centering prayer and eastern meditation

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Centering prayer and Eastern meditation.

There has been heated debate for many years as to whether Christianand Eastern meditation are

essentially the same. Let us, therefore,examine the evidence.

Eastern meditation

Eastern meditation originated in Hinduism between 1800 and 1000years B.C., and in Buddhism

with Siddharta Gautama 566--486 B.C.,revered as the Buddha, "the Awakened One." It teaches that

astate of enlightenment and the end of suffering, Nirvana, is reachedonly by meditation and

following the path of righteousness. Meditationinvolves four steps: find a quiet place; close your

eyes; pick any word;and say it again and again. This word is called a 'mantra'.The aim is to

transcend thoughts and feelings, to enter an altered levelof consciousness, and to move into pure

consciousness, which is theintuition of your true Self, and thus find the god-centre or god-

energy.

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Eastern meditation became popular in the West in the 1960s with theadvent of the Transcendental

Meditation movement, founded in India in1957 by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and popularized by the

Beatles. It offereda program of daily meditation using a mantra as a method of relaxation.Today, it

is offered in two varieties, one with a traditional religiousemphasis, and the other with an emphasis

on nonreligious Easternmeditation.

Advantages of Eastern meditation include lower levels of cortisol,the stress hormone, a longer life

span, less anxiety, and a decrease inblood cholesterol. (1) Adverse side effects, however, are many.

In onestudy long-time meditators encountered problems in 62.9% of cases and7.4% had

profoundly adverse effects. These included anxiety or panic,tension, pain, confusion, desperation,

guilt, delusions, hallucinations,and suicidal feelings. (2) There exists an association between

Easternmeditation and seizure-like activities.

These are described in the Merck Manual as complex partialepileptic-like signs. (3) Staring, making

unintelligible sounds, mentalconfusion, hearing one's name called, and religious phenomenology

were particularly frequent among the meditators. All of these symptomswere more frequent in those

who spent a greater number of yearspractising meditation. (4)

Christian Prayer

In Christian prayer, we use our minds and hearts. The Catechism ofthe Catholic Church makes no

mention of mantras or of altered levels ofconsciousness (# 2559 and #2758) and says that some

people view prayeras an effort of concentration to reach a mental void (#2726). Christianprayer is

of two types, vocal and mental. The former uses pre-determinedwords, the latter is spontaneous.

Prayer is a "Gift of grace"(#2713). Pope John Paul II referred to St. Teresa of Avila who in herlife

had rejected the temptation of certain methods that proposedleaving aside the humanity of Christ

in favour of a vague self-immersionin the abyss of Divinity.

In October, 1989, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith stated in a document entitled Letterto the Bishops of the CatholicChurch on some aspects of Christian meditation, "with the

presentdiffusion of Eastern methods of meditation in the Christian world and inecclesial



communities, we find ourselves faced with a pointed renewal ofan attempt which is not free from

dangers and errors, to fuse Christianmeditation with that which is not Christian ... Some use

Eastern methodssolely as a psycho-physical preparation for a true Christiancontemplation; others

go further and, ... using different techniques,try to generate spiritual experiences similar to those

described in thewritings of certain Catholic mystics." They gave as an example,"The Cloud of

Unknowing" a spiritual work by an anonymouswriter of the fourteenth century.

Christian prayer has shown documented health benefits, greater lifesatisfaction, less Yoga death

anxiety, and lower rates of alcohol disorder.(5) The benefits also included perceived improved

ability to cope withstress, lower rates of depression, lower rates of suicide, and

improvedfunctional ability in chronic illness. (6) No information was availableabout adverse side

effects of Christian prayer.

Centering Prayer

Centering prayer was introduced in St. Joseph's Abbey, aTrappist monastery, in Spencer,

Massachusetts in the twenty years between 1961 and 1981, when Buddhist and Hindu

representatives and a Zenmaster gave weeklong retreats to the monks during which time

ThomasKeating was Abbot. The guidelines for Centering Prayer are: choose asacred word; ignore

all thoughts and feelings; if a thought comes back,return to the sacred word; keep practising until

all thoughts andfeelings disappear. You have then reached a stage of "pureconsciousness" that is

supposed to put you in direct contact withGod. Another prominent advocate for centering prayer

was Abbot M. BasilPennington, O.L.S.O., who died on June 3, 2005.

