CHRISTIAN MEDITATION NEWSLETTER, VOL. 36, NO 1; APRIL 2012 1

INTERNATIONAL EDITION, VOL. 36, NO 1; APRIL 2012www.wccm.org

Christian MeditationNEWSLETTER OF THE WORLD COMMUNITY FOR CHRISTIAN MEDITATION

Registered Charity No. 327173

Patience is one of the fruits of thespirit. It is related to the way we handletime but also to situations of life,relationships. We usually don't like towait, whether for good or bad thingsthat lie ahead. It is also often difficultto support our "neighbour ", even veryclose people, that we most love. So,parents lose their patience withchildren (and vice versa), couples,friends, co-workers ... all humanrelationships, in short, can be a test ofpatience.

And in a world where the speed ofour routine borders the instantaneous,nobody seems willing to wait. Forexample: try waiting an extra fiveseconds at the traffic light after thegreen light appears. But, in our dailymeditation, we stop. At least twice aday we exercise the stillness of body andmind, just being, in the presentmoment, in God’s presence.

What does meditation have to teachus about patience? That was thequestion we sent some meditators of ourcommunity.

JOHN MAIN SEMINAR 2012

“Spiritualityand

Environment”Itaici - Indaiatuba, SP Brazil

August, 16th to 19th

led by

Leonardo Boff Phd

guest speaker

Fr. Betto, OP

Pre-Seminar Retreat:“BE WHO YOU ARE”

August 13th to 16thled by

Fr. Laurence Freeman OSB

Pilgrimage"MEDITATING INTO THE

POWER OF NATURE":Iguazu Falls

August 19th to 22th

More Information:

www.johnmainseminar2012.com

email: jms12info@gmail.com

LINDA KAYE, US*lindakayec@gmail.com

In WordMade FleshJohn Mainwrites, “If wecan only learnthe humility,patience andfidelity to sayour mantra wecan enter fully into everything there is.”Every time I sit down to meditate it is anew beginning, another opportunity topractice patience through the humblingexperience of the ever presentdistractions of the monkey mind. Themantra leads me back into the presentmoment, renewed and refreshed in thespirit, simply by giving my fullattention to the one word. How doesthis teach me patience? I am justbeginning to have a glimmer ofunderstanding after more than a decadeof saying the mantra, of the truth in thewords of Abba Moses, “Go and sit inyour cell and your cell will teach youeverything”

I live alone near the beach with mynine-year-old standard poodle,RazzleDazzle so there are fewdistractions in my simple life near theocean. However, I volunteer incommunity as director of the WCCMNeptune Beach Center in Florida, whichprovides many opportunities to practicepatience, kindness, listening, being lessjudgmental and offering presence ratherthan advice. And on a daily basis I have

The gentle teacher of

p a t i e n c eBut the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. (Galatians 5:22,23)

CHRISTIAN MEDITATION NEWSLETTER, VOL. 36, NO 1; APRIL 20122

REMEMBERING THE FUTURE:PLEASE THINK OF REMEMBERING THE COMMUNITY IN YOUR WILL:

http://www.wccm.org/content/donate

many failures.Today I see these ‘failures’ as ‘opportunities for character

building.’ I have a lot to learn about humility and patienceand I am grateful it is a journey of awakening, one day at atime, of progress not perfection!

Christian Meditation, ‘the prayer of the heart,’ continuesto heal the unconscious where old wounds remain and causemy spirit to be restless and seek worldly distractions. Self-acceptance and self-knowledge are direct results from simplyshowing up twice a day in the silence with no agenda. It ismy personal experience while trudging the many roads tohappiness, that patience, or any fruits of the spirit, cannotbe sustained by positive thinking, created through willpower or manipulated into fruition from self-analysis. Theongoing transformation from ‘a stony heart to a heart of flesh’and the ‘renewal of my mind’ has been the work of themantra that has gently and patiently led me home and puta new spirit in me…Christ in me – “everything there is.”

* Linda is the Director of The WCCM Neptune BeachCenter in Florida

PIERRE INOBERT, HAITI*inobert@yahoo.fr

In our fast paced world, we often findthat we lack time to do our regularduties. To sit in meditation for 20minutes may look like a long time, whenwe take much less time to eat forexample. If we can speed up the mealtime, meditation is different. When weare eager to finish, we just mess it up.

Meditation is by definition a teacher of patience. We firstsit in a quiet atmosphere. If possible, taking a shower beforemeditation helps cool down the body and regulate the glandssecretions, which play a major role in our state of mind. Wefirst need to be aware of our breathing. Our respiration rate isclosely related to our state of mind. The slower our breathing,the calmer our mind, the more focused we are, the better ourmeditation is.

Sometimes, we find out that we’re off track. We need toresume our slow and regular breathing and get back to ourMantra. It needs to be repeated a certain amount of time tofeel its power. All in meditation has to do with patience. Todo it and enjoy the results is all a patience game.

* Pierre is the Haiti National Coordinator

SAMANTHA ARBUCKLE, UK*samarbuckle2005@yahoo.co.uk

Meditation has taught me that I can only learn aboutpatience when I fail. Repeating the mantra means I haveto be patient with myself because I keep getting distracted

and I have to keep returningto the word. This happensregularly and is a predictablepart of my practice. Alongwith this experience ofconstant distractions, I comeinto a felt experience offailure.

But meditation teaches methat failure is vital, and

necessary for growth. When I get distracted and return tothe mantra, patience is enabled to grow its muscle. Patienceis a space. It is a space where relationship can take place. Iam being taught that as I sit still and return to the word Ireturn to a relationship which is radical and life changing.

As I fail, I learn to be patient and as patience grows itssilent strength forgives and accepts. I also learn that patienceis relational. This is because as I learn to be patient inmeditation, I learn that someone or something is beingpatient with me. I learn this through experience every timeI fail. It is there each time I return regardless the length oftime I have been away: a loving kindness that has seen it allbefore and is there in friendship.

Patience is the quality in friendship that is simply 'beingwith' - to be by someone's side. Patience sustains myfriendship with the tenderness and care of a deeper realitythat exists beyond condemnation, criticism or failure. Agravitational pull that nurtures my deepest need which Ican only experience when I fail.

