In chapter 29 of New Seeds of Contemplation, Merton
discusses “Mental Prayer,” but I have struggled to understand what he means by
that. He seems to talk about the same subject using apparent synonyms such as active
forms of prayer, meditation, and systematic meditation, without ever defining
his terms. By searching the internet I learned that “Mental prayer is a form of prayer recommended in the
Catholic Church whereby one loves God through dialogue, meditating on God's
words, and contemplation of Christ's face.”[1]
Merton distinguishes
active forms of prayer from “infused contemplation” which he says “begins when
the direct intervention of God raises this whole process of development above
the level of our nature ; … But before this begins, we ordinarily have to labor
to prepare ourselves … by deepening our knowledge and love of God in meditation
and active forms of prayer.”[2]
While not offering a definition of infused
meditation, Merton at least notes that “meditation is a twofold discipline that
has a twofold function. First it is supposed to give you sufficient control
over your mind and memory and will to enable you to recollect yourself and withdrawal
from exterior things and business activities and thoughts and concerns of temporal
existence.”[3]
This sounds to me very much like my understanding and experience of mindfulness
meditation.
Secondly, “this is the real end of
meditation – it teaches you how to become aware of the presence of God.” Based
on my experience and understanding, this is exactly where Christian meditation
or contemplative prayer departs and goes a step beyond mindfulness mediation.
It moves beyond withdrawal from exterior things to find union with God in the
inner being.
“The real purpose of meditation is
this:’ writes Merton, “to teach a man how to make himself free of created
things and temporal concerns, in which he finds only confusion and sorrow, and
enter into a conscious and loving contact with God in which he is disposed to
receive from God the help he knows he needs so badly, and to pay to God the
praise and honor and thanksgiving and love which it has now become his joy to
give.”[4]
Like many other Christian writers
who have written about Christian meditation, contemplation, and centering
prayer, Merton has more to say about its theological foundation and benefits
than he has to say about the practical “how to” nuts and bolts of actually
practicing it. I have found that many secular and Buddhist authors writing
about meditation offer more practical advice than Merton and other Christian
writers have offered.
About the only practical advice I
found in New Seeds of Contemplation was
in chapter 33, where Merton writes about the “Journey through the Wilderness.” There
is in that chapter an off handed remark referring to “your half-hour of
meditation”[5]
and what appears to me to be a paragraph about what I consider a form of Lectio
Divina.[6]
While Merton offers little practical
guidance here, (and I wished he offered much more), he does provide in this
chapter what I consider the clearest and most succinct definition of
Contemplative prayer. It “is a deep and simplified activity in which the mind
and will rest in a unified and simple concentration upon God, turned to Him,
intent upon Him and absorbed in His own light, with a simple gaze which is
perfect adoration because it silently tells God that we have left everything
else and desire even to leave our own selves for His sake, and that He alone
is
important to us, He alone is our desire and our life, and nothing else can give
us any Joy.”[7] I
say “Amen” to that.
Even if you resonate with the above
definition of contemplative prayer, as I do, you may still be seeking some
practical “how to” advice from Merton. For that, I send you to Jim Forest’s
fine Merton biography, Living With
Wisdom: A Life of Thomas Merton. There you will find brief description of
Merton’s daily rhythm of life in his hermitage, including a description of Merton’s
“method of meditation” and reference to Merton’s writing about “the Jesus
Prayer.” [8]
I found in those few pages some of the most practical and down to earth
descriptions of monastic life, prayer, meditation, and contemplation I have
ever read, whether by Merton or anyone else.
Here is the link to the introductory post in the series.
Here is the link to the introductory post in the series.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mental_prayer.
[2] New Seeds of Contemplation, 214.
[3] Ibid.,
217.
[4] Ibid.,
218.
[5] Ibid.,
242.
[6] Ibid.
[7]
Ibid., 243.
[8] Jium
Forest, Living With Wisdom: A Life of
Thomas Merton (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1991, 2008) , 190-192.
No comments:
Post a Comment