Is Meditation For Christians?

Continued from yesterday…

How can your unconscious mind be renovated with a new reality based on your true self? How can you awaken in your heart to divine love?

According to David, the shepherd who became King in Israel, meditation was the way to commune with your heart. “Meditate within your heart…and be still,” writes David.

Much of what we know about meditation is thanks largely to what we have learned from eastern religions. But what many in Western Christianity don’t know is that meditation was also central in the Bible. While there are more than 20 mentions of meditation, there are also a considerable number of indirect references.

Paul wrote about the eyes of the heart (also translated as the deep mind) being enlightened, implying that the imagination was involved in shining the light of love in our non-conscious mind.

In another letter, he encouraged the people of Colossae to set their hearts on the invisible realm of God because it would lead to putting off the old man (the egocentric self ) and putting on the new man (Christ). The outcome would be a Christ-centric perception, where everything is Christ.

Throughout the history of Christianity, we have seen meditative or contemplative practices used as a means to be transformed. For example, Friar John Main emphasized centered prayer by focusing on a word or a short phrase until the presence of God filled one’s heart.

Many Christian mystics—such as St. Ignatius, Guigo II, Teresa of Avila, and Thomas Merton—all emphasized contemplative practices on God’s love as a way to become aware of oneness with God.

Continued tomorrow…

Adapted from Section 3 of Awakening To I Am Love by David Youngren