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http://www.UrbanDharma.org
...Buddhism for Urban America
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The
Urban Dharma Newsletter... December 16, 2003
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In
This Issue: Christian Meditation
1.
Information About Christian Meditation
2. Christian Meditation ...Tom Adams
3. The Pitfalls of Christian Meditation ...Sister Mary (Meg)
Margaret Funk
4. Temple/Center/Website- of the Week:
Irish Community for Christian Meditation
5. Book/CD/Movie Review: Tools
Matter ...by Sister Mary Margaret Funk, OSB
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1.
Information About Christian Meditation
http://christianmeditation.com/christian_meditation.html
Meditation
is simple and practical. It is about experience rather than
theory, a way of being rather than merely a way of thinking.
Indeed, it is even more than a way of prayer; it is a way of
life, a way of living from the deep centre of one's being.
The
focus of meditation is Christocentric. This means that it is
centered on the prayer of Christ which is continuously poured
forth in the Holy Sprit in the depth of each human being. Deeper
than all ideas of God is God himself. Deeper than imagination
is the reality of God. Thus, in this way of 'pure prayer' we
leave all thoughts, words and images behind in order to "set
our minds on the kingdom of God before all else." In this
way we leave our egotistical self behind to die and rise to
our true self in Christ through Christian Meditation.
Meditators
therefore undertake an inner journey of silence, stillness and
simplicity. They embrace poverty of spirit, a radical letting-go,
as the primary beatitude of the Kingdom. The way taught by the
early desert monks such as John Cassian is to go beyond all
distractions of thoughts, words and images. One takes a single
sacred word or phrase (a 'mantra') and simply and faithfully
repeats it during the period of meditation. John Main recommended
the ancient Christian prayer 'maranatha.' In Aramaic, the language
Jesus spoke, it means "Come Lord Jesus" and should
be repeated silently, interiorly, as four equally stressed syllables.
Whatever thought, image or feeling comes, simply and faithfully
return to the mantra. Two periods of meditation of about 20
to 30 minutes are advisable, at the beginning and end of each
day. A quiet time and place, an upright posture, fidelity and
perseverance are all that is required.
Christian
Meditation is the missing contemplative dimension of much Christian
life today. It does not exclude other types of prayer and indeed
deepens one's need for the eucharist and one's reading of scripture.
To
many, Christian Meditation may be an unfamiliar way of prayer
despite its ancient place in Christian tradition. Meditation
teaching allows ordinary people to recognize the seeds of contemplation
within themselves. Meditation acknowledges the potential of
the "holiness of all the people of God." Most meditation
groups today are led by lay people. In this renewal of a Christian
tradition of prayer there is also great potential for Christians
of all denominations to meet in common faith and indeed for
all people of all religions to meet in their common humanity.
Harness
the power of Christian Meditation today!
2.
Christian Meditation ...Tom
Adams
http://easternhealingarts.com/Articles/ChrisMed.html
Our
post-modern culture with its emphasis on technology, the intellect
and materialism, has obscured the deeper meaning in life, the
essence from which all things manifest. There is a great need
today to move our focus of attention from obsessive identification
with the intellectual, thinking mind, to a more integrative
approach that includes the heart. We need to return to heartfelt
faith, based on our personal experience, grounded and guided
through traditional teachings and practices with wisdom and
love. Due to the rejection of its mystical roots, {the essence
of the path in Christianity}, worship in many Christian churches
has transformed into a superficial form of practice concerned
more with outer achievement oriented goals ie. growth of the
Church, moral and ethical rules, rite and ritual, theological
debate and other mental busyness. Although these external practices
are useful, they do not fully nourish the soul. The impersonal
theory and theology that we think and talk so much about, are
not enough, we need to meditate. A Christian meditative discipline
will help us recover the essential truth of human nature.
Psalms
49:1-3
Hear
this all you people; give ear, all you inhabitants of the world:
Both low and high, rich and poor, together, My mouth shall speak
of wisdom and the meditation of my heart shall be of understanding.
Psalms
63:5
My
soul shall be satisfied… When I remember you upon my bed
and meditate on you
Psalms1:1-2
Blessed
is the man that walks not in the counsel of the ungodly…for
his delight is in the law of the Lord and in his law does he
meditate day and night.
