Listening to Goddess-God-the Divine
6.3 Spiritual Disciplines of Meditation and Prayer as Ways to Listen to the Divine
A regular habit of reviewing consolations and desolations is sometimes called a “spiritual discipline.” <footnote>Alternatively, spiritual “disciplines” might be renamed “practices” or “rhythms.” The term discipline is sometimes associated with negative conditioning, such as punishment. Discipline is also associated with controlling and forcing, such as disciplining our body to conform to a yoga pose. Hence, there is a preference for the alternative terms “practice” (as in something we are growing or cultivating) and “rhythm” (as in a routine we are experimenting with). I will use the more traditional phrase “spiritual discipline” as it is often used in religious-spiritual literature, and the adjective “spiritual” somewhat softens the noun “discipline.”</footnote> There are many kinds of spiritual disciplines. Quaker theologian Richard Foster divides Christian disciplines into inward, outward, and corporate categories, covering a total of twelve spiritual disciplines.[1] I develop two of Foster’s inward disciplines called mediation and prayer. I describe these disciplines from the broader perspective of listening to the Divine within the context of the Listening to the SONG of Life course. For meditation, I introduce Eknath Easwaran’s passage meditation,[2] and for prayer, I introduce Sybil MacBeth’s creative practice of praying in color.[3]
Passage Meditation as Listening to the Divine
Eknath Easwaran
Eknath Easwaran was an English professor from India who traveled to the United States in the 1950s on a Fulbright Scholarship and briefly taught meditation at the University of California Berkeley before founding the Blue Mountain Center of Mediation.[4] Easwaran’s perspective embraces many religious and spiritual faiths and traditions, providing a diverse and inclusive understanding of meditation within his eight-fold path of spiritual disciplines.[5]
Principles
Easwaran’s passage meditation is based on the psychological principle that “we become what we think about.” Alternatively, this principle could be phrased as, “what we give our attention to grows,” or “what we sow, we reap,” or “neurons that fire together, wire together.”[6] The main idea in passage meditation is to repeat silently and listen to an inspirational passage with complete attention. The silent repetition of the passage should be slow enough to allow the words of the passage to sink deep into the mind. Over time, this repetition and reinforcement of the passage’s meaning aligns the meditator’s attitude and behavior with the spirit of the passage.
The Practice
Easwaran recommends choosing an inspirational passage from sacred scripture[7] since many of our highest ideals are expressed in scripture, and by repeating the passage, we move closer to those ideals in thought and deed. The passage should be positive and uplifting. I am more liberal than Easwaran in allowing students to choose an inspirational passage. Poetry and literature, if they are inspiring and promote positive values, can also be used as an inspirational passage for meditation.[8]
After choosing an inspirational passage, the next step in passage meditation is to memorize the passage. I find it easiest to take one line at a time, repeating it while looking away from the text. Then I add a second line to the first, repeating and periodically checking for accuracy. I continue this process until I can repeat the entire passage accurately and easily. The process of memorizing a passage may take several days, depending on the length of the passage. I suggest beginning with a meaningful short passage of a few lines.
The initial mechanics of the practice of passage meditation follow. Choose a place for meditation that is relatively private and quiet, with ample air circulation. Ensure that you can return to the same place at the same time every day.[9] The ideal time of day for meditation is in the morning or at the end of the day before retiring.[10] Sit comfortably in loose-fitted clothing with the spine relatively straight.
If your religious-spiritual faith tradition has a ritual for beginning meditation, then invoke the ritual at this time after taking a few slow, even, relaxed breaths. With eyes closed, silently repeat the words of the passage at a pace comfortable with your breathing, naturally pausing between phrases.[11] The timing of the length of the pause between phrases is a matter of individual discretion. If one pauses too long, extraneous thoughts will fill the gap, and we are distracted. If the pause is not long enough, then the words of the passage cannot penetrate deep into consciousness. On reaching the end of the passage, one continues to repeat the prayer from the beginning.
