The World Community for Christian Meditation

What is Meditation?

Every great religious tradition has meditative practice at its heart. Through meditation we learn to be wholeheartedly in touch with our great potential as human beings. Regular meditation helps our bodies to function more efficiently by dealing with stress and negative states of mind and it can have a profound effect on our well being and our health. Medical evidence shows that it lowers blood pressure and enhances the immune system. But the greatest significance is enhancing our sense of wholeness in body, mind and spirit. Meditation is simple, robust and practical.

The Mantra

A mantra is a word or phrase, usually ancient and sacred in origin, which is used in meditation to still our thoughts and focus our attention. The word "mantra" in Sanskrit actually means "mind protection". While we are engaged in the act of saying a mantra our minds are protected from negative thoughts and states of mind. Mantras exist in every tradition. There are Native American, Hindu, Buddhist and Christian chants and mantras. The repetitive and often sacred nature of these mantras can have a calming and focussing effect on our conscious mind and over time a profound stabilizing and empowering effect on our unconscious mind and our bodies. John Main recommended the Aramaic word "maranatha". In the language Jesus spoke this means "Come Lord". We listen to the mantra with total attention to go beyond thoughts, words and images, to "wait" on God in the silence at the centre of our being. John Main talked of meditation as a training in being wholly open to the present moment: what he described as the "Eternal Now of God". "The mantra is like one tiny drop of water in a mighty river and like the drop of water it contains in itself the whole river right back to the source and down to the ocean. The river is the river of life which flows out from the Father and returns back to Him. By being wholly present to ourselves and by being fully conscious in the moment as we say our mantra, the mystery is that we are fully open to the Eternal Reality. Even more than this, the great vision proclaimed by Jesus is that we can enter that Reality which is the eternal dialogue of Love between Jesus and the Father".
From John Main "Still a Beginner".

How to Meditate

Find a quiet place. Sit down with your back upright. Sit still and relaxed but alert. Gently close your eyes and begin to recite your mantra, silently, interiorly and lovingly throughout the time of your meditation. Do not think about the meaning of your mantra. The speed at which you say the word should be fairly slow, fairly rhythmical. Some people say the mantra in conjunction with their breathing. Just give your attention to the sound of it throughout the time of your meditation, from beginning to end. Whenever thoughts or images come these are distractions at the time of the meditation so simply return to your mantra. You do not have to think or imagine anything, spiritual or otherwise. Do not use any energy in trying to dispel a distraction. Simply ignore it and the way to ignore it is to say your mantra. The optimum is 30 minutes every morning and evening. You may find it helpful to start by meditating for 5 minutes at a time and build up.

Further Thoughts on Meditation

Saying the mantra continuously leads to a change in the way you say the mantra. Over the weeks, months, years you say the mantra with less effort, less force, and it becomes more faithful, but also more gentle. At first, we say the mantra in the head, with effort, then we sound it in the heart with greater ease and greater self-acceptance of the distractions; and then we listen to the mantra with wholehearted attention. As our minds becomes more subtle and quiet, the repetition of our mantra may likewise become subtler and subtler, until we rest in the innermost essence of silent prayer that brings peace to the world within and around us. When we are meditating the integration and harmonising of our whole person is gradually taking place. The relaxation created by meditation allows the energy in us to flow more freely.

Meditation has nothing to do with quiet reverie or passive stillness. It is very active and it is about attention. It helps us to live with more attention and, at a deeper level, with more sensitivity and compassion.

For Further Information

The World Community for Christian Meditation
St Mark's, Myddleton Square, London EC1R 1XX
Tel: 020 7278 2070
e-mail:
Web site: www.wccm.org/		 Our local group meets every Wednesday at 3pm and 8pm
Contact: Don Boyle