Monasticism with Jonathan

4:05 PM Friday. Today's reading is  Prologue (7) – The Rule of Benedict , together with the equivalent sections in  RB 1980  and  Commentary for Benedictine Oblates . Today's listening is from 41 minutes to the end of  Christian Meditation: The Basic Teaching . According to Gemini, "Centering Prayer (associated with Thomas Keating and Contemplative Outreach) and Christian Meditation (based on the teachings of John Main, OSB, and promoted by the WCCM) are widely considered the two primary or most prominent forms of non-discursive contemplative prayer taught in contemporary Benedictine and other Catholic retreat centers. They are often recognized as sister disciplines that emerged in the 1970s to make ancient monastic contemplative traditions accessible to modern laypeople." Further, "While these two are dominant, they are not the only forms taught. They are part of a broader recovery of contemplation movement.  Lectio Divina is arguably the most fundamental...

4:30 PM Thursday. Today's reading is  Prologue (6) – The Rule of Benedict , together with the equivalent sections in  RB 1980  and  Commentary for Benedictine Oblates . Today's listening is from 28 minutes to 41 minutes of  Christian Meditation: The Basic Teaching . Also considered:  The Association of Benedictine Retreat Centers | The ABRC  and  Here We Stand | Holy Wisdom Monastery . End 5:43 PM.

4:03 PM Wednesday. Today's reading is  Prologue (5) – The Rule of Benedict , together with the equivalent sections in  RB 1980  and  Commentary for Benedictine Oblates . Today's listening is the first 28 minutes of  Christian Meditation: The Basic Teaching . "Swami Satyananda (1909–1961), a Hindu monk and founder of the Pure Life Society in Malaya, first initiated Father John Main into mantra meditation in 1955. While serving in the British Colonial Service in Kuala Lumpur, Main learned to meditate using a mantra to achieve stillness from Satyananda, which he later adapted into a Christian contemplative practice." (Gemini) For more on the relationship between John Cassian and Benedictine spirituality, see also  Of Solitude and Contemplation | Monastery of the Holy Cross . End 5:35 PM.

3:15 PM Tuesday. Today's reading is  Prologue (4) – The Rule of Benedict , together with the equivalent sections in  RB 1980  and  Commentary for Benedictine Oblates . This is the first time I have noticed a discrepancy in the number of sentences included in the readings. The matter is not entirely resolved by turning to  Daily Reading from the Rule of Saint Benedict: Text, English. OSB.  Gemini indicates that monasteries are free to adapt the daily division of the Rule in accordance with local traditions. Researching the discrepancy directs my attention to a website that deserves additional study during this 122-day Benedictine deep dive:  OSB DOT ORG . It is also important for me to dig deeper into  WCCM | The World Community for Christian Meditation . In the spring of 2024, I took an online course from Contemplative Outreach titled  Centering Prayer as Practice and Process , so I am somewhat familiar with Father Thomas Keating on the Cist...