| The World Community for Christian Meditation |
| Christian Meditation with Children |
|
By Cynthia Comiskey, CSJ
While reading The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette one August morning in 2005, my eyes fell upon a very small
article with the headline: “TM for Kids.”
I contacted the person mentioned in the article and was told that the David Lynch Foundation was just at
the beginning stage of this teaching approach and that someone would contact me in the future about my
inquiry. A few months later, a gentleman from the foundation called and told me that he was in the
Pittsburgh area. We met and I told him about my interest in teaching meditation to children. As a result, he
invited me to a workshop in November 2006. At the workshop I met a TM teacher from New York who said
that she was staying in the area to teach TM to a few other women. She invited me to join the group.
I knew this was the moment to take another step on my spiritual journey. I participated in four evenings of
instruction and received a Sanskrit mantra from the teacher. For the next nine months, I practiced the
twice-daily meditation and felt a profound difference in my life and my relationship with God and others.
However, I continued to wonder about TM in relationship to my Christian tradition. A friend of mine
suggested that I look at the World Community for Christian Meditation website. It was an “aha” moment.
To my great amazement, I found the “pearl of great price” hidden in the Christian tradition and the
teachings of John Main. I participated in the Second School for Teachers of Christian Meditation in
Burlington, VT, on August 17-19, 2007. Upon returning home, I decided to change my Sanskrit mantra to
the Christian mantra. It was truly a “coming home” to my own true nature.
For the past nine years, I have been the part-time school counselor at an all-African American Catholic
school in the inner city of Pittsburgh, PA. During that time, the principal and staff have been challenged to
find an effective way to both understand the students’ deeds and actions and to act in relationship to
them. Teaching Christian Meditation to children made sense to me in trying to help the children “go to their
center” on a daily basis. In particular at our school, this form of prayer meshed so well with our overall
goal of faith formation.
On April 16, 2008, I presented the teaching of John Main and Christian Meditation to the faculty at our
school. The program was so well received that school leadership has extended an invitation to me to
formally introduce the children to this prayer form of Christian Meditation in the fall of 2008.
While reading The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette one August morning in 2005, my eyes fell upon a very small
article with the headline: “TM for Kids.”
I contacted the person mentioned in the article and was told that the David Lynch Foundation was just at
the beginning stage of this teaching approach and that someone would contact me in the future about my
inquiry. A few months later, a gentleman from the foundation called and told me that he was in the
Pittsburgh area. We met and I told him about my interest in teaching meditation to children. As a result, he
invited me to a workshop in November 2006. At the workshop I met a TM teacher from New York who said
that she was staying in the area to teach TM to a few other women. She invited me to join the group.
I knew this was the moment to take another step on my spiritual journey. I participated in four evenings of
instruction and received a Sanskrit mantra from the teacher. For the next nine months, I practiced the
twice-daily meditation and felt a profound difference in my life and my relationship with God and others.
However, I continued to wonder about TM in relationship to my Christian tradition. A friend of mine
suggested that I look at the World Community for Christian Meditation website. It was an “aha” moment.
To my great amazement, I found the “pearl of great price” hidden in the Christian tradition and the
teachings of John Main. I participated in the Second School for Teachers of Christian Meditation in
Burlington, VT, on August 17-19, 2007. Upon returning home, I decided to change my Sanskrit mantra to
the Christian mantra. It was truly a “coming home” to my own true nature.
For the past nine years, I have been the part-time school counselor at an all-African American Catholic
school in the inner city of Pittsburgh, PA. During that time, the principal and staff have been challenged to
find an effective way to both understand the students’ deeds and actions and to act in relationship to
them. Teaching Christian Meditation to children made sense to me in trying to help the children “go to their
center” on a daily basis. In particular at our school, this form of prayer meshed so well with our overall
goal of faith formation.
On April 16, 2008, I presented the teaching of John Main and Christian Meditation to the faculty at our
school. The program was so well received that school leadership has extended an invitation to me to
formally introduce the children to this prayer form of Christian Meditation in the fall of 2008.
| TEACH YOUR CHILDREN TO BE IN THE PRESENCE OF GOD |
www.comunicasoluciones.com
| > Meditation with Children > Teach meditation > Background > Children´s Programme > Length of time > Contact the Community > Testimonials > About us > Help for parents/teachers > Questions > Resources > Media Coverage > Friends´ Programme > Site map |