Notes on a Lecture
    By H.G. Staseson

Seraphim Meditation
or
“Christ Within US”

The scriptures tell us that:

There is none good but one, that is, God.” 
(Matt. 19:17; Mark 10:18)

Therefore, if you find that you receive some good from what I am about to share with you this afternoon, you should thank God, the only - the one - good.

However, if you find that what I am about to say should disgust you, or confuse you, or anger you, or bore you silly, or maybe even put you to sleep – then you may thank me.

“ There is none good but one, that is, God. ”

And how we can experience that, “one good” .. and how we might respond to that experience, is really what this talk is going to be about.

In singing their Divine and Holy Liturgy, our ancient Christian forefathers would take delight when they would hear their priest say:

  It is proper and right to hymn you, to bless you, to praise you, to thank you and to worship you, everywhere in your dominion.”  

“Everywhere in your dominion”!! .. Even, right here.

One of the things that I love best about Saskatchewan, is that when I walk near the outskirts of the cities or towns in the spring and summer, I stand a great chance to be treated to one of my favourite sounds in all the world – that clear, melodious song of the prairie meadowlark.

Almost anywhere you go that is close to an open field, you are very likely going to hear the song of that beautiful little bird with the yellow breast and bold black V. Invariably, you will see it .. perched on a fence post or a bail of hay, or atop a telephone pole. All alone. And from there you will hear it singing its heart out to the wind and to the sky, and to the clouds, and to the fields; to the gophers, to all the other birds in the air, and to the ducks in the dug-out.

And you know, .. that whether you are there or not; whether anyone is there to listen, or not; that that meadowlark will sing out its heart and its soul, … and that its song will carry across the prairie, and will delight everyone and everything that chances to hear it.

This is the meadowlark’s way of hymning and blessing and praising God. It’s the only way he knows.

And what you are about to hear this evening, is my way. It’s the best way I know. It’s the most important thing that I can say to you. It’s that thing which I know best. It’s my field of expertise. It’s the most precious and valuable gift that I have to give you in this world. It’s the most important and valuable thing that I have learned in my life time.

And it’s my great joy to share it with you – to the glory of God, and in the service of His Son, Lord Jesus Christ.

This talk is about a very specific system of meditation that I have been practicing for many years, and which I am currently teaching. It is also one that (I’m reasonably sure) was practiced by our early Christian forefathers, as far back as seventeen hundred years ago - maybe earlier. For this reason, I believe that this type of meditation shares an important and legitimate place in our Christian tradition.. both ancient and modern.

And, it is something that I would like to see more widely used in our Holy Churches of God. This is my hope. And this is my purpose in speaking with you here today.

Within the next five years, it will be my endeavour to train about 20 teachers of Seraphim Meditation here in the Province of Saskatchewan – one for every 50,000 citizens.

And, over the course of the next few minutes, I will attempt to explain – why.

Meditation has always had an important place in the spiritual life of the Church. In fact, by the 4th century, it had already begun to be part of a “science”.

St. Evagrios The Solitary (who died in the year 399 a.d.) referred to .. what he called, “The Science of Stillness”.

“Let us sit still,” St. Evagrios said, “and keep our attention fixed within ourselves, so that we advance in holiness and resist vice more strongly. Awakened in this way to spiritual knowledge, we shall acquire contemplative insight into many things; ascending still higher, we shall receive a clear vision of the light of our Saviour.”

So here, back in three hundred and something a.d., we are given a very practical way, “to advance in holiness,” .. to be able to keep our new year’s resolutions .. to “resist vice more strongly”, .. and to “receive a clear vision of the light of our Saviour” .. by just sitting still for a few minutes, and, for just a few minutes each day, keeping our attention fixed (not on someone’s good advice, or something we might have read, or something -  out there) but, by keeping our attention “fixed” ..  within .. ourselves.

The great revelation here is .. that .. a really important part of what we require to live happy, holy and fulfilled lives .. is something that we already possess .. something that doesn’t cost us anything .. something that we don’t have to understand or even to believe in, or “buy into”.. something that we already have .. within .. ourselves. 

