I have been attracted to meditation since childhood. Then in 2003I had the opportunity to attend a three-month Buddhist retreat.
I was little prepared for the rigours that lay ahead as I joined sixteen other people who came from six different countries.
Buddhists are often surprised to hear that Christianity has a long tradition of meditation that is over 2000 years old. This includes both the use of silence and the repetition of a prayer-word or mantra. St. Paul, for example, his readers to "Pray without ceasing" (1 Thessalonians 5:17 ) and the Lord's Prayer was collated from a series of one-line sayings of Jesus and is still used as a repetitive prayer. In the 4th Century CE, John Cassian, a Christian monk and theologian, also taught the use of a short prayer word or mantra that was continually repeated. He said:
"Let sleep come upon you still considering this verse, till having been moulded by the constant use of it, you grow accustomed to repeat it even in your sleep. When you wake let it be the first thing to come into your mind, let it anticipate all your waking thoughts." 1
Using our breath is another form of Buddhist meditation that has a long Christian tradition. The Hebrew word for breath is 'ruah' and associates our breath as flowing from the Divine breath (Genesis 2:7). Using the breath as a tool for stillness and prayer was not developed in the New Testament, but is found in later writings.
For example, Gregory of Palamas was a monk of Mount Athos in Greece. He later became the Archbishop of Thessaloniki. He suggested we are to focus our attention on our breathing belly because that is where the soul is located.2 Certainly I have found extending my abdomen on inhalation and then pull it back on an exhalation creates depth and subtlety in my meditation practice. One of the physiological reasons is that deep breathing stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system, which in turn promotes a sense of calmness.3 This also gives new meaning to the words of the Jesuit priest, Anthony de Mello:
" Your breathing is your greatest friend. Return to it in all your troubles, and you will find comfort and guidance." 4
John Selby, a contemporary psychologist and former Presbyterian minister, promoted de Mello's use of the breath in his book, 'Jesus for the rest of us'.5 He developed a simple seven stage process he called 'The Jesus Spiral'.
Selby's method leads us first into a place of stillness then invites us to make a series of associations between our breath and God "who is breathing me". He suggests this process could be continually repeated as it takes us ever deeper into an experience of the Divine presence. We finally end the meditation by committing ourselves to take the sensations of "light and love and peace" into our daily activities.
This simple method is very flexible. It can be used either as a morning practice or to fill in a few moments while waiting at the traffic lights, in a shopping queue, or waiting for an appointment. The method relates closely to another comment made by Fr John Main:
"The essence of Christian prayer is not dialogue but union, oneness... coming into fullness with the energy that created the universe." 6
To be continued in my next Blog.
Kia mau te rongo me te pai ki a
koe i to haerenga
May you find
peace and goodwill on your journey.
Phil
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1 Cassian, J, The Second Conference Of Abbot Isaac. On Prayer. Chapter 10. Available at http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/350810.htm Accessed 5/8/16
2 Kadloubovsky and Palmer (1992) Writings from the Philokalia on Prayer of the Heart, UK, Faber & Faber. Vol 4 p 255, St Gregory of Palamans, Introductory Note.
3 See http://www.stress.org/take-a-deep-breath/ Accessed 26/8/16.
4 de Mello, SJ Sadhana, A Way to God, India: Gujarat Sahitya Trakash Anand, 1987, p23.
5 Selby, J,: Jesus for the rest of us, Hampton Roads Publishing Co.,2006.
6 Main, J OSB, Moment of Christ: The Path of Meditation, Darton, Longman & Todd. (1984) p 20.
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