I
Corinthians 3:16-20
Know
you not that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of
God dwells in you? …the wisdom of this world is foolishness
with God. For it is written. He takes the wise in their own
craftiness. And again the Lord knows that the thoughts of the
wise (in the ways of the world), are in vain.
The
historically based contemplative practices used to be restricted
to the contemplative community of monks; however, they have
now been made available to everyone, and are essential for Christians
to realize union with the Christ, with God, through actual direct
personal experience. Living a full life as a dedicated disciple
of Jesus requires us to meditate in the depth of our being.
The purest and ultimate goal in spiritual practice is to fully
realize one’s complete union and identification with God,
the Source of all, the true Self. We must leave the limited
self behind and follow the master and his teachings in a return
to God.
The
practice of meditation has been used in the Christian church
since its very beginning. In the Fourth century, A monk named
John Cassian went looking for personal instruction by the “Desert
Fathers”, who were Christian monks meditating in
utmost simplicity and silence in the Egyptian desert. One of
the monks whom John Cassian met named Abba Isaac taught him
about the ceaseless prayer of the heart, a continual recollection
of the holy presence of God and, How to Do It!
Meditation
requires a leap in faith because we must dare to die to our
limited but known self, before we truly experience and unite
with God, the True Self; which we cannot realize through the
rational thinking mind. We must become simple, clear, still
and empty so that we can be filled with Everything, the infinite
love, compassion and wisdom of God, within our own hearts, our
own being.
Jesus
said, “The man who would find his way must first lose
it,”
Luke14:33
You,
who do not forsake all that you have, cannot be my disciple.
John12:25
He
that loves his life shall lose it; and he that hates (detaches
from) his life in this world shall have life eternal
John4:24
“God
is a spirit ; and they that worship him must worship him in
spirit and in truth.”
Thess4:11
…study
to be quiet…
Rev8:1
And
when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence…
in heaven
Psalms37:7
Rest
in the Lord, and wait patiently for him
Psalms
46:10
“Be
still and know that I am God.”
Jesus
said, “the kingdom of Heaven dwells within.”
John
Cassian says this about the practice of meditation and the use
of “the word”, the mantra, “This mantra must
always be in your heart. When you go to sleep let it be saying
this verse, till having been molded by it, you grow accustomed
to repeat it even in your sleep.” Upon waking and throughout
the rest of day, it should be resonating continuously in the
depths of the heart. In the beginning it will require some effort
and be mostly in your mind, but with practice you will feel
it in your heart and eventually the mantra will flow within
you on its own, like “living water” and you will
be very still and simply listen to the mantra flow through you.”
The
author of the “Cloud of Unknowing”, a 14th Century
manual on Christian meditation says to choose “a word”
that has meaning for you and once you have chosen “the
word” the mantra, to let go of the meaning and simply
listen to its sound. The mantra is a simple tool used to bring
oneself to the state of silence and simplicity, into the presence
of your Lord and spiritual Master.
Matt6:6
-8…when you pray, enter into your closet (the body) and
when you have shut the door (to the thinking mind, judging mind),
pray to your Father which is in secret ( in silence); and your
Father which sees in secret will reward you openly. But when
you pray, use not vain repetition as the heathens do ( mantra
must be practiced with full attention, faith and love or it
is ineffective ); for they think that they shall be heard for
their much speaking. Therefore, don’t be like them; for
your Father knows what things you need, before you ask him.(
do not petition the Lord with prayer, rest in the silence, the
stillness and await the Lord)
Here
are some of the more common mantras used for meditation in the
Christian tradition.
A-men
– the Word,
Am-ma
– the divine Mother,
Ab-ba
– heavenly Father,
Hum-sa
– name of God in ancient Sanscrit, and means, I
AM THAT or I AM,
Ma-ra-na-tha
– come Lord; in ancient Aramaic.
Yah-weh
John
1:1,3-4, 12
In
the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the
Word was God. All things were made by him; and without him there
was not anything made that was unmade. In him was life; and
the life was the light of men. But as many as received him,
to them he gave power to become the sons of God, even to them
that believe on his name.
Exodus
3:13-14
And
Moses said to God, Behold when I come to the children of Israel
and shall say to them, the God of your fathers has sent me to
you; and they say to me, What is his name? what shall I say
to them? And God said to Moses… I AM THAT I AM; and he
said, tell them I AM has sent you to them.
