Silence in the City - Young Christian Meditators' Stories
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0:09 - 0:13In today’s world, our lives are full to bursting.
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0:13 - 0:18We have ever increasing opportunities for fun, friendship and growth.
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0:18 - 0:25So why do we sometimes feel empty inside or caught up in worries over the little things?
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0:26 - 0:30Why does the reality of life seem so far from our childhood imaginings?
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0:30 - 0:37Why does the divine peace and love we hear so much of, sometimes feel so far away?
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0:41 - 0:47Everyone needs a place of anchor in their lives. A place of stillness, a peaceful refuge
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0:47 - 0:51beyond the busyness and worries of day to day life.
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0:51 - 0:55For many people, Christian Meditation offers just that.
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0:55 - 1:01An ancient form of silent prayer, it’s incredibly relevant
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1:01 - 1:04to the busy and preoccupied citizens of the 21st century.
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1:05 - 1:09Silence in the City Young Christian Meditators´ Stories
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1:15 - 1:18Giovanni Felicioni: Meditation is a time of prayer which happens
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1:18 - 1:25without words, without movement, in solitude, where you are at rest, comfortable,
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1:26 - 1:33easy, relaxed and then, when you have this opportunity to give your attention to something.
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1:33 - 1:39And the something is in the silence; around you and within you; it’s not a thinking,
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1:39 - 1:46it’s not a praising or a thanking, it’s a neutral, simple place of anchor that gently teaches
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1:47 - 1:52you how to be in the present moment... and it’s there that we discover the Moment of Christ.
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1:54 - 2:00Be still and know that I am God. - Psalm, 46, 10.
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2:01 - 2:05Celia: My name’s Celia, I’m part of a Christian
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2:05 - 2:07meditation group in Sydney, Australia.
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2:07 - 2:13Our group meets each week at a church in Paddington, a busy shopping district.
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2:13 - 2:18In the center of all that busyness, we make time for silence.
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2:18 - 2:22We are quite a mixed group, our lives are all pretty different: some of us work, some
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2:22 - 2:29study and we have all sorts of interests. But when we sit down to meditate, our differences
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2:29 - 2:35fade away as we share in the silence which connects us to each other and to God.
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2:57 - 3:02After we’ve listened to some readings, we meditate in silence for 25 minutes.
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3:10 - 3:17Our practice is based on the internal repetition of a prayer word or mantra. Many people use
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3:17 - 3:23the Aramaic word MARANATHA, meaning "The Lord or the teacher comes".
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3:23 - 3:29When repeating the mantra, we don’t think of its meaning, it just helps us focus our
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3:29 - 3:33attention and be in the present moment.
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3:33 - 3:39Of course thoughts, of plans for tomorrow or dinner tonight, distract us. The key is
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3:39 - 3:45to return to the mantra as soon as we realize we are thinking. This is a way to move beyond
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3:45 - 3:52thoughts, words and imaginings. Through the simplifying silence, we let go of our own
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3:52 - 3:59plans and priorities and let ourselves to be open to the Divine.
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4:00 - 4:07Christian meditation was revived some 30 years ago by John Main, a Benedictine monk. He believed
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4:07 - 4:13that the ancient Christian tradition of meditative prayer should be available to all as a valuable
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4:13 - 4:18and relevant practice in today’s fast paced world.
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4:18 - 4:22John Main and fellow Benedictine Laurence Freeman began to teach others this way of
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4:22 - 4:29prayer by establishing small meditation groups. First in London and then in Montreal, Canada.
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4:29 - 4:34As groups began to appear around the globe, the World Community for Christian Meditation
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4:34 - 4:40was formed: an ecumenical monastery without walls.
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4:40 - 4:45Today our group is one of almost 400 groups in Australia and countless more worldwide.
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4:47 - 4:52In contemplative prayer we seek to become the person we are called to be. - John Main
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4:55 - 5:00John Shields: The main reasons why I meditate, really, initially
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5:00 - 5:06it was to stop the busyness of my life, to really just center myself and to try and be
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5:06 - 5:12living in the present. I found I was living too much in the future, even in the past at
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5:12 - 5:18times. I actually meditate on the train before I go to work and also in the afternoon on
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5:18 - 5:24the train, so I really try and blend the meditation into my lifestyle. It’s my own time which
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5:24 - 5:29I can spend with God and become closer to Him.
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5:29 - 5:35Meditation has really helped me in my own work practice, because it helps me to listen
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5:35 - 5:41and to be... to really be closer to the person who I’m actually helping.
