Turning Within

Once a sacred space has been established in the home or outside of it, it is vital to visit often. Varied practices of visualization and meditation exist and can be used in the sacred space, as well as formal prayers, psalms, and extempore prayer. Today I want to focus on an interior prayer that is known as the Jesus Prayer.  The Hesychastic movement within the Orthodox Church was deeply tied to this prayer and the countless methods that emerged for its use from the monks of the Holy Mountain - Mount Athos in Greece.  The texts known as the Philokalia are the central repository of this form of spirituality.  No spiritual seeker should be without these books - published today by Faber and Faber.  They have very clear philosophical import in the church, but also pragmatic relevance for the practitioner of Christian Meditation.

The Jesus Prayer is more than a simple centering device.  It helps establish a space within which Jesus is the focus and the locus of our being.  As we work with the prayer we are able to find a connection with Jesus that sets us at ease and places us within the full measure of His grace.

Allowing the heart to become a cave of dwelling for Jesus is the way we make the Incarnation real in us.  It is one thing to verbally assent to having Christ in the heart, it is another to go there, set up a tent of meeting, and live with Jesus.

Look into the Jesus Prayer and bring it into the ultimate place of meeting with God - your heart.  I wrote a short monograph on Christian Meditation and the nature of the heart and mind in our spiritual journey.  It concentrates the practice of meditation in the Jesus Prayer.  It is available below.

Order at:

http://www.praxisinstitute.net/BOOKSHOP/turning_within.htm