BY JOANNA GRAY, SOUTHERN HEALTH CONTRIBUTOR

On a recent Sunday I visited Unity Church of Kenosha, Wisconsin, where my lifelong friend and former Southern Illinois resident Don Donini is the spiritual leader.

My body was present and my heart was in it, but my mind was elsewhere: I dreaded the six-hour drive home later that day, plus I worried about two of my cats who needed veterinary care, and other pressing tasks that I had to deal with when I got home. I could feel the stress tightening my neck and shoulder blades as I settled into the front pew.

Then something miraculous happened. As part of the service, Don read a guided meditation and invited us to close our eyes, quiet our minds, and focus on the peaceful words and images of God's love. We sat in silence for about 10 minutes afterwards. When I finally opened my eyes I felt refreshed, rested, and remarkably energized to face the challenges ahead of me that day and in the coming week.

"Meditation is the listening after the prayer," Donini said. "It's a time to stop talking to God and allow Him to speak back to us in the silence."

The age-old practice of meditation has various interpretations among different spiritual and secular groups. Some meditate to make a deeper, conscious connection with God, while others may focus on their inner selves to gain clarity of thought and purpose. For all, meditation is a way to embrace the stillness and go to a peaceful place in one's mind, even for a short while, apart from the noise, stress, and tasks of everyday life.

Every Tuesday night at the Interfaith Center in Carbondale, people from all walks of life and faith gather for Group Meditation and Dharma Discussion. This "sangha" or spiritual community is an informal group that welcomes anyone interested in any type of meditation practices, but especially the Buddhist traditions.

"Many different practices fall under the umbrella of meditation," said Yolan Presley, who maintains the web site for the group at www.shawnee-dharma.org. "If someone is new to meditation, the simplest and most time-honored way is to simply sit and follow your breath without entertaining any other thoughts. If you can't follow a full breath at first, follow a half breath. But the important thing is to do it without any thoughts of success or failure. It's best to just be in the moment, breathe, and not have any goals."

For those who are more interested in the health and stress-reducing benefits of meditation rather than a spiritual path, Presley suggests books by holistic medicine expert Dr. Andrew Weill and Jon Kabat-Zinn, a teacher and physician who prescribes meditation as part of the recovery process for heart attack patients.

In 2001, Weill and Kabat-Zinn collaborated on the audio CD, "Meditation for Optimum Health: How to Use Mindfulness and Breathing to Heal Your Body and Refresh Your Mind," in which they define meditation as "directed concentration" and "dropping into stillness."

But how does meditation differ from prayer, the spiritual practice with which a good number of Westerners are most familiar with? Do Christians meditate, too?

"Prayer has many different forms . . . praise, intercession, petition . . . but meditation is also a type of prayer that falls into a different category," said Father Trevor Murry, pastor of St. John the Baptist Catholic parish in West Frankfort.

"Ignatius of Loyola in his Spiritual Exercises talks about meditating on a passage of Scripture, such as Christ walking with the apostles. He would actually place himself in that scene in his mind, experiencing it with all of his senses. The idea is to enter into the depth of the mysteries of the Scriptures."

Beyond Scriptural meditation is a deeper level called contemplation, a practice that blends Eastern and Western traditions. "Just as the Buddhists empty their minds in meditation to achieve Nirvana, at the point of contemplation you close your eyes and block out all of the things that distract you from simply being with God," Father Murry said. "Once you've achieved the emptiness, it is then filled with the presence of God. That's the difference from the Christian perspective."

Father Murry personally practices contemplation using the "Jesus Prayer," which Eastern monks often pray. The entire prayer is "Lord Jesus, have mercy on me," which he repeats like a mantra every time he takes a breath.

"It slows your breathing and heart rate and is very relaxing and yoga-like," Father Murry said. "But all the while I'm focusing on the mercy of God and asking for His help. That's one of my main forms of personal prayer. I draw a lot of strength in that quiet time, just being in God's presence."

Regardless of the approach or terminology, the practice of quieting the mind and being open to experiencing peacefulness is a welcome oasis in our high-speed, high-tech world.

"Meditation is just another way, another path to spirituality," said Yolan Presley. "Some people find peace of mind through movement, dance or walking, so the meditative path can encompass many different things. It's about just being quiet and being with yourself and looking within for the answers, because they're all here inside us."

Learn more about meditation

*Group Meditation and Dharma Discussion;   *www.shawnee-dharma.com

* www beliefnet.com Click on Meditations under the Faiths & Practices tab on the top left hand corner of the screen and explore the practices of different faiths. Includes descriptions of different types of meditative practices and audio of guided meditations.

*Coming to Our Senses: Healing Ourselves and the World through Mindfulness by Jon Kabat-Zinn - www jonkabat-zinn.com

*Breathing: The Master Key to Self Healing (The Self Healing Series) by Andrew Weil

*The Way of Perfection by St. Teresa of Avila, a definitive work on contemplative prayer

*Spiritual Exercises by St. Ignatius of Loyola, a classic 30-day collection of meditations, prayers, and mental exercises

Published on: Saturday, February 3, 2007    thesouthern.com/articles/2007/02/03/health/doc45acfcccab951320391044.txt