John Main 2810196 223349028 2008-07-03T18:11:17Z 24.187.129.25 Added bibliography {{Infobox Person |name = John Main |image = |image_size = |caption = |birth_name = |birth_date = |birth_place = |death_date = |death_place = |death_cause = |resting_place = |resting_place_coordinates = |residence = |nationality = |other_names = |known_for = [[Christian meditation]] |education = |alma_mater = |employer = |occupation = [[Priest]] |home_town = |title = |salary = |networth = |height = |weight = |term = |predecessor = |successor = |party = |boards = |religion = [[Catholic]] |spouse = |partner = |children = |parents = |relatives = |signature = |website = |footnotes = }} '''Fr. John Main, [[Order of Saint Benedict|OSB]]''' ([[1926]]&ndash;[[1982]]), was a [[Order of Saint Benedict|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). ==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 (Angelicum)|Pontifical Athenaeum ''Angelicum'']] 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 then lived). In Dublin, he studied law at [[Trinity College, Dublin|Trinity College]]. He graduated in 1954, and joined the British Colonial Service.<ref>{{cite web | title = "John Main’s Monastic Adventure" | work = Fr. Laurence Freeman, O.S.B. | url = http://www.wccm.org/images/JMMonasticAdvent3.htm | accessdate = 16 November | accessyear = 2006 }}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web | title = "Silent Teaching: The Life of Dom John Main" | work = Paul T. Harris, Spirituality Today, Vol.40 No. 4, pp. 320-332 | url = http://www.spiritualitytoday.org/spir2day/884043harris.html | accessdate = 16 November | accessyear = 2006 }}</ref> In 1956, Main returned to Dublin, and taught law at Trinity College. In 1959, he decided to join the [[Order of Saint Benedict|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.<ref>{{cite web | title = "John Main’s Monastic Adventure" | work = Fr. Laurence Freeman, O.S.B. | url = http://www.wccm.org/images/JMMonasticAdvent3.htm | accessdate = 16 November | accessyear = 2006 }}</ref> 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 Fathers|Desert Father]] [[John Cassian]] for the first time.<ref>{{cite web | title = "Silent Teaching: The Life of Dom John Main" | work = Paul T. Harris, Spirituality Today, Vol.40 No. 4, pp. 320-332 | url = http://www.spiritualitytoday.org/spir2day/884043harris.html | accessdate = 16 November | accessyear = 2006 }}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web | title = "John Main’s Monastic Adventure" | work = Fr. Laurence Freeman, O.S.B. | url = http://www.wccm.org/images/JMMonasticAdvent3.htm | accessdate = 16 November | accessyear = 2006 }}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web | title = "John Main’s Monastic Adventure" | work = Fr. Laurence Freeman, O.S.B. | url = http://www.wccm.org/images/JMMonasticAdvent3.htm | accessdate = 16 November | accessyear = 2006 }}</ref> Fr. Main was assisted by Fr. [[Laurence Freeman]], also a Benedictine at Ealing Abbey.<ref>{{cite web | title = "Laurence Freeman, O.S.B." | work = The World Community for Christian Meditation | url = http://www.wccm.org/item.asp?recordid=freeman&pagestyle=default | accessdate = 16 November | accessyear = 2006 }}</ref> In 1977, Fr. Main and Fr. Freeman were sent to establish a new Benedictine monastery in [[Montreal]], Canada.<ref>{{cite web | title = "Silent Teaching: The Life of Dom John Main" | work = Paul T. Harris, Spirituality Today, Vol.40 No. 4, pp. 320-332 | url = http://www.spiritualitytoday.org/spir2day/884043harris.html | accessdate = 16 November | accessyear = 2006 }}</ref> Here, too, they taught Christian meditation groups.<ref>{{cite web | title = "John Main, O.S.B." | work = The World Community for Christian Meditation | url = http://www.wccm.org/item.asp?recordid=johnmain&pagestyle=default | accessdate = 16 November | accessyear = 2006 }}</ref> In 1982, Fr. Main died of cancer. Fr. Freeman continued Fr. Main's work, traveling widely to establish Christian meditation groups across the world. In 1991, these Christian meditation groups were networked together into the World Community for Christian Meditation (WCCM).<ref>{{cite web | title = "Laurence Freeman, O.S.B." | work = The World Community for Christian Meditation | url = http://www.wccm.org/item.asp?recordid=freeman&pagestyle=default | accessdate = 16 November | accessyear = 2006 }}</ref> Each year, the WCCM hosts the John Main Seminar which has been led by Mary McAleese, Huston Smith, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Charles Taylor, William Johnston, Richard Rohr, Joan Chittister, Archbishop Rowan Williams, Bishop Kallistos Ware, Thomas Keating, Bede Griffiths and many others. <ref>{{cite web | title = "John Main Seminar" | work = The World Community for Christian Meditation | url = http://wccm.org/jmsdatelist.asp?pagestyle=jmsdatelist | accessdate = 21 June | accessyear = 2006 }}</ref> ==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.<ref>{{cite web | title = "The Teaching of Dom John Main: How to Meditate" | work = Meditation Group of Saint Patrick's Basilica; Ottawa, Canada | url = http://www.basilica.org/meditationgrp.html | accessdate = 16 November | accessyear = 2006 }}</ref> 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 language|Aramaic]] for "Come, Lord", as in [[First Epistle to the Corinthians|I Corinthians]] 16:22 and [[Book of Revelation|Revelation]] 22:20.<ref>{{cite web | title = "The Teaching of Dom John Main: How to Meditate" | work = Meditation Group of Saint Patrick's Basilica; Ottawa, Canada | url = http://www.basilica.org/meditationgroup.html | accessdate = 16 November | accessyear = 2006 }}</ref> ==Bibliography== Word Into Silence<br> Letters from the Heart<br> Moment of Christ<br> The Present Christ<br> The Heart of Creation<br> Door of Silence<br> The Hunger for Depth and Meaning (and CD's)<br> Communitas Series (10 sets of CD's) ==Footnotes== <div class="references-small"> <references /> </div> ==External links== * [http://www.wccm.org The World Community for Christian Meditation] * [http://www.johnmainprayer.com/ John Main Prayer Association] * [http://www.christianmeditation.us/ John Main Christian Meditation Group San Francisco] * [http://www.meditacioncristiana.com/ Meditacion Cristiana - Hispanoamérica] * [http://www.georgetown.edu/centers/meditation// The John Main Center and inter-religious dialogue, Georgetown University - Founder Father Laurence Freeman] {{Persondata |NAME= Main, John |ALTERNATIVE NAMES= |SHORT DESCRIPTION= |DATE OF BIRTH= |PLACE OF BIRTH= |DATE OF DEATH= |PLACE OF DEATH= }} {{DEFAULTSORT:Main, John}} [[Category:1926 births]] [[Category:1982 deaths]] [[Category:Benedictines]] [[Category:English Roman Catholic priests]] [[Category:English Christian monks]] [[Category:Alumni of Trinity College, Dublin|Main OSB, John]]