The Way of a Pilgrim

The Way of a Pilgrim is the anonymous memoir of  a nineteenth-century Orthodox monk who wandered across Russia, continually reciting the simple, mantra-like Jesus Prayer:

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.

His observations are fascinating, and to a certain extent mirror the experiences of Hindu and Buddhist mystics in that the constant repetition of the mantra leads to heightened awareness of the eternal now. As the Pilgrim recounts:

When I prayed in my heart, everything around me seemed delightful and marvelous. The trees, the grass, the birds, the air, the light seemed to be telling me that they existed for man's sake, that they witnessed to the love of God for man, that all things prayed to God and sang his praise.

Clearly, the conclusions he draws about the relationship between God, man, and the natural world are Christian, but the experience itself seems to be remarkably universal.

Comments

[gail]

JD Salinger fans will remember The Way of a Pilgrim as the book that Franny is reading when she has her breakdown in Franny and Zooey.

[Julie]

I totally forgot that detail about Franny and Zooey. Why cain't I remember nothin?

[Rob B.]

One more reason to go out to the country at night, lay down on a blanket and stare at the stars.

Away from the noise, the light polution and the distractions of daily life, God doesn't need a megaphone to get your attention.

[FilthyCommie]

that reminds me of a lil hare krishna thing I heard once since the idea behind mantras is that you keep god/jesus/krishna/mickey mouse/whomever in your mind constantly that brings you closer to them so on so forth well the story goes there once was an athiest whom all day would remind himself "there is no god, there is no god" everyday when he died he was united with god because he had always kept god in his mind.....just a rambling from left field that seemed slightly relevant while I was typing it

[dorkafork]

That's a major part of Zen Buddhism. The key is the mindfulness. The chanting helps because you have to focus on what you are chanting. It's the mindfulness that leads to "the heightened awareness of the eternal now". The chanting is just a means to the end.

I particularly like this book. Interesting regardless of your religious beliefs.

[gail]

I've studied Zen practice for years. It's totally compatible with other religious traditions.I use the rosary as a mantra. It works really well that way.

[dorkafork]

I've read a fair amount on Zen and meditation, and that's my favorite.

[Rob. B]

I used Zen for archery when I bow hunted. You can focus on a target until a spot the size of a nickel grows the size of a dinner. Hard to miss that.

[SeanH]

Rejoice evermore.

Pray without ceasing.

In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
1Thess 5:16-18

I think you're right, Gail, and the experience of the Pilgrim and Paul is universal. Franny screws up in thinking the prayer is the important part, but the prayer or chant's only value is in learing your mind and resetting your perspective and that's what's universal.

The world is beautiful, amazing, and enormous. Literally everything, including ourselves that we encounter from the womb to the grave is absolutely incredible. Here we are in the billions, each a miracle and each surrounded with millions of tiny miracles a day. In case the trillions of miracles packing our world weren't impressive enough we have that surrounded with a universe of miracles so vast and incredibly strange that all our knowledge has just recently enabled us to figure out that we don't have a clue what more than 90 percent of it is.

Every second of that is an unspeakably precious gift and every great once in a while our hearts sing with thanks as they should, but mostly we're a bunch of damn ingrates.