Hi everyone,
I'm Hamish and welcome to another reflection from the WCCM Young Channel.
Here we share teachings from John Mayne,
Lawrence Freeman and the Christian Contemplative Tradition.
Over the last few weeks I've been reading chapters from Grace at Work,
The Healing Power of Meditation,
A series of talks given by Lawrence Freeman in 2019.
Today I'm going to read chapter three,
The Prayer of the Heart.
Quote,
In the Christian tradition,
Meditation is called the prayer of the heart.
It's in the heart consciousness that physical,
Mental and spiritual dimensions of ourselves find unity,
Find harmony and integration.
Quote,
The experience of meditation is the experience of integration and wholeness.
In the Christian tradition,
It's called the prayer of the heart.
The heart is a symbol not only of interiority and it's much more than just a symbol of emotions.
The heart is really a symbol spiritually in all traditions of wholeness,
Integrity and integration.
It's in the heart consciousness that physical,
Mental and spiritual dimensions of ourselves find unity,
Find harmony and integration.
Take a moment now to sit comfortably,
Your feet flat on the ground,
Hands on your lap or on your knees.
Relax your shoulders.
Now take a word,
A mantra and repeat the word continually throughout the time of the meditation,
Coming back to the word as often as you become distracted.
Choosing the word,
The mantra is important because you want to stay with the same word all the way through the meditation and from day to day.
Normally we would say choose a word that is sacred in your own tradition.
It is helpful if the word is not in your own language because then it won't stimulate your imagination or your own thoughts and feelings too much about that word.
The sound of the word is important because that can help calm your mind.
The word that I would recommend is the word Maranatha.
Maranatha is an Aramaic word,
The Hebrew language that Jesus spoke.
If you choose that word,
Say it as four syllables,
Ma-ra-na-tha.
It means come,
Lord.
We are not thinking about the meaning of the word as we say it.
Meditation is not what you think,
So you're not trying to get good thoughts.
Obviously,
It's nice to have good thoughts and better to have good thoughts than bad thoughts,
But you're not trying to get good thoughts.
And similarly,
You're not trying to fight off the bad thoughts.
You're just letting go of all thoughts,
All images,
And all ideas as they arise.
If you choose the word Maranatha,
Say it with equal stress on each of the four syllables,
Ma-ra-na-tha.
Listen to the word as a sound.
Listen to it as you say it in your mind.
Say it calmly,
Gently,
Without force.
Say it patiently.
Say it without judgment.
You're not judging your performance.
Don't let the idea of failure arise.
Don't even entertain that idea.
In fact,
Let go of the whole idea of failure.
It's just another distraction.
It's just another distraction.
And just humbly,
Like a child,
Keep coming back to the word with simple attention.
Ma-ra-na-tha.
Sit as still as you can.
Keeping your body still will help you to be still in your mind.
Begin to say the word silently,
Without moving your lips or your tongue.
Sit silently in stillness,
Listening to the word as you say it in your mind.
Ma-ra-na-tha.
Thank you for listening to the third chapter of Grace at Work,
The Healing Power of Meditation.
My name is Hamish and I'll see you again for chapter four.
Peace be with you all.
