does eastern meditation empty the mind

8/8/2019 Does Eastern Meditation Empty the Mind

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Does Eastern Meditation Empty the Mind?

By Christopher J Boozell http://www.TantricChrisitianity.com

Ive lost track of the number of articles Ive

read trumpeting the difference between

Eastern meditation and Christian meditation.

Setting completely aside the writers trying to

scare readers with foolish notions about

becoming possessed (or at least open to

demonic influence) as a result of meditation,

there seem to be two primary claims aboutthe supposed difference between Eastern

and Christian meditation.

1. Equating Eastern meditation and New Age meditation.

Its true that most of current New Age thought and

terminology was taken directly from Hinduism and Buddhism

(with some healthy chunks of Christian angelology added),but the translation from these well developed spiritual

cultures into New Ages fairly loose philosophy has been

sloppy. Reincarnation, karma, and ethics all foundational

notions for both Hinduism and Buddhism each suffered

rather badly in the process. The idea of meditation fared no

better. In place of techniques aimed at reforming how the

meditator relates to the Absolute, the world, and even

themselves, New Age proponents suggest day dreaming as a

way to change the world (a la the Secret), or trance

induction techniques aimed at theme park style experiences

(out of body travel and so on).

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Bottom line: there is no good analogy between Eastern

meditation techniques and New Age fluff.

2. Eastern meditations goal is to empty the mind, while

Christian meditation fills the mind with the Word ofGod. This comparison reveals a fairly deep ignorance about

both the method and the effect of meditation. Meditation,

regardless of the culture we see it in, relies on two skills:

placing our attention on some chosen point of focus and

watching our mental activity to catch ourselves when our

attention wanders.

There is no emptying or filling just directing your attention

with purpose instead of the random wander we usually allowour thoughts. Regardless of whether we are focusing on our

breath or a selection from the Gospels, meditation is

meditation and you no more empty your mind by

meditating than you empty your voice box when you stop

talking and pay attention to a conversation partner.

While both claims are obviously mistaken, I wouldnt be too

worried about them if it werent for one thing: such inaccurate

claims run the risk of misleading folks who really want and need

additional ways to cultivate their relationship with our Father.

Confusing them with talk of emptying their minds or scaring them

off with talk about New Age goofiness provides no help at all.

Of course, there IS a substantial difference between Eastern

meditation and Christian meditation: the goal. Christian

meditation is specifically aimed at developing our relationship

with the Trinity (specifically with Jesus the Christ) while Buddhistmeditation focuses on developing clear insight into the nature of

reality (shunyata) and Hindu meditation looks for a realization of

union between the meditator and Brahma. Clearly, each is

incompatible with the others, but any

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method of meditation is Christian so long as the firm goal is

cultivating openness to Gods embrace.

So as a faithful Christian hoping to foster a more direct

relationship with Abba, take heart. You can do so without fear ofcompromising that faith. If you would like to learn more about

how to take this path, go to theTantric Christianity website and

sign up for the free mini-course on meditation. The information

presented in that course will give you everything you need to get

started!

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does eastern meditation empty the mind

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