Christian Meditation
You are invited to join a small group who practises Christian Meditation via Zoom on Monday, Wednesday and Friday morning from 8.30am – 9.00am. If you would like to join in, please make contact via email and we will send you an invitation with a link.
What is Meditation?
Meditation is a universal spiritual wisdom and a practice that we find at the core of all the great religious traditions, leading from the mind to the heart.
It is a way of simplicity, silence and stillness. It can be practised by anyone from wherever you are on your life’s journey. It is only necessary to be clear about the practice and then to begin – and keep on beginning. In Christianity this tradition became marginalised and even forgotten or suspect. But in recent times, a great recovery of the contemplative dimension of Christian faith has been happening. By rediscovering the practice of meditation in the Christian tradition that comes to us from the early Christian monks – the Desert Fathers and Mothers – we can put into practice the teaching of Jesus on prayer in a radical and simple way. English Benedictine monk, John Main, had a major role in this contemporary renewal of the contemplative tradition. His teaching of this ancient tradition of prayer is rooted in the Gospels and the early Christian monastic tradition of the Desert.
How to Meditate
Open to all ways of wisdom, but drawing directly from the early Christian teaching, John Main* summarised the practice in this simple way:
Sit down. Sit still with your back straight. Close your eyes lightly. Then interiorly, silently begin to recite a single word – a prayer word or mantra. We recommend the ancient Christian prayer-word “Maranatha”. Say it as four equal syllables. Breathe normally and give your full attention to the word as you say it, silently, gently, faithfully and above all – simply. The essence of meditation is simplicity. Stay with the same word during the whole meditation and from day to day. Don’t visualise but listen to the word as you say it. Let go of all thoughts (even good thoughts), images and other words. Don’t fight your distractions but let them go by saying your word faithfully, gently and attentively and returning to it immediately that you realise you have stopped saying or it or when your attention is wandering.
Meditate each morning and evening for between 20 and 30 minutes.
Find all sorts of information at www.christianmeditationaustralia.org *
Also go to www.wccm.org which includes a handy meditation timer and excellent video called; “What is meditation?” by Lawrence Freeman.
If you would like to learn to meditate and be in touch with a solid tradition of spiritual practice in meditation please join us.
The three meditation gatherings listed here are meant to help you begin and/or support a daily practice. Come to one or other, or all three.