Contemplation

For those unaccustomed to contemplation, knowing where to start can be daunting. One simple method is contemplative reading, a traditional Christian practice known as lectio divina, Latin for divine reading of sacred texts.

Choosing a cherished poem can be a useful starting point. 'Poetry is a great vehicle for contemplation because it asks us top aspire to be better, to stretch mentally and experience deep thought,' says Rick Benjamin, a poet and lecturer at the institute of Contemplative Studies based at Brown University in the US. He suggests that it doesn't matter what poem you read as long as you love it. Read It aloud so you can savour hearing it in your own voice, finding where the inflections and intonations are. Then memorise it. 'What you are aiming for is to have the poem inside you. Something extraordinary happens when you hold a poem in your own body, your own mind. Its a transfer of one thinker to another.'

Every morning when Benjamin awakes, her recites in his mind a poem by the thirteenth century mystic poet Rumi, Across the Doorsill. 'I sometimes say it 10 times a day or more. it begins, 'The breeze at dawn has secrets top tell you / Don't go back to sleep'. It reminds you that life is mysterious and that what we can't see doesn't indicate there isn't a world beyond this one. It is also a way of reminding myself that thinking is important. Its not our actions but the way we think about the world that has real power to transform it.'

Taken from The Art of Contemplation article - Psychologies Magazine March 09