* Sam is a member of the Young Meditators Groupin London

HELIO MARGALHO, BRAZIL*heliomargalho@yahoo.com.br

We can say that patience is a virtuethat leads to emotional balance whichis the basis of tolerance. And we cansay that patience is the most difficultof the virtues. It often happens thatwhen all goes well the exercise ofpatience is easier. Patience is healthy,calms the heart, letting the Spirit ofJesus "act" like a gentle breeze.

Personally, in my family, we live with a case of Parkinsonswhich has affected my wife's life . As a consequence our familylife is very demanding as there is a lot of dependence. I havebeen meditating for over 14 years and it is meditation thatbrings me to detachment, helping me better to care for thebody of Jesus, to see with the eyes of Jesus and love with thelove of Jesus.

* Helio is an oblate from Brazil

CHRISTIAN MEDITATION NEWSLETTER, VOL. 36, NO 1; APRIL 2012 3

On March 3rd Rosie Lovat, a close friend of John Mainand the first oblate of the community, died peacefully ather home in London, aged 94. I first met her as I was aboutto enter monastic life, at the meditation centre John Mainstarted in London in 1975.

If the truest quality of life is indeed found in ourrelationships then a friendship of so many years is worthremembering and celebrating. Not just personally but as acommunity, because it was in communion with John Mainand the community that his life and teaching inspired thatshe followed the spiritual journey that lay at the heart of theperson she was for everyone who knew her. Most of you willnot have met her, of course, but I hope these words of mine,developed from my homily at her funeral, will conveysomething of the depth and inspiration she communicated.The desert teachers said that a good life is worth much morethan a homily. It is the central quality of her life that I will,however inadequately, try to convey.

There are different ways of dying as there are of living.Premature, untimely deaths - which Rosie and her familypainfully knew about - or passing away peacefully, lovinglyattended in the ripeness of years when the body and mindjust get too tired to continue – which was how Rosieblessedly passed over. But either way, death and grief touchus on the sharpest nerve with the huge mystery and pain ofloss. The great silence of those whom we have loved andwho have died calls up the largest questions about life andits purpose: questions for which there are never easy answers.Perhaps there are no answers at all; only the truth - which isnever just an answer but an experience of reality. Anexperience, however, that is not like ordinary experience inwhich part of us always stands aside, outside and watches.The truth that we are contemplating during this Easterseason is not an abstract or absent one. It is embodied as aperson with whom we can be in relationship. It is throughpeople that we come closest to God.

Only the whole truth satisfies both our natural curiosityand our deep need for God. Truth, integrity and wholeness,demands the total absorption and transcendence of thesingular ego that takes up its position observing everythingfrom a safe, uninvolved distance and always keeping a bit in

reserve of the gift of the full self which attention demands.Facing the deep and puzzling questions of life and death ismore attractive a work for some people than it is to others.At different phases of our life, also, we respond with varyingdegrees of seriousness. Perhaps only when these questionsthrown up by experience become irresistibly insistent, afterthey have presented themselves to us many times andthrough many losses, can we simply sit with them, staypatiently in their presence, like an aborigine sitting besidethe flowing river in a state of dadirri. And perhaps only then,in that moment of grace we cannot avoid, that forces itselfon us in all the finality of death, can we finally be taught bythe silence which is their way of reaching us.

Normally we don't give much of our time attending tothese questions. Then they force themselves on us in what wefeel is a crisis or a major loss. But even in the short duration ofa funeral we may be persuaded to turn towards the silenceinto which our loved ones have passed. Rosie was laid to reston a cloudless spring day in the Highlands of Scotland whichwas her home for most of her life and where she raised her sixchildren. Her husband Shimi was chief of the Fraser clan, awar hero who loved his native land and who could read it asothers read a book. I walked the fields there with him onceand saw them briefly through his eyes, astonished by howmuch he saw and my urban eyes were closed to. Rosie waslaid here with her beloved husband beside the three sons whohad died before her. Their graves in the small churchyard ofEskadale face across the river to the old hills. The church wasfull with family, friends and neighbours. A bagpiper led thecoffin to the grave. I thought later of the instructions thatLeonard Cohen said came with the gift of his poetical voice:never to lament casually. And if one is to express the greatinevitable defeat that awaits us all, it must be done within thestrict confines of dignity and beauty.

This was such a graced moment, dignified and beautiful,and shared by those who gathered for the formal rituals ofthanks, blessing and farewell. We came not only out ofrespect for Rosie whom we all loved but also because hersilence was her gift to us that morning. It was a silence shehad learned to understand and love for many years. Listeningto the silence at the heart of life’s mystery, as she had learnedto do, is an achievement that needs to be expressed becauseit reveals the all-embracing and ever present silence of Godwhich touches and pervades us all.

Rosie can teach us, meditators or not, something of realvalue for how we live the rest of our lives. We can learn bothfrom her present silence and by her life which, as with allthose who die, we try to remember and retain as far as ourimperfect memories allow. I shared some reflections on this

A letter fromLaurence Freeman OSBDIRECTOR OF THE WORLD COMMUNITY FOR CHRISTIAN MEDITATION

CHRISTIAN MEDITATION NEWSLETTER, VOL. 36, NO 1; APRIL 20124

“UNLIKE MOST PEOPLE SHEUNDERSTOOD IT INSTANTLY”

as we gathered in that unavoidable silence that surroundsall human experience. Dignity and simplicity are necessarybecause it is the ‘inevitable defeat’ of the human condition.And yet in it the kind of vision illuminated by faith maycatch a glimpse, a glimmer of a final triumph. Rosie, likeJohn Main, taught me this over many years and in manyways, more often than not by refraining from saying theexpected or saying it so concisely and directly that it impactedunforgettably on my mind. How often do we remembermoments of consciousness as much by tone or gesture as bythe words themselves. St Benedict, whose Rule she lived byfor many years, says that ‘in many words we cannot avoidsin’. Truth is best served by brevity. Rosie taught directlyand with a minimum of speech from the mysteries she hadlearned in. She learned how to reverence and trust silenceand to speak gently yet powerfully from it.

