Ernest E. Larkin
Contemplative Prayer for Today: Christian Meditation
Singapore: Medio Media, 2007

Ernest Larkin is well-known in Carmelite circles, but it came as a surprise to me to learn that for the last decade of his life, he had practiced the Christian Meditation of John Main. This book is a collection of his essays on related subjects.

Fr. Larkin's long journey took him through the classical Carmelite meditation, an Ignatian retreat, and some experiments with the Centering Prayer of Thomas Keating. John Main�s Christian Meditation was to him the solution to a problem he had often encountered along the way: that his prayer tended to become, in his own apt word, �amorphous.� Yet he considers that no part of this rich immersion in contemplative spirituality was wasted. Certainly for us as readers, his long journey allows him to offer us a perspective that is both broad and deep. The particular gift of the current book is that it situates John Main's Christian Meditation in the Carmelite stream of prayer. Its significance extends well beyond Carmel, though, since so much of our common understanding of contemplative prayer today derives from the sixteenth-century Carmelites.

The early chapters of the book introduce Christian Meditation and its place in Christian life. There is little overlap with other introductions to this subject because Fr. Larkin writes from his uniquely Carmelite perspective. Having summarized the history of Carmel at the beginning of Chapter 4, Fr. Larkin then addresses the central issue of the book--the relationship between John Main's Christian Mediation and the more traditional forms of contemplative prayer. The Christian Meditation of today and the active contemplation of the tradition are complementary, says Fr. Larkin. Their meeting point is �the non-discursive attention and making one�s self vulnerable to the transforming power of God� (p. 66). Yet the newer meditation is not a substitute for the older. Rather, Fr. Larkin�s experience is that Christian Meditation provides an �anchor� for the remainder of one�s prayer life.

The author goes on to offer some reflections on the spirituality of the desert, and on the place of contemplative prayer in a well-rounded Christian life. Contemplative prayer, says Fr. Larkin, can never be one�s whole life. Rather, it forms a �companion� to liturgical and devotional prayer, and in any case prayer itself has always to be seen within the context of ministry. Contemplative prayer is, in the phrase of Jean-Baptiste Chautard, the �soul of the apostolate.� Fr. Larkin continues with an exploration of the place of love--aspiratory or affective prayer--in Christian Meditation.

A final chapter raises the intriguing subject of Christian mindfulness.

Thanks for this review, Derek. It is indeed a surprise to find Larkin attracted to the mantra method used in Christian Meditation. Larkin is a scholar of St. John of the Cross, so I wonder how he understands Main's meditation method in the light of St. John's writings?

That was exactly the question Ernest Larkin had, having of course been formed in the Carmelite tradition. He sees mantra as a form of "active" contemplation (i.e., as opposed to "passive" or "infused" contemplation), and places it in the same region as the "general, loving awareness" of Ascent 2.13.4.

Another Carmelite scholar, Kieran Kavanaugh, comes to a similar conclusion. He writes that "some of the modern forms of meditation, if they are not merely secular exercises but carried out with Christian faith and purpose, could be classified as contemplative prayer" (John of the Cross: Doctor of Light and Love, pp. 104-105).

Not being familiar with John Main or Ernest Larkin, I cannot comment on that part of this discussion. But I would like to contribute just one observation:

I have heard the Jesus Prayer (the Prayer of the Heart) referred to as a "mantra prayer". This, at least, is fundamentally inaccurate.

I agree, HP. The Jesus Prayer is more than simply a meditative technique, and it does engage one on various levels.

John Main's meditation method is structurally similar to TM in that it involves simply repeating the word "maranatha" ("come, Lord," in Aramaen, which was Jesus' language). Jim Arraj and I published a discussion of this in our book, Critical Issues in Christian Contemplative Practice. Jim offers an online version of the book at:
- http://www.innerexplorations.c...spmys/Critical_1.htm

Derek, I don't know what "active contemplation" is supposed to mean. That's certainly a different twist on things.

quote:

Originally posted by Phil:
[qb] Derek, I don't know what "active contemplation" is supposed to mean.[/qb]

I think active vs. passive is just another way of saying acquired vs. infused.

Hmm... I find that the terms "contemplation" and "meditation" are used far too loosely (almost interchangeably) in many Western contexts.

We really do need more precise and clearer definitions, of, amongst others:

- Concentration
- Contemplation
- Meditation
- Absorption

...and others.

HP, there's clarity about the meaning of those terms in the classical Christian literature. It's become quite sloppy during the past few decades, however.

Basically, there were two broad divisions of prayer, which were called kataphaptic and apophatic. Kataphatic prayer is active, making use of symbols, words, images, etc. Meditation and concentration were considered kataphatic/active prayer forms. Apopathic prayer is wordless and imageless, and usually involves a simple resting in God's presence. That's what was called contemplation, and absorption would probably fit there as well.

You can see why the idea of "active contemplation" is an oxymoron. Even "acquired contemplation" is an ambiguous term.