And we shall see, a little later on in this discussion, that this simple, natural system of “sitting still, and keeping the attention fixed within ourselves”, can also have extraordinary benefits to our health and the health of our environment, to strengthening and harmonizing our family and social relationships, to improving our performance in school, to greater productivity and success in our careers, and to our peace, security and prosperity as individuals and families, and as a nation.

This is my reason for wanting 20 teachers of Seraphim Meditation in our Province.

I strongly believe – based upon my own personal experience with this simple system of meditation - that we are now in a position where we can actually envisage the reality of becoming an ideal people .. of creating an ideal province .. right here in Saskatchewan: a showcase for other provinces and for the world.

With this system of Seraphim Meditation we now have the option of creating a “provincial prototype of perfection”.

This seems like an outlandish thing to say!!!

It is outlandish – until we realize .. until we discover that .. there actually is a prototype of perfection .. and that a prototype of perfection already actually exists .. and not only does it exist .. but that it exists .. within us .. within everyone of us.

The prototype of perfection is Christ.

You should know that the ancient Christians did not refer to this
system as, “Seraphim Meditation,”  ..  It is I that have called it
that. And, we’ll talk about that a little later on in our discussion. 

As a matter of fact, as far as we know, the ancient Christians did
not call it anything. They just practiced it, and taught it from one
generation to the next. Nor, when they wrote about it, did they
go into great detail about the actual mechanics of it all.

 

To be properly practiced, this system of meditation must be
properly taught .. one-on-one – in silence - by a well-experienced
teacher. This is something that cannot be taught in writing,
because it does not involve intellectual understanding or belief.
But is based upon, and is taught upon, direct experience.

In their writings, the early Christians tended to discuss
meditation within the context of its purpose, which was:

TO QUIET THE MIND AND THE PASSIONS;

TO GO DEEP WITHIN OURSELVES,

AND THERE TO DISCOVER THE IMPRINT OF CHRIST;

THE IMPRINT OF DIVINITY WITHIN OURSELVES;

THE IMPRINT OF THE HOLY TRINITY IN ITS ESSENCE;

IN ITS ESSENCE OF ONENESS WITHIN OURSELVES;

IN ITS ESSENCE OF INFINITY;

TO FIND WITHIN OURSELVES THE IMPRINT OF THE

INFINITE..

TO FIND WITHIN OURSELVES THE DIVINE INFINITE “ONENESS” OF

CHRIST.

Around the year 326 a.d., St. Thalassios wrote:

“.. the inmost divinity of the Holy Trinity, is a single

essence transcending intellect and thought”

       and ..

“ Blessed is he who has attained boundless infinity,

transcending all that is transitory.”

The whole purpose of this meditation, therefore, is:

TO FIND CHRIST WITHIN US;

AND WITHIN THAT EXPERIENCE OF CHRIST WITHIN

OURSELVES,

TO FIND OURSELVES IN UNION WITH GOD;

TO FIND OURSELVES IN UNION WITH ALL THAT IS

GOOD – WITH GOODESS ITSELF; WITH LIFE ITSELF;

TO FIND OURSELVES IN UNION WITH DIVINE TRUTH,

DIVINE PURITY, DIVINE PERFECTION, DIVINE

CREATIVE INTELLIGENCE, DIVINE LOVE,

DIVINE BEAUTY, HARMONY AND PEACE;

TO DIRECTLY EXPERIENCE OUR OWN IMMORTALITY

AND DIVINITY IN THE IMAGE OF GOD, OUR CREATOR.

TO FIND OURSELVES UNITED WITH GOD, THROUGH

THE IMPRINT OF CHRIST WITHIN OURSELVES.

So    .. in this simple system of Seraphim Meditation, we learn how to ..  close our eyes, and just sit still for a few minutes .. to easily keep the attention fixed deep within ourselves .. and to experience our thoughts (whatever they may be and however they may come) ..  at finer and finer and finer levels .. until we experience the finest level of thought deep within ourselves .. and then .. to go deeper still .. to go beyond – OR TO TRANSCEND - the finest level of thoughts .. to transcend the very process of thinking itself ..

And then .. What do you think happens???

