Tuesday, March 27, 2012
What to read for today.
Chapter 29: Mental Prayer
Questions for your personal reflection.
Did this chapter shed any light on what you are experiencing as you practice this Lenten discipline?
Sharing with others: What caught your attention or provoked your thinking today?
I thought that Merton was gently poking fun at meditation books, including New Seeds of Contemplation. He was cautioning us not to try to replicate what people write about and to have our own spiritual experiences. The less appealing message was that these experiences must involve suffering, darkness, pain, anguish. This sheds light on or expands what Merton said in Chapter 28, that we shouldn’t get too attached to the pleasurable aspects of our interior life because there is more to it than that.
Posted by Genevieve
I wholeheartedly agree that books about meditation are or should be about how to and not what to. Does Merton fall into the trap himself? mostly no I think for he does steer clear of telling in this chapter and explores instead. I believe he is, in his own way individualizing mediation / contemplation to try and make it more accessible. For me he mostly succeeds as I could see myself attempting some of what he suggests and could take comfort from his encouragement not to give up. About trying to attain a meditative state- I was reminded of a line from a George Harrison song-
ReplyDeleteThen when you find it....there'll be no need for it
I also think his comment about using liturgy (and music for that matter) in a church setting for example could be very helpful early in the journey to meditaion
post by william
From Second Thoughts
DeleteJust read your post (which crossed with mine). I like what you say about liturgy. Yes. That did strike a chord with me. Thanks. That's so much more constructive than my rant.
It might be nice to have some of these discussions in person. Brings a person back down to earth.
Posted by Second Thoughts
ReplyDeleteToday Merton gave me permission to toss some of his ideas out the window. He says right out that we don’t have to follow an author to his own conclusions because maybe those conclusions don’t apply to us. Don’t strain, he says. Well in that case should I officially discard some of the stuff that I routinely skip over anyway like his constant belief that people are helpless and hopeless unless God decides to take pity on them?
To answer today's question, this chapter is shedding light on my reactions to Merton. Am I trying too hard with some of his ideas? Or not hard enough? I'm still prepared to see where this goes.
Genevieve- were the comments about the dark and suffering that strong in your view?
ReplyDeletearound the corner
Perhaps I overemphasized it in what I said, but I think it's there and he's spoken of that sort of thing before with a desert image and so forth. He seems to be saying that once you get past the warm and fuzzy part, you fall off a cliff or go into a no man's land. You never know with Merton. Maybe he's trying to convey that all of this is beyond words and thoughts and therefore disorienting. In any event, he was quite clear yesterday that contemplation is not about an aesthetic experience.
ReplyDeleteGenevieve