Well I am an ex NEW AGER who studied Buddhism & Hinduism etc... in depth and you obviously are still a practitioner of mysticsm which is not in keeping with Biblical Christianity. Thomas Merton and the likes are not who Christ following Christians should be emulating.The current expression of mindfulness draws influence from Eastern teachings. Many of these elements have been adopted by Christians and welcomed into churches and homes. Others have sought to remove the religious traces and present Christianized versions of the same.
The goal of mindfulness is emptying. C.S. Lewis addressed this in The Screwtape Letters. God fills us with His presence. He desires to consume more of us not to leave us gaping without content.
It is nearly impossible for someone to mimic the behaviors of the desert fathers without recognizing the realities of their condition. The separation and isolation coupled with long periods of prayer and fasting are rarely the realities for most. Their spiritual mettle is significantly stronger. Which is why they endured the temptations and spiritual harassments they experienced. Cloistered clergy share similar accounts.
As a former practitioner and student of Buddhism and Hinduism I am very conversant in the subject. Contemplative practices draw many influences from their teachings and Merton traveled East to learn. You’ll encounter the same in New Age and occult practices.
Your views on meditation are not from the Bible.
Where does the scripture said to "empty your mind" and let God fill it? No where, because that is not a Christian practice but one of the heretical pagan spiritual practices which the Bible shows GOD hates.
Rcc & Russian or Eastern Orthodox as well as other modern liberal christian denominations have let in many heresies for eg. But believers are to follow the wisdom & knowledge from the Biblical canon contained in the 66 books ---not from C.S. Lewis or other spiritual writings , that are not the Word of GOD.
The "desert fathers" brought in heresies, gnosticism, mysticism, foreign spiritual pagan practices and are not who should be emulated. Here is what God had to say about these practices in Isaiah 2:
-"O house of Jacob, come and let us walk In the light of the LORD. For You have forsaken Your people, the house of Jacob, Because they are filled with eastern ways; They are soothsayers like the Philistines, And they are pleased with the children of foreigners. Their land is also full of silver and gold, And there is no end to their treasures; Their land is also full of horses, And there is no end to their chariots. Their land is also full of idols; They worship the work of their own hands, That which their own fingers have made. People bow down, And each man humbles himself." Isaiah 2: 5-6
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