Her meeting with John Main during a retreat, in 1975when she was in middle age, introduced her to meditation.It was a decisive spiritual and emotional turning-point forher. She was already a religious and devout person but shenow began a spiritual pilgrimage as a woman of deep prayer,integrating a daily discipline of contemplative prayermorning and evening into her veryactive life. Many people today cometo meditation to get bettercholesterol, to lower their bloodpressure or to reduce stress, generally to feel better - all provenby-products of the practice. But from the start – and withoutdelay - Rosie understood meditation as the discovery of anew dimension of prayer, the prayer of her heart. Given herquestioning mind and intelligence, high energy level andvery active life-style this was a remarkable achievement.Unlike most people who learn the art of this kind of prayerslowly and with many stops and starts, she seemed to havegot it instantly, responded immediately, embraced thediscipline and never looked back. I don't think I have metanyone else who understood so quickly and responded sofaithfully. She understood, with her intuitive intelligence ofthe heart, that this discipline would give depth and meaningto all the relationships, duties and activities of her busy life- especially her love and unswerving dedication to Shimiand her children and grandchildren, her friends and all thosewho had served the family over the years.

Many meditators in fulfilled marriages and happy families

meditate alone, with the support perhaps, but not the sharedpractice, of spouse or children. Their meditation is simplyaccepted as a need they have to fulfil as part of their personallife. Because a man plays golf doesn’t mean that his wife hasto. There’s a problem if he plays golf in order to get awayfrom his wife but his game can be an enrichment of theirrelationship if he shares the benefits it brings him with hisfamily. Even more, meditation benefits both those who dothe practice and those who live with them. Rosie was anaturally private person reluctant to speak or teach aboutthis dimension of her life. This was partly because it isanyway hard to speak about but also partly because – Idisagreed with her about this - she felt she could not expressherself very well. But even if she didn't speak about it unlessshe was asked, she certainly shared it, in perhaps the bestway of all, through the person she became and in the wayshe lived. The fruits of her contemplative life - what St Paulcalls the harvest of the spirit - fed into her life and personalityover many years. With time these fruits ripened. Time is theground in which our lives are rooted and grow until thegreat transplantation of death happens. Her prayer produceda golden harvest in the last years of her long life and we are

still close enough to it to speak aboutit and let it influence us.

In her later years her memoryweakened and, although she never

failed to recognise me until the week before she died, herbrain cells were increasingly insufficient to keep up withthe ordinary flow and speed of information. She exemplifiedhow important the discipline of twice-daily meditation is asa preparation for the time when we will forget whether wehave meditated today or not. By the time that conditiondeveloped she was already in a stable state of continuousprayer. Henceforth it was a direct transmission not amediated one: pure gift requiring no work like the stage ofprayer that Teresa of Avila describes as God’s pure rain onthirsty soil. Rosie’s sweetness of character, gentleness andfresh humour conveyed an experience that didn’t rely onwords. But any words she spoke at this stage of her lifeexpressed a calm and enlightened state of mind. Whoeverspent time with her and could relax in her less verbal statewas touched by a simplicity, gentleness and immediacy thatintroduced them into the space she dwelt in. I often thoughtthat this might be the irresistible force of non-violence thatallows us to do the impossible, love our enemies, and that afew minutes with her would have disarmed, albeittemporarily, the Saddams and Assads of this world.

This was at the end. It took time for her to absorb theimpact of an overwhelming discovery she had made afterher first meeting with John Main during a retreat he led forher and a small group of her friends. After he moved toMontreal she would come twice a year to make an extendedretreat with him and to share the life of the small communitygathered round him. They were blissful times for her. Sheglided into the routine of the monastery from touchdownand took over the kitchen where she loved to work and whereall the members of the community were able to see and chatwith her and felt blessed by her concentrated way of working

CHRISTIAN MEDITATION NEWSLETTER, VOL. 36, NO 1; APRIL 2012 5

“MANY PEOPLE START OFF WELL BUTTHEN SLOW DOWN ON THIS PATH”

and being present to them. As she liked to work mindfullyshe was sometimes irritated by too many interruptions butas her diaries of the time show, she controlled her feelings (anatural thing for her). She tried, successfully most of thetime, to work efficiently and carefully and still be present toeveryone according to their need. This meant many came toher with their problems, a trust she handled with compassionand her natural tact and discretion.

Twice a week she would sit in a corner of the meditationroom during the evening groups when Fr John gave hisremarkable teachings that held the audience in such silentattention that their reaction amplified the message he wastransmitting. Rosie would write down everything he said,in ring folder notebooks that she collected over the years,for later personal reflection and to share with her ownmeditation group when she returned to London. Usually inthe afternoons she would go for a walk with him on MountRoyal or shopping for the community at the food marketand have some time for personal conversation. But like himshe practiced a patient detachment and sometimes she wouldhave to wait a couple of days before he was free. Because oftheir detachment and lack of demands the friendship didnot create any jealousy. On thecontrary we all felt blessed by it andshe was loved and respected by all thecommunity and guests.

Through these intensely happy visits, in her way oflearning from Fr John and by the way she fulfilled her dutiesof daily life she grew to become a deep contemplative in amature Christian faith. She remained real, grounded,attentive to others and lovingly involved in her family, whoalways held first priority for her. She led a weekly meditationgroup in London and tried to introduce it in the north ofScotland when she returned there. Responding to a generalrecommendation of Fr John’s one day about the value ofyoga, she took it up and became very adept, being used, tothe delight of her family and friends, as a model in a bookYoga for the Over-50s. Balancing the two major aspects oflife, contemplative and active, the yin and yang of allexistence, is the big challenge. St Benedict describes a wayof doing it by managing time, and by respecting the threedimensions of life, body, mind and spirit, and by placingprayer at the centre. Rosie found inspiration and support inhis wisdom by becoming a Benedictine oblate, in fact thefirst oblate, of the community. The second was an Anglicanbishop, the third a newly arrived Portuguese immigrant inCanada. An oblate is a layperson living out their particularvocation in the world, family or work but doing so inspiredby the spirit of the Rule of St Benedict and with the spiritualsupport and friendship of a community. In our monasterywithout walls the binding unity is in the daily practice ofmeditation. Through this commitment, which became soclose to her heart and part of her identity, she witnessed andtaught, as a true desert mother would, by example andpresence even more than by words of instruction.