Meditation
is a practice of silence, stillness and simplicity. We use a
mantra, the word of God, in conjunction with the natural rhythm
of our breath, to help us stay present and alert, so that we
can concentrate on union with God. As thoughts, words, other
imaginary images and distractions arise into our minds we acknowledge
them with non-judgmental awareness and gently return our attention
back to the mantra and breath immersed in the sacred presence.
We learn to let go of all ego-centered views, dualistic thinking,
false views, selfishness and any other illusions that are the
source of our suffering. Meditation is not an intellectual exercise
or theological reflection; we don’t think about God at
all, we practice to be with God, to experience the presence
of Christ Consciousness, the power of the Holy Spirit within
us right now in this present moment.. This type of ancient prayer
form will bring us to a sense of deep union in our being, then
with the being of others, with nature, and finally with Absolute
Being, God.
Matthew10:34,
37-40
Don’t
think that I have come to send peace on earth; I came not to
send peace but a sword. He that loves his father
or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and he that loves
son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. He that finds
his life shall lose it; and he that loses his life shall find
it.
The
sword mentioned here refers to the sword of discrimination or
wisdom that we must use to cut through all our limiting thoughts,
beliefs, opinions, and concepts, relating to our false identification
with the limited self or ego, which exists separate from God.
We must let go of all attachments, (to gradually die to the
limited self in order to be born again in the eternal Self.
Mark7:15-21
There
is nothing from outside a man, that enters into him that can
defile him: but the things that come out of him, those are the
things that defile him. If any man have ears to hear let him
hear. And when he entered into the house, away from the
crowd, his disciples asked him concerning the parable. And he
said to them. Are you so without understanding also? Do you
not perceive that whatever things entering a man from without
cannot defile him? Because it does not enter into his heart,
but into the belly… And he said, That which comes out
of a man, that is what defiles him. For from within, out of
the hearts of man, proceed evil thoughts.
Luke21:36
Therefore
you should watch and pray always, that you may be accounted
worthy to escape all the things that shall come to pass (from
within the hearts and minds of man) and to stand before the
Son of man.
Eph.3:15-19
“With
deep roots and firm foundations, may you be strong to grasp
with all God’s people what is the breadth and length and
height and depth of the love of Christ and to know it though
it is beyond knowledge ( thinking ). So may you attain to fullness
of being, the fullness of God himself.”
In
the Judaic tradition, in which Jesus lived, the ruach or “breath
of God” was the spiritual force that gave life. The word
spirit comes from the Latin word “spiritus” which
means breath. Also, it has been said that life and death are
only one breath away. When we inhale or (inspire) we are filled
with inspiration, we recognize the Divine within and when we
exhale or expire we surrender our limited self and further merge
with God, Absolute Being. So the breath is considered
the connection to life and death, and God.
Genesis2:7
And
the Lord formed man from the dust of the earth and breathed
into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living
soul.
John
20:21-22
Then
Jesus said to them, Peace be with you; as my Father has sent
me, even so I send you. And when he had said this, he breathed
on them, and said to them, receive the Holy Spirit.
Merely
thinking and talking about the roots of Christianity is not
enough. We have to put the teachings of Jesus, and the
mystics of the church into practice. Here is a simply guide
to a beginning meditation with the breath.
MEDITATION
TECHNIQUE
1.
Sit or lie down in a comfortable position, with your spine straight.
2.
Be attentive to your breath, the breath of life. The breath
of God.
3.
Listen to the breath coming in with the sound “HUM”
going out with the sound “SA” HUM-SA means “I
AM THAT” or “I AM”
4.
Let the breath be natural, do not control it, it may speed up
or slow down.
5.
The breath comes in and there is a space, the breath goes out
and there is a space. Be aware of the space between the breath.
Meditate there.
6.
Rest in the still space between the breaths, that space where
no thought exists, simply “ be” in the stillness,
in “I AM”.
7.
Meditate twice a day, begin with 20 minutes and gradually expand
to one hour.
Meditate
at the same times every day.
8.
Find an experienced teache to guide your meditation practice
It
is important to take note here that the “I” referred
to in the mantra “I AM” is not the egotistical
“I” which we usually identify with our personality
self, but instead refers to the absolute SELF, the non- dualistic
“I AM”, which is free of attachment to the ups and
downs, happy and sad, the constant coming and going of dualistic
thinking in which we are usually mired down.
