Thomas Merton, Roman Catholic Trappist monk (1915-68) was one of the greatest proponents of "inter-spirituality" in modern history. He believed that the pursuit of a mystical life was the key to meaning, as well as unity, between people.
He was right then. He's still right today.
I'm a Christian by heritage and by choice. But I'm also a proponent of all spiritual traditions and so I encourage "interspirituality," too. I do so for two reasons: One, as I learn the practices of other traditions, the practice of my own takes on more meaning. How could you ever read, for example, the love poems of the Rumi, the Sufi poet, and not be deeply moved?
Two, if history has taught us anything, it is that there will never be just one religion. Huston Smith made this point abundantly clear years ago in his classic, The World's Religions. The longer a religion is around, the more diverse it will become.
Even people in the same religion disagree and so divide. Today, for example, there are approximately 20,000 different denominations within Christianity alone. In Hinduism, there may be twice that many. Given more time, Christianity will only become more diverse and divided, too.
When I came to this awareness, I decided to spend the rest of my life, not trying to convert everyone to Christianity, but instead seeking to create an environment of cooperativeness between all traditions. I even designed a Unity pendant that, while resembling others I had seen over the years, expressed for me the essence of my ambition. Shortly after creating it, however, I discovered that I was not alone -- that many others shared a similar vision for the world. I cannot imagine the survival of the human species is possible outside an environment of mutual respect and cooperation.
Here I note, as I have in previous posts, two additional things I've learned from the spiritual masters of various traditions.
I'm learning the importance of meditation. My own tradition has mistakenly taught that meditation is an eastern practice and that Christians pray instead. What many do not know, however, is that meditation is the highest form of Christian prayer, too.
Regrettably, most Christians are taught to pray the way Aladdin rubbed the lamp to release a genie to grant his wish. Meditation, however, transforms this limited perspective on prayer. Instead of prayer being the recitation of one's wishes, meditation brings one into alignment with Life itself. It silences the mental noise, enabling the nurture of a quiet, trustful heart instead. This is why the Buddha said, "The greatest meditation is a mind that lets go," which is, of course, what Christians mean by "trust."
Meditation awakens you to life itself. Pema Chodron, the Buddhist monk, said, "We don't meditate to become good meditators; we meditate to become more awake." This present moment becomes more real through meditation; the past and the future less significant, which is why Jesus said, "Take no thought of tomorrow..." (Matt. 6:34).
St. Paul said, "Pray without ceasing" (1 Thess. 5:17). You could only ever do this through the art of meditation. This explains why the Benedictine monks practice it daily. Jesus said, "When you pray do not be like the hypocrites who pray in public," (Matt. 6:5). Yet, most churches are obsessed with the practice of public prayer and too often at the expense of private prayer, silence, or meditation. "When you pray," instructed Jesus, "go into your closet..." (Matt. 6:6). This was his way of saying, "Go into the inner world -- that is, meditate in that world where the real Kingdom exists (Luke 17:21).
The benefits of meditation and prayer have been well documented in recent years. But, as Christiane Northrup has observed, "It's most unfortunate that for people in the West, the only acceptable form of meditation is still hospitalization."
I'm learning how to live in space, not time. That is to say, I'm learning how not to be bound by clock time. For example, I don't wear a timepiece anymore and for two reasons. One, I have a clock on my smart phone. Two, whenever I feel the need to know what time it is, I am reminded to be more conscious of space itself, out of which all time emerges.
For much of my life I've had a fascination with the stars and planets. In recent years, however, I've become more keenly aware of the emptiness out of which all heavenly bodies appear. In other words, I'm infinitely more fascinated today by the infinity of emptiness itself. Space is more of nothing than it is of anything, if that makes sense.
Now, I know almost nothing about the cosmos or Einstein's theory of relativity and even less about quantum theory. But what I do know is that I live with a profound awareness of nothing. I cannot explain this and I realize how subjective it is. But, for me, the greatest mystery, as well as paradox, of human existence is that space may be the place of grace. When you are aware of nothing, you may have tapped into the reservoir of eternal wisdom.
