"Breathing into Love": A new course on the practice of Mindfulness in the Christian Tradition

Breathing into Love: The practice of Christian Mindfulness:

“God has given to the earth the breath which feeds it. It is His breath which gives life to all things. And if he were to withhold His breath every thing would be annihilated. His breath vibrates in yours, in your voice. It is the breath of God that you breathe and you are unaware of it.” St. Theophilus of Antioch.

As mindfulness practitioners and teachers we are all familiar with those practices that attempt to teach us to be present, to show up for life, to take a moment by moment approach. We are also aware of the importance of the breath and how our awareness of it plays an important part in this process. Some of us have come to mindfulness to deal with stress, some to improve their relationships, some to deepen a pre-existing meditation practice, some as a way of re-connecting with the deepest part of ourselves or to touch the ancient wisdom of the Sacred Traditions of the world. But for the Christian who seeks the mindful way the present moment is always, above all else, the place of Divine encounter and this encounter is always with the One who is Love. It is love that’s sustains every breath, love that is breathing in us in every moment, love that is holding all things in being, moment to moment, the love that is God. In our tradition the ancient art of monastic attention, known from the desert days of the early church as “Prosekai” sought to bring the practitioner to a mindfulness practice that balanced both attention and intention so as to prepare the whole being body, mind and soul for the journey into meditation and thence into a contemplative way of being that centred the self in a stable spiritual equanimity drawn from the awareness in our very being of the infinite and unconditional divine love from which all that is arises.

(This was the way of the Christian Mystics whose teachings we explore in our other workshops on them in the Sanctuary more of which are scheduled in the coming months. I’ll tell you about them as they arise.)

This art of attentive mindfulness taught by the ancient monastic fathers and mothers was centred on meditative exercises of awareness that sought to bring about a change to a mindful way of life. The practitioner was called to find ways of slowing down so as to become mindful of their breath, of their bodies, of their thoughts, of their actions and their surroundings, and especially of the sacred scriptures and the liturgy. Through those steps in mindfulness they sought to become aware of the Divine in-breathing that is present behind all of these phenomena as they arise. For the Christian Mindfulness Practitioner “breathing into love” is the beginning of the way of pure prayer, a prayer that transforms both our inner self and how we experience reality. In the coming weeks in the Sanctuary Centre in Dublin’s inner city I will be offering a practical and experiential course in these ancient practices beginning with the awareness of the breath and the various ways of praying with it. We will also look at the understanding of the process and goal of meditation in the Christian tradition and the use of the “versiculum”, the prayer word or Christian mantra that allows us to come to stable equanimity and quieten the thoughts. We will then look at the practice of Lectio Divina and its place in the larger process of Meditative prayer and we will encounter the sacred and sacramental character of the present moment and the ways of accessing it as such that have been taught in the Christian tradition.

If you would like to deepen your mindfulness practice and re-connect to the Divine Presence from which the present moment arises in Love, where attention and intention meet and where all of creation reveals it has been breathed into by Love then come along. You may just be surprised…

You can find our more and book your place at www.sanctuary.ie 

The Course details are as follows :

• Starting Wednesday April 6^th 2016
• 7pm - 8.30pm
• 5 week evening course
• Cost: €85.00
• Suitable for beginners and those who wish to deepen their practice
• Introduction to Christian Mindfulness Tradition
• Mix of information, discussion and practice
• Breath practices for stillness and reflection

Further details:

With Brother Richard, this 5 week evening course provides an introduction the tradition of Christian Mindfulness Tradition. This tradition has often been overlooked or not well understood. In the past the practice was mostly confined to contemplative monasteries. This course provides an introduction to the key practices of the tradition and will cover:

• The place of Mindfulness in the Christian Tradition 

• Breath practices for stillness and reflection

• Lectio Divina as a Mindfulness Practice 

• The use of the Versiculum or Christian Mantra

• The Sacrament of the Present Moment 

• Centering Prayer and dealing with the thoughts

• The present as the Place of Divine Encounter 

• The practice of the "Prayer of Calm Abiding"

• The Jesus Prayer

The course is suitable for beginners and for those who wish to deepen their mindfulness practice through uniting it with the Spirituality of the Christian Tradition.
 

“All that God asks of us is that we be faithful to the present moment” Ven. Solanus Casey