A simple, effective meditation
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Self Discovery : Meditation Group Week 96
In the life of the desert is the discovery of who you actually are. The burden that lays on you can be quite considerable. To discover before Go who you actually are is less cosy than we might imagine. We live in a world where self expression and self discovery sound wonderful. If only everyone else would go away, if only everyone else would stop telling me what to do then I would be so marvellous and my true self would flourish in all its beauty and creativity… more talks .
ROWAN WILLIAMS is acknowledged internationally as an outstanding theological writer, scholar, and teacher. He was Archbishop of Canterbury from 2002 to 2012, and he has held prestigious chairs at both Oxford University and Cambridge University. His books include Lost Icons, Being Christian, and The Wound of Knowledge. In these talks Rowan Williams draws on the wisdom of the Fathers and Mothers of the Egyptian Desert in the fourth century, from which our tradition of Christian meditation has emerged. He reflects on questions that deeply touch our modern lives. How do we live in relationship with others? How do we discover the truth about ourselves? What are our priorities, our fears? What is the place of silence, of language? How do we live within our own limitations? Rowan Williams encourages us to enter into the challenges and simplicity of the desert and find healing for our fragmented condition.
Ecumenical Prayer: Lord, we pray that this evening may be peaceful, may we listen in silence with the ears of our heart, (RSB, Prologue 1) so that we may have the wisdom to find you, the spirit to seek you and a heart to meditate upon you. (adapted from A Prayer of St. Benedict). Listen to the sound of the silence of the living walls, feel the air on your skin…be peaceful….
Join together in silence to listen to our talk
1 Timothy 6:6-10New International Version (NIV)
6 But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. 8 But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.9 Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.
Reflection
While ‘we brought nothing into the world, and can take nothing out of it.’ Many people only care for money, fame position and power. While it might seem more worthy to desire nothing but God, or only spirituality, this desire is also a desire for attainment. What Timothy seems to be saying, when he talks about ‘some people,’ is that it is trying to attain money or any other desire for its own sake that is the root of ruin and destruction and not the position of money or status itself. As Rowan Williams said, often we desire spirituality and the disinclination to listen to the opinions of others in order that our true self could flourish in all its beauty and creativity. In eastern traditions we read about renunciation of any self-will. In Hindi the word Sadhu means master, a master is one who has left self behind and as fully acquiesced to the will of God. A true master then is not master of his own self, but a renouncer of self. In the Sufi tradition each souls attainment is accordingto its evolution. Therefore we should not judge a person who strives for one of life’s material objects, believing their desire to be unworthy in comparison to our own godly desire. Our work according to the Sufi master is to be silent and, by our kindness help each one towards the attainment he is aiming at, not judging it from our own standard, but looking at it from his point of view and not our own. As the Sufi master says ‘I desire only God’ and his hand is held out behind is back: if money comes in it, he is very glad. Then it is better to desire all the money in the world, because he who desires money and says so is at least frank and open before the world. The godliness with contentment which Timothy talks about, is not then about judging the desires of others, for to do so is discontentment, and neither must any personal renouncement of material goods be in any way disingenuous.
Ibin Arabi – Sufi teacher
“Take care not to be tied by any particular belief while denying all others, for much good would escape you — in fact, knowledge of how things are would evade you. So be in yourself the ‘substance’ of all forms of belief, for God is too vast and great to be confined to one belief rather than another. God has said, ‘Wherever you turn, there is the face of God’, without mentioning any particular orientation.”
Ibn ‘Arabi’s emphasis on the inclusion of all beliefs is of particular relevance to us today. Since it is God who appears in every form, without being limited to any particular form, God can be seen in all ways of worship and all forms of belief. However, the ability to accept all beliefs without being tied to any one in particular requires giving up all of one’s preconceived notions about reality. When Ibn ‘Arabi exhorts us to be the ‘substance’ of all beliefs, this is not so that we just take on another belief which is more inclusive. It is a matter of vision, of seeing that God is the essence of everything, including ourselves, and takes on the forms of all beliefs and can be recognized there.
The person whose heart is pure does not oblige Reality to conform to their own image of it, but rather their heart is able to receive and conform to Reality as it truly appears at that moment. Ibn ‘Arabi writes:
“‘The one who has a heart’ knows the variation of the Real in images, by virtue of the heart’s variability in modes. For they know the Real Self from their self and their heart is no other than the Itselfness of the Real. There is nothing existent in the world which is other than the Identity of the Real — indeed it is the Identity itself.”
Body Prayer: The Heart Breath
+ As you sit either alone of in a group Slow your breathing and feel your whole self, fully embodied and participating
+ Sit as straight as you are able, place feet slightly apart. Feel your seat as the supportive base to your spine, neck and head…… Gently place your hands comfortably in your lap, and bring your attention to your heart.
+ Allow this heart focus to merge all bodily senses into unity, ……simply exist in the silence and space of this present moment.
+ From this awareness focus on the gift of breath, breathe this divine breath of the heart…….. Luxuriate in each breath and slow each inward and outward breath to bring the body into a restful rhythm.
