1 00:00:09,259 --> 00:00:13,259 In today’s world, our lives are full to bursting. 2 00:00:13,259 --> 00:00:17,868 We have ever increasing opportunities for fun, friendship and growth. 3 00:00:18,222 --> 00:00:24,868 So why do we sometimes feel empty inside or caught up in worries over the little things? 4 00:00:25,940 --> 00:00:30,060 Why does the reality of life seem so far from our childhood imaginings? 5 00:00:30,059 --> 00:00:37,060 Why does the divine peace and love we hear so much of, sometimes feel so far away? 6 00:00:40,558 --> 00:00:46,658 Everyone needs a place of anchor in their lives. A place of stillness, a peaceful refuge 7 00:00:46,658 --> 00:00:51,088 beyond the busyness and worries of day to day life. 8 00:00:51,088 --> 00:00:55,399 For many people, Christian Meditation offers just that. 9 00:00:55,399 --> 00:01:00,890 An ancient form of silent prayer, it’s incredibly relevant 10 00:01:00,890 --> 00:01:04,348 to the busy and preoccupied citizens of the 21st century. 11 00:01:05,180 --> 00:01:09,180 Silence in the City Young Christian Meditators´ Stories 12 00:01:15,230 --> 00:01:18,000 Giovanni Felicioni: Meditation is a time of prayer which happens 13 00:01:18,000 --> 00:01:25,000 without words, without movement, in solitude, where you are at rest, comfortable, 14 00:01:25,930 --> 00:01:32,930 easy, relaxed and then, when you have this opportunity to give your attention to something. 15 00:01:33,230 --> 00:01:39,280 And the something is in the silence; around you and within you; it’s not a thinking, 16 00:01:39,280 --> 00:01:46,280 it’s not a praising or a thanking, it’s a neutral, simple place of anchor that gently teaches 17 00:01:46,569 --> 00:01:52,129 you how to be in the present moment... and it’s there that we discover the Moment of Christ. 18 00:01:53,975 --> 00:01:59,560 Be still and know that I am God. - Psalm, 46, 10. 19 00:02:01,170 --> 00:02:05,030 Celia: My name’s Celia, I’m part of a Christian 20 00:02:05,030 --> 00:02:06,750 meditation group in Sydney, Australia. 21 00:02:07,335 --> 00:02:13,030 Our group meets each week at a church in Paddington, a busy shopping district. 22 00:02:13,030 --> 00:02:17,680 In the center of all that busyness, we make time for silence. 23 00:02:17,680 --> 00:02:22,370 We are quite a mixed group, our lives are all pretty different: some of us work, some 24 00:02:22,370 --> 00:02:28,709 study and we have all sorts of interests. But when we sit down to meditate, our differences 25 00:02:28,778 --> 00:02:35,017 fade away as we share in the silence which connects us to each other and to God. 26 00:02:56,821 --> 00:03:01,967 After we’ve listened to some readings, we meditate in silence for 25 minutes. 27 00:03:10,318 --> 00:03:17,318 Our practice is based on the internal repetition of a prayer word or mantra. Many people use 28 00:03:17,408 --> 00:03:23,248 the Aramaic word MARANATHA, meaning "The Lord or the teacher comes". 29 00:03:23,248 --> 00:03:28,709 When repeating the mantra, we don’t think of its meaning, it just helps us focus our 30 00:03:28,709 --> 00:03:33,079 attention and be in the present moment. 31 00:03:33,079 --> 00:03:38,909 Of course thoughts, of plans for tomorrow or dinner tonight, distract us. The key is 32 00:03:38,908 --> 00:03:44,929 to return to the mantra as soon as we realize we are thinking. This is a way to move beyond 33 00:03:44,930 --> 00:03:51,829 thoughts, words and imaginings. Through the simplifying silence, we let go of our own 34 00:03:51,829 --> 00:03:58,829 plans and priorities and let ourselves to be open to the Divine. 35 00:04:00,180 --> 00:04:07,109 Christian meditation was revived some 30 years ago by John Main, a Benedictine monk. He believed 36 00:04:07,109 --> 00:04:13,139 that the ancient Christian tradition of meditative prayer should be available to all as a valuable 37 00:04:13,139 --> 00:04:17,569 and relevant practice in today’s fast paced world. 38 00:04:17,569 --> 00:04:22,230 John Main and fellow Benedictine Laurence Freeman began to teach others this way of 39 00:04:22,230 --> 00:04:29,170 prayer by establishing small meditation groups. First in London and then in Montreal, Canada. 40 00:04:29,170 --> 00:04:33,830 As groups began to appear around the globe, the World Community for Christian Meditation 41 00:04:33,829 --> 00:04:39,509 was formed: an ecumenical monastery without walls. 42 00:04:39,509 --> 00:04:44,899 Today our group is one of almost 400 groups in Australia and countless more worldwide. 43 00:04:46,714 --> 00:04:51,899 In contemplative prayer we seek to become the person we are called to be. - John Main 44 00:04:55,009 --> 00:04:59,560 John Shields: The main reasons why I meditate, really, initially 45 00:04:59,560 --> 00:05:06,339 it was to stop the busyness of my life, to really just center myself and to try and be 46 00:05:06,339 --> 00:05:12,310 living in the present. I found I was living too much in the future, even in the past at 47 00:05:12,310 --> 00:05:18,069 times. I actually meditate on the train before I go to work and also in the afternoon on 48 00:05:18,069 --> 00:05:23,730 the train, so I really try and blend the meditation into my lifestyle. It’s my own time which 49 00:05:23,730 --> 00:05:29,280 I can spend with God and become closer to Him. 50 00:05:29,279 --> 00:05:34,909 Meditation has really helped me in my own work practice, because it helps me to listen 51 00:05:34,910 --> 00:05:41,000 and to be... to really be closer to the person who I’m actually helping. 