Meditation/Contemplation

[Akita Suggagaki]

Some methods have been around a very long time. What have you used? Was it helpful. Do you still use it?

 

[public hermit]

I have kept a practice of centering prayer ("recollection" as some medieval contemplatives called it, e.g. Francisco de Osuna) and I have prayed a mitigated version of the Jesus Prayer consistently since around 2020. For years, I had tried to establish a practice, but the pandemic allowed me the space and time to do it. I wish someone had taught me these practices earlier (and that I had practiced them). There's a lot I would like to say. Maintaining a practice has taken my faith to another level. God is much more an experience for me than a concept, now. It wasn't always like that for me. And, at this point, there's nothing more I'd rather do than sit in the stillness and silence of God. I now understand why the Rhine mystics used courtly love language because it can feel like new love. There can be a longing and desire that is both satisfied and yet persists. You know how it is when you are in a new love and that other person constantly comes to mind and everything reminds you of them? It can be like that. I love God, and all I had to do was give God my undivided attention and shut up.

 

[zippy2006]

Some methods have been around a very long time. What have you used? Was it helpful. Do you still use it?

Given that you made this thread in "Hobbies, Interests & Entertainment > Fitness, Health & Nutrition," are you thinking about physical and mental health when you ask whether it was helpful?

 

[Maria Billingsley]

Some methods have been around a very long time. What have you used? Was it helpful. Do you still use it?

After a few years of TM back in the 80's, I stay very clear of anything that defines meditation in an Eastern Hindu type manner. I stick to meditation as " thinking" rather than repeating.
Blessings

 

[FireDragon76]

After a few years of TM back in the 80's, I stay very clear of anything that defines meditation in an Eastern Hindu type manner. I stick to meditation as " thinking" rather than repeating.
Blessings

Christian contemplation isn't necessarily similar to Hinduism. It has different goals, and the phenomenology isn't even necessarily the same. It's a very grounded kind of prayer, whereas many forms of Hindu meditation aim for a kind of dissociation from the body, or a sensation that is more "spacey in the head". I'm mostly familiar with an adapted hesychastic practice I use, but it's actually not completely different from "asking Jesus into your heart", just understood in a more disciplined, intentional, and even embodied manner. In fact, one focuses ones mind on the physical heart during the prayer, not on the head, because the head is often seen in Eastern Christian spirituality as a place of pride, imagination, and delusion (hence the phrase "don't let it go to your head"), whereas the heart is the place of the will and desire.

 

[bèlla]

Christian contemplation isn't necessarily similar to Hinduism. It has different goals, and the phenomenology isn't even necessarily the same.

There’s several in that camp that employ strategies commonly associated with eastern teachings or the new age that wouldn’t be noticeable to someone lacking exposure to those teachings. It isn’t fair to say everything’s kosher and discernment is best. There’s many who believe a christian label nullifies influence. Like christian yoga. And I heard that in an evangelical church.

~bella

 

[FireDragon76]

There’s several in that camp that employ strategies commonly associated with eastern teachings or the new age that wouldn’t be noticeable to someone lacking exposure to those teachings. It isn’t fair to say everything’s kosher and discernment is best. There’s many who believe a christian label nullifies influence. Like christian yoga. And I heard that in an evangelical church.

~bella

I've studied some forms of eastern meditation, such as zazen and yoga nidra in the past, and the similarities between praying the Jesus Prayer and those practices could only be perceived by somebody that lacks real familiarity with the context and substance of those practices. The Jesus Prayer is prayed by hundreds of millions of Eastern and Oriental Orthodox Christians, as well as some Catholics, Anglicans, and a few traditional Protestants. It is not a "New Age" practice, it's a very old form of prayer.

 

[Akita Suggagaki]

Given that you made this thread in "Hobbies, Interests & Entertainment > Fitness, Health & Nutrition," are you thinking about physical and mental health when you ask whether it was helpful?

those also. But I would also like to hear form people who do the non religious versions like Relaxation Response (which I forgot to add), and TM or whatever helps non believers.

 

[bèlla]

The Jesus Prayer is prayed by hundreds of millions of Eastern and Oriental Orthodox Christians, as well as some Catholics, Anglicans, and a few traditional Protestants. It is not a "New Age" practice, it's a very old form of prayer.

At what point in my response did I mention the Jesus prayer or a specific practice? You jumped the gun.

~bella

 

[Akita Suggagaki]

I've studied some forms of eastern meditation, such as zazen and yoga nidra in the past, and the similarities between praying the Jesus Prayer and those practices could only be perceived by somebody that lacks real familiarity with the context and substance of those practices. The Jesus Prayer is prayed by hundreds of millions of Eastern and Oriental Orthodox Christians, as well as some Catholics, Anglicans, and a few traditional Protestants. It is not a "New Age" practice, it's a very old form of prayer.

