Christian Meditation: John Main's Teachings And Practice

Christian meditation is a movement that was begun by John Main, a Benedictine monk who founded the Benedictine Priory of Montreal, which became the centre of a worldwide meditation movement. John Main believed that the all-important 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, shape and purpose to everything we do. John Main's teachings on Christian meditation are based on the belief that the process of meditation is about opening the eye of the heart, allowing us to know that we can love and be loved. This form of meditation involves sitting still and upright, closing one's eyes lightly, and silently reciting a mantra or prayer phrase. The goal of Christian meditation is to deepen one's personal relationship with Christ, praising God and receiving his grace.

John Main's life and work

John Main OSB (1926–1982) was a Roman Catholic priest and Benedictine monk who presented a way of Christian meditation using a prayer-phrase or mantra. He was born in London as Douglas Main, the fourth of six children of David and Eileen Main. In the 1940s, he joined the Canons Regular of the Lateran and studied at the diocesan seminary of St Edmund's College, Ware, in England, before being chosen to pursue theology studies at the Pontifical Athenaeum Angelicum in Rome. However, he began to doubt his vocation to the priesthood and decided to leave his order to go to Dublin, where he studied law at Trinity College. He graduated in 1954 and joined the British Colonial Service, working as a civil servant.

Main became a strictest and was assigned to Kuala Lumpur in Malaya, where he met Dr Swami Satyananda, who taught him meditation using a mantra. The swami taught Main to meditate by giving him a Christian mantra. Through his own work, Main understood that the mantra was also an ancient Christian tradition. The mantra he recommended was ‘Maranatha’, an ancient Aramaic phrase meaning ‘Come Lord’.

In 1956, Main returned to Dublin and taught law at Trinity College. In 1959, he decided to join the Benedictines at Ealing Abbey in London. He took the name of John, in honour of St John the Apostle. He was ordained a priest in 1963. Following his ordination, he taught at St Benedict's School, Ealing, which is governed by the monastic community of Ealing Abbey.

In 1970, Main was appointed headmaster of St. Anselm's Abbey School in Washington, D.C., where he began to study the writings of the desert father John Cassian for the first time. Main saw parallels between the spiritual practice taught by Cassian and the meditative practice he had been taught by the swami in Kuala Lumpur.

In 1974, Main left Saint Anselm's Abbey in Washington and returned to Ealing Abbey in London, where he began Christian meditation groups at an old house on the monastery grounds. He was assisted in this work by Laurence Freeman, also a monk of Ealing Abbey. In 1975, Main began Christian meditation groups, which met at Ealing Abbey, his monastery in West London, England, and later in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. These were the origins of the ecumenical network of Christian meditation groups, which have become the World Community for Christian Meditation (WCCM).

In 1977, Main and Freeman were sent to establish a new Benedictine monastery in Montreal, Quebec, where they continued to teach Christian meditation groups. Main died of cancer at the Benedictine monastery in Montreal in 1982 and is buried at Mount Saviour Monastery, Elmira, New York. He was succeeded by Laurence Freeman, who continued Main's work, travelling widely to establish Christian meditation groups across the world.

The mantra method

Main recommended two regular daily periods of meditation to be integrated with the usual practices of Christian life. He suggested that practitioners sit still and upright, close their eyes lightly, and remain relaxed but alert. He recommended the use of a mantra—a prayer-phrase such as "maranatha", recited as four syllables of equal length. The practitioner should listen to the mantra as they say it gently but continuously, returning to it if thoughts or images distract them. Over a period of years, the mantra will begin to say itself without the practitioner paying any deliberate attention to it.

Main's method of meditation has been compared to Centering Prayer, which also uses a sacred word. However, in Centering Prayer, the sacred word is not a mantra to be repeated but a symbol of one's intention to consent to God's presence.

