By way of introducing this subject, let's start with a little anthropology.
Anthropology is the study of human nature through its physical, emotional,
mental, cultural and mystical manifestations. This will be a theological
anthropology, which is the study of human nature and its faculties through
the added perspective of Christian revelation.
Let us think of ourselves as coming into existence as a little dot that
might represent our conception, our personal "big bang", so to
speak. Theological anthropology suggests that at the moment of conception,
the Source of our being is present in that tiny organism whose cells are
multiplying at an enormous rate. Basically all our human potential, physical,
emotional, mental and spiritual is present in that initial "bang"
of creation -- our personal entrance into the human family.
The teaching of the Divine Indwelling is a fundamental doctrine for the
spiritual journey. The Father, the Son, the Eternal Word of the Father,
and the Holy Spirit, are present within us. These relationships, which
are never separate in their unity, are forever interacting. The Father
is the potentiality for all existence; the Son is the actuality of all possibilities
of existence; and the Spirit is the love that motivates both. Love loving
itself eternally in the Trinity is the basis of our own existence, the
most intimate part of us, that which is most real in us, the part of us
that is capable of infinite happiness through participation in the divine
life.
The true self, which is what we are trying to awaken through spiritual practice,
is not separate from God. The true self is the divine manifesting itself
in our uniqueness, in our talents, in our personal history, in our cultural
conditioning, and in all the rest of the complex factors that go to make
up our conscious life and its manifestation in our various activities.
The infinite tenderness of God, right now, minus all the obstacles we place
in opposition to that manifestation, is present in us right now. But each
of us, because of what traditional theology calls the fallen human condition,
is out of touch with this enormous energy of love that is inviting us to
participate.
This does not mean that we have no identity of our own. Nor does it mean
total absorption into God, as it does in some Eastern traditions. It does
not mean the total loss of self. We remain uniquely whoever we are in virtue
of our creation, but there is no possessiveness towards that uniqueness.
The movement of the Spirit prompts us to give back whatever we are, all
that we are, as much as we are, and everything that we have received from
God. To give all back to God in love is the work of everyday life.
Around the true self there is a circle of awareness that we might call our
spiritual nature. It has two principal faculties, the passive intellect
and the will-to-God. These are respectively the innate desire for infinite
truth and the innate desire for boundless love.
Because of the damage resulting from our fallen human condition, we are
not normally in touch with our spiritual nature. Our actual psychological
consciousness on a day to day level consists of our homemade self manifesting
itself and not God.
The spiritual journey is initiated when we become aware that our ordinary
psychological consciousness is dominated by the false self with its programs
for happiness and over-identification with our cultural conditioning. The
spiritual journey involves an inner change of attitude beginning with the
recognition of being out of contact with our spiritual nature and our true
self, and taking means to return. Only then can our true self and the potentiality
that God has given us to live the divine life be manifested. Contemplative
service is action coming from the true self, from our inmost being.
To liberate our true self is an enormous undertaking and a program that
takes time. Centering prayer is completely at the service of this program.
It would be a mistake to think of Centering Prayer as a mere rest period
or a period of relaxation, although it sometimes provides these things.
Neither is it a journey to bliss. You might get a little bliss, along
the way, but you will also have to endure the wear and tear of the discipline
of cultivating interior silence.
Thinking our usual thoughts is the chief way that human nature has devised
to hide from the unconscious. So when our minds begin to quiet down in
Centering Prayer, up comes the emotional debris of a lifetime in the form
of gradual and sometimes dramatic realizations of what the false self is,
and how this homemade self that we constructed in early childhood to deal
with unbearable pain, became misdirected from genuine human values into
seeking substitutes for God. Images that don't really have any existence
except in our imagination are projected on other people instead of facing
head-on their source in ourselves.
Just think of the beatitudes that Jesus proclaims. The capacity to practice
them are within us as part of the patrimony of Baptism. Similarly, the
Seven Gifts of the Spirit and the Fruits of the Spirit enumerated by Paul
in Galatians 5 are vibrating within us all the time. But, they are mediated
through the various levels of the psyche so that we don't experience their
power until they are awakened through the discipline of deep prayer. Of
course, there are other ways that God has of awakening us to his presence.
For instance, he is perfectly free to reach up and pull us down into that
area any time, but don't count on it. It is better to practice a discipline.
What would be an active discipline to assist our centering prayer, so that
it doesn't become self-centered or a mere process of self-perfection, but
actually is the assimilation of the infinite tenderness of God living his
life within us? In general, such a discipline might be called "contemplative
service"; in the concrete, I call it the "attention/intention
practice".
When you emerge from centering prayer, the present moment is what happens
when you open your eyes. You have been in the present moment of prayer
when you were completely open to the divine life and action within you.
Now you get up out of the chair and you continue daily life. This is where
attentiveness to the content of the present moment is a way of putting order
into the myriad occupations, thoughts and events of daily life. Attention
to this context simply means to do what you are doing. This was one of
the principal recommendations of the Desert Fathers and Mothers of the fourth
century. The disciple would come for instruction and say, "I am interested
in finding the true self and becoming a contemplative. What should I do?"
