While living in Atlanta and developing a work life project for women in transition and recovery from commercial sex and addiction, this combined practice of meditation and prayer came to me during the times I worked alone in the studio factory, where we all spent our days making incredibly beautiful clothes and helping each other heal.
This blog will feature all of this short book over time in chronological posts. I may give more insight into the zerøwaste project should it become relevant. I will say though, that Meditative Prayer, was a way at the time to bring traditional prayer and mindfulness meditation into a combined practice for all of us to do together and individually.
The book was originally written to be a learning and practicing piece - similar to a prayer book but with an explanation, and written in a brief style. As I post the sections of the book, I feel that I may get expansive a bit on the original. It was originally written with the intention of it becoming a pocket style book, so it appears as such here on this blog.
The book of meditative prayer 1:
Philosophy
The purpose of this book is to inspire towards a more profound life through the practice of meditation and the power of the spoken word-prayer.
It encourages living life with fewer things of greater value – specifically, fewer thoughts of greater value. Our average daily thoughts number up to 60,000. With hope and practice through meditative prayer, thoughts are reduced, giving way to peace of mind, less anxiety and a deeper sense of spirit in one’s life. Meditative prayer draws from the traditions of eastern meditation, the mindful practice of contemporary attention meditation and the traditions of Judeo-Christian-Islamic prayer.
Attention Meditation
Attention meditation is the practice of focusing on a single point or action while in a
still or quiet state of mind or being. For example, we put our attention on the in and
out breath as it moves through the aperture of the nostrils, through the diaphragm, or the
lower belly, or focused on a mantra. In this evolved practice, meditative prayer, we put
our attention to a single word of our own choosing in our language of choice.
Through attention meditation on single words carrying broad reaching interconnected ideas,
we are able to cultivate our patterns of thought and thus enrich our experience of life
itself. Essentially, we shape our daily lives with higher vision and deeper meaning, by
changing our brains with a positive repetitive practice. A daily practice of meditative prayer
reduces our internal mental dialogue and engages the mind with positivity, goodness
and loving kindness. The practice guides us daily toward focusing our attention on the
way we want to form our lives through transcendence - the experience of going
beyond the range of our known limitations. We begin to see life through a bigger lense
with a greater awareness of ourselves and others.
When we live life with fewer thoughts of greater value, we edit the internal dialogue to
a single transcendent universal petition that goes beyond ourselves, our ego, and
becomes a request and affirmation for all of humanity.
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To learn more about the zerøwaste project: http://www.zerowastekarenglass.com/