Very few people, whether in active worldly lives or evenin quiet monastic cloisters, understood the depth of thecontemplative experience as Rosie was led to do. She would

cringe at being called ‘holy’, as holy people should, but Ican’t think of a better word to describe the quality of loveand presence of mind that she had and in which she grewuntil the end of her life. If the word ‘holy’ rankles, you haveonly to remember its connection to the world ‘whole’.Perhaps she found this wholeness over time because of thepowerful initiatory experience she had been fortunate to haveat the beginning of her inner journey. It launched her and,by having John Main as her teacher, recharged hermomentum when it flagged, often through self-doubt, andrestored her to her right course. Many people start off wellbut then quickly slow down on this path. Many start andseem not to finish in this life. Rosie’s kind of ‘conversion ofheart’ kept her moving onwards, however, even through thelater tragic losses she was destined to suffer.

It was primarily from this spiritual aspect of her life thatI knew Rosie and learned so much. But like everyone shehad many facets to her: she was strong and wilful on occasionyet naturally gentle and non-intrusive, self-confident in mostthings yet genuinely humble (even too self-deprecating whenit came to communicating the teaching), passionate yetemotionally detached, intensely loving yet non-possessive.

She caught herself quicklywhenever she saw herselfclinging and then let goimmediately. This detachment,

as much as any other skill of the spiritual craft that shelearned, led her to self-knowledge which is the fundamentalcondition of receiving and transmitting wisdom.

There were many scenes of life in which she learned andpracticed this apart from the retreats in the community.Everyone, in her family and her social life, who knew her,knew and loved what they knew in her in their own uniqueway. As her spiritual life deepened she found many of thesuperficialities and frivolities of her social world hard to dealwith. But she also had the capacity of wise women and goodmothers to expand into the people who needed her wherevershe met them. Every relationship is unique and recognisingthis allows one’s way of loving to become more universal.Yet every relationship also contains and expresses the wholeperson in a new perspective. She could not share all that shewas learning on her spiritual path with her family and friends;but, whether they understood it or not, they experienced itthrough the change it was working in her. We can onlyunderstand a person completely within the context of alltheir relationships and of their whole life. This means,unfortunately, that we cannot know anyone completely inthis life. It also means, however, that we can continue tolearn about someone long after they have left this life. Wecontinue to be changed by the significant relationships wehave known and what we learn from them never ceases.

I remember being struck early in our friendship by Rosie’sspirit of truthfulness. She didn’t like being expected to saythings that she didn’t mean. I discovered that this honestywas a personal spiritual practice for her that she took veryseriously. Once when she was staying in the community aguest, who was an enthusiastic painter but not, if truth betold, a very good one, kept asking her to look at his work.

CHRISTIAN MEDITATION NEWSLETTER, VOL. 36, NO 1; APRIL 20126She declined and continued to try to avoid it saying thatshe didn’t know anything about art. But he insisted andeventually she agreed to go and look but on condition thathe didn’t ask her to express an opinion. She saw the not verygood paintings as agreed; but he did not keep his part of thebargain and asked her what she thought. She repeated shewas not a good judge and would prefer not to comment. Hekept on insisting and she finally, gently said that she thoughtthe paintings were terrible – but, again, not to listen to heropinion. He must have learned his lesson.

Another quality of her character and her spiritual life washumour. She was deeply reverent and had a strong sensitivityto the sacred but she knew that humour was an integral partof understanding the serious things in life. Once, when hermemory was evidently fading and conversation becomingrather cyclical, she told me she was ‘going a bit potty’. I agreedthat she was losing mental powers but also, I said, the factthat she could be so clearly aware of this and talk about itshowed that even if her brain cells were not being replaced asthey failed, nevertheless her mind seemed very present. I spokeabout the difference between brain and mind. She thoughtabout this and said with a smile, ‘thank you Laurence, that’svery helpful. I will try to remember that.’

Her spiritual life also poured out in her empathy andcompassion for others in need. She gave loving care to manypeople who needed someone patiently to give them true timeand attention. But she kept her ‘good works’, as one wouldexpect, unobtrusive and discrete. This same reticence was alsotrue of her inner life. The interior journey is not easy todescribe or communicate to others. Yet she understood thespiritual work of ‘setting your mind on God’s kingdom beforeeverything else’ as Jesus taught. After meeting John Main sherealised that this level of prayer does not mean thinking ortalking about God all the time, but rather remaining centredin God throughout all kinds of activities and relationships.This meant that she could communicate the fruits of her prayerif not the practice of it and she strived to stay mindful at alltimes and in all situations. Her fixed times of prayer – thedaily meditation and the scriptures and the Eucharist whichshe loved – were her grounding experience of livingcontinuously in the presence of God.

But they extended beyond her fidelity to these explicittimes of morning and evening prayer and penetrated thewhole day. This, as she discovered, is what contemplativeChristianity in fact means for everyone; she had trusted JohnMain’s affirmation that it is what everyone is called to. No

one is ever perfect at it. Rosie understood it and worked at itin the best of ways, by being conscious that it would neverbe about being perfect. It is about persevering faithfully andloving in it continuously. For those who knew her in thisdimension of her life she became an attractive and inspiringexample of how to live the mystical dimension of Christianitywhile keeping your feet on the ground of ordinary life.

Rosie had many aspects to her generous, non-possessive,wise and sweet character. Some knew her as mother,grandmother, aunt, friend or as a wonderful person to workfor. I have tried in these few words only to highlight thatspiritual aspect as a woman of faith and prayer thatinfluenced all sides of her personality and formed her as aquietly exceptional witness of the interior life of the Gospel.