Job1:7
And
the Lord said to Satan, where did you come from ? Then Satan
answered the Lord and said, From going to and fro in the earth,
and from walking up and down in it.
There
are many mantras and methods of meditation “many mansions”,
however this is the simplest, most natural and most effective
that I have experienced, and it is a practice common to all
the major world religions. This teaching and practice may be
simple, however, because of its simplicity it can be difficult
to do. Our modern minds and hearts are so complex and full of
distractions we tend to resist the return to silence and simplicity.
We need patience and a consistent motivation and effort in the
beginning stages of practice until our minds become more focused
and clear, so that we can rest in God, without the mind wandering
to and fro.
3.
The Pitfalls of Christian Meditation ...Sister
Mary (Meg) Margaret Funk - From Benedict's Dharma 2, a Buddhist/Christian
Retreat - http://www.benedictsdharma2.org
http://www.urbandharma.org/bdharma2/bd5/d5qa.html#pitfalls
REV.
KUSALA: Sr. Meg, yesterday we had many questions about the
pitfalls of Christian meditation, and I was wondering if you
could share with us your experiences and your insights on that
subject.
SR.
MEG: Okay, I knew that this time would be very brief, so
I'm going to ask you to indulge me, I need to be very direct.
If we were starting, or you were a group of spiritual directors
or even my own community, I'd be a little bit softer. I'm going
to be just as direct as I can.
First
I'd like to say Jane's question at the end was a critical question
for the Christian tradition. She even had a pointing to this
higher power; that she lifts up her humble self to God, and
then in humility would receive. She kept asking Kusala, what's
the source of the Buddha's wisdom; and Kusala kept saying, "His
own effort, wisdom, and compassion," you know. And then
she said, "Well, who's home?" And he said, "There's
nobody home." So, notice the two parts there. There is
nobody there, and there is nobody here.
Now,
in the Christian tradition, Jane also said with astute perception,
that's exactly the opposite of the way we come at this. It's
not wrong, but there are two truths here. He starts with the
unitive; that there is only emptiness, and in the emptiness,
there is really nothing.
REV.
KUSALA: Yes, exactly.
SR.
MEG: So, there is an emptiness. That's hard for us to grasp.
We start with God being our creator, and we are a creature,
so we start with duality. Well then, who brings us to this unity
is Christ, and Christ for Christians is not negotiable. Jesus
the Christ is not negotiable. If Jesus was human, who was the
Christ, brings us to this, through the Holy Spirit, brings us
to this same place or the same experience, this unity.
Now,
meditation leads us to this experience of unity, even the experience
of unitive consciousness, so sometimes we feel this oneness.
But our training is lacking in emptiness training. So the danger
for us is in the oneness, you think you are God. It feels like
God is in the center, and then you start acting out of your
center. The question is: Is it God, is it me, or is it emptiness?
The
training is to be empty so that God works through us, which
is a very advanced level of meditation practice. But if you
do it to quickly, it can become big problem.
Now,
that's the whole story, but let me go through the steps.
When
you start meditating, there is an introduction to the practice,
and you start feeling, and you get your practice, maybe Christian
meditation, maybe a centering prayer, maybe a Jesus prayer.
There are Christians that go to Hindu practice, a lot of body
practice, yoga practices that also does the same thing.
The
most skillful Catholic priest I know that does a Hindu practices
through Christianity is Tom Ryan, he's at St. Paul Church in
New York. He is very skillful.
All
right, you start your practice. You feel body and mind as being
one. You have the sense of mind slowing down and clearing up.
These are just side effects: You are more balanced. Your health
improves. Your body is more limber. You renounce your sins.
Some people give up smoking. Your sex life gets ordered. Your
food intake is moderate. There are lots of good side effects
to meditation.
But
then very soon, after about three months the difficulties start
rising. The first difficulty is, it takes a lot of strength
to practice, you start to see how much strength it takes to
get started every day, to wake up an hour earlier. It's hard
to practice when you're sick, to stay in a posture, to get your
room set up so that it's quiet. The strength needed to practice
is enormous, you might even need a meditation group to help
you practice.
