Chapter 52: The oratory of the monastery

The oratory must be simply a place of prayer, as the name itself implies, and it must not be used for any other activities at all nor as a place for storage of any kind. (From Ch. 52 of Saint Benedict's Rule, trans. by Patrick Barry, OSB, 1997.)

The mantra is like a broom that sweeps away the debris of my inner space. This broom clears the way of poverty, a path of dispossession, that leads to purity of heart. The mantra takes me deeper and deeper, pushing aside psychological baggage, bringing me closer to my source.