June's meeting

Full house today.  We watched a video about the study of Harvard men who for 75 years had their lives intensely studied and from it we learn a good supportive marriage with many friends are the things to aim for. Not money, not fame or power if we want a long happy healthy life.

Another video pointed out being positive is not always the best way to handle emotions.

In his book, The Living Universe, Duane Elgin writes, “American Indian lore speaks of three miracles. The first miracle is that anything exists at all. The second miracle is that living things exist. The third miracle is that living things exist that know they exist. As human beings conscious of ourselves, we represent the third miracle.” The idea that we can be conscious of ourselves as human beings has profound implications. It means that we can become the observer of the miracle of our own mind at work. It also means, once again, that we can consciously experience that mystical point in space and time when and where our doing merges with our Being.

Stop right now, take a deep intentional breath and then take a peek into your own mind. Simply witness yourself, observe yourself. When was the last time you paused to do this? Watch your thinking mind process your thoughts, and the ideas being presented here, as you read these words. The fact that when we choose to be fully present in the mystery of the moment, we can be the observer of our own minds means that there is more to us than meets the eye, or the brain--who is it that is doing the observing? This is the moment when the human self and the sacred Self commingle as one, and it is also the miracle of all miracles; that is, that in any given moment we can consciously witness the merging of the human with the Divine realizing, as Ernest Holmes wrote, “What we are looking for, we are looking with.”

Peace, Dennis

Dennis Merritt Jones

“While our body was ours from the get-go, it took several years to learn that we were not literally physically connected to our parents. The older we grew, the more independent we became, and as a result, the more significance the body took on. We entered into yet another relationship with our body—one where it seemed we had more control over it. Over the years, we slowly became cognizant that our body was a vehicle that would go where and do what our minds told it to, never really aware of the role it would increasingly play in how we mistakenly defined ourselves. Overnight, it seems, the body became a focal point for opinions and judgments, both our own as well as those of others. With the ego’s help, we began placing labels on our body that would determine its worth and how we would relate to it and the world.

Then one day, it happened. The size and shape of our body began to morph in a way we had not experienced before, and the race was on, literally. As new chemicals coursed through our body, our physical appearance, gender, and sexuality became primary points of interest and, in the process, the basis for how we mistakenly defined ourselves became even more ensconced in the body. The curious thing is, years after our initial introduction to who we really are not, we still mistakenly allow the body to define us, even well into our senior years. I propose that it doesn’t have to be that way. Perhaps it’s time for a redefining moment or two. Our body does not define us unless we allow it to.”

A 4-step guide to the prayer that’s “better than meditation”

It’s called centering prayer and it’s a method of prayer that comes out of an ancient Christian contemplative tradition. It dates all the way back to a 14th century text titled The Prayer of Unknowing. And for over 500 years, it fell out of favor with the Roman Catholic church, until it resurfaced thanks to one Father Thomas Keating.

In the 1970s, Keating (still alive and praying at age 95) saw that the church was losing vast amounts of young members to Eastern religions, drawn by the allure of meditation. He was aware that the church once had its own form of meditation known as centering prayer. So, with help from a few cohorts, he took it upon himself to promote centering prayer once again. He spread the word far and wide through lectures and books like Intimacy with God, An Introduction to Centering Prayer.

How does centering prayer, which is also known as contemplative prayer, work? Let me give you a guide that was created by Thomas Keating himself. Much like meditation, it’s recommended that you practice centering prayer for about 20 minutes a session, twice a day. And like meditation, a short session is better than no session.

The 4 Steps of Centering Prayer

Choose a sacred word as the symbol of your intention to consent to God’s presence. Invite God within.

Sitting comfortably with eyes closed, settle briefly and silently introduce the sacred word as the symbol of your consent to God’s presence.

When you become aware of thoughts, silently return ever so gently to the sacred word.

At the end of the prayer period, remain in silence with eyes closed for a couple of minutes.

Now as a practitioner of centering prayer myself, I want to let you in on a few additional pointers that come from both me and the writings of Keating:

While meditation has the mantra, centering prayer has “the sacred word”. I will admit I cheat a little and actually use three words: Rest in God. It’s a constant reminder of the action I want to take.

You don’t have to repeat the sacred word or phrase continuously, it’s merely a way to maintain your intention of faith and bypass the thinking process.

Let your thoughts go by “like boats on the surface of a river.” Pay no attention to them, “it’s like noise in the street or music in the supermarket.”

What makes centering prayer a better version of meditation?

According to Keating, the Eastern traditions put a great emphasis on what the self can do and as a result “contain the innate hazard of identifying the true self with God. The Christian tradition, on the other hand, recognizes God as present but distinct from the true self.”

In other words, centering prayer adds God to the equation. Keating points out that it can be easy to forget the presence of God. What centering prayer does is allow us to “sense God’s presence and eliminate the feeling that God is absent.” He believes this act “furthers our spiritual journey” as it makes us aware of the Divine indwelling at the core of our being. This Divine force is available to us anytime, anywhere, 24 hours a day.

Keating believes that when we practice centering prayer on a regular basis, “a different kind of knowledge rooted in love emerges, in which the awareness of God’s presence supplants the awareness of our own presence.” He sums up the effects of centering prayer this way:

(Centering prayer) is the opening of mind and heart—our whole being—to God beyond thoughts, words and emotions. We open our awareness to God, who we know by faith is within us, closer than breathing, closer than thinking—closer than consciousness itself.