Distractions
Easwaran recommends one hard rule when silently reciting the inspirational passage. If attention strays from the passage, one returns to the beginning of the passage and starts over. However, if some degree of attention is still on the passage, one need not start over. For instance, a common experience is having both the words of the passage and some distraction competing for our attention. In this case, we refocus attention on the words of the passage. We turn up the volume for the passage with our attention, which automatically turns down the volume for the distraction. However, if our attention has left the passage and we mentally find ourselves elsewhere (e.g., in front of the refrigerator asking, “Something sweet or something salty?”), then we invoke the rule and start over at the beginning of the passage.
How long should one meditate? In the beginning, Easwaran recommends meditating with the inspirational passage for thirty minutes–no more or less. Any more than thirty minutes and we risk entering states of consciousness that we may not be ready for. Any less, and we do not reap the full benefits of slowing our minds and relaxing our bodies.[12] If we want to meditate more, a second meditation session of thirty minutes at the end of the day is recommended.
Meditation Practice for Listening to the Divine
- Choose an inspirational passage.
- Memorize the inspirational passage.
- Meditate on the inspirational passage.
- Silently and slowly repeat the passage.
- If one is distracted, then begin at the start of the passage.
- When one has reached the end of the passage, begin again.
- Continue for thirty minutes one or two times a day.
Passage Meditation and Listening
As the meditator repeats the words of the inspirational passage, they are listening to the words of the Divine speaking through the passage. By listening silently, slowly, and with full attention to the words of the inspirational passage, the meditator develops their capacity to listen to the Divine.
There are many benefits to listening to the Divine through passage meditation.[13] First, the meditator transforms their thinking and behavior to align with the inspirational words. Second, the meditator learns to relax and destress the body by focusing on the passage. Third, the meditator is training their general attentional capacities, increasing their ability to listen to the entire SONG of life.
I rotate through over twenty inspirational passages for use in passage meditation.[14] Some students ask if repeating the same passage over weeks or months becomes tiresome or boring. Quite the opposite. There is no end to the depth I experience when repeating these inspirational passages. If my concentration is deep enough, the light of consciousness shines on the words as they drop as illumined pearls in a clear pool. For me, passage meditation is like feasting on fare at some great celebration, except that this cuisine is ever fresh, does not decay, and rejuvenates my mind, body, and spirit. I have yet to tire of this feasting during my thirty-some years of listening to the Divine through meditating on inspirational passages.
For Reflection
Is there a favorite inspirational passage you already know by heart that you could use for passage meditation?
If not, perhaps there are favorite poems or passages in literature that inspire you and enhance your connection with the Divine that you could use in passage meditation?
Given that you can find at least one inspirational passage to memorize for meditation, how might you (if you haven’t already done so) carve out a place and time in your day that is accessible, private, and relatively quiet?
What would it take to motivate you internally to experiment with passage meditation?
Is it possible to see the process of learning passage meditation as an adventure, something fun that might bring more inner joy?
If you decide to try passage meditation, commit to try it for at least one week, preferably one month or more.[15]
There may be some initial hurdles to overcome in the beginning of passage meditation. It takes time to develop the discipline of sitting and meditating no matter how you feel or what outer events call for your attention (short of genuine emergencies). But over time, there is a certain satisfaction in overcoming these obstacles. From personal experience, I can testify that the long-term benefits of listening to the Divine through passage meditation far outweigh the initial inconveniences. I turn now from passage meditation to explore a more playful way of listening to the Divine called praying in color.
Praying in Color and Drawing Om
Many years ago, I was blessed to have an Indian student named Malik[16] in my Introduction to Public Speaking course. For his demonstration speech, Malik taught the class how to meditate by drawing the Sanskrit letter for Om while silently chanting the sound of Om.