Her spiritual depth was excavated by many losses andintense suffering as well as by the many joys and discoveriesof her life that she always saw as blessed. Life lived fullycontains and merges both. The wisdom that results fromthis union of joy and grief became palpable in the last yearsof her life especially after the great premature losses of hertwo sons, Simon and Andrew, and then Shimi, her husband,and the physical and mental struggles of that time. At theend she came through into a peaceful harbour. The death ofFr John whom she had nursed in his final illness also brokeher heart. Perhaps it is a truth of holiness that the benedictionof God touches us through the pain of others when sufferingis embraced by the solitude it creates. All who knew her atthis time knew they were in contact with a very purified,very loving and peaceful person who radiated the spirit simplyby means of her way of being – a style grounded in an oftenhidden but always strong and eloquent silence.

We might all pray that before we die we reach that placeof poise and integration, of beauty and discipline, where weare both wholly detached from life, ready to drop it at amoment’s call, and yet also wholly committed to it, in lovewith it despite its cruel blows, ever curious about its meaningand enjoying its lighter and brighter moments. It is rarethat anyone stays in that blessed and blessing state for long.Rosie, I believe, entered it and remained there for an unusualperiod of time. I asked her once, after she had become lessmobile and could no longer walk as vigorously as she likedto, whether she felt peaceful. She thought of a truthful answerand said ‘yes, I think I am. But I’m not sure if I should be.’

I suppose she may partly have felt then that she wasn’t‘doing’ enough. But I think she also understood, in a placedeeper than the ego’s self-doubt, that in her quiet way oflife, dependent on the kindness of others, she was anemanation of pure and loving action. In learning to meditatewe learn how this peace can be both possible and authentic.It does not need to be justified or apologised for, because itis the ‘better part’ that Jesus tried to get the over-activeMartha side of us to understand. And because we learnthrough our own experience that to be still and awake is nota passive or vegetative state but a communion with the purebeing from which all action, all creation flows.

Rosie loved her home in Scotland where we laid her torest in the fullness of her years in the sacred grounds of abeautiful, peaceful church where she and generations of herfamily had prayed. It is a grace that we could lay her to rest

CHRISTIAN MEDITATION NEWSLETTER, VOL. 36, NO 1; APRIL 2012 7

NEWS FROM THE WORLD COMMUNITYThe following is a small representation of the life of the Community. For weekly news and more information visit the Community web page: www.wccm.org

Laurence Freeman OSB

With much love,

in a way that allowed her to continue to communicate whatshe had learned in this life. We, her family and communityand friends, can celebrate her life now, the gift of a long-abiding influence on us and on many more people than wemight imagine.

We thank God for imagining her into existence, for lovingher and for leading her into the ultimate union with Christin the joy of the Resurrection which she had already tastedin this life.

May she rest in peace. And may those whose lives havebeen diminished by the loss of her physical presence be

stimulated by all that we will never forget about her. Thereis no doubt in my mind that she contributed, with Fr John,greatly to the development of the community we have today.One day may we glimpse, as she did, something of theResurrection, the fullness of life, which she has now enteredbut for which we are all designed.

« CALLED TO BE » THIRD FRENCH NATIONALCONFERENCE, 3-5 FEBRUARY 2012,BESANÇON – FRANCE

Gabriel Vieileegabriel.vieille@sfr.fr

The 3rd FrenchNational Conference tookplace from February 3 to 5in Besançon (between Lyonand Strasbourg), with

about 150 participants.Fr. Laurence Freeman and the WCCM team had invited

Francine Carrillo, minister, theologian and poet to expressherself on the theme « Called to be ». After denouncing thefalse images of God, Mrs Carrillo explored, through theexperience of Moses, the nature of the relationship betweenGod and man. A God who gives us life, calls us to BE andwaits, to free us, for our answer. A slave to his own bonds,man is invited to “become”! With the aid of many references(Jewish mysticism, contemporary theologians, etc.) MrsCarrillo revealed to us a God who gives us back our dignity,abandoning our usual narrow empty credos!

Laurence Freeman reminded us of the traps we find in ourworld: publicity, the abundance of artificial products and otherseductions of every kind! For him, crowds are anonymous andour task is to extract ourselves from them in order to face anothercrowd, the crowd of our multiple thoughts! It is through thefaithful and loving repetition of the mantra that we can clear away through this chaos and give back priority to the Spirit ofJesus who gently leads us to freedom, happiness andresponsibility!

The speakers gave two talks each. The meditations, withan “inspire-expire” rhythm throughout the day, allowedparticipants to meet in silence in the beautiful chapel of theFoyer. Several workshops were offered on various themes:“The Clown and Faith”, The Fruits of Meditation”, “Yoga”,“Awareness”, “Walking Meditation”.

On Saturday, the day ended with the celebration of acontemplative Eucharist that was harmoniously punctuatedwith Taizé songs and piano pieces On Sunday morning, Fr.

Laurence Freeman and Francine Carrillo answered thequestions of the audience.

The participants agreed that the experience of thisconference was most powerful, creating bonds, strengtheningtheir practice and further spreading the light of the WCCM.

Our deepest gratitude goes to the speakers, the organisersand the centre of “La Roche d’Or”. Let us also not forgetthat behind the scenes of such an event are hidden numerousactors who have worked in the shadow; we thank themheartily.

* Gabriel Vieille is a group leader in Besançon

POLISH NATIONAL RETREAT: FROM WARSAWTO CRACOW – MEDITATIO 2012

Andrzej Ziolkowski *and.ziolkowski@gmail.comThis February was a cold month in Poland, but 15°C

below zero temperatures did not cool down the enthusiasmof the Polish meditators to come and listen to Fr. Laurence’steachings during his five day visit. The whole visit was gearedaround a series of talks and meetings on the subject of faith,coinciding with the Polish release of his newest book “FirstSight. The Experience of Faith”.

We started off in Warsaw on February 9th with aninterview to the Catholic monthly WIEZ (The Bond). Therewas little time for rest after the interview, as we had to rushto the Dominican’s Church in the Old Town of Warsaw.

CHRISTIAN MEDITATION NEWSLETTER, VOL. 36, NO 1; APRIL 20128The old room in the church’s vault was packed with morethe 200 young people waiting to meet and listen to Fr.Laurence. The WCCM meditation group organized the event,which meets regularly in the church. The talk finished with20 minutes meditation, followed by time for questions. Theevening ended over dinner with the Warsaw meditators.

