Wilderness Contemplative Prayer (Canyon Version): A Christian Mystical Practice

Canyon imagery is used here as a vestibule into Contemplative Prayer / Centering Prayer. At the end of the visualization, the meditation session begins with a bell. The recording ends, and then the meditator continues on their own for twenty minutes.

Transcript

Wilderness Contemplative Prayer is a Christian mystical practice that uses the imagery of the inner abyss that is so prominent throughout the history of Christian mysticism.

There are three versions of visualizing this abyss.

One is a canyon.

The second is an old-growth forest.

And the third is a trout pool in a rocky mountain stream.

In this visualization now,

We're going to use the canyon imagery.

The method is basically the same as Centering Prayer,

But uses wilderness imagery to begin the meditation.

So make yourself comfortable,

Either in a chair or on a meditation cushion,

In whatever position is most comfortable for you,

Where your back can be straight.

And close your eyes.

The purpose of this form of meditation,

Or Contemplative Prayer,

Is to be able to rest in the ground of being in God,

Who dwells endlessly deep,

Like a magnet,

Within your innermost being,

At your divine center.

While your thoughts shimmer like stars in the nighttime sky,

Far,

Far above you,

And flow of their own accord,

You only see them in your peripheral vision,

While the bulk of your attention goes into the depths where you are magnetized,

To sink into the deep presence of God.

If you want to use Christian Trinitarian language,

You might say this.

The endless,

Absolute canyon into which you sink is the Father,

Or the Source.

The uppermost parts of the canyon,

That is the more shallow parts of your being and awareness,

Are the sun,

Or the mirror in which the Source sees itself.

And the thoughts that appear in the sky above that interior canyon are like dim lights,

Also a part of the sun,

That bring an awareness of the depths of that canyon within.

And Holy Spirit is the place that you are in,

Dwelling between that absolute abyss,

Or canyon,

That forms beneath you,

In your innermost being,

And the shallow parts of that canyon above you,

The canyon rim,

And the stars of your thoughts sparkling in the sky above.

So the purpose of this type of meditation,

Or contemplative prayer,

Is to be able to rest in the ground of your being while your thoughts flow on a different level,

Far,

Far above you.

To begin,

Imagine that you are hiking down the Grand Canyon at night.

The walls are closing around you,

Bringing a sense of intimacy.

And you are halfway down the canyon.

At the bottom of the canyon,

Far below you,

You'll hear the trickle of the Colorado River.

And above you,

In the sky,

Far above the canyon rim,

Are the Milky Way,

The stars,

Meteors once in a while,

Perhaps an airplane passing by,

Or a satellite passing by.

As you hike down into the canyon,

You are drawn by a magnetic presence that dwells deep at the bottom of the canyon.

Meanwhile,

Your thoughts are still there,

Your thoughts and your perceptions,

The things that you hear,

The memories,

Projects,

Plans,

Thoughts,

And emotions.

Those are still present,

But you are going to a level that is deeper than they are.

You are descending into the depths of your innermost being,

Where God dwells.

While your thoughts are viewed as though from your peripheral vision,

In the sky above the canyon rim,

Far above you,

They flow of their own accord.

And so,

As you descend into this canyon,

Imagine by faith that you are magnetized by the presence of your Source,

The ground of being,

Who wells up from beneath,

Symbolized by the Colorado River,

Far below,

That attracts you with its trickle,

Which is like the trickle of silence.

It is as though you are held in the gaze of God,

Magnetized and loved.

While your thoughts and perceptions flow far above you,

Seen only in your peripheral vision,

The canyon represents the Divine Presence from your being welling up and embracing you in a hug,

In arms of love.

These are your innermost being that are caressing and hugging you from the sides.

The darkness is symbolic of the ability to put your questing mind asleep and to let go,

And simply to be embraced in a place that is dark because you are surrounded by the Divine Presence who wells up from your innermost being.

As you allow yourself to be embraced on all sides and drawn into the deep gaze and love of God,

Thoughts will arise that try to tempt you to pay attention to them,

Emotional thoughts,

Thoughts with a charge to them that draw you into something that you've done or a way that someone may have treated you that was difficult,

Or projects,

Or plans.

It would seek to draw you back up into the sky where the stars are.

If you feel attracted to a thought and to descend out of the canyon back up into the sky above,

Simply allow a sacred word to say itself within your awareness that symbolizes your desire to let go of that thought and to descend into the canyon of your being once again.

The word might be God,

Or peace,

Or let go,

Or love,

Or canyon,

Or abyss,

Or some other word that is meaningful in allowing you to descend into the ground of your being and to be held there and to rest.

You don't need to repeat the word over and over again like a mantra.

Simply bring up the word and allow it to say itself in your mind whenever there's a sticky feeling,

When you feel like you are going to give the bulk of your attention to the thought that emerges.

So when a thought emerges that you feel attracted to,

That you want to dwell upon,

Simply say the sacred word,

Let go,

Allow yourself to sink by faith into the depths of your being,

And let the thought become one more star,

One more airplane,

One more satellite,

One more meteor that is flowing in the chatter of thoughts far above you.

As you enter into this innermost being,

You use faith,

Because faith is the only perception that we have of realizing something that is closer to us than we are to ourselves,

That is God's presence,

So close that it can't be objectified.

And so allow yourself to be held,

To sink,

To rest in the magnetizing presence of God,

Welling up from the endlessly bottomless canyon depths of your being,

While your thoughts flow of their own accord,

Seen only in your peripheral vision,

In the sky far,

Far above you.

Remember the thoughts flowing on their own accord have a purpose in this prayer,

Because they provide,

As it were,

A light that enables you to see by contrast the depths in which you are dwelling.

They are not distractions,

As long as you let them go to flow on their own,

On a different level of awareness,

Far above you.

But their flow and their chattering provides the contrast known peripherally that enables you to see by faith that you are moving into the innermost depths of your being,

And resting and being magnetized in the ground of your being,

The love that is beyond anything you can think and feel,

Who embraces you in the silence and in the darkness of the innermost canyon of your being.

Allow yourself to go to that place,

Or ring the bell,

And then you can remain there for 20 minutes,

Resting in God,

Allowing your thoughts to flow far above you,

Allowing a sacred word that symbolizes your desire to let go whenever you feel drawn to one of those thoughts.

So let us rest in God,

Be magnetized in the loving gaze of God,

Welling up from the innermost depths of our being.

Reviews

Wonderful journey into the Self which is God. Thank you!

Loved this, many thanks🙏🏼

A beautiful meditation. I am looking forward to incorporate this as much as possible in my practice.

A peaceful and comforting meditation, like a warm cup of cocoa on a cold morning! Great imagery. Thank you!

Wonderful. Thank you.

So good! I have shared this with friends. Finally something real and practical; powerful. More please. Old Growth Forest....yes.

Great instructions for those who struggle with catering prayer. This feels easier.

Loved this! Thank you for this imagery and deep immersion into God's presence.

Praise Jesus. Very lovely. Great poetry and reflective prayer.
God bless you.

Helpful imagery to rest in the Ground of Being and not being uptight about our thoughts.

Outstanding! Powerful and vivid in imagery

I truly enjoyed this centering prayer and the imagery of the canyon...to dwell in the Source and feel the love of God at the bottom of the canyon was perfect! Will listen again! Thank you!

Thank you for this guidance into the cave and for the teaching of a sacred word. I will use my sacred word for future meditations.

Lovely. Thank you so much.