Malik’s presentation of Om began with soothing instrumental Indian music, harmonium drones, sitar, and taal beats playing in the background while he passed out white sheets of paper. He demonstrated how to draw the beautiful Sanskrit pattern representing the sound of Om on the whiteboard (see image below). Then he instructed us to silently chant Om while slowly drawing the Om pattern on paper. When our drawing was complete, he suggested we visually retrace the Om form with our eyes while continuing the silent chant. After about three minutes, he explained the meaning of Om and concluded his speech by challenging us to meditate by chanting and drawing a colored image of Om outside of class.[17]
Colored Mandalas
Malik’s presentation inspired me to develop a devotional practice of listening to the Divine by drawing colorful mandalas. In Tibetan Buddhism, creating and meditating on a mandala is a method for “. . . gaining wisdom and compassion and generally [the mandala] is depicted as a tightly balanced, geometric composition wherein deities reside.”[18] In my mandala practice, I set a prayerful intention by imagining I am listening and co-creating with the Divine. Then, I let go and allow the colored markers to flow into a mandala pattern.[19] “Praying in Color”[20] is similar to the colored mandala practice inspired by my Indian student’s drawing of Om. In the hundreds of mandalas I have co-created, no two are identical. In the next section, I describe how to listen to the Divine by praying in color.
- Richard J. Foster, Celebration of Discipline: The Path to Spiritual Growth (San Francisco: HarperOne, 1998). Foster's twelve spiritual disciplines are meditation, prayer, fasting, and study (inward disciplines), simplicity, solitude, submission, and service (outward disciplines), and confession, worship, guidance, and celebration (corporate disciplines). ↵
- Eknath Easwaran, Meditation: An Eight-Point Program (Petaluma: Nilgiri Press, 1978). ↵
- Sybil Mac Beth, Praying in Color: Drawing a New Path to God (Brewster: Paraclete Press, 2007). ↵
- Blue Mountain Center of Meditation (website). https://www.bmcm.org/. ↵
- Easwaran teaches the eight spiritual disciplines of mediation, mantra, one-pointed attention, slowing down, training the senses, spiritual reading, and spiritual companionship. Easwaran, Meditation. ↵
- The phrase "what we give our attention to grows," is based on mindfulness meditation, the "sowing and reaping" phrase is from the Bible, and neurons "firing and wiring together" is a phrase found in neuroscience. Sources for each of these phrases are as follows. For mindfulness, see Daniel J. Siegel, IntraConnected (New York: W.W. Norton 2023); for the Bible, the scripture quote, ". . . for whatever a man [or woman] soweth, that he [or she] shall also reap" is from Galatians 6:7 (King James Version); and, the neuroscience phrase was first proposed by Donald Hebb in 1949. Donald O. Hebb, The Organization of Behavior: A Neuropsychological Theory (Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2002). ↵
- Generally, sacred scripture refers to "holy or sacred books" in religious and spiritual traditions. A sampling of "holy and sacred" books from some of the world religions are, the Hindu Vedas, the Buddhist Dhammapada, the Jewish Talmud, the Taoist Tao Te Ching, the Muslim Quran, the Confusion Analects, and the Christian Bible. The internet has free versions of these texts to peruse for discovering inspirational passages suited to the needs of the individual meditator. ↵
- For inspirational poetry, consult Ed J. Paine. The Poetry of Our World: An International Anthology of Contemporary Poetry (New York: Harper, 2000), or visit the poetry foundation website, which has a dialogue box for searching by poem title or topic, The Poetry Foundation, https://www.poetryfoundation.org/. The are a number of sites on the internet to explore inspirational literature. As one example, see Listopia's Women of Color book list. Goodreads, "Listopia: Women of Color Book Lists," 2023. https://www.goodreads.com/list/tag/women-of-color. ↵
- It is helpful to have a dedicated space for meditation (even if it is only a chair in the corner of the room or a tiny space in a closet). Meditating in the same place at the same time every day for several weeks creates a habit such that the body, on entering the space dedicated to meditation, will automatically begin to relax and enter a meditative state. ↵
- Ideally, Easwaran recommends two meditation periods per day, one period before six in the morning and another in the evening before retiring. If there is only time for one meditation, it is an individual choice to meditate in the morning or evening. Some individuals prefer a morning meditation to set their intention for the day, while others prefer an evening meditation to reflect, slow down, and transition into sleep. My meditation practice includes one period in the morning, a second period in the late afternoon before my last meal, and a third shorter meditation before retiring at night. The details for the time and place of meditation for each individual will vary depending on a number of personal factors. The critical point is to find a time and space that works for you and begin (or continue) meditating. ↵
