The Essence of the Prayer of the Heart (original) (raw)
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olouchakova@itp.edu [[This is a statement of the problem for the Prayer of the Heart research – book in progress. Please cite the URL for this page]] This research will examine the religious body-based praxis from the perspective of the comparative history of religions. Research will focus on the particular example of spiritual practice, Prayer of the Heart, found to be common to all world religions. The historical forms of Prayer will be researched and reconstructed, using the scriptural sources, art and historical artifacts, and linguistic evidence. The structure, contents and the historical canvas of the practice will be analyzed in connection with the analysis of the dynamics of the cultural-historical forms of self. The research of the cultural hermeneutics of the Prayer of the Heart as the inner (esoteric) tradition, valuable in itself, will serve to answer the questions of the more general order, such as what is the role of body-based praxis in the overall history of religion...
Centering Prayer and Attention of the Heart
CrossCurrents, 2009
I n the thirty years now since Centering Prayer first moved beyond the walls of St. Joseph's Abbey in Massachusetts and became a lay groundswell, it has certainly implanted itself deeply and (one hopes) permanently in the canon of Christian contemplative practice. Yet it still jostles somewhat uneasily against the walls of received tradition. I am not speaking here of fundamentalist-generated fear ("The devil will get you if you make your mind a blank"), but rather, of serious reservations on the part of some deeply formed in the Christian contemplative tradition that this prayer is somehow "breaking the rules." In its classic presentations, Christian prayer is "progressive"; it passes through stages. And the contemplative stage is traditionally regarded as the highest, or most subtle. In the concluding words of a recent, thoughtful article by a well-prepared commentator, "One does not take the kingdom by force." 1 Contemplation is approached by a gradual path leading from purgative to illuminative to unitive; from cataphatic to apophatic. The "ladder" of spiritual ascent is so deeply engrained on the Christian religious imagination that it seems virtually impossible to conceive of the journey in any other way. Contemplative prayer is "higher," and it is approached only gradually through a long journey of purification and inner preparation. But is this in fact really so? "You have to experience duality for a long time until you see it's not there," said Thomas Merton at a conference given to the nuns of the Redwoods shortly before boarding the plane to Asia on the last leg of his MARCH 2009 • 15 CENTERING PRAYER AND ATTENTION OF THE HEART human journey. "Don't consider dualistic prayer on a lower level. The lower is higher. There are no levels. At any moment you can break through to the underlying unity which is God's gift in Christ. In the end, Praise praises. Thanksgiving gives thanks. Jesus prays. Openness is all." 2 Certainly, these words of unitive, realized mastery make it clear that Merton "got there." But how? Was this breakthrough insight the result of his long tread up the traditional ladder of ascent-in other words, is he "exhibit A" of the assertion that the classic monastic model works? Or is his unitive awakening something more akin to Dorothy in the final scene of The Wizard of Oz, when she realizes that all along the shoes that would carry her home have been right there on her feet? This is, of course, an impossible question to answer, and I do not intend to do so directly; only to use it as a kind of leverage. In the words of the poet Philip Booth, "How you get there is where you arrive," and Merton's journey could only have been Merton's. And yet the door, once he found it, can only be seen as the timeless and universal gate. Like a few others before him and a few significant monastic others following in his wake (Thomas Keating most prominently), he simply, in my estimate, came upon that hidden back door or "wormhole" within the Christian path that transports one out of the "progressive" journey in linear time into the instantaneous, seamless fullness from which prayer is always emerging. And he found it in the same way that all who find it do so: in the gathering awareness that the cave of the heart is entered not only or even primarily through purification and concentration, but through surrender and release. This is this hidden, backdoor path that I wish to explore in the following essay. My thesis is that there has always been an alternative within Christian spiritual practice to the "ladder of ascent": perhaps not as well known, but fully orthodox and in the end even more reliable, since it derives, ultimately, from the direct teaching and self-understanding of Jesus himself. It is from this alternative pathway that Centering Prayer derives its legitimacy and its powerful capacity to heal and unify. Centering prayer as self-emptying love First, let me give a quick summary of Centering Prayer, for those unfamiliar with its somewhat unusual methodology. As a method of meditation situated within the Christian contemplative tradition, Centering
The heart: center of consciousness, crucible of the sacred and the secular
I invite you to come with me into unchartered waters. We have lived the enlightenment of the mind. We have discovered the natural laws by which the physical world is governed. Even our own DNA has given up its secrets. But the heart, the 'centre of a person's thoughts and emotions' does not hear, 'listen or pay attention to' the full consciousness of the human being. Our heart has been overcome by the reasoning of the mind. Our consciousness, our 'state of being aware …all the ideas, thoughts feelings of a person or people' has become blunted. Cowie (1989: 578, 577, 248). We have lost the idea that the heart is the centre of consciousness. 'In Hebrew language and thought,
Encyclopaedia of Islam, THREE, Edited by: Kate Fleet, Gudrun Krämer, Denis Matringe, John Nawas, Everett Rowson. Leiden-Boston: Brill, pp. 76-79, 2018
Heart-Centered Paths: A Comparative Study of Hesychasm and Sufism
Entelekya Logico-Metaphysical Review, 2023
The comparative analysis of Hesychasm in the late Byzantine Orthodox Church and Sufism in the Islamic tradition illuminates intriguing parallels and distinctions in their spiritual frameworks. Emphasizing the significance of spiritual experiences through prayer, Hesychasm, rooted in Orthodox spirituality, focuses on hesychia and the prayer of the heart. Sufism, within the Islamic tradition, centers on dhikr, the continuous remembrance of Allah. Despite shared teachings on the heart and continuous prayer, the traditions diverge in practices, such as the Jesus Prayer in Hesychasm and the invocation of Allah's name in Sufism, contributing to the rich tapestry of spiritual experiences. This comparative exploration offers nuanced insights into diverse ways spiritual seekers engage with the divine across cultures. Recognizing universal quests for connection with the transcendent, the analysis contributes to the broader dialogue on mysticism and spirituality. The discussions on divine light, knowledge of God, and transformative processes underscore shared themes, while differences in theological nuances highlight the unique paths individuals traverse in their spiritual journeys. Ultimately, both Hesychasm and Sufism emphasize the experiential dimension of spirituality, fostering profound encounters with the divine despite their theological and philosophical distinctions.