Then the mind, finding itself unconfined by thoughts and thinking, beyond all

possibility of any inner sensory perceptions ..  the mind finds itself completely

unbounded in space and in time.

Here the mind gains the status of unbounded infinity… and because there can be

only one infinity .. its nature becomes singular ..

Again .. St Thalassios:

“.. the inmost divinity of the Holy Trinity, is a single

 essence transcending intellect and thought”

 and ..

“ Blessed is he who has attained boundless infinity,

transcending all that is transitory.”

This is the experience of oneness, completeness, wholeness,
holiness, without the possibility of fear, envy or strife .. lacking
nothing .. without worry or anxiety ..

This is the experience of absolute inner fulfillment and bliss.. of
deep, deep peace, serenity and well-being.

This is the experience of absolute certainty of our own
immortality, and therefore, of the immortality of our family,
friends, and of all mankind.

And when we stop meditating .. when we open our eyes, and
come out into the field of action, the experience is one of
happiness and joy .. of calmness, kindness and love and good
will .. and of wide awake energy, and motivation to engage in
dynamic action for the betterment of our own lives and the lives
of our family and our community.

 “ Blessed is he who has attained boundless infinity,

transcending all that is transitory.”

And, as Christians, we believe that this great blessing .. this human ability of ours to attain boundless infinity, to transcend all that is transitory, was not always there, but was bestowed upon us by God .. “once upon a time” .. through love .. and by grace.

That God loved mankind so much, that He gave to man all that
He had – which is all that He is; That God gave Himself to man - completely, entirely;
That God Himself became man for us, because he loved us;
That He “emptied Himself” fully into our humanity (as St
Maximus has put it) by incarnating Himself as a man in the
person of Christ Jesus – while, at the same time, remaining God
in His Absolute, unseen, incomprehensible and eternal
infinitude.

The scriptures tell us that, “God is Love”. And because God is infinite, so is His love. In showering mankind with His love, God held nothing back. In the infinitude of His love, God bestowed upon mankind the infinitude of Himself. He “emptied” His own infinitude into us. He “emptied” his own divinity into us.

At the moment of the conception of God as man, .. mankind gained the status of divinity. At that very moment, we gained the ability to transcend all that is transitory; and the ability to attain boundless infinity.

In the 4th Century, St. Athanasius wrote that, “God

became man, so that man could become god.”

 By this, St Athanasius meant, not that mankind could deprive
God of His divinity and claim it exclusively for himself, but that
we could partake of the divinity of God through the very nature
of our manhood and womanhood.

In the fourth century, St. Basil wrote, “Christ’s birthday

is the birthday of the whole human race”.

By this St. Basil meant that, at the very moment of Christ’s birth,
man received within himself –
within the very nature of his manhood and womanhood;
the very nature of his humanity –
the perfect imprint of God in the form of “Christ Within Us”.
That, at the very moment of Christ’s birth, mankind received the
prototype of perfection – within himself.
That man himself, deep within himself, became the prototype of
perfection through “Christ within him”.

“Christ’s birthday was the birthday of the whole human
 race”.  

Outwardly, many centuries ago, we saw Jesus Christ, we heard
Him, and touched Him, and we adored Him as our Lord and
Saviour.

And inwardly, today, when we close our eyes in prayer, we can
still see and hear and touch Him in the form of Jesus Christ, our
Saviour and our Lord.

But in this system of Seraphim Meditation, we just sit still; we close our eyes, and we follow our Lord Jesus.. until He disappears from our sight, and from our ability to hear Him or touch Him or to perceive Him with any of our senses of perception; we follow Him deep within ourselves, beyond the inner impressions of the senses; beyond our thoughts and beliefs and expectations; beyond the very process of our thinking; to that deepest level of “wide-awakeness” within ourselves, where we are no longer acting or speaking or even thinking – but where we are simply – “being”. That deep, deep level of inner wakefulness where we are no longer the actor, the speaker or the thinker – but where we simply ARE…  ALL by OURSELVES. There .. where we experience our self as we truly are; Where we truly know ourself as we really are.

 “Know thyself” is an old proverb.

