BLOG SOUL AWAKENING 2

An Altar of Silence

Continued from Blog Soul Awakening 1

It was kind of weird. For twenty minutes I had silently sat with my eyes closed and thinking about nothing, or at least I had desperately tried to think of nothing. Not a simple exercise I soon learned. Within the last five minutes people had begun to stir: a cough or sniffle, wood creaking as someone adjusted posture on a hard chair, restless feet as they scrapped the carpet. Clearly, the profound silence that had augured the beginning of the meditation was running out of steam. I wasn’t the only one struggling.

The moderator signalled the close of the meditation. I opened my eyes to the half-dozen gathered in the small room used for day-care during church services. As if coming out of a sleep eyes blinked and began to refocus on their surroundings – bright blue walls decorated with colourful child-like motifs, toys stacked in a pile and a wooden cabinet lined with picture books easily reachable from toddler height.

The faces as they emerged from meditation were relaxed and peacefully present – alert but quiet as if still listening. There seemed a general reluctance to break the tranquility and leave behind that altar of internal silence.

In Silence: Marantha – Come, Lord Jesus

My interest in meditation was growing and this Christian meditation offered at church was timely. It was becoming for me a natural precursor to prayer in that it had a way of dampening down the dust so often stirred by the clutter in my brain. And once thought settled prayer often became fluid and deliciously transfused with intimacy and grace.

But for the small group gathered the session was at its close. Although the moderator had warned against assigning any judgement to the experience there were those who wanted to share. The challenge in thinking about nothing was almost universal but the recommendation to use a prayer word, a single word or mantra, to re-centre was generally found helpful. The format used for this session was the one recommended from The World Community for Christian Meditation (WCCM) http://wccm.org/content/how-meditate.

The WCCM suggest you choose a simple word to silently recite when thoughts slip in to displace the quiet. This particular practice suggests any word will do but recommends the use of the ancient Christian prayer-word “Maranatha” meaning “Come, Lord Jesus.”

Most agreed the practice, although simple, was harder than it looks. Letting go of our thoughts and desires – for a few minutes forgetting about ourselves and our concerns and worries – is a difficult challenge. But not a single person in the group felt it a waste of time – being present and in the moment had all left us with a certain lightness of being.

The moderator shared her experiences of meditation. The practice opening within her creative solutions to previous problems when a teacher in the classroom.

I, too, had noticed when writing that often creative thought flows from silent, peaceful places. When boulders of thought do not block my mind and obscure my spirit, there is a new essence that seems to rise from a place deep within.

Marantha – Come, Lord Jesus.

To be continued in the next post.

Meditation is a universal practice that transcends religions. Have you ever journeyed to an altar of silence? What was your experience?