, ours or others. But this is only half of the mystery of prayer. When we pray from the heart we are not thinking of God or talking to God or asking for anything. We are simply being with God who lives in us as the Holy Spirit, the gift of the risen Christ - John 16:7. It is in the silence of meditation we come to self-knowledge and self-acceptance in God which is a very different kind of knowledge than that which comes to us from other sources.
Christian Meditation is utter simplicity; it is an act of faith. In meditation we turn the spotlight of consciousness off ourselves. The ego of course doesn’t like being suppressed or controlled. This is achieved by saying a prayer word or mantra continuously from the beginning of the prayer time to the end.
Practice
Choose a time and place.
Honour the time faithfully even though you think you are not getting anything out of it.
Sit comfortably with your back in the upright position.
Feet on the floor.
Eyes lightly closed.
Hands resting comfortably on your lap.
Be aware of your breath and start saying your mantra, prayer word.
A recommended mantra is maranatha, Come Lord Jesus. It is Aramaic the language Jesus spoke.
Say it in 4 distinct syllables in sync with your breath – ma ra na tha. At first it feels awkward but persevere. For further information check out the World Christian Meditation link at www.wccm.org
Stay tuned.
-Sister Ann Marshall, csj
Sister Ann Marshall works on Christian Meditation in the classroom, in partnership with teachers in the Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic District School Board.
Reference: Christian Meditation by Laurence Freeman, OSB | NOVALIS