The
second difficulty that arises when you're doing your practice
is, it is no longer as sweet. Difficulties start rising. The
afflictions rise stronger and harder. You become more grouchy,
not less in your home life, and you start saying, "Wow,
what's happening?" Your practice is breaking up levels
of your subconscious, this newly released energy floats up from
your unconscious to your conscious. Sometimes when you sit in
meditation you might break down crying or start laughing, you
can't seem to control yourself-- stuff just happens, and your
thoughts become wild.
The
third stage is when there is the unloading of the unconscious.
Thomas Keating has a lot of training with the false self system
breaking up, you just continue to unload and all that. It's
normal in meditation. It just happens. But sometimes there are
problems.
Now
I'm going to stop here for a moment, and go through six problems
with meditation , and then I'll get back to the difficulties.
The
first problem I see is, if you've ever done drugs or too much
alcohol, the brain is not ready to meditate. It may be never
be ready.
Usually,
when I have somebody coming to me, and I hear what their problems
are in meditation, and I find out that they've done drugs, even
just marijuana, they probably shouldn't meditate. There are
other ways in the Christian tradition to come to that very same
place, not through the door of meditation practice, because
we believe in just this one lifetime.
There
are other practices, meditation may be too powerful for some
people. You don't need to meditate. There are other ways. And
I can share with you what those other ways are, but I'm going
to stay with meditation this morning. So drugs are an impediment
to meditation.
There
are some people who still do drugs and meditate, but to be honest,
they don't meditate very deeply. That's just how they cope.
They either use a consciousness meditation with music, or they
do visualization, but they don't go down to this very deep place
of emptiness.
Number
two, about women, I'm trusting that we are all friends here,
abortion. Any woman who has had an abortion, will find it very
difficult to go to a deep level in their meditation practice.
You might say, "Well, aren't they the ones that need it
the most?" Well, again, I'd say there are other ways.
An
abortion is a very serious breach of life. Now, you can come
to peace after an abortion, with reconciliation and love. A
counselor that I worked with, and a psychiatrist I worked with,
and my own practice of listening to women, lead me to believe
that three out of five Catholic women have had abortions. High.
Higher than you might think. It's just part of our culture,
and it's okay. It's okay.
Well,
let's deal with it. Let's be up front with it, and let's just
pick up where we really are. There are ways through the abortion
experience that you can come to this experience of unity with
God and feel fine. I've recommended the Rachel program. I recommend
the true confession of sin, and then moving on. It's not an
obstruction to your spiritual life; it's a way through. I recommend
reading the book, Harlots of the Desert.
You
know, when you get to the desert fathers and mothers, the 200
women and men, who did they go to, to lay out their thoughts?
Yes,
Ruth?
RC:
Women.
SR.
MEG: Yes, the harlots, they had great humility. There is
a marvelous book translated by Benedicta Ward, "The Harlots
of the Desert." I'd give that to every woman who has had
an abortion experience.
LH:
Meg, if somebody has gone through the abortion process, maybe
the programs that you've talked about, and maybe they have gone
through the process of healing, could they then perhaps be involved
in meditation, or do you think it's a closed door?
SR.
MEG: Well, I'll just say my experience is that they'll go
back to meditation, but I've never seen them do the type of
meditation that is closer to the Buddhist type of meditation,
in either the concentration or the receptivity. I think it's
healthier for them not too meditate.
They
might do the relationship practice of relating to a mate and
being open then to a healthy sexuality, or even a celibate practice,
they have a lot they can do, without meditating.
There
is no sense of opening too deeply to the emptiness that brings
back the terrible depth of pain that they've had through the
abortion. Now, I would never say it directly, but usually they
are not called to meditate. That's more the point.
Okay.
The next level is mental illness. People that have had serious
mental breakdowns or are taking medication because of schizophrenia
or bipolar or multiple personalities. They always seem to end
up on retreats because they are in a lot of pain, and they seek
the benefit of the interior world. They can be very wise, and
usually extremely intelligent.
Should
they meditate? The answer is no. Really, no. There are other
ways, again, through mindfulness above the river, staying faithful
to their medication, being at one with the pain and sorrow they've
had.
So
mental illness is -- and they also -- we've had suicides. The
risk of meditation practice is too high for them. Your risk
as a teacher or a spiritual director is too high.
It's
very hard with the mentally healthy to go this deeply under
the river stuff, let alone people that are mentally unhealthy.
