Being yourself...

To know ourselves, to understand ourselves and to . . .get ourselves and our problems in perspective, we simply must make contact with our spirit. All self-understanding arises from understanding ourselves as spiritual beings, and it is only contact with the universal Holy Spirit that can give us the depth and the breadth to understand. . .The way to this is not difficult. It is very simple. But it does require serious commitment. . .

The way of meditation is very simple. All each of us has to do is to be as still as possible in body and in spirit. . . .Learning to meditate is learning to let go of your thoughts, ideas and imagination and to rest in the depths of your own being. Always remember that. Don’t think, don’t use any words other than your own word, don’t imagine anything. Just sound, say the word in the depths of your spirit and listen to it. Concentrate upon it with all your attention.

Why is this so powerful? Basically, because it gives us the space that our spirit needs to breathe. It gives each of us the space to be ourselves. When you are meditating you don’t need to apologize for yourself and you don’t need to justify yourself. All you need to do is to be yourself, to accept from the hands of God the gift of your own being.  And in that acceptance of yourself and your creation, you come into harmony with the Creator, . . .the Spirit of God.

An excerpt from John Main OSB, “Space to Be,” MOMENT OF CHRIST (New York: Continuum, 1998), pp. 92-93.

We meet Monday evenings from 7:00 to7:45. Please join us.

Two Words....

“Meditating, we let go of the desire to control, to possess, to dominate. We seek instead only to be who we are and being the person we are, we are open to the God who is. It is as a result of that openness that we are filled with wonder and with the power and energy of God, which is the power to be and the energy to be in love. [And] when we are in love it is impossible to be bored.” From John Main OSB, “Two Words From the Past,” in THE HEART OF CREATION (New York: Continuum, 1998), pp. 42-44.

Life at the Source

“Meditation is simply a way of coming to that basic healthiness of spirit, to the state wherein our spirit is not assailed and weighed down by trivia or what is merely material; a state wherein, because we are open to ultimate truth and to ultimate love, we are summoned beyond all mere trivia. We are summoned to live life not out of the shallows but to live our lives at the source.” From John Main OSB, “Healthiness of Spirit” in FULLY ALIVE.