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Thursday Night Practice

• Welcome to Thursday night meditation practice. We are a

group to learn and practice meditation. Thank you for joining

us.

• As always we begin with a short talk about meditation, then

20 minutes of silence meditation followed by the a sacred

story from the forthcoming Sunday gospel. (St Mark 11:1-11)

Those who wish to carry the silence with them leave and

those who wish to remain may do so to reflect further in

discussion.

Let us take a moment to arrive and let go of the day.

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On Sunday the church enters into Holy Week the most sacred

week in our calendar. I would like to tell the story of Holy week

through the lens of the reconciliation of opposites.

This is significant for the meditator because we all have opposites

within ourselves, good and evil, sacred and profane, which

contradict each other, and we have need of reconciliation.

During Holy Week the sacred unites with the profane but in such

a way that the sacred is never compromised. Christ the highest

principle we know, the logos, through whom the original perfect

world was created, the ideal and most perfect human being, the

image of God descending into the bowels of the corruption of this

world, and there, sort of, baptises the place of darkness with the

love of God, and so releases the lowest from their curse.

It is the journey of the reconciliation of opposites.

Let me show you this through the iconography of the orthodox

church.

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1/. Here is the icon for Palm Sunday: Entry into Jerusalem.

Usually when a king enters

through the gates of a walled

city, he does so on a war

horse, followed by an army,

but Jesus comes on a

donkey, and it is a joyous

occasion. Children sing and

remove cloaks and cut

branches to make a welcome

road to receive Jesus. Singing

Hosannah!

But there is always a snake in the garden and you will notice in

the foreground a child removing a thorn from his foot. This little

detail anticipates the theme of thorns coming in other icons of

Holy Week.

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2/. The Bridgroom

The next Icon is called ‘The Bridegroom’ because Christ has now

entered through the gates of

Jerusalem, and is in the bridal

chamber ready to win the bride

unto himself in divine union.

Christ is dressed as a King, a red

robe, holding a rod, but his crown

is made of thorns.

Thorns are the original curse of

being cast out of Eden. Thorns are

the consequence of sin, the world

is full of thorns, they hurt us all the time, but Jesus wears the

crown of thorns for us.

We note the joining of opposites, the good with the bad. The high

with the low.

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3/. Washing of Feet

The Next holy week Icon is that of washing of feet.

The pose of St Peter

putting his hand on his

head represents his

confusion. “You should not

be washing my feet I

should be washing yours”

This reversal is part of the

journey to unite the good

with the bad.

The first is last and the

last is first on the journey

towards the union of

opposites.

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4/. The Mystical Supper

Again we see the

extremes of the

high and the low,

the good and the

bad, coming

together,

St John rests his

head of Christ’s breast, while Judas reaches out for more food.

Christ is the head, the one who is giving food to his disciples, but

the food is himself, his body, his blood. The priest and the

sacrificial victim are one and the same. This foreshadows the

crucifixion

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5/. The Crucifixion

This image is where all is

fulfilled. The union of the

highest and the lowest

come together into one.

The groom is united to his

bride. Here is the

reconciliation of opposites,

and the achievement of

‘nonduality’.

A couple of things to note:

The notice “The king of Glory”

A stylised Phallus?

Arms outstretched a universal embrace.

Usually Sun and moon/ angels = cosmic

And skull in a cave. That’s the skull of Adam.

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6/. Holy Saturday

On the surface death looks silent and empty and there is only

deep sorrow

and

lamentations-

but it is here

that the deep

work is

happening. As

Christ

descends into

hell and release the lost souls there in what is called “The

Harrowing of Hell”

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7/. The Resurrection

Here are the things it is good to note:

Christ emerges from a

feminine oval shape,

like an egg, or like a

womb.

Standing on the wood

of the cross beneath

are the broken doors of

hell, locks and bolts

and chains and bones

are scattered about, the

place of disintegration

of life. the place of

destruction and it is out

of this place that Christ

is raising up two figures, an old man and a young woman.

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The old man is Adam,

the first man, and the

young woman is Eve the

first woman and mother

of all living people. In

other words, Christ is

setting free, from the

bondage of death, the

whole of humanity.

This story of the reconciliation of opposites is an important theme

on our journey inwards to the centre of our being. Because on the

surface of things we are full of contradictions, good and evil pull at

each other, but if we can come to the heart, to the centre of

ourselves, where all things are reconciled and brought into union

at the cross, this is the place of non-duality, this is the place of

union and peace.

It is the place we journey towards in meditation and

contemplation.

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How to meditate

According to the World Community of Christian meditation

Sit still with your back straight. Close your eyes lightly. Then interiorly, silently

begin to recite a single word – a prayer word. We recommend the ancient

Christian prayer-word "Maranatha". Say it as four equal syllables. Breathe

normally and it your full attention.

Say it, silently, gently, faithfully and - above all - simply.

Ma-ra-na-tha

The essence of meditation is simplicity. Stay with the same word during the

whole meditation.

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The Gospel: Mark 11:1-11

A closing prayer from the Celtic tradition.

O God, Be our Guide

Be a bright flame before us,

Be a guiding star above us,

Be a smooth path below us,

Be a kindly shepherd leading us

Tonight, tomorrow and forever. Amen