The Ways of Meditation

Recently, Bro.William received an invitation of a talk by Fr. Laurence Freeman, OSB. But since he would not be in Taipei at that time, he encouraged us, the postulants, to attend that talk to enrich our spirituality, for the subject was Christian meditation.

Fortunately, before attending the talk given by Fr. Freeman, OSB, I have already read some articles of Christian meditation by Fr. John Main, OSB who promoted a way of Benedictine meditation to urban people. So, it was not so difficult for me to absorb the ideas that he gave us, for the principles in the meditation that he mentioned had already been written in the articles which I had read previously. Yet, I benefited a lot from that talk. Actually, the way of meditation that he introduced was very simple, but not easy to practise. This method was similar to the two other ways of meditation, for they all focus on the problem of distraction, although it was merely the beginning of meditation.

One of the two other ways of meditation was “Centering Prayer” which has been also widely promoted in the West. What Fr. John Main had introduced (the Prayer of the Heart) is also based on the early Christian tradition, especially that of the desert fathers and mothers of the 4th century. And, both ways of meditation use a “mantra” as a means or a guide from the beginning to the end of the meditation. Besides using “mantra”, the most important quality of both meditations is discipline, that of the body and of the mind. One may say that Centering Prayer is one variation of the Prayer of the Heart, since Fr. John Main was the first one to promote the Christian Meditation Movement in the modern Western World. But it seems like that Centering Prayer has become more popular.

In the Eastern World, especially in the Orthodox Church, there is another tradition that is similar to the Prayer of the Heart. They call it “Jesus Prayer”, and it was just like the Rosary for us Catholics. I knew this way of prayer from the book The Way of a Pilgrim. The prayer consists of the repetitive recitation of the prayer “Jesus, Son of David, Have Mercy on Me” as a mantra for the Prayer of the Heart. And, the main purpose of reciting “Jesus Prayer” as a “mantra” is to keep distraction away from our mind, since full attention to God is the key to the way of contemplation.

So, these three ways of meditation or prayer all have the same element of using a mantra, and they are all rooted in the early Christian Tradition, especially that of the Desert Fathers’. I wonder why all these three ways of meditation require simplicity (maybe their essence shows that it is not three kinds of prayer, but only variations of the same tradition) are so popular in our time. Maybe it is because our modern world is full of changeable things and the complexity of the world always leads us astray from paying due attention to God. The words that Jesus said to Martha rings true in my ear, that “only one thing is necessary…” Perhaps, I think it is the right path for us modern people, and the quality that we need in meditation or prayer is simplicity as a child.