2012
Day of Centering Prayer
May 19, 2012
Sangre de Cristo Center in Santa Fe
An Interview with Susan Rush by The Mandala
Center
1. Your retreat is called "Embodying the Silence". This is
an interesting title. Can you tell us why you chose that title and how it
reflects the content of your retreat?
When we first start out on the contemplative journey, most of us are so amazed
at how busy we are in our mind. As we traverse that inner soil we also realize
the wisdom that the body holds for us. The contemplative journey is about
Silence. This silence is all pervading. The stillness of the body can facilitate
the stilling of the discursive mind.
2. I understand you use Centering Prayer in your program.
Please tell us how you define Centering Prayer.
Centering Prayer is a discipline of intentional silence. It is a prayer of
consent, a prayer of surrender, a prayer in secret leading to Contemplative
Prayer which is pure gift awaiting all of us. And we are all built for
contemplation.
3. Tell us a little about your own personal journey -and
how you were led to facilitate this subject matter.
I was a searcher. I knew I wanted a more intimate relationship with God. The
grace of Centering Prayer found me two decades ago. I am grateful and I
appreciate sharing this with others. I believe that consenting to God's presence
and action within deepens the prayer for all others. There is a oneness that I
believe we can experience as a fruit of this prayer.
4. How is yoga used in your retreat and how does it relate
to prayer?
Under Jim Reale's gentle guidance, we use yoga or Meditative Movement as a
vehicle to welcome the body, as a vestibule into our prayer time.
5. You guide participants in "chanting" practices. Tell us
about how you use chanting and why.
For me, chanting helps me quiet my mind. We use chanting as a devotion, as an
active prayer sentence and as a vestibule into our prayer time. Contemplative
chanting and psalmody is one of those hidden treasures that we can use to assist
us in remembering those contemplative waters throughout our daily lives.
6. What would you tell someone who was interested in
attending but they are uncertain because they never did yoga or chanting before?
Today we face a wobbly world of too much complexity, fragmentation, noise,
stimulation and haste. This is an opportunity to experience the Divine Center
who abides in us. Meditative movement or yoga and chant can assist us in our
intention and attention practices. Movement and chant can assist us in doing
what we do on purpose.
7. What can participants expect to learn or "take home"
with them from your retreat.
I think that would be a good question for a former retreatant to answer, however
we strive to encourage a seed bed for a new or renewal experience of what the
contemplative journey offers us. We invite all who attend to write or revisit
their "Rule of Life."
8. Is there anything else you would like to add?
We introduced this type of retreat several years ago as a pilot program from
those who had been on the contemplative path for ten or more years. And it was
very well received. The hunger for a deeper life of prayer and a closer union
with the Absolute One is immense. Jim and I as lay practioners love sharing with
fellow pilgrims on the journey.