We don't know what other forces might be working inside of them.
Okay,
moving right along, the next group is the psychic phenomena
folks. Some people are very open. They receive psychic phenomena.
They are just paraspiritual.
I
directed a retreat not too long ago with five or six Santa Domingo
women as part of the group. They had a strong sense of the dead,
the unliving. These cultures have much more of that kind of
thing than we do in United States. They needed a very strong
mental state to enter into the zones where that phenomena lives,
they need a lot more training. That's another interesting level.
The
fifth group are the people that overdo everything, they might
access kundalini energy quickly -- lights, bells, whistles,
and sexual energies rising. They need to disqualify themselves,
because it needs to be a slow practice, so that your whole inner
level of energies can accept it when kundalini rises.
Kundalini
is an energy that once it opens, can never be put to sleep again,
it's very serious. None of the people I know are advanced enough
to guide people once the kundalini opens. It can be pretty scary
stuff.
The
sixth area is false teachers. False teachers are people who
at some level take the disciple, and become the need, rather
than servicing the need. It usually shows up as sex, I have
story after story about this.
Whenever
there is touching, physical touching with a disciple or a student,
it is always a bad sign. Not sometimes. Always.
There
are these advanced spiritual folks that run around hugging people.
The point is, they can give you these energies, yes, but it
really would be better for somebody else to do it. You really
should get your physical contact from friends, a mate, or a
partner. Not through a spiritual teacher. We don't have enough
walls to defend ourselves from that.
That
leads me to the next domain, and then we'll have to get -- oh,
gosh, it's time for Mass already.
We
have to be very cautious in the spiritual domain of Reiki energy
massage, all that touching manipulates spiritual energies, but
what you might get is the practitioners spiritual energy.
The
problem is as I see it , and Reiki does work, and it can heal.
But the Reiki practitioners may mix whatever they have, any
afflictive emotional programs that they have, with your energy.
Just saying a little mantra isn't strong enough to purify everything.
You really have to have a pure life.
The
problem isn't the Reiki practice. The problem is who's doing
the practice, and in my opinion most are not far enough along,
to be doing what they're doing. For instance, they should be
able to fast for 30 days before they do any Reiki body work
on you.
To
become a Reiki practitioner, it may only take two or three weekends
to become certified, they look at it as, it's what they do,
not who they are. It's the energies of the unseen you have to
be really careful of.
You
might come back a week or two later, and you've got all these
phantoms living in your head. Stuff you've never had before,
and what happened is, they just moved from the Reiki practitioner
to you.
I'm
moving to the last thing. We go down below the river to the
dark forces, and there are a lot of them, the dark forces. They
are demonic and they do have form, they do have force.
First
you get the gifts, the forces of light. If they can't get to
you through food, sex, things, and anger, they'll get you through
pride or the angels of light. They have powers.
It's
possible to see into people's hearts. You can see ahead in time
or behind in time; the gifts of light, they are not that hard
to get. They come sometimes through angels of light, which means
they are really dark forces getting at you, through light forces.
It's
the pride. You have to be very careful of people that have powers,
anybody that has powers. What you want in a teacher is humility,
not powers, because those powers, where do they come from?
Then
there are the dark powers. People talk about dark nights of
the soul. All right, a dark night of the soul is someone not
going through just normal afflictions of food, sex, anger, you
know, death and all that. That's normal, they are afflictions.
A
dark night of the soul is when you've experienced light, and
then the darkness follows. It's all about God. God is missing.
What happens in those dark nights is, light forces come and
give you light, but they could be lights of evil, not lights
of good. That is where you need direction, sorting out good
lights from dark lights.
There
are really dark forces. People really do hand themselves over
to dark forces, and they end up needing an exorcism. As often
as three times a year, I find somebody full of darkness, just
full of darkness. I don't see halo's, usually, but you can just
about see them. They are usually red, or they are gray and smoky.
I
know people that can see spirits, they come in through doors
and run around rooms and all of that. I'll ask them, well, what
do they look like, and they always give me the same description.
They are kind of smoky in the light. They have little red eyes,
and they've got little -- like that picture on the wall, like
that picture of Pan in Kusala's room.
JO:
Yeats says it best: Where holy Dionysus once stood, a staring
virgin stands. She took his heart from out his breast and held
it in her hand. This is the transition from paganism to Christianity.
