On Meditation

Introduction

    Once again, this article is brought to you by social media.  A reformed Christian friend of mine on Facebook recently said that all meditation is Hindu/Buddhist religion.  This is an ignorant statement, and so I am here to explain why.

What is Meditation?

    Per Wikipedia, meditation is "a practice where an individual uses a technique - such as mindfulness, or focusing the mind on a particular object, thought, or activity - to train attention and awareness, and achieve a mentally clear and emotionally calm and stable state."  Don't bother complaining about Wikipedia at this point: they have enough sources and their definition is clear enough that it's not worth launching into days of scholarly research just to come to the same conclusion.

    Note in this definition that the center point is focusing the mind to achieve mental and emotional clarity.  It is this part of the definition that we will address.

Can Meditation Be Part Of Non-Christian Religions?

    Are there some meditation forms that are based in non-Christian religions?  You bet.  Buddism is probably the most recognizable and prominent religion associated with meditation.  In a paper I wrote for my bachelor's degree, I studied Buddism and found that they often meditate in order to become one with the universe and/or eradicate suffering (sin).  I don't have time to post this article either, but I interviewed local Buddhist monks and asked them questions about how they meditate, so this is not only from books but from interview sources that wish to remain anonymous.

Can Meditation Be Part Of Christianity?

    Can meditation be part of Christianity?  You bet.  The Bible tells us repeatedly to meditate.  One such verse, Psalm 4:4, tells us to meditate instead of sinning in anger.  If you look at the original word,  אָמַר, it is a primitive root which means to "mutter."  You may then ask, what type of meditation do Christians perform?

    First, Christians perform meditation through prayer: we are focusing on God, bringing our petitions to Him:

6 Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses every thought, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

    We bring our requests to God in prayer, and then the peace of God guards our hears and minds.  Mental and emotional clarity and stability.  I am saying that meditation is a broad concept, and we technically are doing so when we pray, especially when we just sit in prayer and don't say anything to God.

    Wikipedia records other forms of Christian meditation.  The rosary and other prayer beads are technically a form of meditation.  Finally, also not listed by the Wikipedia article is Lectio Divina, a contemplative way of reading the Bible that dates back to at least Saint Benedict.

Can Atheists Meditate?

    Yes, atheists can also meditate, which further proves that meditation is not exclusively a religious or spiritual technique.  One of these is called mindfulness.  If you recall that scene in Forest Gump where Forest is sitting on a park bench, quiet and by himself, he is practicing a form of mindfulness meditation.  Mindfulness is merely focusing on the present moment in time.  It works well not only for soldiers but also for healing problems like addiction and stress (anxiety).  I taught new employees resilience skills such as mindfulness meditation, and it helped them with their stress.  In addition, mindfulness meditation helped me with my own brain healing through addiction, though I did it in a mainly Christian way (i.e. begin with prayer and then stay present in prayer).

Summary

    So now you know that, while meditation can be spiritual or religious in a non-Christian way, it is a broad concept that can be used in a Christian way as well as in a non-religious manner.

    So if your pastor or Christian friend says or implies that meditation is "only" an eastern religion (Hindu, Buddhist, etc.) art form, you know better.  If your pastor says this, gently take him aside and show him this article.  If your pastor persists in teaching that meditation is "only" an eastern religious practice, confront him about being a false teacher and show him Scripture (hint: there is more than one Scripture about meditation).  If he still will not listen, find another church.

    I say that because there is a cancer in Christendom and it's called toxic churches.  Preaching that teaches lies tends to find itself in churches that are toxic.  It's time Christianity cut off the cancerous growths of toxic churches so that the healthy shoots may appear.

    This may sound harsh, but trust me, it's better to move churches than stay.  I've had extensive experience with toxic churches, and trust me, this toxicity you see is only on the surface: there is almost always more toxicity and corruption lying under the surface.  Better to move away before the real tragedy/tragedies occur.