Similarities of Centering Prayer and Transcendental meditation:

* Both use a twenty minute meditation

* Both use a mantra to erase all thoughts and feelings

* Both teach that, in this meditation, you pick up"vibrations"

* Both have the common goal of finding God at the centre of yourbeing (7)

Mantra

A mantra is used in Eastern meditation to empty the mind of allthoughts and feelings in order to

reach a mental void of 'pureconsciousness', an altered level of consciousness, with the purposeof

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finding God at the centre. Father Keating in his book Invitation toLove says that repetition of a

sacred word in Centering Prayer is not amantra. He tells us that a repeated word is used "not as

aparapsychological experience, but an exercise in faith, hope, andselfless love." (8)

The author of The Cloud of Unknowing, writing about contemplativeprayer, said, "Then why is this

work so toilsome? The labour, ofcourse, is in the unrelenting struggle to banish the

countlessdistracting thoughts that plague our minds, and restrain them beneaththat cloud of

forgetting of which I spoke earlier." (9) While theauthor of The Cloud described the labour needed

to "banish"one's thoughts, Keating says that this should not be a task; onesimply lets them go. The

sacred word is always used with greatgentleness. (10) Perhaps then, the use of a sacred word in

CenteringPrayer, is a mantra, and a very effective one.

Christian prayer is an active process, involving personalcommunication between an individual and

God. Christian meditation isalso an active process, but does not involve personal communication.

Itinvolves contemplation on the mysteries of God illuminated by the truthsof the Faith. It is not

Centering Prayer, since it involves theelimination of thoughts, a negative process and is, therefore,

notconsistent with true Christian meditation.

Cosmic Energy

Father Keating, speaks of 'Energy Centers', and believesthat the body has energy centers called

"chakras." (11) Healso states that "As you go to a deeper level of reality, you beginto pick up

vibrations that were there all the time but were notperceived." (12) Father Pennington speaks of

"energies flowingup and down the spinal system." This 'energy' is called'prana' and, in the Hindu

religion, is thought of as anemanation of consciousness, from Brahman, the Hindu god. The

energyreleased at creation is called Kundalini, and lies coiled up at the baseof the spine. Itspurpose is to arouse the energy 'prana', avibrational phenomenon, and cause it to rise up through

increasinglysubtle 'chakras' until union with god is achieved. (13)

Father Keating holds that "According to quantum physics,various levels of material energy can

occupy the same physical space atthe same time. In similar fashion, the divine energy can be at

work inus at all levels that cannot be perceived at all ... The divine energyflows into us ... available

twenty-four hours a day at a maximumstrength.... There remains a further energy ... what

theologians callthe Beatific Vision ... This is the energy that lights the universe andforms the

whirling nebulae." (14) Fathers Pennington and Keatingboth seem to conflate the quantum

mechanical theory in the science ofphysics with 'prana', 'the divine life force'posited by the Hindureligion and the grace of God, and even theBeatific Vision.

The True Self

At the end of Centering Prayer you reach a point at which you areaware that "If at that point you

can lose awareness that you areaware of no thoughts, you will move into pure consciousness."

This,Father Keating holds, is an intuition of the true Self, that in turn, isthe same as God. "God

and our true Self are not separate. Though weare not God, God and our true Self are the same

thing." (15) Heexplains elsewhere that he means only that we find God at the centre ofour being,

by stating that "We might conceive of God as at ourdeepest center and our true Self as a circlearound it." (Intimacywith God, p. 80). He also said "when you sit down to prayer, yourwhole

psyche gathers itself and melts into God." (16) This conceptof God is gnostic and pantheistic.



In defence of Centering Prayer

Father Murchadh O'Madagain, a priest who lives in Galway,Ireland, has made a vigorous defence of

Centering Prayer. He defends theavoidance by Keating and others of the use of non-traditional

spirituallanguage, a language that many people find off-putting. These authorsdecided, he said, to

use more modern language to give explanations interms of psychology rather than spirituality,

because they thought thatthis would be more appealing to people who have a perceived idea

ofprayer and contemplative life as something only for the"cloister."

To the criticism that Centering Prayer attempts to make the mind goblank, he replies that it is a

means to help a person to be silent andnot distracted by thoughts. Centering Prayer, he says, is not

atechnique that can cause contemplative love; instead, it disposed one tobe more receptive to

contemplation. In answer to objections to thestatement that "God and the True Self are the same

thing",Father O'Madagain says that Father Keating maintains that at thedeepest centre of

ourselves, we will find the divine presence; he doesnot claim that the one is the same as the

other.