Yeats said it best.
SR.
MEG: Do you want to say it again?
JO:
I'm paraphrasing, I'm sorry.
Once
where holy Dionysus stood, a holy virgin stands, and took his
heart from out his breast and held it in her hand.
It
was a transition. St. Oren was a druid in Iona who worshiped
the sun, and then Columba came and said, we worship the son
behind the sun, and he was converted.
But
we must always remember those moments of transition from where
we first came, and how far we've come.
SR.
MEG: And yet it's baptized, it's handed over to our hearts.
JO:
Took his heart and held it in her hand. Yeats said it best.
SR.
MEG: See, again, we are part of the cosmos, we believe that
God through us is continuing creation, and we through God. Christ
has already canceled out all evil, so we don't have to worry
about that.
But
meditation practice, especially if you go into too much emptiness,
certain forces fill the emptiness. We don't have the strength,
we don't have the teachers, and we don't have the teachings.
In
my book "Tools Matter," the last chapter on discernment,
I pulled together the teachings on the demonic from Cassian.
You can find it there in John Cassian, who again Benedict presumed
we knew, which we don't. So, in our tradition we have to be
to be aware of, but not afraid of it.
That's
the reason for holy water. That's the reason for the crucifix.
That's the reason for the Jesus prayer, "Lord Jesus, have
mercy on me a sinner." So, we let God do it through us.
The
emptiness of Buddhism, is Christ to the Christian, not no-self.
There is nobody home.
If
it's us, that's self effort, with a big scoop of ego self, and
it could even be the fallen self, it could be evil. That's the
biggest battle, good and evil. Meditation is a very serious
way in which we are more vulnerable to those forces. It's good,
but it also has the danger of evil.
That's
why it was canceled out many times by the church, because often
the demonic arose instead of the goodness. In our tradition,
when you do have phenomena that rises, you must dash it on the
foot of Christ, or get it verified by a wise director.
So,
here is the guideline: Anything that rises in meditation, we
let go of. Anything! Good, evil, anything. We are just dwelling
in front of our Lord; so, anything that rises, we lay aside.
Now,
in our consciousness what rises, let's say to speak to our Lord,
depending on what your path is. Above the river we can be more
confident, yes, that is our Lord asking us to have a dialogue
with him. But in our unconsciousness, under the river, usually
nothing should be held on to. But sometimes we can't let go,
because we are out of our domain.
If
you are above the river, you know, through prayers and devotion
and imaging, you can use your mind there. But below, we need
to let go of everything that rises. Those things may not authentic.
JO:
Jung would disagree with you. Our subconscious is full of everything,
of course, but it's also an energy, our shadow side. The shadow
is not necessarily bad; it's the unacknowledged side.
SR.
MEG: Right, but don't you deal with it above the river instead
of under the river?
JO:
You can bring it up and deal with it in the light.
SR.
MEG: I wouldn't bring it up. I would let it rise, and then
deal with it.
JO:
Then deal with it after it comes up.
SR.
MEG: Jung is a good example of somebody who is not Christian.
He is not Christian. He is self-effort. He is Hindu in his philosophy.
That
is where we differ. We would let it rise, and then it's -- see,
in other words, God isn't the center for Jung. The self is the
center. It's functional transcendent, not transcendent functional.
The transcendent is not at the center. That is where we would
really differ.
That's
why it's very dangerous for us to uncritically go to these places,
which is what he did. He went to Hinduism to bring his marvelous
stuff together, but it isn't the Christian tradition, and we
really have to be careful.
I
thought it was marvelous the way you got Kusala to talk about,
"Isn't there somebody up there?" And he said, "No."
And then you said, "Well, then who is doing this?"
And he said, "Nobody."
We
would say there is somebody, because we are a creature, and
it's through Christ that we do this dynamic, because of Jesus
being human. There is nothing like that in the Hindu or the
Buddhist tradition. In the Asian tradition, they have no Christ
who is also God.
Yesterday
was the feast of Athanasius, and he combated the Arian heresy.
The Arian heresy is basically the Hindu idea that we would all
become gurus through many lifetimes, and that we are really
god from the get-go.
Whereas,
we don't think so. We say we are creatures from the get-go,
and through Christ we become God. So, there is a basic fundamental
difference there. It comes to the same point, but you could
see our humility is different, and our training is different.