And what do we find, when we find ourselves in this way, deep within ourselves?
What do we find when we follow our Lord and Saviour beyond the realm of even
our faintest thoughts or conceptions?

What do we find in that complete stillness of mind and body – when we are left
alone by ourselves, within ourselves?

We find that our great God, our Lord and Saviour, has hidden himself within
ourselves, and has become invisible to us by disguising himself (as it were) as
our very own selves.

We find that the object of our love and desire, the one for whom we have been
searching, has hidden Himself where we would never think of looking.

The object of our search has hidden Himself within the ones who are doing the
searching, and disguised Himself as their very selves.

Little wonder He has not been easily found! 

When we are completely still – left alone by ourselves, within ourselves, we find
ourselves completely like Him; in Him; united with Him who is All-in-all; who is
Himself infinite Allness.

When we are completely still – we find that, just as God
has “emptied Himself into man,” (as St. Maximus has
put it), by becoming man in the person of Christ Jesus,
.. so has Christ Jesus emptied Himself into us, and has,
Himself, assumed the being of our own nature.

When we are completely still within ourselves, we find
ourselves within Him; and we find Him within us.
We find ourselves as, “Christ Within Us.”

We find ourselves in unity with Christ, and through Him,
in divine unity with God the Father, and God the Holy
Spirit: the Trinity, One in essence and undivided.  

Then we hear the echo of His words:
 
That they all may be one; as thou Father art in me, and I

in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world

may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory

which thou gavest me, I have given them; that they may

be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me,

that they may be made perfect in one; and that the

world may know that thou hast sent me, and has loved

them, as thou hast loved me.” (Jn. 17: 21-23)

It is not that, through this meditation, we become that divine essence, but that, through God’s grace, we experience ourselves as the exact image of that divine essence; that infinite Oneness of the undivided Holy Trinity.

As the prolific and celebrated cleric of modern times, Bishop

Kallistos Ware writes:

“By assuming our humanity , Christ who is the Son of

 God by nature has made us sons of God by grace.”

This was the great original Christmas gift of God to us through
the incarnation of Himself as our Lord and Saviour, Jesus
Christ. Not just that he saved us from death and damnation, but
that, by becoming man, he gave us everything that possibly
could be given. Through Christ Jesus, the Creator has given us
everything – because he IS everything, and He has given us
Himself, within ourselves, as our very selves.

Bishop Kallistos goes on to say, that:

“Christ enables us to share in the Father’s divine glory ”

“God’s incarnation opens the way to man’s deification”

“To be “deified”, more specifically, is to be “christified”:

The divine likeness that we are called to attain is the

likeness of Christ.”

“It is through Jesus the God-man that we are

 “ingodded”, “divinized”, made “sharers in the divine

nature”, (as St. Peter puts it – 2 Peter 1:4)

I mentioned at the beginning that I would discuss why it is that I
have chosen to refer to this system as .. “Seraphim Meditation”.

We read in the Book of Isaiah:

1. “.. I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, and his train filled the temple.

2.  Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.” (Isaiah 6:2)

What a perfect symbol, I thought .. there is the seraphim .. with
the Lord .. sitting perfectly still .. with two of his wings he covers
his feet (indicating an absolute cessation of all impulse toward
earthly movement and action) .. with two of his other wings .. he
covers his face .. no seeing, no hearing, smelling, tasting or
touching .. completely without sensory perceptions.. but fully awake .. fully alert ..
waiting only on the Lord.

 “And with two he did fly.”  There in the highest heights of
 heaven, the seraphim soars, never alone, but always in the
 company of the Lord.

This passage in Isaiah, I thought, is a perfect description of this
wonderful system of meditation. Hence - the name.

I have also since discovered that this same image did not
escape the attention of an

8th century writer named St. Hesychios The Priest.

St. Hesychios could be describing any modern-day practitioner
of Seraphim Meditation when he writes:

“ .. the taste of the divine, and the ecstasy of desire make their longing even more intense and insatiable as they ascend; they do not stop until they reach the seraphim ”

Until they reach, that is, the highest heaven; until they reach beyond the world; beyond even the most abstract inner conception of the world; beyond all possibility of confinement, and into the boundless infinity of St Thalassios .. and it is there that they discover the throne of God, the throne of Christ – there .. in that Kingdom of Heaven within themselves.