To the objection that Centering Prayer proponents define originalsin as "a way of describing the

human condition, which is theuniversal experience of coming to full reflective self

consciousnesswithout the certitude of personal union with God," FatherO'Madagain agrees that it

is not the traditional way in whichoriginal sin is identified. This new definition, he says, does not

waterdown the definition of original sin in order to make it more acceptable.It is, rather, he

claims, a different way of explaining it.

Father O'Madagain denies that the intention of CenteringPrayer is to bring one to the centre of

one's being, but rather, tobe present to God. He admits that the language used by Father Keating

isvery similar to that used in New Age circles when he speaks of"energies of the unconscious,

higher levels of consciousness,trans-personal psychology, and the presence of the divine withineachperson." He replies that it is the Holy Spirit who brings aboutthis work within us and that we

must rely completely on grace.

He admits that Centering Prayer shares with most forms of Easternmeditation the idea of reducing

the intake of sensible information to aminimum. Our thoughts are minimized by the sacred word in

CenteringPrayer and by focusing on breathing in Zen, so that we can just"be" and, more

specifically, in Christian meditation, "bepresent to God." The difference, he says, between the two

practicesis in the intention. In Zen, it is essentially to purify the mind inorder to reach

enlightenment. With Centering Prayer on the other hand,there is no attempt to "achieve" anything.

It is simply amethod to be open to God so that his action may purify us and bring usto union withhim.

Father O'Madagain significantly, however, gives no answer tothe problem posed to Father Keating

and Father Pennington'sfrequent reference to "energy, vibration, and the Kundilini."These are

references to aspects of a pantheistic Hindu godhead.

Spiritual danger

David D. Smithson, MD, warns of the danger of Eastern meditation."A concern with having the

mind go 'blank' with clearingout all thoughts, emotions and perceptions, is that it could placeoneat spiritual risk ... To practice Eastern meditation, however passively,takes one into an

unprotected spiritual void ... that is, a void thatcould be potentially dangerous and spiritually risky.

It is without thesupernatural guidance of Christ." (17) Father John Dreher says thatthe dangers of



Centering Prayer include the possibility of openingoneself to evil spirits. A person with a problem in

a moral orpsychological area can open himself to some degree of demonic influence.(18)

Pope Benedict XVI, on the occasion of the twentieth anniversary ofthe Interreligious Meeting of

Prayer for Peace at Assisi held in 1986,said that it is important not to forget that the attention paid

to thatmeeting did not lend itself to a concession to relativism in religiousbeliefs. The Church also

teaches that "Many people are convincedthat there is no harm in 'borrowing' from the wisdom of

theEast, but the example of Transcendental Meditation should makeChristians cautious about the

prospect of committing themselves toanother religion (in the case of Hinduism), despite what

TranscendentalMeditation's promoters claim about its religious neutrality."(19)

Comment

The decision whether or not to practise Centering Prayer will haveto be made by each person with

great prudence. On balance, taking intoaccount the facts and arguments, and also the potential

risks tophysical, psychological, and spiritual welfare and keeping in mind someof the strange

statements of Fathers Keating and Pennington about"vibrations," chakras, etc., it would appear

that becominginvolved is not without serious risk. "God is not identified withthe Life-principle

understood as 'spirit' or 'basicenergy' of the cosmos, but the love which is absolutely differentfrom

the world, and yet creatively present in everything, and leadinghuman beings to salvation." (20)

Contemplative prayer should, perhaps be practised by more peoplethan it is at present. That said,

perhaps the advice of St. Teresa ofAvila to her nuns should be followed: "To prepare for

contemplationby living a virtuous life, and then to pray in the normal Christian way,using the mind

and the heart. If God so wishes, He will take a personinto contemplation." (21)

Green Sisters

"Green Sisters" are Catholic nuns working to "healthe earth" as they "cultivate new forms of

religiousculture" and seek a "deeper understanding of the connectionsbetween women, religion,

ecology, and culture." These facts arequoted from an interview of Sarah McFarland, author of

Green Sisters. ASpiritual Ecology, Harvard University Press, 2007.