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5:41 - 5:48I’m really passionate about my triathlons and about keeping fit, because I think keeping
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5:48 - 5:53fit makes you feel good, gives me a lot of confidence in my life, it gives me structure
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5:53 - 5:59and also I feel the discipline enables me to really use my time productively. Meditation
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5:59 - 6:03has helped me in my discipline with my sport.
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6:03 - 6:07We’re encouraged to meditate for 25 to 30 minutes in the morning and the same in the
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6:07 - 6:13evening and that’s a big commitment and it actually helps with my sporting commitments.
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6:13 - 6:18Life is a gift and I’m not here to waste it.
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6:19 - 6:25Utterly at home, God lives in our soul forever. - Mother Julian of Norwich
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6:28 - 6:31Claire: My name is Claire. I’m British and currently
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6:31 - 6:39living in Sydney. When I was growing up, Christianity was all around. My dad was an Anglican vicar,
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6:39 - 6:45and we lived in a vicarage next to the church. Christianity was there in the kitchen, as
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6:45 - 6:51my mum prepared for parish lunches, in the garden where we hunted for Easter eggs and
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6:51 - 6:58in the ringing phone coming from Dad’s study. As a child, I listened to people in church
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6:58 - 7:05and wondered what prayer was. To me it didn’t make much sense to speak to God as if He was
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7:06 - 7:11out there somewhere. Growing up, I distinctly remember feeling
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7:11 - 7:19that God was more inside than outside. As I got older, my questions about God remained,
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7:19 - 7:25but I put all my energy into trying to make a difference in the world, working on conservation
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7:25 - 7:32projects and community programs overseas. Despite working in some fantastic places with
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7:32 - 7:37wonderful people, I often felt unfulfilled.
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7:37 - 7:43I was upstairs, on a double-decker London bus when a friend first told me about Christian
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7:43 - 7:50Meditation. I knew then, that this was a missing piece in the jigsaw for me.
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7:50 - 7:58Learning about the Christian contemplative tradition validated my sense of a God who dwells within.
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8:01 - 8:08It also helped to me appreciate other forms of prayer and the tradition I grew up with.
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8:09 - 8:16Through meditating, I know that being is just as important as doing and the action to help
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8:16 - 8:23others grows out of silence. I love the sense of community and friendship that meditation
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8:23 - 8:30brings and the new places and people I’ve known because of it. But most of all, I meditate
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8:30 - 8:33because it’s how I feel closest to God.
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8:35 - 8:40We are one with the One. We are one with all. - John Main
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8:40 - 8:42Retreat: meditation & the body
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8:42 - 8:45Giovanni: The gorgeous thing about meditation is that
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8:45 - 8:51it gives us this opportunity to be really free, to be playful and to be ourselves. We
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8:51 - 8:57have this chance to reset everything, instead of having to believe all the things we’ve
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8:57 - 9:03been told to believe. In meditation it’s a chance to really check, to listen in to
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9:03 - 9:08God, to really listen to what it sounds like in the silence and what it feels like to be
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9:08 - 9:09ourselves
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9:09 - 9:15I mean you are totally and utterly loved, no matter your sexuality, no matter your addictions,
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9:15 - 9:20no matter what you may have done that you feel has really hurt someone else. All you
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9:20 - 9:26need to do is to say "I accept that I’m being loved, I totally accept to the bottom
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9:26 - 9:32of my breath, to the deepest muscle in my body that I forgive myself, that it's beautiful
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9:32 - 9:38to be me, to be quirky, to have the timbre of my voice or the shape of my body, to be
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9:38 - 9:44at this moment of my life. And meditation gives us that chance. We’re simply opening
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9:44 - 9:49to space, to silence, to rest and to presentness.
- Title:
- Silence in the City - Young Christian Meditators' Stories
- Description:
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A short film about Christian Meditation by Claire Morgan.
'The young today often feel the pressures and fears of modern life very intensely even as they sense great potential within themselves and hold out hope for our world. This film, with its powerful witness from young Christian meditators, situates these issues in a spiritual and faith context.' - Laurence Freeman OSB, the Director of WCCM - Video Language:
- English
- Duration:
- 10:37
leocorrea edited English subtitles for Silence in the City - Young Christian Meditators' Stories | ||
leocorrea edited English subtitles for Silence in the City - Young Christian Meditators' Stories | ||
leocorrea edited English subtitles for Silence in the City - Young Christian Meditators' Stories | ||
leocorrea edited English subtitles for Silence in the City - Young Christian Meditators' Stories | ||
leocorrea edited English subtitles for Silence in the City - Young Christian Meditators' Stories | ||
leocorrea added a translation |