+ In this space enfold any images of yourself, any feelings of past or present and ideas of future into this spacious moment- Simply be ‘I am’.
+ Let any sensations be felt in the heart but without forcing anything…… This present moment can hold with love both your sense of yes and your sense of no…., your positive images as well as your negative ones, any judgments of yourself and others.
+ Accept any thoughts as your own experience of the present moment, accept all that is with as much love as you can manage in this present moment. Do not push away feelings and allow these to be part of your whole and present person, such things may come and go.
Bring into this rhythm of breath, all that is and all that you love. Let the whole of creation sing in the heart as one glorious harmony.
Opening Prayer:
As the Psalmist said…..“Be still and know that I am God” 46:10
Opening Prayer by Dom John Main, adapted for Romsey Abbey
“Heavenly Father, as we sit together in this sacred space we ask that you open our hearts to the silent presence of the spirit of your Son. Lead us into that mysterious silence where your love is revealed to all who call, ‘Maranatha…Come, Lord Jesus’.”
With eyes closed gently Chant ‘Maranatha’ in four syllables( Ma-ra-na-tha) which means ‘Come Lord’ in Aramaic- the original language of Jesus and early Christians, Meditation will last 25 minutes. Mediation will start and end at the sound of the bell.
CHAPTER 42. SILENCE AFTER COMPLINE
(RSB, 42:1) Monks should diligently cultivate silence at all times, but especially at night. (RSB, 42:2) Accordingly, this will always be the arrangement whether tor fast days or for ordinary days. (RSB, 42:3) When there are two meals, all the monks will sit together immediately after rising from supper. Someone should read from the Conferences or the Lives of the Fathers or at any rate something else that will benefit the hearers, (RSB, 42:4) but not the Heptateuch or the Books of Kings, because it will not be good for those of weak understanding to hear these writings at that hour; they should be read at other times.
(RSB, 42:5) On fast days there is to be a short interval between Vespers and the reading of the Conferences, as we have indicated. (RSB, 42:6) Then let four or five pages be read, or as many as time permits. (RSB, 42:7) This reading period will allow for all to come together, in case any were engaged in assigned tasks. (RSB, 42:8) When all have assembled, they should pray Compline; and on leaving Compline, no one will be permitted to speak further. (RSB, 42:9) If anyone is found to transgress this rule of silence, he must be subjected to severe punishment, (RSB, 42:10) except on occasions when guests require attention or the abbot wishes to give someone a command, (RSB, 42:11) but even this is to be done with the utmost seriousness and proper restraint.
Reflection- CHAPTER 42. SILENCE AFTER COMPLINE
Silence has two functions. The first effect of exterior silence is to Silence has two functions. The first effect of exterior silence is to develop a sense of interior peace. The second value of silence is that it provides the stillness that enables the ear of the heart to hear the God who is ‘’not in the whirlwind.” Day after day, month after month of noise thickens the walls of the mind until it becomes impossible to hear the talk within us that shows us our pain and opens our mind to the truths of life and the presence of God.
Silence is not enough, however. Benedict wants night to rest our spirits as well as our bodies. He wants to send us to bed with instruction on the gentle Word of God, not on the scriptural history narratives with their blood and struggles, so that the stresses of the day can be softened by the thoughts of something beyond them. We live with noise pollution now and find silence a great burden, a frightening possibility. Muzak fills our elevators and radios are set into wrist watches and TVs blare from every room in the house from morning till night. We say we do not have the time to think, but what we actually lack is the quiet to think. Yet, until we are able to have at least a little silence every day, both outside and in, both inside and out, we have no hope of coming to know either God or ourselves very well.
Adapted from: The Rule of St. Benedict: Insights for the Ages, Joan Chittister OSB.
Closing reflection: Gitanjali by Rabindranath Tagore, a Hindu Bengali poet.
I will deck thee with trophies, garlands of my defeat. It is never in my power to escape unconquered.
I surely know my pride will go to the wall, my life will burst its bonds in exceeding pain, and my empty heart will sob out in music like a hollow reed, and the stone will melt in tears.
I surely know the hundred petals of a lotus will not remain closed for ever and the secret recess of its honey will be bared.
From the blue sky an eye shall gaze upon me and summon me in silence. Nothing will be left for me, nothing whatever, and utter death shall I receive at thy feet.
”We give thanks for our community, the gift of this group, and for this sacred Abbey. May those who pray here be strengthened by the Holy Spirit to serve all who come, and to receive them as Christ Himself. In this sacred and prayerful space may all the suffering, violence, and confusion of the world encounter the Power that will console, renew and uplift the human spirit.
May this silence be a power to open our hearts to God, and so to each other, in love and peace. May the beauty of the divine life, fill this group and the hearts of all who pray here, with joyful hope. May all who come here weighed down by the problems of humanity leave giving thanks for the blessing of human life. We make this prayer through Christ our Lord. AMEN.”
About Christian Meditation in Romsey and The World Christian Community for Meditation: See link for information on contact details and times:
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