Christian Meditation

Purpose of Meditation The all-important aim in Christian Meditation is to allow God’s mysterious and silent presence within us to become more and more not only a reality, but the reality in our lives; to let it become that reality which gives meaning, shape and purpose to everything we do, to everything we are. (John Main)

Position To meditate well you should adopt a comfortable sitting position; it must be comfortable and relaxed, but not sloppy. The back should be as straight as possible with the spine in an upright position. Your breathing should be calm and regular. Allow every muscle in your body to relax. And then, put the mind in tune with the body. The real task of meditation is to achieve the harmony of body, mind and spirit. (John Main)

Attention In meditation our stillness is not a state of mere passivity but a state of full openness, full wakefulness to the wonder of our own being, full openness to the wonder of God, and a full awareness that we are at one with God. Meditation is a learning process. It is a process of learning to pay attention, to concentrate, to attend. (John Main)

Attention Be alert, be wakeful (Mark 13:33) The light of the body is the eye; if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. (Matt 6:22) “I tell you this: unless you turn around and become like children, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven.” (Matt 18:1-4)

When attention seeks prayer it finds it When attention seeks prayer it finds it. For it there is anything that marches in the train of attention it is prayer, and so it must be cultivated. (Evagrius)

Silence and solitude

But when you pray, go into your room, shut the door, and pray to your father, who is there in the secret place; and your Father who sees what is secret will reward you. (Mat 6,6)

We pray in our room when we withdraw our hearts completely from the clatter of every thought and concern and disclose our prayers to the Lord in secret, as it were intimately. We pray with the door shut when, with closed lips and in total silence, we pray to the searcher not of voices but of hearts. (Cassian)

Be still and know that I am God But the Lord was not in the wind…not in the earthquake….not in the fire: and after the fire a sound of sheer silence. (1 Kings 19:13)

‘Go sit in your cell and your cell will teach you everything’

Amma Syncletica said:, ‘Many live on the mountain and behave as if they were living amongst the uproar of a city, and they are lost. It is possible while living amongst a crowd to be inwardly solitary, and while living alone to be inwardly beset by the crowd.

The importance of preparation

Whatever our soul was thinking about before the time of prayer inevitably occurs to us when we pray as a result of the way memory works. Therefore we must prepare ourselves before the time of prayer to be the prayerful persons that we wish to be. (Cassian)

Thoughts, thoughts and once more thoughts

When we begin to meditate we recognize the constant whirl going on in our mind. Prayer is not a matter of adding to this confusion by trying to shout it down. The task of meditation is to bring all of this mobile and distracted mind to stillness, silence and concentration. (John Main)

“A brother came to Abba Pastor and said: ‘Many distracting thoughts come into my mind, and I am in danger because of them. Then the elder thrust him out in the open air and said: ’Open up the garments about your chest and catch the wind in them. But he replied: ‘This I cannot do.’ So the elder said to him:’ If you cannot catch the wind, neither can you prevent distracting thoughts from coming into your head.”

When you are praying do not fancy the Divinity like some image formed within yourself. (Evagrius)

The Mantra is your surf board Few Words The Mantra is your surf board

You can’t stop the waves or the thoughts, but you can learn to surf!

In your prayers do not go babbling on like the heathen, who imagine that the more they say the more likely they are to be heard. (Matt 6:7-8) Prayer of the tax-gatherer – “O God, have mercy on me, sinner that I am.” (Luke 18: 10-14)

A single word in intimacy is worth more than a thousand at a distance. (Evagrius)

You should, I say, meditate constantly on this verse in your heart You should, I say, meditate constantly on this verse in your heart. You should not stop repeating it when you are doing any kind of work or performing some service or are on a journey. Meditate on it while sleeping and eating and attending to the leads needs of nature. (Cassian)

Pernicious peace

They should persist in prayer and never lose heart Pray continually (Thess 5:17) They should persist in prayer and never lose heart (Luke 18)