The next day we set off for Kielce (200 km south). Forthe next three days a quiet hotel in the forest on the city’soutskirts became a venue for Poland’s annual meditationretreat - Meditatio 2012. The retreat gathered 140participants from all over the country, 60% of which werenewcomers to meditation. The inaugural mass took place inthe Kielce Franciscan Church. The retreat motto was “Whyfaith moves mountains.”

Father Laurence talked about stages of faith developmentin human history: from its prehistoric magical and cultforms, through mythology, the modern rational approachtowards religion and up to its highest form: contemplativeand mystical experience extending beyond words and images.In this process collectively and individually, we have built abig mountain within us – our ego. Its myriads of expressionsblock us from experiencing God’s love. “This is the mountainwe need to move” – argued Fr. Laurence – “and it could bemoved by faith, when we take up the daily work ofmeditation”. The retreat became a lively encounter of peoplefrom all ways of life, regularly punctuated by 30 minutes ofthe meditation silence. A closing contemplative massbeautifully summed up the three days of this special stageon our community’s journey of faith.

On February 12th, we gathered around the JewishMenora memorial to commemorate victims of the Jewishpogrom that took place in Kielce in July 1946. This year ittook the form of an interreligious meditative encounter of aJewish Rabbi, Muslim Sufi, Buddhist Zen Master, Christianmonks and the people of Kielce.

On the last leg of the five day tour we visited theBenedictine Abbey of Tyniec/Cracow. Father Laurence gavea talk to the local monks on the “Monastery without walls”.

Father Laurence concluded his visit in the auditorium ofthe Ignatius University in Cracow. About 100 studentslistened to him talk about the difference between faith andbelief. The evening ended in a cosy restaurant in the OldTown area over dinner with the members of the Cracowmeditation group.

ONLINE: read a poem by Ewa Elzbieta Nowakowska atwccm.org

* Andrzej is the Polish National Coordinator

ITALIAN NATIONAL CONFERENCEFrancesco Ierardi *The 13th Italian National Conference was held at the

Abbazia di Maguzzano (Lonato- Brescia), between 13th and15th February. Fr. Laurence talked about the theme “TheSecret of Happiness” and the event had also as speakers:Gianni Vacchelli (a Dante scholar who spoke on themysticism of the Divine Commedy), and Antonia Tronti(teacher of “Christian Yoga” and expert of Vedic scriptures).

The event was introduced by the Bishop of Brescia, Mons.

Monari, who is a friend of our community. There were morethan 120 participants at the conference, from all Italy. Thelast day was partially dedicated to the election of the directiveCouncil which will run for the next 3 years. The nationalcoordinator is still Silvia Fascicolo from Rome who led theCommunity in a distinguished way over the last 3 years.

* Francesco is President of WCCM Italy

MEDITATION AND HEALTH CARECONFERENCE IN JACKSONVILLE

Laurence Freeman OSB, andDr. Jonathan Campion (consultantpsychiatrist, and member ofWCCM based in London) werespeakers at the Integrative CareConference, in Jacksonville,Florida, in January. One of theorganisers of the event was Dr.Gene Bebeau, WCCM nationalcoordinator for US.

In an interview Gene spoke about the conference:How did you get the idea for this conference?Personally, since I am a physician, and since beginning

to meditate, I have been interested in how the practice ofmeditation could benefit health care. We have developed ameditation task force at the hospital to make people moreaware of meditation as a basis of health. And we want toshow how it can be included in caring for patients and alsohelp health care workers to stay healthy. The idea for thisconference came from the meetings of this task force.

What has been the feedback on the Conference?The feedback has been overwhelming and unanimously

positive. People were impressed withJonathan's presentations, in which the statistics helped

them to see the importance of meditation in preventingmental illness and promoting mental health. They werealso impressed with Fr. Laurence's presentations, especiallywith the way he sat in front of the audience, and gave histalk without a powerpoint. They especially enjoyed theperiod of meditation.

ONLINE: Watch the videos of Fr Laurence andJonathan's talks at www.wccm.org ( YouTube channel).

CHRISTIAN MEDITATION NEWSLETTER, VOL. 36, NO 1; APRIL 2012 9

MEDITATIO NEWS

GUIDING BOARD MEETING 2012The Guiding Board Meeting was held in London 22-

25 March. The Guiding Board is a group of eighteenmeditators from thirteen countries. It has an extendedannual meeting to set and review the priorities of thecommunity and represent the members worldwide. At

this meeting in the 21st year of the Community's lifethere were significant discussions about vision anddirections for the future.

ONLINE: watch a video with members of the GuidingBoard talking about the meeting at www.wccm.org (YouTube channel).

NEW MEDITATIO HOUSEMeditatio House is home to a small WCCM oblate

community. It offers hospitality to guests from around theworld and also serves to coordinate the Meditatio program.It has moved to a new location at 32, Hamilton Road,London W5 2EH, U.K.

ONLINE: Fr Laurence gives a tour of the house during aGuiding Board visit at www.wccm.org ( YouTube channel).See also a photo gallery at WCCM Facebook page.

MEDITATIO SEMINARINTER-RELIGIOUS DIALOGUECOMMON GROUND - THE CONTEMPLATIVEDIMENSION OF FAITH

MEDITATIO EVENTS 2012

4-6 May: Letting Go – Christian Meditation asan 11th Step Practice

Meditatio Weekend Retreat, LondonFacilitated by May Nicol, Linda Kaye and Terry Doyle

22 May: The Spiritual Ground of WellBeing –Meditation as an Art of Healing

Meditatio Seminar, York, EnglandWhat does "spiritual" mean? It is an important element

of people's sense of 'well-being' today but defies exactdefinition. Maybe this is because it is about wholeness anda catalyst for wholeness. In this Meditatio Seminar differentschools of contemporary psychology and religious traditionscome together to show why meditation aids the healingprocess.

