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Meditation

fide

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Forgive me if I’ve asked this before. My OCD is better but it’s still there. I’m just really high strung most of the time. I know meditating can be wrong, but what about relaxation exercises and emptying the mind of thoughts, you know, quieting the mind? Is that ok?
Meditation has become a very confused word in the West, including Catholics. Eastern mediation frequently means "emptying the mind" - a very foolish thing to attempt, wise teachers would say. The evil one loves an empty mind to move into.
In the Catholic Faith "meditation" traditionally means - or meant - what is now more specifically and technically called "discursive meditation" to clarify that no, do not think of emptying your minds, Catholics! Many do anyway. Post Vat II many Eastern religious ideas were brought into Catholic parishes.

I'll quote something from a book I've recommended here before - an introductory book to traditional Catholic spirituality grounded in Thomas Aquinas and John of the Cross, The Ordinary Path to Holiness (3rd edition)sold thru Amazon:
Discursive meditation is defined as the application of reason to some spiritual truth in order to engage its meaning, to penetrate its meaning, and to integrate the truth into one’s life. Mental activity and attention are clearly required, and the first goal is the enlightenment of the mind with the truth. It is important to realize that Christian meditation is not achieved with the simple presence in the mind of some truth; the ultimate goal is the integration of that truth into one’s life.
(R. Thomas Richard, PhD. The Ordinary Path to Holiness (Third Edition) (p. 123). (Function). Kindle Edition. )

Thus one seeks the fullness of truth in true meditation, the opposite of emptying the mind. Meditation is crucially important to growth in the interior life - because Truth is crucially important, to know, to believe and to live.
 
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