Christian meditation

Awakening into the Heart of God

The essence of Christian meditation is simply an unconditional surrender to the two greatest commandments, as explained by Jesus: "Love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, all thine soul, and all thine mind. And the second is like unto it: Love thy neighbor as thy self."

There are many different forms of Christian Meditation, some of them ancient, such as the "Centering Prayer" of the Desert Fathers (as taught by a wise and wonderful Cistercian priest, monk, and abbot, Father Thomas Keating, and others in both Catholic and Episcopalian congregations), and some of them contemporary, as one might find in Friends Meetings, Unitarian-Universalist congregations, Unity or Science of Mind centers and so forth. Ultimately, what all of them have in common, however, is a fundamental awakening and surrender into the Love of God.

What Is Christian Meditation and How Is It Done?

Practically speaking, Christian meditation is a silent, inward resting into the pure, infinte Affection and Compassion of Jesus, by way of a sacred thought, word, or phrase. It's effects are peaceful, healing, relaxing, and refreshing, and it will awaken you to the blessedness that is everywhere and has always surrounded you. This is how it works.
Choose a word or short phrase that deeply moves you. The word or words themselves are not so much important as the depth of joy and peace you experience when you hold them in your heart. Some that have worked well for others include

# God is Love
# Thou art Love
# Thou art Love, I am love (on the second breath)
# Pure, Infinite Love
# All-Loving Presence
# Peace, be still
# Be still, and know that I am God
# Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me
# Jesus
# Pure, Infinite Peace
# Peace
# Shalom
# or any other word or phrase that speaks directly to your heart.

Once you have chosen one, it is important that you stay with it and give yourself to it - not just to the word, the sound - but to the infinite healing and peace that it points to. At some point, perhaps from the very beginning or perhaps later on, you will begin to notice a profoundly beautiful feeling of tranquility, pleasure, and well being. It may be somewhat subtle at first, but if you keep practicing and surrendering yourself to it, it will continue to deepen. (No one has ever reported a limit to these blissful feelings - they just seem to just get deeper and deeper and deeper. It's one of the gifts of spiritual surrender.)

Sit in an upright chair with your feet on the floor (or in a cross-legged position on the floor, if that is more comfortable). Clasp your hands gently in your lap, or place them on your knees, again whichever is most comfortable. Sit up straight but not rigid, relaxed with a soft belly (relaxing your abdominal wall so that, as you breath in, your belly rises like a filling balloon, and as you breath out, your belly falls again). You needn't try to control your breathing, just relax and let the breath breathe itself.

Close your eyes. Continue to breathe naturally.

Begin repeating your chosen word or phrase silently on the exhalation. Be gently aware of your belly arising on the inhalation. As you exhale, relax into not only the word, but as much as possible into the pure, sweet affection and compassion to which it refers. Give 10% of your attention to the internal sound of it, and 90% of your attention to that which it points to.

On each breath, surrender a little deeper into the gentle, healing Love of God. No reservations. No strings attached. Give yourself completely.

If your attention wanders, gently bring it back to your chosen word, and again allow yourself to become absorbed into it.

Continue for at least 20 minutes to an hour. Once in the morning, once in the evening. As you bring it to a close, you may want to just sit quietly in reflection. You also may want to give a little attention to how you want to go through your day, not only what you do and say and think, but how you do and say and think it. In other words, with awareness, affection, compassion, honesty, generosity, and serenity. You may also find that it is very healing and transformative repeating it during the day: Driving to work, walking to the store, taking a shower, eating breakfast, even going to the bathroom. If you let it, it will change everything.

During or after the course of meditation, you may find that painful or angry or worrisome memories or fantasies come up. It may even seem as though they are demons, coming to torture you and distract you from bliss and peace. If you view them that way, then consider the possibility that they have heard that you are being set free, and they are coming to you to be liberated. With a warm and confident half-smile, give them your love and compassion, and let them go, then turn your attention back to your meditation. Do this as many times as necessary. If they come up hundreds, even thousands of times, take joy in the fact that you are liberating thousands of demons.

The Spirit of Meditation

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