20. And when he was demanded of the Pharisees when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation:

21. Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you. (Luke 17: 20-21)

 It will be important here to emphasize the singularity of that
 divine Kingdom; the Unity of that Holy Trinity within us; the
 “oneness” of that experience of divine infinity which we find
 within ourselves through the practice of this Seraphim

 Meditation.

We should understand that, there is no such thing as a “Catholic
infinity”; or a “Protestant infinity”; or an “Islamic infinity”; or a
“Buddhist infinity”; or a “Hindu infinity”; or an “American or
Canadian Aboriginal infinity”. 

There is only one infinity; and by experiencing that infinity as
ourselves, within our selves, we not only experience in a very
profound way, our unity with Christ Within Us .. but we
experience also .. our unity with all mankind .. today, tomorrow,
and yesterday.

And when we say with St Athanasius that, “God became man so
that man could become god”; and with St. Basil that, “Christ’s
birthday is the birthday of the whole human race”, we mean just
that .. the whole human race – today, tomorrow, yesterday and
throughout all time .. before the birth of Jesus, after the birth of
Jesus, .. here, there, in every place, in every clime, in every
culture – and Always.

Your infinity is always my infinity. And our infinity is always
“Christ Within Us”.

 Here lies the great possibility for Christian unity. Only within
Christ within us all, can we hope to find the true unity of the Holy
Churches of God.

And as for the Hindus, the Buddhists, the Muslims, the Jews, the
Aboriginals and all the others, including the modern-day throngs
of atheists (the latest poll indicates that atheists and agnostics
comprise about 46% of our population) .. we don’t worry too
much, because once we have discovered that infinite Singularity
of “Christ within us”; and once we realize that our Infinity is also
their Infinity.. we take comfort in knowing that it is just a matter
of time before the seed of Christ within us all, will blossom into
the flower of Christ within the whole human race.

“The birthday of Christ is the birthday of the whole human race”.  

When, as Christians, we are outwardly baptized into Christ, in
the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, then .. at that
moment .. the influence of  that “Christ within us” becomes
enlivened .. and begins to grow in our lives, as our lives, and
continues throughout our lives .. until it finally blossoms and
bears fruit in complete inner and outer unity with Him.

We foster and fertilize this growth throughout our lives through
our Christian sacraments – particularly that of Holy Communion,
And, as Christians, we feel it our duty to be always watering and
nurturing that seed of “Christ Within Us”, and to be vigilant in
protecting it from any and all harmful influences; and to conduct
our lives in such a way that everything we do, we do with the
conscious intention of fostering the growth and fruition of that
seed of Christ  – both, inwardly, within us, and, outwardly, within
our world; within our human and natural environment.

For this, the Churches of God are indispensable. They are the
custodians of the true knowledge and expression of Christ in the
world.

This is why, when we learn this system of Seraphim Meditation,
… ideally, we should learn it through our church.

Regrettably, I did not learn the practice of this meditation
through my Church. I am an Orthodox Christian, and although
our Church Fathers practice and promote something very
similar, in the form of what we call “the Prayer of the Heart”, they no
longer practice this precise system of meditation. 

Nor does any other church that I am aware of. Nor does anyone
else – as far as I know.

I happened to discover this system of meditation on my own,
some years ago, in the writings of the early Christian Fathers,
and have been practicing it ever since.

And, that discovery was made .. really .. just through a process
of recognition.

For more than twenty-five years prior to that time, I had been
practicing and teaching a different form of meditation, which I
had learned from one of the world’s greatest Vedic masters from
India – His Holiness, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. I had studied and
worked closely with Maharishi for about fourteen years.

But as wonderful and effective as Maharishi’s form of meditation
was, (for me and for the millions all over the world who practiced
it), I eventually found – possibly as a result of my own spiritual
growth over the years – that I was becoming more and more
sensitive to my own cultural and religious priorities and
beliefs.