- For example, the first line of Saint Francis of Assisi's prayer for peace reads, "Lord, make me an instrument of your peace." In silently repeating the phrase, one might pause as follows (the ellipses indicate a slight pause). "Lord…make me…an instrument…of your peace…" The actual "peace prayer" is of unknown authorship. The prayer is attributed to St. Francis because it first appeared on a holy card with St. Francis' image during the First World War. The Franciscan Archive, "The Story Behind the Peace Prayer of St. Francis" (website) (n.d.). https://franciscan-archive.org/index2.html. ↵
- Monk and theologian Thomas Keating describes the process of "unloading" undigested unconscious material when reaching ultra-relaxed states in centering prayer. Thomas Keating, Intimacy with God: An Introduction to Centering Prayer (New York: Crossroad, 2009). This can be disconcerting and, in some cases, require therapy for support. The same principle applies to unloading unconscious material during relaxed states during passage meditation. That is, if the distractions during meditation become too much to handle (e.g., images from a past trauma), we should refrain from meditation and seek support from a therapist, trusted friend, or other health professional. In addition, it is helpful to remember the differences between healthy spiritual changes resulting from meditation and unhealthy changes in the psychic structure of the personality that can result from excessive meditation. For a complete discussion of these differences, see Michael Washburn, Transpersonal Psychology in Psychoanalytic Perspective (New York: State University of New York Press, 1994). Another example of unhealthy changes resulting from excessive meditation is premature kundalini awakenings. See Philip Saint Romain, Kundalini Energy and Christian Spirituality (New York: Crossroad Publishing, 2010). ↵
- Medical doctor Herbert Benson's research on the "relaxation response" is similar in many aspects to Easwaran's passage meditation, except that in Benson's relaxation response method of meditation, one repeats a word or short phrase like a mantra. Based on Benson's research, the benefits of this kind of meditation are legion, including clinically controlled experiments demonstrating positive changes in gene activation (epigenetics). Herbert Benson, Relaxation Revolution: The Science and Genetics of Mind Body Healing (New York: Scriber, 2011). ↵
- Several of these inspirational passages are from Eknath Easwaran, God Makes the Rivers to Flow: An Anthology of the World's Sacred Poetry and Prose (Tomales: Nilgiri Press, 2009). Some of my favorite passages from this anthology include: Saint Francis of Assis’s Prayer for Peace (p.29), The Rig Veda’s Prayers (pp. 40-41), Kabir’s Simple Union (p.78), Cardinal Newman’s Shine Through Us (p.101), Tukaram’s The One Thing Needed (p.107), Lao Tzu’s The Best (p.132), Psalm 23 The Lord is My Shepherd (p. 158), Chief Yellow Lark’s (Lakota) Let Me Walk in Beauty (p. 162-164), and Saint Theresa of Avila’s Let Nothing Disturb Thee (p. 174). ↵
- Many individuals are acquainted with the phrase, "It takes thirty days to form a habit," but neuroscience research by Caroline Leaf suggests that it may take as long as sixty-three days to form a habit. Caroline Leaf, "Why it Takes Sixty-three Days of Neurocycling to Form a Habit," Cleaning up Your Mental Mess: 5 Simple, Scientifically Proven Steps to Reduce Anxiety, Stress, and Toxic Thinking (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2021), 207-224. ↵
- Not his real name. ↵
- The Sanskrit drawing of Om is complex, harmonious, and beautiful. Perform an internet search for “Om Mantra and Symbol” to view renditions other than the public domain image of the Sanskrit symbol for OM included in the text: https://publicdomainvectors.org/de/kostenlose-vektorgrafiken/OM-symbol/53529.html. ↵
- Smithsonian: National Museum of Asian Art. "Tibetan Healing Mandala." Freer Gallery of Art/Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Smithsonian Institution (website) (2016). https://asia.si.edu/exhibition/about-the-mandala/. ↵
- As a practice, I remain prayerfully open to whatever form is developing on the page. I do not have a pre-determined image I am trying to create. I allow the image to unfold on its own terms. At some point, there may be an "ah-ha" moment when I recognize the image as it comes to life, but often this does not happen until near the end of the creative process. ↵
- Paraclete Press, "Praying in Color by Sybil MacBeth | Sybil MacBeth," YouTube, November 11, 2008. https://www.youtube.com/watch ↵