Could this be what St. Paul meant? "Fix your attention not on things seen, but on things unseen. For what is seen lasts only for a time; what is unseen is eternal" (2 Cor. 4:18).
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This sounds like it could have been written by a Hindu teacher to me:
"The shadows of this world are perceived by mortals, and they think they know the Truth, but the Reality which casts the shadows is hidden from them, and they do not perceive the Light." (Sayings 2:2).
Another thing.. What does being saved have to do with engaging in meditation? Man is saved simply by believing in six or seven logically impossible phenomenon, justified by a logically impossible God. So, Christian contemplation is by necessity mysterious! You are always left with a question mark in terms of logic. This is WHY they are called "Christian mysteries" or why the truth is referred to as "the great mystery" in the Christian Contemplative tradition. There are no mysteries with regards to truth in Buddhism. The truth is the non-intuitive, non-spiritual, non-mysterious fact validated by logic, which can ultimately be confirmed by direct valid experience. This is miles apart from Christian contemplation.
A Christian can empty the mind, detach from the ego, to gain a deeper understanding of the teachings of Jesus in the same way a Buddhist may use meditation and the teachings of the Buddha as a guide for living. Not many Christians practice meditation but the article makes a good case that it could enhance the religion.
Although I agree such meditative trainings COULD deepen Christian spiritual practice, there is no Biblical justification or guidance for that kind of training. Fact is, if you are a Christian seeking religious advice from other spiritual traditions, you are lacking faith in God, Bible, teachings of Jesus Christ, and teachings of his disciples. If meditation was necessary - critical - to being saved.. don't you think GOD ON EARTH would have mentioned it? Don't you think he would have left behind very clear, concise, logical instructions for how to practice it? Again, he did none of these things.
To be Christian one should: 1. Have faith 2. Study/contemplate the bible 3. Pray to God and Jesus 4. Follow God's ethical commandments 5. Live through grace or the holy spirit. No. 1 is all that is required to be "Saved." Single-pointed concentration as described by both Hindu thought and Buddhist thought, and certainly, non-conceptual analytic meditation described by Buddhism are not part of nor can they be justified within the Christian faith - strictly speaking.
As a side note, the "supernatural" capabilities gained by meditation are completely natural, and an accepted part of the path of meditative training in both Hindu and Buddhist thought. The difference is, that in Buddhist thought these are not emphasized as being important or necessary to you being freed from suffering. Indeed, they are correctly labeled in Buddhist thought as "huge diversions" or "crevasse-like diversions" from real training. If you get roped in by the prospect of gaining extra-ordinary capabilities of mind in terms of clairvoyances etc, you have made a giant error.
You have an opportunity to fix problems which you mind has had forever, in this very life! Right now, you can put a permanent end to old age, sickness, and death. Instead, you are busy trying to gain slightly better mental senses. Those slightly better mental senses are highly temporary, and are nothing when compared with the Full Freedom and Knowledge that can be attained by a liberated and unobstructed mind (the Nirvanic mind and Enlightened mind, respectively).
There is no such thing as a "Christian meditative tradition," in the Buddhist sense of the word. There is, however, a Christian meditative tradition in the sense of "sitting still, calming the mind from its normal activity, and entering free form thought about Christian mysteries."
On the other hand, there is no such thing as a set of instructions in Christianity which expressly covers the necessary information required to enter into deep single-pointed concentration (Shamatha). Secondly, there is no express information on how to USE that single-pointed concentration, even if it was attained (Vipassana).
The fact that you can make your mind slightly more quiet and your emotions somewhat more under control, or that things seem more stark or "real" to you when you do so... does not match ANY definition of meditation in Buddhism. Those types of experiences are preliminary, and do not lead anywhere without proper instructions.
"When you are aware of nothing, you may have tapped into the reservoir of eternal wisdom." If everything is fundamentally nothing - if that is the deep reality - why do you get up in the morning? You have just negated reality.