Over the last several days, I have been focusing on the mantra ‘Om Mani Padme Hum’ in both a walking meditation and lotus meditation.
Using Om Mani Padme Hum is similar to a mantra meditation. Mantras are words that are chanted loudly during meditation. It may seem odd to be making loud noises during a meditation session, but it’s actually the sounds that become the object being focused on. In yoga, the mantra Om is regularly used since it delivers a deep vibration that makes it easy for the mind to concentrate on that particular sound.
In walking meditation I use the experience of walking as my focus. I become mindful of my personal experience while walking and keep an awareness involved with the experience of walking. But I have incorporated the Om Mani Padme Hum mantra as I walk.
There isn’t much difference between Christian and Buddhist meditation. Unlike eastern meditations, most styles of Christian meditations do not rely on the repeated use of mantras, but are intended to stimulate thought and deepen meaning. Christian meditation aims to heighten the personal relationship based on the love of God.
One form of Christian meditation that has been used by believers since at least the fourth century AD is the lectio divina. It has been traditionally used in monastic religious orders and is enjoying resurgence today. Lectio divina means “sacred reading” and has four stages: lectio (reading), meditatio (discursive meditation), oratio (affective prayer), and contemplatio (contemplation). In the lectio (reading) stage, one finds a passage and reads it deliberately. The next stage, meditatio (discursive meditation), is where one ponders the text. In the oratio (effective prayer) stage, one talks to God about the reading, asking Him to reveal the truth. In the final, contemplatio (contemplation) stage, one simply rests in the Lord’s presence.
In my walking meditation, I have found some spiritually inspired representations of nature: the beauty of flowers and the depth of blue in nature’s sky is so visible and deep. I shared and tasted the ever-changing color of clouds and sky, the immense quality of birds as they sung during their day and crisp fresh smell of the earth’s wind. It has been truly amazing and wonderful. I felt very interconnected.
In either form of meditation, one can explore life and love, the mystery of the World and Nature, particularly the elements, the seasons, and the spiritual forces in nature and man’s relation to them. In these meditations one can feel soul-experiences and the very thin veil that separates the visible from invisible.
Please continue to meditate on your walk of love and life.