05 October 2005

Repeat phrases in meditation

As I have been using the 'Lord's prayer rosary' I have noticed that the repeated phrases that I use on the littile beads interact with the verses that go with each intervening large bead. What this means is that as I have the ideas and/or words in mind from the large bead reflection, the words of the relevant section of the Lord's prayer tend often to illuminate or to point up meanings. Sometimes this helps to bring to mind situations that I need to bring to God.

What seems to be happening in such cases is that the repeating of the phrase is anchoring the reflection and helping it to fruitfully interact with my life and concerns. It's interesting because it seems to mean that there are three things going on at once [who says men can't multitask?] rather than what is aimed for in a lot of meditation where learning to focus on one thing is the point. In this, in my experience, the repeat phrases don't just become occupying background noise but the kind of background noise that actually sets the mood and supports the foregrounded activity. The best kind of ambient music.
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Crosswalk.com - mt 6:6

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