I sit with a few guys into Mindfulness Meditation. They clearly lack a personal encounter dimension in their method. That is a big difference.

Now I think TM utilizes mantras related to deities but sells it as non religious.

I guess I do more of a centering Prayer Method. I use my own breathing and a word to help. It is whatever word means the most to me at that moment. Eventually the word is needed occasionally and that particular prayer time can become very still and inner silence. Accept, of course for my tinnitus. What happens there is that I just let it surround me like crickets or locusts. Since my focus is on the meaning beyond the word it doesn't matter.

But I started in 1975. TM came to but I am a do-it-yourselfer. I did not join the program. Instead I read about :meditation" and found that the Christian tradition has its own rich deep methods.

 

[Larniavc]

Some methods have been around a very long time. What have you used? Was it helpful. Do you still use it?

I kinda let my thoughts drift and don’t police them.

 

[FireDragon76]

I sit with a few guys into Mindfulness Meditation. They clearly lack a personal encounter dimension in their method. That is a big difference.

I don't really like talking about my spiritual experiences openly anymore in too much detail, as its not really comporting with values of sacred reverence and boundaries, but I can affirm what you are saying. Intentions matter, symbols matter. I don't even necessarily pray many repetitions of the Jesus Prayer. It's not the repetitions that matter, but ones purity of heart, sincerity, and openness to grace.

 

[FireDragon76]

I kinda let my thoughts drift and don’t police them.

Eastern Christians have a practice that is sort of like mindfulness, called nepsis. it means watchfulness. A psychotherapist might call it objectifying ones thoughts, and it can be a useful practice in a world full of vivid imagery, slogans, and other dross designed to colonize the imagination. Instead of reacting to thoughts automatically, you just observe them. Over time, and perhaps with some divine grace, you can start to discern which thoughts are things you should engage with, and which are things you need to let go of.

Spending time in a quiet place every day can be helpful to cultivate this kind of awareness. Or doing quiet manual labor that doesn't demand too much mental activity.

 

[Akita Suggagaki]

Intentions matter,

There is the big difference. It is ok to look for inner silence, inner peace, relaxation, etc. But looking for an encounter, a closeness, a love, is something else.

 

[Gregory Thompson]

Some methods have been around a very long time. What have you used? Was it helpful. Do you still use it?

I was pretty broken inside so tried just about anything, wasn't clear on the names just anything to get "God" flowing through anywhere inside me.

Now I use something, but not sure if it has a name. It is based on what I observed about sacraments and the spiritual structure of scripture. The shattering of my mind early on was pretty deep, so I might have gone overboard in assuring what was built didn't fall apart as a base requirement.

 

[Larniavc]

Over time, and perhaps with some divine grace, you can start to discern which thoughts are things you should engage with, and which are things you need to let go of.

Sound a bit like Mindfulness and Cognitive Restructuring.

 

[zippy2006]

I've studied some forms of eastern meditation, such as zazen and yoga nidra in the past, and the similarities between praying the Jesus Prayer and those practices could only be perceived by somebody that lacks real familiarity with the context and substance of those practices.

Doesn't the OP lump them all together as similar?

I think this question of similarity/difference is key, which is why I asked if the OP was thinking primarily about "Fitness, Health & Nutrition."

 

[Akita Suggagaki]

Doesn't the OP lump them all together as similar?

I think this question of similarity/difference is key, which is why I asked if the OP was thinking primarily about "Fitness, Health & Nutrition."

Good question. I think my intention was to explore others' experiences of inner practice. There are quite a few methods and it seems all with different intentions or aims. It seems to me though that a spiritual aim, a religious intention can also bring about overall healthful outcomes.

 

[Akita Suggagaki]

Now I use something, but not sure if it has a name. It is based on what I observed about sacraments and the spiritual structure of scripture.

That sounds then like something that would involve symbol and ritual related to scripture.

 

[FireDragon76]

Two things you didn't mention were biofeedback and neurofeedback.

I carry around an EmWave in my pocket often times, and try to use that a few times a day. If I have time before church, I will spend some time using it. It's a heart rate variability (HRV) coherence trainer. You can also get apps on your phone that have similar kinds of training, some just use the camera on the phone. Some smart watches also have this kind of training.

I've also used neurofeedback, both with and without clinical supervision, but IMO, it's a powerful practice and best done with caution and care (you don't want to try to force results or progress too quickly), and quite possibly with a therapist's planning and supervision. Especially if you have a history of trauma or a sensitive nervious system, you can get headaches, dissociation, etc. if you aren't careful. It's not something you should just fool around with for no good reason. It's particularly effective for depression, anxiety, and ADHD treatment.

Of the two, HRV training is alot safer for laypeople to engage in, and far less likely to destabilizing, but some caution should still be used if a person has a history of trauma.