52 00:05:41,000 --> 00:05:48,000 I’m really passionate about my triathlons and about keeping fit, because I think keeping 53 00:05:48,139 --> 00:05:52,579 fit makes you feel good, gives me a lot of confidence in my life, it gives me structure 54 00:05:52,579 --> 00:05:59,419 and also I feel the discipline enables me to really use my time productively. Meditation 55 00:05:59,420 --> 00:06:02,620 has helped me in my discipline with my sport. 56 00:06:02,620 --> 00:06:07,230 We’re encouraged to meditate for 25 to 30 minutes in the morning and the same in the 57 00:06:07,230 --> 00:06:13,050 evening and that’s a big commitment and it actually helps with my sporting commitments. 58 00:06:13,050 --> 00:06:17,819 Life is a gift and I’m not here to waste it. 59 00:06:18,904 --> 00:06:24,519 Utterly at home, God lives in our soul forever. - Mother Julian of Norwich 60 00:06:27,519 --> 00:06:30,819 Claire: My name is Claire. I’m British and currently 61 00:06:30,819 --> 00:06:38,957 living in Sydney. When I was growing up, Christianity was all around. My dad was an Anglican vicar, 62 00:06:39,199 --> 00:06:44,620 and we lived in a vicarage next to the church. Christianity was there in the kitchen, as 63 00:06:44,620 --> 00:06:50,810 my mum prepared for parish lunches, in the garden where we hunted for Easter eggs and 64 00:06:50,810 --> 00:06:57,810 in the ringing phone coming from Dad’s study. As a child, I listened to people in church 65 00:06:57,939 --> 00:07:04,939 and wondered what prayer was. To me it didn’t make much sense to speak to God as if He was 66 00:07:05,819 --> 00:07:10,949 out there somewhere. Growing up, I distinctly remember feeling 67 00:07:10,949 --> 00:07:18,903 that God was more inside than outside. As I got older, my questions about God remained, 68 00:07:19,470 --> 00:07:25,150 but I put all my energy into trying to make a difference in the world, working on conservation 69 00:07:25,149 --> 00:07:32,149 projects and community programs overseas. Despite working in some fantastic places with 70 00:07:32,319 --> 00:07:37,370 wonderful people, I often felt unfulfilled. 71 00:07:37,370 --> 00:07:42,867 I was upstairs, on a double-decker London bus when a friend first told me about Christian 72 00:07:42,867 --> 00:07:49,990 Meditation. I knew then, that this was a missing piece in the jigsaw for me. 73 00:07:50,327 --> 00:07:57,850 Learning about the Christian contemplative tradition validated my sense of a God who dwells within. 74 00:08:01,394 --> 00:08:07,779 It also helped to me appreciate other forms of prayer and the tradition I grew up with. 75 00:08:09,089 --> 00:08:16,089 Through meditating, I know that being is just as important as doing and the action to help 76 00:08:16,490 --> 00:08:23,170 others grows out of silence. I love the sense of community and friendship that meditation 77 00:08:23,170 --> 00:08:29,900 brings and the new places and people I’ve known because of it. But most of all, I meditate 78 00:08:29,899 --> 00:08:32,929 because it’s how I feel closest to God. 79 00:08:34,652 --> 00:08:39,929 We are one with the One. We are one with all. - John Main 80 00:08:40,149 --> 00:08:42,370 Retreat: meditation & the body 81 00:08:42,370 --> 00:08:45,340 Giovanni: The gorgeous thing about meditation is that 82 00:08:45,340 --> 00:08:51,330 it gives us this opportunity to be really free, to be playful and to be ourselves. We 83 00:08:51,330 --> 00:08:57,340 have this chance to reset everything, instead of having to believe all the things we’ve 84 00:08:57,340 --> 00:09:02,590 been told to believe. In meditation it’s a chance to really check, to listen in to 85 00:09:02,590 --> 00:09:08,480 God, to really listen to what it sounds like in the silence and what it feels like to be 86 00:09:08,480 --> 00:09:08,730 ourselves 87 00:09:08,580 --> 00:09:15,259 I mean you are totally and utterly loved, no matter your sexuality, no matter your addictions, 88 00:09:15,259 --> 00:09:19,689 no matter what you may have done that you feel has really hurt someone else. All you 89 00:09:19,690 --> 00:09:26,010 need to do is to say "I accept that I’m being loved, I totally accept to the bottom 90 00:09:26,009 --> 00:09:31,730 of my breath, to the deepest muscle in my body that I forgive myself, that it's beautiful 91 00:09:31,730 --> 00:09:38,090 to be me, to be quirky, to have the timbre of my voice or the shape of my body, to be 92 00:09:38,090 --> 00:09:44,278 at this moment of my life. And meditation gives us that chance. We’re simply opening 93 00:09:44,278 --> 00:09:49,110 to space, to silence, to rest and to presentness.