John Main

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Fr. John Main, OSB (1926–1982), was a Benedictine monk and priest who presented a way of Christian meditation which utilized the practice of a prayer-phrase or mantra. In 1975, Fr. Main began Christian meditation groups at his monastery in London, England and, later, in Montreal, Canada. These grew into an ecumenical network of Christian meditation groups called the World Community for Christian Meditation (WCCM).

1 Life
2 Teaching
3 Footnotes
4 External links

[edit] Life

In 1926, Main was born in London, England as Douglas Main. In the late 1940's, he joined the Canons Regular of the Lateran, and studied at the Diocesan seminary of St. Edmund's College, Ware in England before being chosen to pursue theology studies at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome, Italy. He then began to doubt his vocation to the priesthood and decided to leave Rome to go to Dublin, Ireland (where his family now lived). In Dublin, he studied law at Trinity College. He graduated in 1954, and joined the British Colonial Service.^[1]

He was assigned to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where he met the Swami Satyananda, who taught him meditation utilizing a mantra as the means used to arrive at meditative stillness. The Swami taught him to meditate by giving him a Christian mantra.^[2]

In 1956, Main returned to Dublin, and taught law at Trinity College. In 1959, he decided to join the Benedictines at Ealing Abbey in London. He took the name of John, in honor of John the Apostle. He was ordained a priest in 1963.^[3]

In 1970, Fr. Main was appointed the headmaster of St. Anselm's Abbey School in Washington, D.C.. It was here that Fr. Main began to seriously study the writings of Desert Father John Cassian for the first time.^[4] Fr. Main saw parallels between the spiritual practice taught by Cassian and the meditative practice he had been taught by the Swami in Kuala Lumpur.^[5]

In 1974, Fr. Main left Saint Anselm's Abbey in Washington and returned to Ealing Abbey in London, where he began Christian meditation groups at an old house on the monastery grounds.^[6] Fr. Main was assisted by Fr. Laurence Freeman, also a Benedictine at Ealing Abbey.^[7] In 1977, Fr. Main and Fr. Freeman were sent to establish a new Benedictine monastery in Montreal, Canada.^[8] Here, too, they taught Christian meditation groups.^[9]

In 1982, Fr. Main died of cancer. Fr. Freeman continued Fr. Main's work, traveling widely to establish Christian mediation groups across the world. In 1991, these Christian mediation groups were networked together into the World Community for Christian Meditation (WCCM).^[10]

[edit] Teaching

Fr. Main's teaching was simple: sit still and upright, close your eyes and say your prayer-phrase (mantra). The prayer-phrase is a sacred word or phrase which is repeated continually. Recite your prayer-phrase and gently listen to it as you say it. Do not think about anything. As thoughts come, simply keep returning to your prayer-phrase.^[11]

In this way, one places everything aside: instead of talking to God, one is just being with God, allowing God’s presence to fill his heart, thus transforming his inner being.

Fr. Main and Fr. Freeman both recommended using the prayer-phrase Maranatha, which is Aramaic for "Come, Lord", as in I Corinthians 16:22 and Revelation 22:20.^[12]