Hi,
Stephen Hick here,
And welcome to my Centering Prayer Meditation.
Welcome to what is really a time of stillness.
Centering Prayer Meditation comes from Christianity,
And it's a way for us to practice presence and resting in the presence of God in the present moment,
Just as it is.
Beginning by preparing our space,
Taking a recognition of the space that you're practicing within,
Perhaps lighting a candle as a symbol of God's presence.
You don't need to create anything special,
Just a few moments of attention to your surroundings,
Remembering that you're already in the presence of God.
This practice is simply about remembering that and resting in that.
So taking a seat that is both relaxed and alert.
You might be sitting in an upright chair or on a cushion on the floor,
Or even on the couch,
Ensuring that your spine is erect so that you're not slouching,
Thinking of an erect and dignified posture.
And at the same time,
It's comfortable and relaxed.
Your hands can rest gently on your lap or on your thighs,
Closing your eyes softly or allowing the gaze on the floor in front of you.
We'll begin by bringing attention to the body,
To the breath,
To the sensations in the body of being held by the earth.
Perhaps feeling your feet on the floor,
The sensations of touch on the earth,
And feeling the sit bones on the chair or the cushion.
Really feeling how the earth is holding the body in this moment,
And letting yourself settle into this moment.
And recognizing that there's nothing to achieve.
There's no special prayer you must form.
Really setting the intention to just be here,
Resting in the presence of God.
In this prayer,
We do not speak to God or even hear words from God.
We're simply resting in God's presence.
As Thomas Keating said,
The root of prayer is interior silence.
So we come not with ideas or requests,
But with openness.
Often it's helpful to have an anchor to the present moment,
Something that you can return to when your mind wanders.
Perhaps a sacred word can work as our anchor.
It's a sign of our consent to God's presence.
You might choose a word like peace,
Or mercy,
Or trust,
Or love,
Or silence.
Letting it be a word that gently opens your heart towards God.
It really doesn't matter what word you choose.
It's trusting whatever choice is made.
There's no perfect word.
It's the intention to return to God's presence when the mind wanders that is important here.
So continuing to focus attention on the body,
Wherever you feel sensations in the body,
And using your sacred word as an anchor when the mind wanders.
So when the mind wanders,
You simply silently say your word,
Whether such as peace or love,
And then come back to sensations in the body.
Remembering to recenter using your word whenever you notice that you've drifted into thoughts,
Or plans,
Distractions.
Without any judgment,
Simply returning to the prayer.
Letting go of all expectations.
Letting go of any effort to experience something spiritual or extraordinary.
Letting your goal only be presence.
And by presence,
You're not trying to feel God.
You're not trying to hear God.
You're not consenting to God.
God is at home.
It is we who have gone out for the walk,
As Merton once said.
So this is the returning home,
Coming home to God's presence,
To yourself,
And resting there.
Now bringing your focus attention to the breath.
You might feel the breath in the nostrils,
Or you might feel it as the belly rises and falls on the in-breath and out-breath.
Or perhaps you feel it at the chest area.
Wherever it's kind of most natural,
Or you feel it most predominantly.
It's just choosing one of those places and focusing your attention there on the breath.
Each breath is a reminder that you're held.
You're already in God's presence.
And when the mind wanders,
As it will,
Gently returning,
Using your sacred word,
Is a kind of reset,
A returning,
Peace,
Mercy,
Love,
Each time resting more deeply.
You can sense into God's presence in the silence,
In the stillness.
We do not connect with God through the noisiness of thoughts and chatter.
We connect in our being,
Our very deepest being,
Which is the silence,
Not the noise.
So seeing if you can kind of rest back into that silence,
That stillness,
That place from which all the noise and movement arises.
Stepping back,
Simply being.
There may be thoughts.
In fact,
It's likely that's okay.
Letting them pass like clouds in the sky.
Returning to your word,
Peace,
Mercy,
Or love,
And resting.
Remembering we're not striving for,
We're not fixing.
We're simply resting in silence.
The silence itself is the prayer.
God is everywhere.
God is not waiting for you to become something else.
God is already here within you.
This is the gift of centering prayer,
Not to reach God,
But to realize God's nearness.
A portal to this nearness is the silent,
Still presence that's always and already there.
We simply have to notice it.
And settling into the stillness,
The silence,
That is God.
You are not apart from God.
You are within the divine,
And the divine is within you.
So this is a real letting go.
Centering prayer is a letting go into the divine stillness.
Letting go of what we think we should do or need to do in order to reach the divine.
The divine is right here.
It can be touched right here in this moment.
It's continuing to rest in the stillness.
And if the mind decides to chatter and narrate,
It's using your sacred word as a tether back to the present moment and back to the stillness that's always there behind all the noise.
And as we move towards the end of this prayer,
Gently returning once more to your sacred word,
Letting it be your anchor for the rest of the day.
Letting it be the doorway into the sacred,
To a heart that's more spacious,
More quiet,
More available to love.
And we'll end today also by coming back to the breath,
And feeling the breath wherever it feels most natural for you.
Letting this attention to the breath carry you into silence and stillness at any moment during your day.
And now bringing your awareness back to your surroundings and to the room you're sitting in.
Again,
Feeling the weight of the entire body sitting grounded.
And if it feels right for you,
Offering a closing prayer that comes from the heart of silence.
And when you're ready,
Opening your eyes if they were closed,
And recognizing that this divine stillness is always with you.
And letting it echo through your day.
And remembering you're not alone.
You never were.
God is here always.
