Through the centuries, people have sought teachers to inspire them and have formed
communities of pilgrims with whom to journey. One such community is the Christian
Meditation Community in Canada, founded and inspired by Fr. John Main O.S.B.
John Main (1926-1982) first encountered the universal tradition of meditation in the far
East when he met a Hindu monk. Later, after he became a Benedictine monk of Ealing
Abbey in London, through study and research he discovered a tradition of meditation
rooted in Christianity, dating back to the early Desert Mothers and Fathers of the
4th century.
Eventually, he came to the conclusion that there was a close connection between the
"oratio pura" of Christian monastic tradition and the particular style of meditation
practice that he had been introduced to by the Hindu monk.
The common factor was the use of a "mantra" or holy word that is continuously repeated
interiorly to achieve a state of mental stillness devoid of distracting thought.
It is within this stillness that one can overcome the ego and all those
distractions which keep us from the knowledge of our true self and the
experience of the in-dwelling Christ.
In 1977, Fr. John was invited to start a small Benedictine community in Montreal.
His influence was demonstrated by the increasing number of meditators who arrived
each day at the monastery to practise this newly-found "prayer of silence".
After his death in 1982, Fr. Bede Griffith, who had also immersed himself in the
"east-west" spiritual dialogue, described John Main as the
"most important spiritual guide in the church today.
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