That's
the way I understand it.
4.
Irish Community for Christian Meditation
http://www.wccmireland.org/
Introduction
to and Experience of Meditation for Beginners
Every
Wednesday from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. there is a special talk and
practice for beginners to Christian meditation in Dun Laoghaire,
Co Dublin. You don't need any appointment just come along and
a teacher will always be there to welcome you and help in any
way needed.
The
venue is at:
4
Eblana Avenue
Dun Laoghaire
Phone 01.280.7827
Fax 01.280.8720
email
maranatha@wccmireland.org
5.
Tools Matter ...by Sister Mary Margaret Funk, OSB
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/082641351X/wwwkusalaorg-20/
Sister
Mary Margaret Funk turns to the wisdom of the desert fathers
for the means of removing obstacles to spiritual growth, which
include thoughts of food, sex, possessions, anger, dejection,
and pride, among other preoccupations. Redirecting thought away
from such weeds in the garden of the spirit can lead to a greater
awareness of God. This somewhat Zen-like method to mental discipline
may seem impossible at first, Funk admits, but those who succeed
at it are rewarded with a liberating experience as they come
to observe and control individual thought processes. Drawing
on the writings of the fifth-century monk John Cassian, Funk
goes on to explore deeply using such tools as memory, imagination,
and rational thinking--tools right out of early Christianity--to
work on inner healing. She also explains how other positive
tools, such as ceaseless prayer, manual labor, and isolation,
may lead to uncluttering the mind and purifying the heart. Worthy
guidance for contemplative spiritual seekers. June Sawyers -
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Amazon.com
- Reviewer: Sharon Salzberg from Barre, Ma. United States
This
is a lovely new book by Mary Margaret Funk. It reads as both
a source of inspiration and a practical guide for the development
of spiritual practice. The importance of having tools and knowing
how to use them as we tend "the garden of our souls"
is articulated in a fresh and accessible way.
While
it draws on practices from the early Christian tradition, the
depth and universality of its message is applicable to anyone
on a contemplative path. Tools do matter; they provide us with
the means to bring our spiritual practice to life in an ongoing
way. Many thanks to the author for this important manual of
the heart.
Amazon.com
- Reviewer: Pascaline Coff from Sand Springs, Oklahoma USA
God's
call to contemplation is universal, Bede Griffiths, a greatly
revered English monk who died in India in 1993 insisted, but
the reason the "call" is not effective is because
of a lack of receptivity. Meg Funk in this present volume offers
us all a handbook for spiritual receptivity - more than 25 Christian
prayer methods (tools) for our cooperation in becoming receptive
to the gift of God's Sprit given without limit.
Sr.Meg
truly takes her readers "back to the sources" of the
desert and early Christian monasticism as she places in our
hands another insightful and helpful 155 pages for the spiritual
journey. Those who haven't yet read or may have forgotten the
contents of her first volume: Thoughts Matter, will be
happy to find that the author gives us not just a brief replay
of the "eight thoughts" or "afflictions"
that obscure our awareness of God but adds many new insights,
nuances and examples. Of the more than 25 practices Meg shares
here from our Christian tradition that can be reappropriated
today as tools on the contemplative path, she gives pride of
place and repeated focus to Lectio Divina "the classic
individual prayer form".
Her
presentation is very well done. Sr. Meg's years of compassionate
intermonastic exchanges echo through her volume as she uses
phrases like "right effort; right thinking, right relationships"
and "the transmision of God". Her breakdown of the
tools into negative, positive, social, and prayer tools is helpful.
Under the social tools the author gives an exposition of humility
with a unique glimpse at St. Benedict's 12 degrees (Chap. 7
of the Rule)and as she herself says "The tools involved
in using these twelve steps form a refrain throughout this entire
book". Motivation is critical! Attention and intention
are frequent "wake up calls" thoughout the seven chapters
of the work.
In
the final chapter on discernment the author indicates what we
can learn from each of the eight afflictive thoughts, using
the suggested tools and knowing the goal of each effort. The
"downside" or limitations of each of the tools is
offered to help all walk in the Turth! Spiritual direction is
also included in the final chapter with a view to the listener
and the seeker.
The
book is highly recommended for all seekers, monastics and lay
alike!
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