I have no doubt to this day that Maharishi Mahesh Yogi was, and still is,
one of the greatest and most powerful forces for good on the planet –
and that a world teacher of his stature has not been seen among us for many centuries.

Nevertheless, I was young, and I am still immature, with all the flaws and
weaknesses of an ordinary man, and with all the limitations and confinements that
love of family, country, culture and religion have placed on me.

 I am a Christian – I have always been a Christian; and I am also
a Canadian - through and through.

Maharishi’s technique of meditation had come down from a
centuries-old tradition; one that was steeped in the culture,
language and religion of India. Not that there is anything wrong
with that. It was just that it had left the Canadian and the
Christian side of me feeling somewhat troubled and incomplete.

Without even realizing it at the time, I began suffering from a strong, but very subtle, sense of conflict.

There is an old saying, that “no one is perfect”.
And I would have had no reason to doubt the truth of that saying –
had I not known and worked so closely with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi for so many years.

Perhaps being even more aware of my dilemma than I was at the time, one day, when we were in Switzerland, Maharishi took advantage of a moment when we were alone together, and quite unexpectedly, and out of context with what we were doing at the time, he proceeded to explain to me a new way to teach meditation to Christians – a way that would enliven, preserve and promote the most ancient practices of their religion.

At the time, although I had found it interesting and significant, I really did not think too much more about it – probably because it had come so unexpectedly, and was so out of context with whatever we were working on at the time.

It was not until many years later, when I had begun studying the writings of the early Christian fathers, that one day I suddenly and very vividly flashed back to that conversation in Switzerland with Maharishi: to the instruction he had given me privately so many years ago.

In my mind, it seemed as though no time had elapsed at all. His words, even his tone and inflections, came back to me clearly - as though he had spoken them only moments before.

And from then on, I began to notice the similarities between
what Maharishi had taught me, and what I was learning from the
writings of our early Christian fathers. I also discovered that our
fathers among the saints had been practicing a system of
meditation that was so similar to the one Maharishi had
described to me, that there seemed to me no difference at all.

 I felt impelled to try it myself .. and so I did .. and so I have
continued meditating in this remarkable new way ever since.

 I have also discovered the accuracy of what St. Issaac The
Syrian had described -  back in the 7th Century:

“ Be at peace with your own soul”, St. Issaac had written, “ then heaven and earth will be at peace with you. Enter eagerly into the treasure house that is within you. And so, you will see the things that are in heaven. For there is but one single entry to them both. The ladder that leads to the kingdom is hidden within your own soul. Flee from sin. Dive into yourself. And in your soul you will discover the stairs by which to ascend.”  

And he was right. I did discover those stairs. And, they turned
out to be the very same stairs that had been described to me
long ago by my own Vedic master.

And now, I am offering to show them to you.

Not only are they wonderful, with wonderful results, but they have the potential to revitalize and to unify our Christian religion in a way that has been thought impossible up until this time.

This would be a unity based, neither upon structural nor organizational nor political compromise, but upon gaining access to the very real and lively and active indwelling of “Christ Within Us” – of Christ Himself, the King of Glory, the King of Oneness, the King of Unity – within us all.

So .. what exactly is this system of Seraphim Meditation? .. How
does it work? .. How is it taught? .. Who can learn it? .. Who
cannot learn it? .. How much does it cost? .. When can I
start?

 These are some of the questions that you may be asking
yourselves, and which I’ll be delighted to answer.

 But, just now, we’re going to take a short break .. for you to
stretch your legs, and refresh yourselves .. then, when we come
back, we will answer these and any other questions you may
have ..

This should all take probably another 15-20 minutes after the
break.

BREAK

QUESTIONS

Question: Is this a form of Prayer?

Answer: No. This is meditation. It is not prayer.

It is “prayer-conditioning”.

This is like the physical conditioning – the jogging and the
weight-lifting - that a professional soccer player, or tennis
player, or hockey player does to “get into shape”. That type of
physical conditioning requires none of the specific skills
neccessary to play tennis or soccer or hockey, but it is
indispensable for peak performance.

Moreover, other people, who have no skill in playing tennis or
soccer or hockey, can also benefit from jogging and weight
-lifting. For them, the benefits will include better health and
fitness, weight loss, release of stress, more energy and less
fatigue, better job performance, .. and so on.

