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Meditation is a form of contemplative prayer. There are different ways to meditate. Here, I would like to introduce a simple practice of meditation promoted by the World Community for Christian Meditation (WCCM). It involves coming to a stillness of spirit and a stillness of body. The extraordinary thing is that, in spite of all the distractions of the modern world, this silence is perfectly possible for all of us. To attain this silence and stillness, we have to devote time, energy and love.
The way to set out on this pilgrimage is to recite a short phrase, a word that today is commonly called a mantra. The mantra is simply a means of turning our attention beyond ourselves, a method of drawing us away from our thoughts and concerns. The real work of meditation is to attain harmony of body, mind and spirit. This is the aim given us by the psalmist: “Be still and know that I am God.” St Paul wrote (Rom. 8:26) that “we do not know how to pray, but the spirit prays within us.” What this means is that before we can pray, we first have to learn to become still, to become attentive. Only then can we enter into loving awareness of the Spirit of Jesus deep within our heart. In meditation, we go beyond words, thoughts, and images into the presence of God within.
The Mantra and the Practice of Meditation
The mind has been described as a big tree filled with monkeys, all swinging from branch to branch and all in a ceaseless riot of chatter and movement. When we begin to meditate, we recognize this as an appropriate description of the constant whirl going on in our mind. Prayer is not for us to add to this confusion by trying to shout it down and covering it with another lot of chatter. The task of meditation is to bring our distracted mind to stillness, silence, and attentiveness. In order to assist us to come to stillness, we use a sacred word or mantra.
There are various mantras which are possible for a beginner but a good choice might be the word “MARANATHA.” This Aramaic word means, “Come Lord, Come Lord Jesus.” It is the mantra recommended by John Main (1926-1982), a Benedictine monk. It is preferred because it has no visual or emotional meaning and its continuous repetition will lead us over time to deeper and deeper silence.
An Inner Journey of Silence
Meditation, therefore, is an inner journey of silence, stillness and simplicity, and is the missing contemplative dimension of much Christian life today. It is a pilgrimage to our center, to our own heart. To enter into the simplicity of it demands discipline. We need faith and simplicity; we have to become childlike. The invitation of Christian prayer is to lose ourselves and to be absorbed in God. Each of us is called to the heights of Christian prayer, to the fullness of life. What we need however is the humility to walk the way very faithfully over a period of years, so that the prayer of Christ may indeed be the grounding experience of our lives.
“The all-important aim in Christian Meditation is to allow God’s mysterious presence within us to become a more and more not only a reality, but the reality which gives meaning, shape and purpose to everything we do, to everything we are.” -- John Main OSB.
(Reference from “Testimonies on meditation - Community of Love” WCCM)
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