Meditation is a much-discussed and yet much-misunderstood practice.
Many modern Christians scoff at it because of its ties to Buddhism and because it has been embraced by secular spiritualists in the West as a means of “becoming one with the universe.” But meditation has deep roots in the Judeo-Christian faith and thus a legitimate place in the Christian lifestyle as a way of being close to the one true God.
Depending on the Bible translation you read, “meditate” and “meditation” appear throughout the Scriptures. In Genesis 24:63, Isaac “went out to the field one day to meditate,” and in Joshua 1:8 it says, “do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it.”
The Book of Psalms is thick with references to “meditation,” perhaps the most familiar being Psalm 19:14: “May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.” In 1 Timothy 4:15, Paul instructs Timothy to “meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting may appear to all.”
In these verses, meditation implies thinking, learning, studying, even praying. But true meditation is much simpler than those practices, and yet its goal is a much deeper communion with God.
The Eastern tradition of meditation, as practiced by Western spiritualists, actually strives to clear the mind of conscious thought. The person meditating sits quietly and concentrates on nothing more than the feeling of air entering and leaving their nostrils. If thoughts begin to form, they refocus on breathing until the distraction goes away. Later when they’ve mastered the technique, they focus on a single word – a “mantra.” By doing so, they block out the rest of the world and reach a deeper level within themselves.
Christian meditation applies the same technique but with a notable difference: Rather than seeking self-centeredness, the goal is God-centeredness. The practice was rediscovered in the 1970s from 14th century monastic writings. Today it often is referred to as “contemplative meditation” and begins with what is called “centering prayer.”
Centering prayer begins by finding a still, quiet place. One sits in a comfortable manner with eyes closed and begins thinking about a single sacred word such as Lord, Jesus, Abba, Father, love, peace. Some suggest “maranatha,” broken into four evenly paced syllables – ma-ra-na-tha. The word is Aramaic, the language Christ spoke, and it means “Come, Lord Jesus.” Paul ends 1 Corinthians with it, and John does the same in Revelation.
The chosen word is recited quietly and continuously but with no effort to think about God, visualize God or talk to God. The purpose of contemplative meditation is to be with God and the Holy Spirit in a still, silent and attentive way, to move beyond all thoughts and just be. If thoughts, even spiritual thoughts, enter the mind, the meditator returns concentration to the single word. A minimum of 20 minutes is recommended, and twice a day – first thing in the morning and then in the afternoon or early evening.
Contemplative meditation has many benefits, but they are personal and can’t be easily measured. On a spiritual level, it opens the heart and mind to a union with God that is deeper than thoughts and emotions. On a psychological level, it provides a temporary release from the troubles and stresses we carry around with us. And that release even benefits the physical body.
Thomas Keating, a prominent teacher of contemplative meditation, calls these multifaceted benefits “divine therapy.” Contemplative meditation sounds as easy as just sitting down and being still, but it is difficult. The obvious challenge is to find a time and place to be quiet in a culture where we measure success by the tasks we’ve completed and the conversations we’ve had.
A common pitfall is a desire to evaluate and perfect the technique while meditating, and that is counter-productive. The key to meditation is to clear the mind of all thoughts – including thoughts about the experience.
As pastor and theologian Henri Nouwen is quoted in Renewed for Life: “It is not easy to enter into the silence and reach beyond the many boisterous and demanding voices of our world and discover there the small intimate voice saying: ‘You are my Beloved Child, on you my favor rests.’ Still, if we dare to embrace our solitude and befriend our silence, we will come to know that voice. I do not want to suggest that one day you will hear that voice with your bodily ears. I am not speaking about a hallucinatory voice, but about a voice that can be heard by the ear of faith, the ear of the inner heart.”