 There is no doubt that Seraphim Meditation will enhance one’s
ability to pray; will enrich the experience that one has when he
does pray; will encourage him to pray more often and more
regularly; but it will also provide other benefits for both - the one
who prays, and the one who does not pray.

Those benefits include: more “wide-awakeness” and
clarity of thought, and more mental energy throughout
the day; increased creativity; increased intelligence;
better academic performance; improved job
-performance; faster reaction time; increased physical
energy; increased athletic performance; reduced stress;
better health; reduced use of alcohol and drugs;
increased sociability; increased self-esteem; less
aggressive behavioural tendencies; less worry and
anxiety; improved sleep; increased serenity; and a
continuous sense of well-being.     

Not to mention, a noticeable increase in all the “fruits
of the Spirit”: love, joy, peace, gentleness, meekness,
patience and endurance, temperance, goodness and
faith. (Gal. 5:22)

Unlike prayer, this system of meditation requires no special
abilities, skills or understanding; no special knowledge or
system of belief. One does not even have to “believe” in Christ,
in order to “experience” Christ Within Us.

 Anyone, even an atheist, can practice Seraphim Meditation
effectively, and receive all its benefits.

One does not have to “believe” that apple juice actually exists in
order to “drink” it. But, once a person has tasted the sweetness
of apple juice, he is undoubtedly going to start believing that it
exists.

Prayer usually involves a sense of “otherness”, a sense of
communication, an expectation, hope, need, intention or desire;
often an act of pleading, petitioning or asking; or sometimes just
affirming.

Seraphim Meditation involves none of these.

Question: So .. just what does it involve?

Answer: In Seraphim Meditation, we just sit comfortably; we close our eyes; and we don’t try to do anything different or special, other than simply to become aware of our thoughts, and aware of the silence between our thoughts, and the silence underlying the process of our thinking.

Then in that silence, we become aware of “Christ Within Us” in a special way; in the very same way that Christ first entered into the world over two thousand years ago. In that same way, we allow Him to enter into us.

Actually, He is already there. It’s just that we begin to become aware of Him, often for the first time.

Question: And exactly how does he enter us?

Answer: In exactly the same way that he entered the world over 2,000 years ago.

What I would like to do is to read to you, from the scripture, a description of that holy moment of conception of our Lord Jesus Christ.

And what I would ask you to do is .. to listen very carefully .. and to determine for yourself, just when that moment of holy conception occurred, and how it occurred, for the Virgin Mary.

The scripture reads as follows:

26. And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city in Galilee, named Nazareth,

27. To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary.

28. And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.

29. And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be.

30. And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.

31. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shall call his name JESUS.

32. He shall be great and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:

33. And he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.

34. Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?

35. And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.

36. And, behold thy cousin Elizabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren:

37. For with God nothing shall be impossible.

38. And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.

39. And Mary arose in those days, and went into the hill country with haste, into a city of Juda;

40. And entered into the house of Zacharias, and saluted Elizabeth.  (Luke 1: 26-30)

So .. how many of you were listening carefully?

Who can tell us exactly when the moment of conception
occurred for Mary?

You, sir ..

That’s right .. the scripture never really describes that exact moment at all.

We have the Archangel Gabriel telling Mary that, “The Holy Ghost SHALL come upon thee,”

And, “the power of the Highest SHALL overshadow thee..”
 But never is there a description of the actual moment of that “coming upon,” or that “overshadowing” of Mary.

There was no drama; no blinding light; no flutter and flurry of doves wings around her… just the assurance that she was favoured by God, and was soon to bear a son; and an instruction to call his name JESUS; and then a revelation of the significance of what was happening and what was about to happen; and finally the reassurance that .. “with God nothing shall be impossible.”

And this is basically how we learn Seraphim Meditation.. No blinding lights, no drama; we just sit comfortably, eyes closed, and then into the silence between and underlying our thoughts, we follow the instruction – we name the Lord.

Question: And with what name do we name Him?

