FIRST STEPS: FIRST OBSTACLES
So you begin where you are and as you are. If you belong to a parish or
worshipping community, start there. Speak to the priest or pastor or parish
council or fellow parishioners. Explain what this gift has come to mean to you.
But be prepared for surprise, uneasiness, even suspicion. Remember that when
many people hear about meditation for the first time they are likely to think
you are describing something new and strange at best or, at worst, something
quite alien or threatening. Stay calm and don’t be put off! It does help,
however, to be familiar with the most common misperceptions about meditation.
Here are a few of the most common:
- Meditation is not Christian. It is imported from Buddhism or Hinduism. Explain as
best you can that meditation is a universal spiritual discipline, existing in most
other religions, especially those older than Christianity. But the way of silent
prayer is deeply rooted in the Christian tradition, historically, theologically, and
scripturally. Your understanding of the tradition John Main handed on, especially
as he describes it in Word Into Silence and The Gethsemani Talks, is invaluable
here. Sharing these powerfully clear little books is an excellent way to build
relationships of trust and help others grow in under-standing and confidence that
meditation is a way of prayer and faith. Two other effective resources that help
others situate meditation firmly on Christian ground are the pocket-sized
Christian Meditation: Your Daily Practice and the video, Coming Home, which
also tells the story of the World Community through the voices of individual
meditators from around the world.
- The mantra is not Christian. Another aspect of the fear that meditation is not
Christian is discomfort with the mantra, both as a term and as the ‘work’ the
tradition teaches us to do. Again there is strong and consistent teaching. There is
John Cassian’s pivotal disclosure of the key to desert wisdom in his magnificent
9th and 10th Conferences on Prayer: poverty of spirit, the humble recitation of a
few sacred words, what he calls in Latin the ‘formula, that helps us keep our
attention on the Lord instead of ourselves’. The 14th Century classic, The Cloud
of Unknowing, calls it the ‘one little word’ that helps us turn from distraction
toward the silent mystery of God. John Main had the insight to call the sacred
word a ‘mantra’ thus linking the specifically Christian tradition to the universal
wisdom. ‘Mantra’ is, of course now an English word, too, according to the Oxford
English Dictionary, despite its too-often use to describe the promises of
politicians. Originally a Sanskrit word (the root tongue of most European
languages) mantra refers to ‘that which clears the mind,’ a short scripture verse
or sacred word used in a repetitive way to help deepen attention. The rosary,
the words of the mass, blessings, and familiar, repeated prayers of all kinds are
mantras in this sense. And finally, there is the authority of Jesus who tells us not
‘to babble on,’ but to go to your secret chamber and there pray not with your
lips, but in silence to, as John Cassian describes it, ‘the searcher not of words,
but of hearts’.
- Meditation is dangerous. This most often comes from fundamentalists whose
aversion to mystery and need for literal and absolute certainty often conceal a
high degree of fear and repression of fear. They react angrily when they are
affronted or frightened by anyone daring to question the certainty they hold as
the very essence of true faith. They will say ‘when you open yourselves up or
blank your mind the devil will come in’. More likely, however, the devil will get
a chance to come out! Negative feelings and shadowy thoughts may get released
when repression is lifted. This is quite natural but it can be bumpy for a while.
The literature of Christian contemplation offers many descriptions of this process
and advice on dealing with it. Meditation practiced moderately and in faith is
not dangerous. It is more dangerous not to meditate. Meditation is not about
blanking your mind but about being poor in spirit, open to the indwelling
presence. Christians who believe in the resurrection and the presence of Christ
within them should above all approach meditation with confidence and hope.
Meditation is selfish. That’s what Martha thought too. But Jesus said that Mary
had chosen the ‘better part’. His own example of life shows him balancing his
periods of active ministry with times of withdrawal and quiet. Navel-gazing is
selfish. Meditation is the purest work of selflessness we can do because it takes
the attention off the ego’s agenda. Gradually it becomes a habit, a way of life.
And gradually we see that our prayer is not an alternative to action, but its very
ground. We discover the inextricable relationship between being and doing, and
the simple fact that our life is as good as our prayer. If the latter is only about
us, so then will be the former. If meditation did not show its fruits in greater
love and compassion – that would be the great objection, and a valid one. But as
stressed before, the only true measure of the efficacy of meditation is ‘am I
growing in love?’
- Meditation is selfish. That’s what Martha thought too. But Jesus said that Mary
had chosen the ‘better part’. His own example of life shows him balancing his
periods of active ministry with times of withdrawal and quiet. Navel-gazing is
selfish. Meditation is the purest work of selflessness we can do because it takes
the attention off the ego’s agenda. Gradually it becomes a habit, a way of life.
And gradually we see that our prayer is not an alternative to action, but its very
ground. We discover the inextricable relationship between being and doing, and
the simple fact that our life is as good as our prayer. If the latter is only about
us, so then will be the former. If meditation did not show its fruits in greater
love and compassion – that would be the great objection, and a valid one. But as
stressed before, the only true measure of the efficacy of meditation is ‘am I
growing in love?’
- Meditation is just a relaxation technique. We hear more in the popular media
about meditation as a way to lower blood pressure, raise body temperature, and
increase beta waves. This should not be a surprise in a medical and scientific
world that claims the primacy of chemical and biological determinants of human
behavior and identity. There is of course documented evidence that meditation
is an exceptionally effective way to relax and experience the physical and
psychological benefits of reduced stress and anxiety. But these outcomes are
merely lovely secondary benefits of what is first and foremost a way of prayer.
We might say that modern science has finally caught up with ancient wisdom.
Whatever objections people may raise when you start speaking about starting a
group, listen to them. Try to see where they are coming from. Don’t be
defensive or argumentative. And remember that most priests, for example, never
had an intro-duction to contemplative prayer in their training. They were formed
to think of themselves as administrators rather than spiritual teachers and so,
humanly enough, they may indeed feel threatened or put off by a lay person
talking about contemplation. And remember that you are not saying—and the
tradition does not teach—that meditation is the only way to pray. Try to share
your own experience of how meditation is not a substitute, but a support for, all
other individual and collective prayer. It feeds Christian life in all its dimensions,
bringing us back to the living truth of the Gospel with heightened appreciation
or to it, with fresh wonder, for the very first time.
If you get a negative response to your suggestion about starting a group, respond
to the rejection contemplatively. It will strengthen you. Consider whether you
should wait and try again or reflect on other avenues, other places or
communities you might explore. But you may well be lucky, too. You may find a
strong openness, indeed gratitude, that you suggested it and eagerness to help
you. Then what?
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