So don't pay attention to the meaning of your mantra, Maranatha. Just pay attention to the sound of the word repeated silently in your mind and heart.
Ma-ra-na-tha. Repeat your word slowly. Stress each syllable equally. Listen to the sound of the word.
Thoughts will come -- good thoughts, bad thoughts, "urgent" reminders, or even grand spiritual insights. Ignore them all. Just keep saying your word. Let go of thinking completely. Don't stop repeating your word.
Images, too, will come and go. Ignore them, let them go. Let your eyes relax, and continue repeating your word.
Once you come to see that meditation is prayer, you will stop "trying to pray" when you are meditating. You won't say your word to a God whose image is somewhere in the back of your head. You'll simply repeat your word as you pay attention to its sound: Ma-ra-na-tha.
Don't misunderstand me: "Simple" doesn't mean "easy." (I'll say more at another time about the difficulty of meditating.) "Simple" means uncomplicated, not composed of parts. Your goal is one thing only: to listen to your word as you repeat it.
From the tradition:
"A person still subject to physical impulses has not yet been crucified with Christ,
and if he still drags natural thoughts along with him,
he has not yet been buried with Him.
How then can he be raised up with Christ
to live in newness of Life?"
Ilias the Presbyter
