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Nidhi

Meditation and Contemplation

stolaf.edu

Meditative Traditions

What is contemplative prayer? It is easier to say what it is not. According to Cistercian monk, Thomas Keating, it is not a technique, a relaxation exercise, self-hypnosis, charismatic or psychic gifts or a paranormal phenomenon. Nor is it the felt experience of God. All these things may be present, but they are not in themselves contemplative prayer. Contemplative prayer is a relationship with God. One of the most common metaphors for contemplative prayer is of the lover or friend. God desires our simple presence more than any action or service we might give. The Lutherans call this being saved by Grace. One of my teachers, Sr. Ellen Stephen of the Episcopal Order of St. Helena (Benedictine), says that prayer is a gift to God. "Honey, I brought you a present. It is my behind in this chair." Relationship with the divine lover and cultivating the capacity to love others persons was, and is, the reason for undertaking the discipline of prayer. Increasing the capacity to love and healing the inability to love is not assumed to happen quickly, or without cooperation on our part. Prayer is a discipline, undertaken as one would undertake to learn to play the piano. Practice is the key...

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