Q: Do you believe that centering on a object or mantra is the gateway to silent prayer and hopefully contemplation? Which is a gift from God but not entitled. When I focus on silent prayer I use an image of a single white candle top that is lit to recenter my prayer. I have yet to have a contemplative experience and would like to know if there is any advice you can give me.
A: Thanks so much for reaching out with your question. Centering on an object can sometimes be an initial gateway to silent prayer because it engages your attention. For those of us who have busy minds, focusing on something might help it settle down. But one tricky part of this type of focus is that it’s easy to get stuck in our heads doing it: we think about the object, and we think about silence, and perhaps our desire for it. To free yourself to sink deeply into a state that could be called contemplation, it’s good to let go of giving the mind any job at all.
It’s also important to note what your intention is when you sit. You’ve wisely noted that contemplation can be a gift from God, not entitled, but even if subtly we are sitting down with the intention to hopefully have a contemplative experience, we may be setting ourselves up for frustration and a sense of failure when our experience doesn’t meet what we hope contemplation might be. As Father Thomas Keating said, in That We May Be One, we may want to let go of objects, both external and internal, entirely:
“… all the great mystics say you mustn’t be attached to spiritual consolation or ecstasy because the Divine Being is not an object that you love, but a subjective presence that you surrender to.”
Keating poses an intriguing alternative to placing God, or even contemplation, as an object or goal: surrendering to a subjective presence. In other words, we are invited to trust in the Divine Indwelling, within our own being. In Centering Prayer, for example, our intention is to consent to God’s presence and action. We don’t focus on an object or mantra, but instead each time we find our attention caught up in something that distracts us from our intention, we briefly offer a sacred word or other subtle internal gesture to return to our consent and release the distraction. You can find out more about it on the Contemplative Outreach website, and a good starter book is Open Mind, Open Heart by Thomas Keating.
Our repeated letting go cultivates a new way of being, not dependent on the ordinary mind. Keating might call it our spiritual awareness, and even divine awareness, tucked deep within our being. We make room for the divine to move more through us, to live through us and act through us.
I hope this is helpful. Please reach out again if you have any questions.
Joy Andrews Hayter
