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welcome to guided by masters
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Today we are going to enjoy a meditation
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guided by the wisdom of Thomas Merin the
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Trappist monk writer and mystic whose
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insights bridge contemplative tradition
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concerns guiding us toward inner peace
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and the discovery of our true selves in
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God Find a comfortable and dignified
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posture one that allows both relaxation
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attentiveness Let your hands rest
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gently Softly close your eyes
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Bring your awareness gently to your
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breath Notice the natural
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rhythm the inhale and the
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exhale Without forcing anything allow
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each breath to be an invitation into
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presence Letting go of the busyiness of
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the outer world and settling into this
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Thomas Mertton recognized the noise of
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modern life both external and
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internal He wrote "The greatest need of
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our time is to clean out the enormous
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mass of mental and emotional rubbish
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that clutters our minds
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Acknowledge the clutter that may be
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present in your mind right
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replays See them without
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exhale gently release the need to engage
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Allow them to drift by like
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clouds gradually clearing the inner sky
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Merin saw silence not as emptiness but
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fullness as a doorway to deeper reality
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He taught that what is serious is the
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solitude and the silence that enables us
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to find ourselves and
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God and that silence is the mother of
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truth Allow yourself to sink into the
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silence that is beneath the surface
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Listen not just with your ears but with
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stillness Let it be a welcoming space
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where you can simply be without
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striving Rest in this pregnant silence
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In this quiet space our perception can
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observed "In silence God ceases to be an
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object and becomes an experience
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Let go of trying to think about God or
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divine Instead simply be present in this
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silence Open to the subtle immediate
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experience of presence
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itself Feel the sacredness inherent in
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the quiet in your own awareness
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Rest in this experiential knowing beyond
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Merin believed that deep within each of
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us lies a core of inviable truth and
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divine He described it beautifully
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At the center of our being is a point of
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nothingness which is untouched by sin
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illusion A point of pure truth This
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little point is the pure glory of God in
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us It is in everybody
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Turn your attention gently towards this
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you It's not something you need to
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create but something to uncover to
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recognize It's the spark of pure
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witness the ground of your
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being Rest in this inner
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sanctuary this point of pure truth
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within you connected to the divine
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This journey inward often requires trust
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letting go of our need to control or
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Merin expressed this surrender in his
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prayer My Lord God I have no idea where
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I'm going I do not see the road ahead of
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me I cannot know for certain where it
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will end but I believe that the desire
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to please you does in fact please you
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And I hope I have that desire in all
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that I am doing Therefore I will trust
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you always though I may seem to be lost
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death Release your grip on needing to
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know needing to have all the
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answers Rest in the simple desire for
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itself Trust the presence holding you in
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moment Surrender into the quiet mystery
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Now slowly begin to bring your awareness
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back to the feeling of your body in this
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Notice the points of
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contact the gentle movement of your
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breath Become aware of the sounds around
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you the atmosphere of the room
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Let the external world gently come back
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focus Take a slightly deeper breath
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feeling grounded and
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centered When you are ready allow your
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quiet this connection to your true
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center and this sense of trust with you
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Thank you for joining this meditation
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guided by the wisdom of Thomas Merin
