When approaching pain, or uncertainty...pray the mantram

In tribulation, immediately draw near to God with
confidence, and you will receive strength, enlightenment,
and instruction.------Saint John of the Cross

This testimony is lifted from the writings of Eknath Eswaran, one of the English language's foremost teachers of meditation, whose systematic methods I have studied for the past ten years:

****I confess that I have always been sensitive to pain. When I was a little boy, I hurt my leg playing soccer. It became infected, so my granny took me to our doctor. He washed the wound as gently as he could while I winced. Then he told me apologetically, "I'm going to have to apply tincture of iodine." Now, I had heard many stories about how much it hurt to have iodine applied to a wound. So I closed my eyes. I felt the doctor's touch on my leg, and then a wave of pain across the wound. I think my yell must have lifted the roof. Then I noticed the pain had subsided, so I opened my eyes. "Is it over?" I asked. The doctor looked at me with compassion and said, "I haven't even applied the iodine yet."
Often it is fear of pain, and the resistance to pain, that makes pain hard to bear. When fear goes, suffering becomes manageable; and the mantram is the best thing I know for banishing fear. Whether it is a headache, a stomachache, or serious injury, the mantram always helps."****Eswaran

Do you have a mantram? A mantram is in my view, a short, effective prayer. The use of mantra originated in India thousands of years before Christ's advent . The primary meditative practitioners who use the mantra are hindu or buddhist practitioners of meditation and or mindfulness.
The use of the mantram in the mystical traditions of oriental orthodox Christianity is grounded in what is referred to as Christ Consciousness*. [* I Corinthians 2:6-16.]
I use the Jesus Prayer as my mantram.
"Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me."
Whenever I have any trouble sleeping, or am approaching anxiety of any sort, I immediately begin to quote my mantram and I return to the state of stillness where my heart resides in Christ!

It is life to me.

"Nurture stillness in your heart. Protect your relationship to The Lord like you protect a precious baby in your arms. Guard your heart with everything you've got."
Sunday, 7/20/08. C.Sam Smith

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