By doc

October 17, 2006 12:24 PM | Link to this

centering prayer, similar to vipasana or mindfulness meditation but it is christian based meditiation recovered by three catholic monks in a monestary after reading a book called the cloud of unknowing. it was in the christian church until the ‘reformation” in the 16th century where catholicism took back the ability of individuals to have a relationship to god without a mediary and the one that asks you to tithe back to get the connection. the church gave it back in the reformation that occured in about 1966 when the liturgy was changed to english.

the “form” of it is to simply observe the thoughts as they run through our heads like watching a river flow in front of us. we have the intent to form a relationship to god at the outset and anything that takes us away from this is an emotional issue that we have gotten caught into as we watch the thoughts. when we are not mindful of gods presence in other words we have forgotten our intent to simply observe rather than participate at an emotional level. once we find ourselves caught emotionally we then bring ourselves back to the intent with a prayer word just as they do in vipassana style of simply observing the breath until there is the acknowledgement of the mind wandering.

the intent is to sit still with god and listen with the premise that god only speaks to us when we are quiet and still. it isnt about good, bad, indifferent, judgemnt nor the “quieting’ of our thoughts that takes us there. it will happen in the practice of 20 minutes twice a day no matter if it is buddhist style or chrisitian or any other form. ultimately we get coherence between the mind and heart hence the prayer was called heart prayer through the 3rd to 16th centuries and developed by the desert fathers that chose not to practice an adulterated form of religion brought in with constantinople.

again the intent is not to quiet the mind. in fact it is like the saying when a buddhist monk was asked how to keep a wandering cow within the pen he responded make the fence bigger. do that with your brain and enjoy the devine therapy according to thomas keating.

other forms help if people have trouble with these techniques and they involve focus to mantra, repitition of words, etc. but ultimately they lead to the non-focused types.

i am not catholic so it is open to all. since i am christian it speaks to me in the language i was brought up in. christ’s words, the bible and the lessons within. if you want more info go to contemplative.org and read on.

enjoy the journey!

By NEETI DEWAN, THE EXECUTIVE YOGI(tm)

October 18, 2006 11:35 AM | Link to this

When I meditate, I tell myself that I am going into “suspension”. I stop worrying about the day-to-day life and simply focus in on my breath. This helps me stay calm and focused, and carry through my daily meditation practice with ease.