21 June: Salvation or Enlightenment?A Day of Inter-faith DialogueMeditatio Forum, Westminster Cathedral, LondonWith Tibetan Buddhist Dr Alan Wallace and

Benedictine monk Laurence Freeman OSB

Full details of these events are posted onwww.wccm.org. Or email: meditatio@wccm.org

The Singapore Christian Meditation Community hostedthe Meditatio Seminar “Common Ground - TheContemplative Dimension of Faith” over the weekend of 7-8 January. About 400 people from different faith traditionslearnt how “the shared experience of silence in meditationcan enhance inter-religious dialogue”.

* Fr Laurence Freeman, Director of The WorldCommunity for Christian Meditation, led the seminartogether with a panel representing five faith traditions:

* Mr Ashvin Desai, President of IRO and representativeof the Jain faith in IRO

* Venerable Chuan Guan, resident monk at the BuddhistLibrary

* Habib Syed Hassan Al-Attas, Imam and head of Ba’alwieMosque

* Master Huang Xin Cheng, Tutor of Rites, Leader ofthe Singapore Taoist Orchestra, and Lecturer at the TaoistCollege; together with Master Chung

* Kwang Tong (Wei Yi), Secretary General of the TaoistFederation and Council member of the IRO

* Mother Mangalam, life president of The Pure LifeSociety, Malaysia

CHRISTIAN MEDITATION NEWSLETTER, VOL. 36, NO 1; APRIL 201210

IN FOCUS

Leonardo Correaleonardo.correa@wccm.org

My journey on the path of meditation began in 2008. Iwas coming home from work one day, carrying my backpack,headphones on and listening to the radio. Changing stations,I stopped at a Catholic radio station based in my city, PortoAlegre, in Southern Brazil. Marcelo, a doctor who is also anoblate of the community, was talking on the radio aboutthe tradition of Christian meditation and saying that he wasplanning to start a new group in town.

Like many Christians around the world, I had never heardof Christian meditation. Meditation for me seemed evidentlyconnected to the East and yoga. I came from a Catholicbackground with experience in youth groups but was nowliving in a period of "autopilot" in my religious practices.The year was not turning out very peacefully for me:dissatisfaction at work and the end of a love relationship.Meditation emerged as a prospect for change.

Anyway, I decided to try it. I joined the group and rightaway felt it was something natural for me. I always likedsilence and intuitively knew there was something specialabout it. I started to become more involved, helping Marcelowith courses on meditation, and participating in nationalretreats with Fr. Laurence. I read the basic books and managedto build a discipline of two daily meditations, feeling quicklythat it was something good for me.

In 2010, at a national retreat, Fr. Laurence told me aboutthe Meditatio project, about the opportunity of the oblateway and the possibility of spending an oblate year in London.I knew this would be a big change. I thought for some timeand decided to try. I quit my job of ten years, rented myapartment and went to Meditatio House in London.

The experience in community in London is somethingthat I´m still assimilating. A routine of meditation three timesa day, study of the Rule of St. Benedict, the local and globalwork of the community. I travelled to different parts of theworldwide community, took part in retreats and gatheringsof many different kinds. I saw how culturally diverse the

community is with people ofmany different backgrounds. ButI also saw the unity created by thesame practice of twice-dailymeditations – the way thatunites.

The things I learned in my year at Meditatio House arenot easily itemised, like an academic curriculum: spiritualexercises involving human relationships, detachment,struggle with the ego, self-awareness, listening and dialoguewith God.

At the end of my oblate year, I realized that I had muchfor which to thank the community. If, on the one hand Ihad given myself in as dedicated a way as I could during theyear, I had also received much, much more than anything Igave. Above all, it created new personal links within the"community of love" that Fr John talked about. So, despitebeing back with my family and friends in Brazil, I know Inow also have a family and friends around the world. "Myworld" had expanded.

Thus, it was a joy to be offered the opportunity at theend of the year to work professionally for the communityand to help bring the gift of meditation to more people.Nowas Director of Communications I can integrate many levelsof my life and experience: spiritual, professional and personal.

I know that my journey is not over with the end of theoblate year. Regardless of where I am, the vows of obedience,stability and conversion are something to be remembereddaily, like the practice of meditation itself. Often it is hardto explain to friends what being an oblate means, or evenwhat meditation is about. But I try not to worry too muchabout it. The important thing is to try to live in a way thatpasses on the hopeful and life-changing message about thepath of meditation - and one that transforms us daily andhelps us to live more fully.

* Director of Communications

WCCM Pilgrimage to India and Nepal5 – 20 Jan 2013To mark the 15th anniversary of the Way of PeacePilgrimageIncluding a full day of dialogue, prayer and meditation with HisHoliness the Dalai Lama and Fr. Laurence Freeman OSB in Sarnath,where the Buddha first turned the wheel of the law.Itinerary includes Calcutta, Bodhgaya, Varanasi, Kathmandu and Mumbai,with optional extension to Goa.Full details, and downloadable booking form, at www.wccm.org

CHRISTIAN MEDITATION NEWSLETTER, VOL. 36, NO 1; APRIL 2012 11

REVIEWS - FILMS, BOOKS, ART

Jim Greenjg@greenjim.co.uk

Leonard Cohen is fastbecoming an unofficialpatron saint of ourmeditation community.The credentials areimpeccable: a Jewish,sometime Zen Buddhistmonk with a strange and

intimate take on the Saviour – remember this from 1967?

And Jesus was a sailorWhen he walked upon the waterAnd he spent a long time watchingFrom his lonely wooden towerAnd when he knew for certainOnly drowning men could see himHe said "All men will be sailors thenUntil the sea shall free them"

Oh, and he’s a ladies’ man, a singer, an ex-drunk, a poet,a depressive, an artist, a bard and a prophet whose work hasspanned many decades and whose vision spreads evenfurther. Cohen playfully offers yet more identities in theopening lines of his new album, Old Ideas:

I love to speak with LeonardHe’s a sportsman and a shepherdHe’s a lazy bastardLiving in a suit

And, talking of identity, who’s this speaking, if it’s notLeonard? God? His muse? A Doppelgänger? Is he possessed?

