Singing Meditation

On Saturday morning I attended a Singing for Joy Workshop in Eau Claire. Led by Ruth Rosauer and Helen Gierke, it was indeed a joy.  Ruth has just released a book, Singing Meditation: Together in Sound and Silence, written with Liz Hill.  The songbook, Songs for Singing Meditation: Let Joy Fill Your Heart, was itself hot off the presses, having only arrived that very morning. Indeed, we were the first group to sing from the songbook - ever.

The singing was beautiful, and the silences between the chants filled the room with sweetness. What a delightful way to pass a Saturday morning! Several of those present had voices of great quality and power. Some were members of several singing groups in the area. Yet, even those of us with mediocre abilities could easily participate in the simple songs, chants, and rounds. There was no sense of inferiority or competitiveness, but of strong gratitude for each of the singers, and for the women who made the experience possible.

I bought the book, the CD, "Ephemerata," and the songbook.  My hope is to use Singing Meditation at home as a way to enter the Silence. Perhaps I will even find a way to introduce the practice to my local church as a form of prayer - which it certainly is.

The Practice of Story-Telling

 Clarissa Pinkola Estes

Last Monday evening, my husband and I went to hear a talk by Clarissa Pinkola Estes, author of Women Who Run With the Wolves. She titled the talk "Walking in Two Worlds," and referred frequently to the experiences many of us have had of being "different" or "alien." She related these kinds of experiences and feelings to creativity and soul. Dr. Estes encouraged us to keep on paying attention to the things that call us, that capture our attention, because it is in these that we are in touch with our own soul and its creativity.

She told us two stories that between them offer a vision of those two worlds to which she alluded. One story, the Erl Koenig, was about a father who does not listen to the cautions of his young son, and thereby loses him. In this story as in many others, Clarissa Estes pointed out, all the characters are really parts of the psyche.  In the discipline of working with stories we identify the various parts of our own psyche through the lens of the characters. What in myself functions like the father who will not listen? What in myself is the child who perceives things that are imperceptible to the dominant culture?

The other tale was a story of the Santo Nino, Holy Child, the Old Man who hears him and searches for him in the desert, and the village that welcomes the Child. The Old Man has faith and trust enough to go out into the desert when he hears a bell tolling, then later the cry of a baby. The villagers are open-hearted and grateful for the presence of the bell in their chapel's bell tower and for that of the Holy Child whom they place on their altar. But the Holy Child, in the darkness of the night, runs through the desert to those who are ill and despairing and comforts and heals them. They learn to trust that he will return, that he will continue to be with them and to heal those whom he searches out. They themselves become a village of healers through the magical efforts of this active, healing, mystical child. Imagine that! A village of healers! How I longed to be part of such a place! And the longing was shared by those who heard.

Centering Prayer - Preparation for Contemplation

 Fr. Thomas Keating

 

In last night's Centering Prayer book study group, someone noted that in the introduction to Fr. Thomas Keating's book Open Mind, Open Heart, there is a statement to the effect that centering prayer is not contemplation. She wondered what that meant, what the difference is between centering prayer and contemplation. What a great question! And, it's important, because this is a book study in a liberal protestant church. Most of us do not have the pre-Reformation history or an understanding of levels of union with God. Fr. Keating's statement, quoted below, might or might not be more familiar to a Roman Catholic  or even to those who have read or worked with Caroline Myss's book on St Teresa of Avila, Entering the Castle: An Inner Path to God and Your Soul.

"For the sake of clarity, it seems best to reserve the term centering prayer for the specific method described in this book of awakening to the gift of contemplation, and to reserve the term contemplative prayer for its full development under the direct inspiration of the Spirit."

 Keating goes on to discuss how centering prayer helps us to achieve, "an every deeper union with the living Christ and the practical caring for others that flows from this relationship." Yet, as he notes, "the state of prayer that John of the Cross describes as 'infused contemplation' has come to be generally accepted by subsequent spiritual authors as the definitive meaning (of contemplative prayer)." The term 'infused contemplation' means a degree of union with God that is a divine gift, not able to be acquired by human endeavor.

Brother Wayne Teasdale, a Catholic lay monk and interspiritual practitioner, in a Bulletin of the Monastic Interreligious Dialogue, described infused contemplation this way:

When God takes over, however, it quickly becomes “infused contemplation,” in which the Divine is doing everything, and the soul is simply making itself more and more receptive to God’s action. Everything then becomes quite effortless for such a person. St. John of the Cross identifies infused contemplation with the Presence of God Himself, and His Presence stirs up love in the soul. In these eloquently simple words, he defines contemplation as “nothing else than a secret and peaceful and loving inflow of God which, if not hampered, fires the soul in the spirit of love . . . .”

Centering Prayer as a Method and Practice

What is Centering Prayer, anyway?

