Meditation is a universal spiritual tradition and a spiritual practice or discipline. We find it in all great religious traditions. It is also called the prayer of the heart or contemplative prayer.

 

Essentially there are three basic elements in meditation: silence, stillness and simplicity.

 

John Main rediscovered meditation in our Christian Tradition from the early Christian monks and Desert Mothers and Fathers when he became a Benedictine monk. He started the World Community for Christian Meditation (WCCM). He died in 1982 leaving behind a growing international network of meditators and many resources to encourage and assist people in their daily practice. The current Director is Laurence Freeman OSB.

In John Mains words, "The aim in Christian Meditation is to allow God's mysterious and silent presence within us to become more and more not only a reality but the reality which gives meaning and purpose to everything we do, everything we are".

 

Here in Weymouth, we, with the Dorchester groups, are affiliated to the UK WCCM.

Two groups meet on Mondays (term time only) either at 2.30pm or 7pm at the Convent of Mercy. 

 

New members are always welcome to join either group. No booking is required. Meditating as a group is helpful but anyone who wishes to receive an introduction to the practice is also welcome, to come see.

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The sessions last just under an hour and consist of a short talk from the WCCM resources. This is followed by a couple of minutes of music, a short prayer and then a period of silence, which is a minimum of 20 minutes or a maximum of 30. It ends with another couple of minutes of music to gently bring us out of the silence and we end with a closing prayer. 

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We are encouraged to practice this daily in our own homes however best we can. This gentle simple way of turning the spotlight off ourselves, using a simple word or phrase to deal with distractions and simply being in the Presence of God will result in much spiritual "fruit" and equip us for carrying out whatever our mission is in the world. 

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