The Sisters' core principle is that God and the cosmos arefused. That belief is the error of atheism,

specifically condemned byPope Pius IX, in the Syllabus of Errors. Their network includes Sistersof

St. Joseph, of Loretto, of Charity, and of Notre Dame. For them,Jesus is "... embodied in the

cosmos", and He suffers another"Passion" in the "wasting of the planet." They havesubstituted

many 'meditation trails' for the Stations of theCross, in which the events of the Passion of Our Lordare replaced by'labyrinths' and 'cosmic walks.' In these venues onelearns of the 'Passion of the

Earth' that enables us to'see' that there is no finite created world, only anever-expanding universe,

constantly changing, of which humanity isinseparably a part.

The Turtle Island Project

Dr. George Cairns, a minister of the United Church of Christ, and aprofessor at the Chicago

Theological Seminary, has been a promoter ofCentering Prayer since 1986. He was taught

Centering Prayer by FatherThomas Keating, the Trappist monk who had developed that form of

prayerin the 1970s. Cairns is also co-founder of the Turtle Island Project, anorganization thatpromotes concern for the environment, "NorthAmerican Theology," and inter-faith prayer based on

the "earthbased cultures" of the Celts, Native Americans, and indigenouspeoples."



Dr. Cairns also speaks of the "interpenetration of allcreation itself ... we are part of all creation, and

all creation ispart of us."

References:

(1.) Rosenfeld, Isadore, Dr. Rosenfeld's Guide to AlternativeMedicine, New York: Random House,

1996.

(2.) Kutz, I., et al, "Meditation and Psychotherapy: ARationale for the Integration of Dynamic

Psychotherapy, the RelaxationResponse and Mindfulness Meditation." American Journal

ofPsychiatry, 142 (1985a) : 1-8.

(3.) Merck Manual, 17th edition, Merck and Co., 1999.

(4.) Persinger, Michael A., "Transcendental Meditation and ageneral meditation were associated

with enhanced complex partialepileptic-like signs: evidence for 'cognitive kindling'?"Perceptual

and Motor Skills.

(5.) Markides, K.S., "Aging, Religiosity, and Adjustment: ALongitudinal Analysis." Journal of

Gerontology, 38 (1983), Koenig,H. G. et al., "Religious practices and alcoholism in a southernadult

population." Hospital and Community Psychiatry, 45.3 (1994);Koenig, H. g. et al., "Religious

behaviors and death anxiety inlater life." The Hospice Journal 4:1 (1988): 3-24.

(6.) Koenig, H.G. et al., Is Religion Good for your Health? TheEffects of Religion on Physical and

Mental Health. New York: theHayworth Pastoral Press, 1997.

(7.) Anne Feaster, "A Closer Look at Centering Prayer; Is itReally Christian Contemplation or a Step

into Hindu Prayer?"Http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html

(8.) Thomas Keating, The Method of Centering Prayer, The Prayer ofConsent, (pamphlet).

(9.) Murchadh O'Madagain, Centering Prayer and the Healing ofthe Unconscious, p. 108.

(10.) Ibid. p.109.

(11.) Thomas Keating, Invitation to Love, p. 125.

(12.) Finbarr Flanagan, "Centering Prayer, TranscendentalMeditation for the Christian Market:Faith and Renewal, May/June, 1991.Quoting Thomas Keating, Finding Grace at the Center, Mass:

St.Bede's Publications, 1978, p. 20.

(13.) Basil Pennington, Awake in the Spirit, 1995, p. 93.

(14.) Thomas Keating, Intimacy With God--The Deepening Experienceof Centering Prayer. Chapter

9, part 1.

(15.) Thomas Keating, Open Mind, Open Heart, p. 2.

(16.) See reference #9.

(17.) David G. Smithson, MD, Prayer or Mantra? A contrast betweenChristian Prayer and Eastern



Meditation, 2006. Seventy-ThreePublications. Shawnee Missions. Kansas, pp. 71-2.

(18.) Rev. John D. Dreher, "The Danger of CenteringPrayer", This Rock, Nov. 1997. Published by

Catholic Answers,http://www.catholic.com

(19.) Jesus Christ The Bearer of the Water of Life, A ChristianReflection on the "New Age".

Pontifical Council for Culture,Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, Feb. 3, 2003. n.

3,4,5.

(20.) Ibid. n. 4.

(21.) See reference #7.

Dr. John Shea is Catholic Insight's medical/bioethicalcontributer. He lives in Toronto, Ontario.

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