…he only has permissionTo do my instant biddingWhich is to say what I have told himTo repeat

And then comes a chorus of heartbreaking simplicity:

Going home without my sorrowGoing home sometime tomorrowGoing home to where it's better than beforeGoing home without my burdenGoing home behind the curtainGoing home without this costume that I wore.

‘Leonard’ – whoever that is - is preparing for death.

The temptation in reviewing this album is simply toquote verse after verse of these haunting lines. But I nolonger know how they read on the page. It’s poetry forsure, but above all, they are songs. And what songs. Allof his moods and registers are here. I tried to organisethe ten songs into his core modes, the fundamentalCohen grammar. We have the Devotional (Going Home,Show Me The Place, Come Heal ing) , the Pithi lyApocalyptic (Amen, Banjo), Romantic Noire (TheDarkness, Anyhow, Crazy To Love You, Different Sides)and Whimsical-Minimalist-Zen (Lullaby, Banjo).

Keen-eyed readers will see that Banjo appears as bothPithily Apocalyptic and Whimsical-Minimalist-Zen.Which is the joy of Cohen. As I review the ten songs, Irealise that they could pretty much all be smuggled inand out of each category. Over again, we find ourselvesasking, Who’s he talking to, God or his lover? Is he inhis bedroom (or someone else’s) or is he at prayer?

No matter – those of you who know Cohen willalready be prepared to share in his old ideas. For thoseof you who don’t, there’s probably one old mistaken ideawhich has somehow percolated through to you over thedecades. Namely, that Cohen sings songs of monotonousdespair: Leonard is depressing. As usual with merelyreceived wisdom, nothing could be further from thetruth. There is a hard-won, clear-eyed joy woven intothis “manual for living with defeat” (Going Home). Anddiscovered wisdom:

O, see the darkness yielding

That tore the light apart

Come healing of the reason

Come healing of the heart

O, troubled dust concealing

An undivided love

The heart beneath is teaching

To the broken heart above

(Come Healing)

And if the angels in Heaven sound anything like hisbacking singers, I can’t wait to get there.

2012 - 10 tracks, Retail Price: US $11.99 £7.99

OLD IDEAS by Leonard Cohen

CHRISTIAN MEDITATION NEWSLETTER, VOL. 36, NO 1; APRIL 201212

General Editor: Gregory Ryan (gjryan@wccm.org)Graphic Design: Carlos Siqueira (carlos@wccm.com.br)International Coordinator: Pauline Peters (paulinepeters2@gmail.com)Coordinator, International Office, London: Susan Spence (susan@wccm.org)The World Community Web page: www.wccm.orgMedio Media Web page: www.mediomedia.com

The Christian Meditation Newsletter is published four times a year by theInternational Centre of The World Community for Christian Meditation,St Mark’s, Myddelton Square, London EC1R 1XX, UK(tel +44 20 7278 2070 / fax +44 20 7713 6346)Email: welcome@wccm.org(Copyright The World Community for Christian Meditation)It is distributed by national communities with national updates.

MEDIO MEDIA - NEW TITLES

LEASE MAKE A CONTRIBUTION ACCORDING TO YOUR MEANS TO THE COST OF THISNEWSLETTER AND IF YOU CAN TO THE WORK OF THE COMMUNITY WORLDWIDE.

Go to “Donate” at www.wccm.org

Please contact your resource center or supplier for the price in your local currencyTO ORDER:UK: email: welcome@wccm.orgTel: +44-20-7278-2070CANADA: www.meditatio.caemail: christianmeditation@bellnet.caTel: +1-514-485-7928ASIA: email: enquiries@mediomedia.comTel: +65-6469 7671

USA: www.contemplative-life.orgTel:+1-520-882-0290AUSTRALIA: jpanetta@energy.com.auTel: +61 2 9482 3468(also) Rainbow Book Agenciesrba@rainbowbooks.com.auTel: +61 3 9470 6611

NEW ZEALAND:Pleroma Christian Supplieswww.christiansupplies.co.nzemail: order@pleroma.org.nzTel: 0508 988 988

MEDIO MEDIAINTERNATIONAL

"The mantra is like a sculptor working with a large block of granite. He chips awayand each time we say our mantra the form that God has for us is being revealed".(Fully Alive)

Words by John Main....

ALIVE IN CHRISTTimothy Radcliffe OP2011 John Main Seminar

In this series of talks,us ing d i rec t and f ranklanguage , f requent lysprinkled with humour,

Timothy Radcliffe OP presents four approaches on howthe ordinary Christian can come to the mystery of livingin Christ. Our love must embody God’s love which is bothintimate and lets us be. Leadership is an intrinsic part ofthe life of every baptized Christian – having confidence,learning vulnerability, rejoicing in people. The daily rhythmof prayer sustains us in our loving and leadership. Sanctityis the vocation of every baptized person. The paradox isone of accepting that you don’t know who you are, whiletaking the path to become the person that God meant youto be. The seminar concludes with a dialogue betweenTimothy Radcliffe and Laurence Freeman, moderated byNiall Kennedy, in which bringing the Christian messageto the next generation is discussed.

Catalogue # 6002 ISBN 978-981-07-1570-05-CD set Retail Price US$40.95 £25.50

A CHILD’S WAYJeannie Battagin

This book by JeannieBattagin is designed toprovide inspiration, supportand specific resources forcreating and sustaining the practice of Christian Meditationamong children, from first grade through to the eighth grade.Jeannie’s spiritual journey and specifically practice of ChristianMeditation has been influenced by an inner calling to teachchildren this form of prayer. This book is particularly usefulfor teachers, parents and grandparents who feel the call toteach Christian Meditation to children.

Says Fr Laurence Freeman, ”There is no better way ofshaping a better future for humanity than by teachingmeditation to children, by showing them that they have thisgift and capacity within them for life. In so doing we are notonly working for a saner future but we begin the healing inourselves, today.”

Jeannie Battagin, a mother of two adult sons has been ameditator in the Christian tradition since 1983. She has beena member of The World Community for Christian Meditationsince its inception, leading a weekly meditation group.

Catalogue # 9481 ISBN 978-981-07-1695-0Softcover book 143 pages Retail Price US$17.95 £10.90