PRAYER OF THE HEART

Hesychia (Greek: Stillness or Silence)

Daily Centering Meditation or  Greek Orthodox Hesychasm

By Ed Winchester

What The Meditation Is

The Prayer of the Heart (also known as the Jesus Prayer) is a spiritual meditation in which you unite your mind with your heart by repeating a sacred prayer word -  repeating the NAME  of God to quiet the mind and experience the divine presence of God within you.  All thoughts, emotions, and images are allowed to pass by without focusing attention on them.  This often results in an experience of warmth and light, patience and under- standing, peace and joy, love and wisdom.

By practicing this meditation daily, you experience release of stress and tension, you feel more generous and compassionate, you find inner peace, and feel as if you are floating in another atmosphere, which is life-giving and light-giving.  With daily meditation fresh shoots of inspiration are born and strengthened on the tree of spiritual life.

Preparation

Begin the prayer/meditation by finding  quiet place without distractions.  It is best to sit with your spine upright.  You should be comfortable and relaxed and able to breathe deeply from the abdomen without raising your chest and shoulders.  Take a moment to quiet your mind  - release daily tensions and just be in the moment.  Take a few deep breaths.  Imagine yourself centering your awareness in your heart, the place that gives and receives love.

Steps To Meditation

STEP 1

(Optional Affirmation/Prayer)

"I direct my thoughts to the world of my inner being . . .I forgive myself and others for all perceived wrong-doings. I ask for grace to experience the presence of almighty God, love and light.  I ask to find  within myself a peaceful place as I now use the Holy Word, God's Name to quiet my mind and realize His divine omni-presence."

STEP 2

With your eyes closed, mentally repeat a simple prayer word or phrase, your favorite Name of God or any Name for God with which you feel comfortable.

STEP 3

(Optional Visualization/Payer at the end of meditation)

"With love and devotion and gratefulness for the Divine Presence of God here with me I take a moment or two after repeating the WORD to project loving, peaceful, and harmonious thoughts and feelings to others.  I ask for the blessing to see my family, relatives, and friends, and those who have passed from this earthly life, and men, women, and children everywhere joining in a spirit of harmony, unity, and co-operation with each other.  I ask God to turn the minds and hearts of influential leaders to Him for direction and guidance; and for world leaders, friends and adversaries to join together in fellowship, resolving issues and dissolving conflicts, forgiving each other and praying together and for each other. Thank you Almighty Father God for blessings on us all and for your shield of protection.

The Jesus Prayer

This prayer is again spreading among Christians in every walk of life.  This earliest Christian prayer is called the Jesus Prayer:

Lord Jesus Christ have mercy on me a sinner.

Another version is simply to repeat the NAME:

Jesus, Jesus, Jesus . . . .

Many of today's Christians are experiencing what the very first Christians experience, the presence of Jesus in the depths of their being.

The History

The technique of using God's Name in meditation/prayer is common to and as old as the world's major religions.  The Prayer of the Heart, also known as Centering Prayer can be traced back to early centuries BCE.

In the 4th century the great Chrysostom writes: Abide constantly with the Name of the Lord . . . so that the heart swallows the Lord and the Lord, the heart and the two become one." Similar teachings continue ijn the 6th century, in Borsanuphius and in St. John of the Ladder who writes: God appears to the mind in the heart. And, May the memory of God combine with your breathing; then will you understand the use of silence.

In later years, under the name of "hesychasm" (meaning "quietism") there was a large following of the Prayer of the Heart.  It was put into writing by St. Simeon the New Theologian (949-1022 A.D.) Abbot of Manas.

In the book, Cloud of Unknowing, a translation of an unknown mystic in the 14th century , we find further teaching of the Prayer of the Heart.

Truly blessed is he who cleaves with his thought to prayer . . . constantly calling to Him in his heart, just as air cleaves to our bodies or the flame to the candle.  The sun, passing over the earth, produces daylight, and the holy and worshipful NAME . . . constantly shining in the mind, produces a measureless number  of sun-like thoughts. -St. Hesychius

*    For those of you who have asked, Ed and his wife Loretta uses "Centering meditation" and "The Prayer of the Heart" . 

See also Friends in Christ link

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