Franny and Zooey

by J.D. Salinger

‘The Way of a Pilgrim.’”

“Well, the starets tells him about the Jesus Prayer first of all. ‘Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me.’ I mean that’s what it is. And he explains to him that those are the best words to use when you pray.

then eventually what happens, the prayer becomes self-active. Something happens after a while. I don’t know what, but something happens, and the words get synchronized with the person’s heartbeats, and then you’re actually praying without ceasing.

when you first start doing it, you don’t even have to have faith in what you’re doing.