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Contemplative Prayer
L.M.: It's good to meditate alone, too.
E.M.: That's what I insisted on.
L.M.: How long have you been doing contemplative prayer?
E.M.: For many, many years; even before I became novice master I was doing this.
L.M.: Back when you were abbot here?
E.M.: Twenty or thirty years ago.
L.M.: And when you were serving as abbot at the monastery in Chile, back in the sixties?
E.M.: Yes. When I entered the monastery over fifty years ago, there was a half-hour of silent prayer in the morning, and fifteen minutes in the afternoon with vespers. My own experience is that fifteen minutes is not long enough. Though one hour is too long for many Westerners in one session.
L.M.: For Hindus and Buddhists it's no problem.
F.M.: They're geared to that by their own temperament. So two half-hour periods of contemplative prayer is what I recommend. More recently, I have been teaching Centering Prayer to a lot of retreatants at our guest house.
L.M.: Lay people.
E.M.: Yes, lay people. A good example or symbol of this prayer is dance. I was attending the ballet, and there was this ballerina; she couldn't have been more than 18 or 19 years old—she danced beautifully. And as I observed and watched her movement, I received this inspiration. My own personal concept of the divine life of the Trinity, and the image I find most satisfying to describe it is that of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit dancing in a circle-an infinite circle of love. God is infinite, and all the universe, the earth we're on, and all the other planets and stars, are in this great cosmic dance. And beyond this
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