How Do We Enter the Heart, and What Do We Find When We Enter? The Way of the Pilgrim and the Prayer of the Heart (Regina Sara Ryan)

The gesture of bowing the head is a ritual in all traditions that acknowledges the wisdom of sinking the mind into the heart. The Christian mystical tradition is ancient and includes writings such as the Philokalia (which dates back to the Desert Fathers), The Cloud of Unknowing, and The Way of the Pilgrim. The heart can only be experienced. If there is the tiniest urge to explore this depth, it is the Divine asking to be explored through and as us. The Christian Prayer of the Heart in the West is not all that different from the repetition of mantra in the Hindu tradition. Some diligence and practice allows a particular prayer to become so much a part of our being that it arises spontaneously with our thoughts and breath. This is different than trying to be a spiritual athlete, which can undermine our practice. The Prayer of the Heart is some form of “Lord Jesus have mercy on me.” Hesychia is a Greek word that means tranquility or peace. People have always gone into retreat to find a place of sanctuary, which is so needed in the midst of a stimulated life. Yet, the whole idea of pilgrimage, of opening and searching for wisdom, has lost meaning. The heart is our moral compass. In a spiritual sense, it is not a particular organ but full body consciousness penetrated by the presence of divinity. The Christian monk Thomas Merton recognized that everyone has this divinity, which is like a blazing sun, and that the gate of heaven is everywhere. We can meet each other and know that godliness is in everyone even if it is covered over with many veils. The repetition of the Prayer of the Heart leads to silence and affects the world. To set the heart on fire is to be consumed by love. Prayer is given as grace, as a gift. Regina is the editor of Hohm Press, a workshop leader, retreat guide, and the author of The Woman Awake, Igniting the Inner Life, Praying Dangerously, Only God, and other books.