Prayer of the Heart in Christian and Sufi Mysticism by Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee

Author:Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee [Vaughan-Lee, Llewellyn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: The Golden Sufi Center
Published: 2012-05-01T04:00:00+00:00

Orthodox tradition describes in a similar manner how the repetition of the name permeates the whole being of the practitioner: “Like a drop of ink that falls on blotting paper, the act of prayer should spread steadily outwards from the conscious and reasoning center of the brain until it embraces every part of ourselves.”62

Inner Transformation

In either tradition the way that the name of God permeates the pilgrim is not metaphoric, but a literal happening. From the initial process of mental repetition the name goes deep within, into our psyche. Working in the depths of our being it alters our mental, psychological, and even physical bodies—everything becomes infused with the energy of the name. On the mental level this change is easily apparent. Normally, in our everyday life, the mind follows its automatic thinking process, over which we often have very little control. The mind thinks us, rather than the other way around. Just catch your mind for a moment and observe its thoughts. Every thought creates a new thought, every answer a new question. And because energy follows thought, our mental and psychological energy is scattered in many directions. Spiritual life means learning to become one-pointed, to focus all our energy in one direction, towards the One. Through repeating the name we alter the grooves of our mental conditioning, the grooves which like those on a record play the same tune over and over again, repeating the same patterns that bind us in our mental habits. The Jesus Prayer or dhikr gradually replaces these many old grooves with the single groove of the divine name. To quote Theophan the Recluse, “To stop the constant jostling of your thoughts, you must bind the mind with one thought, or the thought of One only.”63

How the prayer or dhikr works psychologically is more mysterious. There is a saying of the Prophet Muhammad: “There is a polish for everything that takes away rust; and the polish for the heart is the invocation of Allh.” The name of God is a powerful agent of inner transformation. It is like a catalyst of the inner alchemical process that turns our lead into gold. Its constant repetition goes deep into the unconscious where it both purifies and transforms. This process works partly to align our psyche with our divine nature, which is the real agent of any transformation. Psychologically, it is the Self that transforms us. This center of divine consciousness within us works in the unconscious, disentangling and freeing us from complexes and patterns of conditioning. One example is the marked effect the prayer or dhikr can have on fear or anxiety, feelings that often beset the spiritual traveler. Repeating His name can help to dissolve these feelings and the hold they have on us.

The name of God can also be used in a more conscious, directed manner. In my own practice I have found that I can focus the dhikr on a problem or psychological block, allowing the feelings, the pain, anger or difficulty, to be contained by the energy of the divine name.

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