Answer:

With the name that is given to us by our instructor. Just like the Archangel, our instructor will whisper to us the name of the Lord; and then he will show us how to follow that name deep into the womb of silence within us.

But, you might ask, hasn’t the Archangel already given us the name? .. Didn’t he tell Mary to call his name, JESUS?

Well .. yes, he did .. but, then again .. no .. he did not.

If you were to read the scripture in English, then .. yes .. the Archangel definitely would instruct Mary to give Him the name of JESUS.

But, if you were to read the same scripture in French, the name would be quite different – it would be Jesu.

And, in Romanian, it would be, “Iisus”.

And, in the Spanish scripture, the archangel would whisper to Mary the name of “Hey-soos”.

It is not difficult to realize, therefore, that the actual name that the Holy Virgin heard from the Archangel, in all probability, did not sound exactly like the word we know -  “JESUS”.

Be that as it may, when we hear the name given to us by our meditation instructor, for sure, we will recognize it, and we will use it, as the name of the Lord, Jesus Christ.

The instructor will then teach us how to follow that name, and nothing else .. to follow it deep within our hearts, to finer and finer levels of thought, to the finest level of thought .. and then .. beyond .. still fully awake, but beyond thoughts altogether .. beyond the process of thinking.. to that unbounded ocean bliss within us .. that is the immoveable ocean of pure goodness within us .. that is the permanent God-bestowed, Grace-imparted imprint of “Christ Within Us”.

And then, after about 10-20 minutes of just “sitting still” in this way, with the attention “fixed” in this way within the imprint of “Christ Within Us”, we come back out into the world.. infused with, and carrying with us, “the sweet savour” of His grace.    

We come back out into the world, and we resume living our lives in the usual way.

That is all there is to it:

A new two-syllable name for Christ, and then the ability to use it properly; to follow it properly until it disappears within us; and then to keep following it .. right into the immovable infinite ocean of “Christ Within Us”.

By the 7th century, the Christian practice had expanded the name of Christ into, what St. Hesychios The Priest referred to as “the single-phrase Jesus prayer”. But in this system of Seraphim Meditation, we do not use a single phrase, we use a name of Christ, consisting of only two syllables.

Question: How is this system of meditation taught?

Answer:

            Seraphim Meditation is taught in private, one-on-one,         
            by a trained and well-experienced instructor.

It is taught in seven steps. You have just taken the first – an introductory information session.

If you are interested in learning to meditate in this way, you must attend another, much shorter, information session in which we will go deeper, and in greater detail, into the actual mechanics of this system of meditation.

Then, if you are still interested, there will be an opportunity to meet privately with your instructor: to ask any private questions you might have; and for the instructor to get to know you a little better.

You will then make an appointment for instruction, that will require about 1 ½ - 2 hours per day, on each of four consecutive days.

You will then meet with you instructor from time to time over the course of the next six weeks – to have your meditation checked, and to answer any questions that may arise.

Question: How much will all this cost?

Answer: If you were to learn this meditation from me outside a church,
I would charge $300 per individual adult; $500 per family;
$150for full-time students, and for people who are either retired or unemployed.

            However, if you were to learn this meditation through a church, there would be no charge at all.

Although, I would suggest that you make an appropriate voluntary donation to that church according to the value that you placed on the meditation, and according to your ability to pay. In that case, I would never enquire, nor know, how much any individual actually contributed.

And, in all likelihood, your donation would be tax deductible.

Question: Is there anyone who cannot learn to practice

       Seraphim Meditation?

Answer: Anyone over the age of 12 years, who has not been taking any form of non-prescription, hallucinogenic or recreational drug, can learn to meditate.

If you have been using drugs habitually or recreationally, we ask that you stop completely for a minimum of 15 days prior to learning to meditate – just to give your nervous system a chance to begin normalizing.

If you are under the care and treatment of a psychiatrist, we require a note of consent from him or her.

Young people (under the age of 19) who are still living at home, are asked to bring a note of approval from their parents or guardians.

Question: How can I contact you if I have further questions?

Answer: You can Email me

                Or .. you can contact me through our website: www.campeverest.com

Other Questions: (as they arise)

                                - end -



Camp Everest: Beyond Achievement

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