The Christian-ness of the prayer

The "Christian-ness" of John Main's prayer is contained in the intention of the meditator. This intention of opening oneself to the triune God revealed in Jesus may also be reiterated at the beginning of each period of meditation. This intention, while not consciously dwelt upon during the period of meditation itself, is formulated in the meditator's daily life, which grows out of lived awareness of the Christian tradition and its fruits. It is a question of context, wherein the Christian's whole life, through intention, becomes "Christian", and this necessarily extends to whatever mode of prayer the meditator practices, including mantra meditation.

John Main's Christian meditation is a form of meditation that a Christian can do whenever they desire and which makes use of the faculties in a very simplified fashion. It can dispose one to the graces of infused contemplation. It is not something that a Christian has to do, but rather, it is something that a Christian can do if they so choose. It is a way of disposing oneself to receive the gift of loving communion that God wants to give.

John Main's Christian meditation is not a form of prayer that is unique to Christianity. Rather, it is a form of prayer that has been adapted from other religious traditions, such as Hinduism and Buddhism. The goal of this type of meditation is to allow God's mysterious and silent presence within us to become more and more not only a reality but the reality that gives meaning, shape, and purpose to everything we do and everything we are. This type of meditation is a way to open the "eye of the heart", which is a deeper and more simple consciousness that allows us to know that we can love and be loved and that we are all loved by God.

The Christian-ness of John Main's prayer is further emphasized by the specific recommendations given by spiritual masters. They recommend that we do our meditation early in the day, before the thousand cares of this busy world tangle us up in their knots. They also suggest that we do it at the same time every day and in the same place, somewhere quiet, where we know interruptions and distractions will be limited. This discipline is in line with Christian teachings on spiritual disciplines and the importance of consistency and dedication.

The role of intention

The intention of the meditator is paramount in John Main's Christian meditation. The "Christian-ness" of the prayer is contained in the intention of the meditator to open themselves to the triune God revealed in Jesus. This intention is not consciously dwelt upon during the period of meditation itself but is formulated in the meditator's daily life, which grows out of a lived awareness of the Christian tradition and its fruits.

The intention of the meditator is what makes mantra meditation—a practice transmitted out of the Hindu tradition—specifically "Christian". The Christian's whole life, through intention, becomes "Christian", and this necessarily extends to whatever mode of prayer the meditator practices, including mantra meditation.

John Main's understanding of prayer was simple, basic, and deeply grounded in Scripture and tradition. The all-important 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 that gives meaning, shape, and purpose to everything we do and are.

The goal of this kind of prayer is to deepen your personal relationship with Christ, praising God and receiving His grace, and to identify yourself more and more with the purpose of your life: to live in communion with God through the fulfillment of His will.

The commitment to make meditation part of your daily spiritual fare is more important than the time and place of the meditation.

The contemplative experience

John Main OSB (1926–1982) was a Benedictine monk who founded the Benedictine Priory of Montreal, which became the centre of a worldwide meditation movement. He believed that the "contemplative experience creates community".

Main's teachings on Christian meditation are based on his own practice of meditation, which he learned from a Hindu teacher, and his interpretation of the writings of John Cassian and The Cloud of Unknowing. He recommended two daily periods of meditation, each lasting between twenty and thirty minutes, to be integrated with the usual practices of Christian life.

In his teachings, Main emphasised the importance of a mantra—a single word or short phrase repeated throughout the meditation. The purpose of the mantra is to help the meditator focus and prevent their mind from wandering. Main suggested the prayer-phrase "maranatha", which should be recited as four syllables of equal length. He instructed meditators to sit still and upright, close their eyes lightly, and remain relaxed yet alert.

Main described the process of meditation as "the opening of the eye of the heart", a way of knowing that we can love and be loved, and that we are all loved by God. He believed that meditation allows God's "mysterious and silent presence within us" to become a reality that shapes everything we do and are.

Meditation, as taught by John Main, is considered a form of non-discursive meditation, which aims to quiet mental activities and foster a disposition of openness and surrender. It is a way of disposing oneself to receive God's gift of loving communion.

Frequently asked questions