Distractions and “Mantra” as a Place in Time

If the flash player does not work, click here to download this mp3 file - approx 8.9 megs, 44.1Hz 16 bit stereo file compressed at 128kbps

This audio file is approx. 9 minutes and thirty seconds long and features Father Chip providing a guided meditation and overview on using mantras to help get centered despite the distracting noises from this wacky world of ours.

Father Chip starts this podcast with a brief overview of what a mantra is and how mantras can help center us before prayer. Father Chip then goes on to discuss how we can heighten the power of mantra by including a visual focus on a particular location in time.

This is a very powerful concept of using location and the power of our respective imaginations to recreate the sight, smells, and other sense information surrounding a location. It was also the first time I’ve ever been exposed to thinking of mantras in this visual manner.

About 2 minutes into the audio, Father Chip provides an example of one of his meditations and mantras that takes us back 2000 years to Good Friday during the late afternoon on Calvary Hill.

I don’t want to spoil the joy and power of his message so you can listen and decide for yourself if including visual sense information works for you.

Speaking for myself, after listening to this awesome meditation, I will never be able to think about Jesus the same way again, and this is a good thing - enjoy!

Just an FYI on Production
The audio was recorded in the Pastor’s office via an AKG c1000s mic fed into a Sony PCM DAT recorder. The audio was then brought into the computer for post scrubbing via Soundforge (e.g., noise reduction, EQ, compression, etc.). The musical bed is a collection of three pieces composed by Chuck Scott on a Korg Triton keyboard that was fed into Sonar were the various levels and volume envelopes were structured in way to support the narration with subtle ambiance.

The photo collage is composed of two pictures - the top is a scene from one of the glorious stain glass windows at Saint Patrick’s Church and the bottom scene is a fire truck going by a crowd during a Fourth of July Fireworks display in Ridgefield CT in 2005. Both photos were taken by Chuck Scott using a digital Canon Rebel with a 350 mm lens.