Meditation is a practice that helps one calm one’s mind and attain complete peace. With the help of meditation you can clear your mind of all its worries for a little while and give it the rebooting that it desperately requires. It is a sort of cleansing procedure that is closely related to praying. The three main principles of meditation are simplicity, silence and stillness. Like many other religions, meditation has appeared plenty of times in Christian rituals too. However these practices have slowly faded from the memories of priests today.
Christian Meditation Techniques:
However in recent times, the practice of Christian meditation has been rediscovered. John Main was the foremost teacher of this practice. After his death, his legacy was continued by The World Community for Christian Meditation, which was founded in 1991.
[Read: What Are the Benefits of Daily Meditation?]
Christian monks and nuns have been practices meditation, leading its simple life of frugality and following all its principles. The tradition of using meditation to apply the radicals and gospels of Jesus has been brought down to our generation by the Christian monks, Desert Fathers and Mothers. John Main the primary reviver of this tradition taught from the scriptures and teachings of these very monks.
The key to meditation is simplicity and serenity. Your environment should be calm and peaceful. Sit down, with your back straight and eyes closed. If you wish you can play some soft music in the background. Then you have to chant a mantra or word, preferably the Christian prayer word – maranatha.
As you chant the word, try and forget about the rest of the world. Concentrate only on the word and let it course through your body. Feel all its syllables as you say it again and again till every thought, good or bad, has forsaken your mind. And in this manner you will achieve silence, stillness and simplicity which are the three key S’s of meditation.
The practice of this kind of meditation everyday will help you become a better person and handle your problems better. When practiced in the morning it will make you feel more refreshed and more positive about the rest of your day. Then meditate again at night and it will allow you to enjoy the most peaceful and calming sleep which will allow you to wake up feeling all the more rejuvenated. In this manner, a few minutes of everyday devoted to meditation will help balance your body and soul better and will thus, allow you to face all the problems of your life with a stronger mind.
[Read: Complete Guide for Deepak Chopra Meditation]
So the question is how is meditation related to faith or religion? When you really think of it, this is one of those questions whose answers are staring us in our faces.
Meditation requires focus and loyalty. It opens common grounds between all kinds of cultures and faith. It helps us take our attentions off ourselves, which is what every religion especially Christianity preaches. It also brings communities together. The World Community for Christian Meditation is the best example for this.
Meditation whether Christian or of some other form helps bring together people from different cultures and backgrounds. Meditation helps connect your mind with your heart. It changes the way you live, the way you view the world.
[Read: What is Deep Meditation? Techniques]
Thus, the only conclusion that we can draw here is that John Main was a great man to have brought back this holy and wonderful tradition back to us. His teachings allowed plenty of people to begin rediscovering their lives. It inspired people to improve their state of mind and it even helped bring together communities! John Main is thus, a true hero in today’s world and Christian meditation is the movement with which he improved the world.
