Christian Meditation and Prayer

Some things never change, including the human need to connect with its creator. Prayer and meditation on the divine are techniques that have been used for millennia to grow in the knowledge of God.

Many people live in a world of constant noise and find it difficult to become silent, still and simple.

Silence:

We need silence for our psychological health as well as for our spiritual growth.

The real silence is interior. In fact, even if we are in a noisy place, we can be silent if our mind is concentrated, which means one with our centre. We learn to be silent by paying attention. Attention brings the centre of our being to full consciousness. It brings us from the past and the future into the present moment which is gentle and restful.

There is no reason, that we cannot be silent in a busy street, in a traffic jam, or waiting in line. Learning to be silent teaches us to see our frustrations in daily life as an opportunity, indeed as a gift to go deeper, into our place of stillness.

Silence is healing. It pacifies our inner turmoil. It is the cure for destructive anger, anxiety and bitterness.

In silence we learn the universal language of Spirit. Here God speaks the creative words out of a boundless silence which pervades all of creation including us. In silence are we receptive to the inspiration within.

Silence is not just the absence of noise. Silence is a whole attitude of being, of relating of openness.

Stillness:

’Be still and know that I am God’ (Psalm 46:10). Stillness does not imply a state of inertia or death. To know God is to be fully alive, spiritually, mentally and physically.

As with silence, stillness has an exterior and an interior dimension. Stillness has nothing to do with a lack of action or blocking our movement. It is the fulfillment of all movement and action. Stillness is the first step of the inner journey to God at

the heart of our being. Stillness helps us to realize that our bodies are sacred - the temple of God. (1 Corinthian 6:19).

Simply learning to sit still is a great step forward on any spiritual path. For many it is the first lesson in going beyond activity and desire – the urge to scratch or fidget. Our physical restlessness reflects not only bodily stress and tension but also mental anxiety and distractedness. Physical stillness has a direct effect on the silence of the mind, and helps immensely to bring body, mind and spirit into harmony. The next dimension is interior stillness or inner peace.

Prayer as an aid to becoming still:

Prayer can be defined as lifting the mind and heart to God. Unfortunately most prayers are limited to asking God to take away our imperfections and the misfortunes of others. We pray mentally and often mechanically for health and well being and then wonder why our prayers are not answered. Prayer needs to come from the heart and a feeling of oneness with God. We must always remember that God knows our needs before we do.

An example of lifting our heart and mind to God:

‘O Lord you have the power to kindle divine love in all our hearts. Give us Thy love, that the instant we think of you, our hearts and souls will be filled with Thine divine love’.

It is with this divine love, a love that is not dependent on anything external, a love that by just thinking of God will lift our heart and soul into His presence, and gives us inner stillness and peace.

Simplicity:

Meditation is awakening to the reality that we are at home in the kingdom of God now. Jesus told us that the kingdom of God is within us. He also told us, that we must become like children to enter the kingdom. The kingdom is not a place, but an experience in consciousness. It is being in joy and in peace. But when we insist on constantly analysing our environment, our feelings or the attitudes of other people with our self conscious perceptions, our own world becomes complex and confusing. To be whole is to adopt a sense of being.

Being is simple, love is simple; meditation is simple, as it naturally brings us into contact with our intrinsic nature and with God. It means passing beyond self-consciousness and self criticism to cherish simplicity as a way of life.

Meditation is widely practiced as it brings us into the silence.

Meditation is a way to Self knowledge and an indispensible step toward the knowledge of God. But it is not primarily an intellectual pursuit for it reaches toward a profound harmony of body and mind and spirit, and fosters in us a deep sense of interdependence and oneness with all of humankind and all of creation. It brings us to the realization, that all there is, is oneness, wholeness.

How to meditate:

We can go into meditation by focusing on a single object. Should our mind wander from this object we gently bring our attention back to it. An aid to focusing is by repeating a sacred word such as God, or Christ, peace, love. As we breathe in we silently repeat God, when we breathe out we again silently repeat God. This is called a mantra in Sanskrit. Gradually the mantra fades away and we enter stillness.

The activity of meditation:

Sit in a comfortable position

Back straight

Gently close your eyes

Focus your attention in the higher brain centre, the spot between the eyebrows.

Take a few deep abdominal breaths

Then continue to breathe normally

Internalize your thoughts

The process is contemplation, concentration, meditation

Focus your attention on an object of interest until you become one with it.

If the mind wanders, bring it gently back to the object of contemplation

Rest in silence at the outset for 20 to 30 minutes

Continue with normal activities by bringing the silence into your daily routines

Do not judge the outcome of the meditation. Just see it as an important practice and surrender the results in God.

Integrate it into your daily life, with morning and preferably evening practice.

Present moment living:

Do not worry about tomorrow. While meditating we are not thinking of the past and future, we rather live with full consciousness in the present moment. The past is just a memory of bygone events; we create our future by living righteously in the here and now. In this way, the future will take care of itself. It is in the present moment where we find God; the ‘I Am’.

Living in the present moment as a daily practice makes us aware of the error of identifying God with religion, temples, synagogues, mosques or churches, with pious language or with rituals. God is everywhere at all times. Meditation is the daily discipline to be with God here and now. We need to wake up to this realization. 

Some benefits of meditation:

Strengthening of the immune system

Creativity

Calmness

Mental transformation

Better concentration

Development of intuition

Effective living

Slowing of biological aging

Intellectual discernment

Awakening of regenerative energies

Stress reduction

Awareness of one’s spiritual nature

Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, self control

God realization

Through meditation we discover our true nature and the deep mysteries of God. We discover that God is the source of our being and of all creation, the source that heals us physically, mentally and spiritually and makes us whole. Through meditation we discover the one in all.

Let us resolve to have God as the centre of our daily living and in this way bring peace and joy into our lives and into the world. May Peace be with us all.