Centering Prayer is an opening of ourselves to God's action within the whole of ourselves. Practically speaking, most of us identify ourselves with our conscious awarenesses of sensations, feelings and thoughts. We seldom hold in awareness that we also have unconscious sensations, feelings and beliefs. Further, we are far more permeable to other people and environments than we usually even imagine.  Many, if not most of us, also like to believe that we control our lives and what we do. When faced with a problem or situation one of our responses is often, "What should I do about this?" We are not usually thinking, "What does God want for me in this situation?" Or even, "What else might I need to pay attention to here?" We often just take for granted that we know enough about what we are thinking and feeling, that we are whatever we perceive ourself to be in the moment, and that we should be able to figure out what to do. We do not take for our motto, "don't do something, just sit there."

In Centering Prayer we do not hold on to what we perceive, feel or think. We do not need to figure out what to do. We do not identify with our experience, we simply let go of any sensations, feelings, or thoughts that come to us. We do this because our purpose is to allow God to do within us what God knows needs to happen. Our purpose is to allow God to transform us, to unite us with Christ in a way that goes well beyond the usual cognitive acknowledgments that our soul exists in God.  We are, at the very base of our being, as our being, united with God, because were it otherwise, we would not exist. But, there is knowing and knowing. Keating says, in this life, we are united with God, and know this, by "pure faith."

How do we practice Centering Prayer?

The practice of Centering Prayer is simple, but it is not easy. We begin by sitting in a comfortable position that keeps the spine straight. We choose or think of a sacred word of one or two syllables. The sacred word symbolizes our intention and desire to open to God, to allow God to work within us at a very deep level. We pay no attention to the sensations, feelings and thoughts that come and go as we sit with this openness. We simply let them go. They are there, but we are not paying attention. If/when we find we've been following down a thought trail, we mentally say the sacred word, being aware of our intention to be open to God. We do this for 20-30 minutes at a time, two times a day at the beginning - or whatever we can manage. At first  most of us are just getting into a bit of mental silence after 15 or 20 minutes - or longer. At the end of the time period we have decided upon, we give ourself a couple of minutes to come back into ordinary awareness, and thank God for God's presence with and within us.

Why Centering Prayer?

Because Centering Prayer helps me go beyond the chatter of the mind. I do not have to be theologically sophisticated to practice it, because the focus is on consenting to God's action within the depth of my soul - my inner being, where God dwells. I do not even have to know what/who I mean by "God," just trust that God knows Who God is. So, I sit in outer quiet, and very occasionally, in an inner quiet. More often than not, my mind goes on and on about this and that, while I watch/listen to the babble, mentally say the "sacred word," and continue to sit until the timer tells me 25 minutes have passed.

Centering Prayer is actually an ancient form of prayer stemming from the practices of the Desert Mothers and Fathers. According to Cynthia Bourgeault in Centering Prayer and Inner Awakening, in the 4th century John Cassian described the use of a sacred word as a reminder of God's present action in the heart of the one praying. By the Middle Ages, the monastics had developed the formal practice of lectio divina, the fourth 'phase' of which was "resting in God" or contemplatio.  In our own time, a small group of Trappist monks recovered and taught Centering Prayer, reclaiming the tradition of what some have called Christian meditation. Father Thomas Keating is one of the most well-known of these monks. He is a co-founder of Contemplative Outreach, a spiritual network of individuals and small groups that supports those who practice Centering Prayer through workshops, retreats, educational materials and local groups.  Fr. Basil Pennington was another leading advocate and writer on centering prayer until his death in 2005. He was noted for his studies with the monks of Mount Athos and his knowledge of Orthodox mysticism.  Fr. William Meninger was the person who first developed the predecessor to Centering Prayer that he called "contemplative meditation" from his study of The Cloud of Unknowing, a 14th century book about contemplation and union with God. 

November Change

In November, I will reflect on a number of prayer practices here. They will range from the Jesus Prayer, to Centering Prayer, to prayers of lament, praise, healing prayer. I invite you to join me here on Loving Presence and to leave comments any time you would like to do so. Then, in December the theme will be that of Advent - the time of anticipation of the coming of the Messiah, the one in whom all our lives are incorporate.

In October I prayed the news on this blog. The discipline has been very important to me, and I will continue that practice on another blog, Mighty Waters of Life. In November,  I will focus on the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights and use it as a way of critiquing current events and policy discussions.  Please join me there as well.

Centering Prayer
For the past year or more, Centering Prayer has been a significant part of my life.  I had read about it before, and even practiced in streaks through the years, but in this last year, Centering Prayer has taken on a greater priority than it had before.  I have made a commitment to lead book studies on Centering Prayer at my church, to practice Centering Prayer faithfully, and to hold to a group practice of Centering Prayer with others. Part of my motivation is a sense that deep spiritual grounding in the Holy is more necessary than ever now. I want to be part of that. Another motivation is to grow in God,  more and more to speak God's language which is Silence and Love.  And, a third motivation is to be with other people who share this practice and perspective, that these times are crucial in human history and that being "rooted and grounded in Love," who is God,  is essential.

In the next few posts, I'll discuss some of the origins of Centering Prayer, point to writers and organizations that teach and practice Centering Prayer, and present a bit about my own experience and ask for others to comment on what their experience of Centering Prayer is like.