Re: The Jesus-prayer


Subject: Re: The Jesus-prayer
From: Cecilia Baader (ceciliaann@hotmail.com)
Date: Wed Nov 01 2000 - 13:22:02 GMT


Anna Safar <francoise@poczta.wp.pl> wrote:

>Where did Salinger hear about all this? What do you think about it? Did any
>of you try it? Why is it so
>dangerous to try to synchronize the prayer with the rhythm of the heart?
>(In the story it\'s only Lane
>who mentions the problem, but every source says it\'s extremely dangerous.)

Hello Anna,

I'm not sure where Salinger first came into contact with The Jesus Prayer,
though I've read (perhaps in Ian Hamilton's book?) that his second wife
Claire was rather obsessed with it when he met her.

I've thought and I've thought about the Jesus Prayer. It's an attractive
concept, this prayer without ceasing, and I suppose like Franny I've thought
on more occasion that if I could just manage to practice it properly,
then...

"Do not attempt it without some spiritual guide" most sources tell us, and
even in THE WAY OF A PILGRIM, the pilgrim's starets, or teacher, limits him
in his desire to begin the prayer without ceasing right away. He tells him
to begin with 3,000 prayers a day and tells him to pray no more than that,
though he will want to continue. The pilgrim finds a job as a gardener and
he practices the prayer of the heart, with his starets gradually increasing
the number he is allowed to pray. When he has been praying at the level of
12,000 a day for five days and goes to the starets and complains that it is
necessary to pray the prayer, only then does the starets allow him to pray
it continuously.

You can find an abridged text of THE WAY OF A PILGRIM at:
http://landru.i-link-2.net/shnyves/Prayer_without_Ceasing.html

The concept is not such a new one. For thousands of years, people have
meditated with the ohm of the universe in their hearts. Substitute "ohm"
with "Lord Jesus Christ have mercy on me, a sinner," and you have the same
basic concept. In the case of the Jesus Prayer, you constantly invoke the
name of God over and over again because there is nothing more powerful than
the name of God. I could give other examples, but I won't. The point is,
it's nothing new. And the Jesus Prayer is just the vehicle that Salinger
uses to get his point across.

It's a pitfall for every religion, for every person who chooses a path where
they aspire towards sainthood. (Reference Scottie's message a few months
ago where he, quite rightly, pointed out that the flaw in aspiring towards
sainthood is exactly the way to point yourself in the opposite direction.)

So what are the inherent problems with the prayer of the heart?

Hermitage. Selfish Spirituality.

"Zooey" offers some explanation as to just why the prayer of the heart is
dangerous. Take a look at what happens to Franny. She withdraws from
everything that is important to her and makes herself ill practicing this
prayer, throwing her mother into paroxysms of fear for her safety. For the
prayer of the heart, if practiced improperly, sends a person into a desire
for nothing else and a care for nothing but the prayer. Exactly as the
pilgrim had done. But the pilgrim was a widower and a wanderer, so his
practice of the prayer was appropriate for him. But Franny, who is neither?

Franny throws herself into the prayer to the exclusion of all else. A
worried Bessie comes with consecrated bowls of soup, Les begins wondering
about fruit, and Zooey begins making phone calls impersonating his brother.
The prayer helps no one but Franny, and when the practice of it causes pain
to others, it loses a great deal of its inherent goodness.

Moderation is what the starets teaches the pilgrim, but Franny has no such
teacher. And poor Zooey is mad as hell because he's ill-equipped to do it.
Where is Seymour when you need him? Or Buddy?

The message that Zooey is trying to get across is that what Franny is
practicing is simply selfish spirituality. Franny withdraws from all which
makes the world bad, which causes a simultaneous and necessary rejection of
all that makes the world good. And so the danger is that when you practice
it and perhaps destroy yourself and your relationships in the bargain, you
are not learning very much at all, and you're certainly making nothing
better. No deeper understanding that you can use in your life to better love
everyone, especially the fat lady. Ah, Zooey explains it better than I ever
could.

I guess my point is that the dangers of the prayer of the heart are
explained perfectly in "Zooey". Something which seems inherently good is
sometimes not.

Regards,
Cecilia.
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