The Desert guides would reply in the most prosaic language. "Do what
you're doing." Which means, bring your attention to the present moment
and to whatever is its immediate content and keep it there." For instance,
it is time for supper. Well, put the food on the table. This is true virtue.
Turning on the television at that time or making a needless phone call
might not be. Attending to the present moment means that our mind is on
what we are doing as we go through the day. Thus we are united to God in
the present moment instead of wondering about what we are going to do next
or tomorrow. There might be a good time set aside for planning but not
now.
To be completely present to someone you are talking to is one of the most
difficult of all practices. Your presence will often do more than what
you say. It gives others a chance to be present to themselves. Moreover,
if your presence is coming from a deep place within, the divine compassion
that is inspiring you will be there for them in the degree that they are
capable of receiving it.
To be totally present to children, if you have them, to the old folks, if
you have them, to counselees if you have them, to the job of the present
moment that needs a responsible fulfillment - this is what might be called
how to act from the center, how to do contemplative service, how to put
order into ordinary daily life by being present to the occupation of the
present moment. This cuts off an enormous amount of needless reflection,
projects of self-aggrandizement, and wondering what people are thinking
of us.
If we refuse to think of anything except what we are doing or the person
that we are with, we develop the habit of being present to the present moment.
In a way, the present moment becomes as sacred as being in church. Far
better to be present to your duty if you are a bartender, than to be present
in church and to be thinking about being in a bar. At least you are present
to yourself when you are paying attention to what you are doing.
Attention, then, is a way of doing what we are doing. It cracks the crust
of the false self (our psychological awareness of daily life) in which we
are the center of the universe while everything else is circling around
our particular needs or desires. This is an illusion, but unfortunately
it is the heritage we all bring with us from early life.
A practice, then, of just paying attention to what you are doing for a certain
part of the day for the love of God, and disregarding every other thought
is a practical way of opening ourselves to a deeper level of contemplation.
It will not work instantly, but regular practice has long-range effects.
It might be called the how of activity.
The spiritual level is also healed of the false self by the why of what
you are doing. Your intention to do what you are doing for the love of
God connects you with the divine presence in a powerful way. The power
of intention is immense. The will willing God actually enters into union
with God although you may not consciously experience the effects of this
union right away. My intention is why I am doing what I am doing.
Here is the practice: Choose a certain time when you deliberately establish
and renew your intention of doing some particular work for the love of God.
Our minds are generally so scattered that we keep forgetting. To have
a time or one particular activity when you do this deliberately as a daily
practice will quickly show you the influence of your intentionality on the
false self. Nobody does anything without a motive. You don't know why
you are doing something unless you know both your conscious and unconscious
motivation. For example, as soon as you start trying to do a particular
job at hand for the love of God, the motivation of the false self begins
to arise and you may find yourself acting out of jealousy; or you want to
get even with someone who has wronged you; or you are trying to get ahead
in some situation and you trample on some one else's rights. The galaxy
of bad intentions motivated by the false self emerges when for a few minutes
you try to maintain a pure intention.
The great insight of the early Desert Fathers and Mothers was that a pure
intention leads to purity of heart; selfish motivation is gradually evacuated
and the habit of a pure intention is firmly established. You begin to enter
into God's intentionality, which is to manifest infinite compassion in the
present circumstances, however painful, however joyful, however seemingly
bereft of the divine presence.
As soon as you focus your intention -- why you are doing this particular
action -- your unconscious motivation arises. The unconscious motivation
might be that in our service, however devout it may appear outwardly, we
are really looking for praise. In other words, our secret desires begin
to emerge into consciousness when we deliberately focus our intention on
loving God in all that we do.
How to work -- attention. Why I am working -- intention. Awareness
of these two aspects lead to the third and final quality of contemplative
service -- who is doing the work. Having uncovered the spiritual obstacles
of pride, envy, and whatever else might be hidden on the unconscious, we
are now approaching our true self; we are approaching our inmost center;
we are approaching Love loving itself. What's going to happen? Without
your intending anything special, without necessarily doing anything special,
people begin to find God in you as you humbly do what you are supposed to
be doing. Complete submission to God allows the divine energy to radiate,
and others seeing you have a sense of being in touch with God or in the
midst of a community where divine love exists. This is what a Christian
community is suppose to be, whether it is a family, parish or organization.
The third way of working or acting in daily life might be called transmission.
When attention to the present moment and a pure intention are established
as habits, then you have, in the fullest sense of the word, contemplative
service. Your contemplation is then perceived, enjoyed and received, perhaps
without a word, or without anyone being able to explain it. People know
that somehow, Christ is acting in you, is present in you, and is loving
them in you. This is the atmosphere in which people can grow and become
fully alive. One needs to feel loved as a human being to come alive. And
the greatest love, of course, is divine love, especially when it becomes
transparent in another person. And it is most impressive when that person
is not even aware of it and it just happens.