It is self-serving to seek an experience as an end in itself. "Peace" is something that Christ gives to us and which He desires for us, but we do not get peace by seeking it through some means other than having Christ live through us.
OK so you don't know of the benefits of meditation. There is more than one way to skin a cat in this field. We have some very positive studies on the benefits of meditation.
If you don't think, then you're not meditating. You can call it anything you like, but it's not meditation if you are not dwelling on something. It may be something, but it's not meditation.
This proves you don't know what meditation is, or can me. I will admit that when we first start learning to meditate we often do think since the mind has not been tamed yet. But over time silence, clam, and peace arises and the mind stops thinking. The mind becomes like a very still pond that is totally free of disturbance.
We are meditating on things all throughout the day. We can choose the object of our meditation.
This is not the case. It's the way you do it that causes inner peace to arise. Otherwise there is no difference between a meditator and a non-meditator.
Christ has called me to crucify my entire self: my mind, my will, my emotions, etc. I will agree that whatever it is that you are calling "meditation" will not allow me to attain Christ, who said "deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow Me."
You will never truly in your heart crucify yourself to find God unless you humbly become like a child through meditation. You must cast off your desires which bind you.
IMHO God and Christ are already in our fundamental inner essence. So God is with all of us. But it's only those to truly crucify their desires that find their inner source. As long as you have desire you are bound in some way.
IMHO the Christians don't have the real keys to the kingdom of heaven. Because only the disciples were given those keys and they never passed them down to us. Because if they did then all Christians would be meditating.
If we are seeking "nothing", that is exactly what we will get. If we are seeking "peace", we will not find it. If we are seeking Christ, we will find Him and the peace that only comes through Him.
I don't think I ever said that you should focus on "nothing". But if I did say that, what I meant is that the "nothing" means no disturbance, meaning real clam and peace. I did say you are suppose to focus on the present moment of reality. Of what is happening NOW. So no, in meditation you do seek something, at least at first. Eventually you merge with your source and become like a drop of water in an ocean. This is truly losing your life in order to find it. This is the true pearl of great price.
You misunderstood me. You asked me what I meant by dwelling on things that are spiritually detrimental to us, and I answered you by explaining what I meant. Again, meditation goes on all day long, as meditation requires an object, and we are thinking about things all day long. Since we are meditating all day long, meditate on something "good", as St Paul teaches us.
Yes you are right, in mediation you do need an object at first. Weather it's the name Jesus, or a prayer, or your breath. But eventually all objects cease and you find your inner core, and essence, which must be where God dwells. There is no way around it. God has to exit at our core. He sustains the universe, and us, since he is omnipresent.
On that you and I fundamentally disagree. And since we disagree on that pivotal point, any further discussion on this matter will prove fruitless.
So in other words you are saying that you don't believe there are peaceful calming benefits to meditation. I don't know how much you have researched this subject but if you have any discernment it would not take much to see it if you research it.
Neutrality is still not self-emptying; it is still not Love, which is inherently outward-seeking. Neutrality is a form of hatred and self-love.
Depends on what part of self you are talking about. Meditation does empty or dissolve your ego. But it does not empty the core essence of our being. The idea is that in meditation you cast away inner desires which can bind us. You keep on letting go more and more then eventually all you are left with is your core essence which is who you are as if your a baby. And if you reach it you are clean of all desires. Which makes you innocent. You become one with your source, and your source you.
The ultimate expression of what mankind is supposed to be like is summed up when God hung on the cross, voluntarily letting Himself be murdered by the hands of men. That is to be our pursuit, and any other pursuit "misses the mark". Christ did not seek neutrality; He constantly sought to pour Himself out and participate in the Life of the Father, and to pave the way for us to share in His life as well.
But again, I understand that you and I disagree on the centrality of Christ in the life of mankind. Take care, my friend.
IMHO Christ's message was messed up by the Roman Catholic Church and the illiteracy back then. There are so many questions left unanswered that I can't believe the mainstream Christian version of Christ's message with all the other stuff I have learned about reality. There were many other versions of what to believe at the time before the inquisition. Including the Gnostic gospels, Essenes gospels, kabbalah, Hasidic Judaism and more. We were given only what the Catholic church thought was the right interpretation and the books they decided to go into the bible. All opposition was murdered and books destroyed that they interpreted as heresy. Did not Christ teach in parables. Christ hardly ever spoke plainly and then to say later then this is what he meant is like sticking your finger in the eyes of God.
IMHO Christ's crucifiction is suppose to be an example of the cross we are suppose to pick up in meditation daily. This is the true daily bread that comes down from heaven. But the devil had his way and in the end the message was watered down and distorted to the point it was not recognizable in any real meaningful way.
Now does this mean that I should go to hell forever for this major technicality on God's part supposedly? All the other gospels I mentioned had meditation in them. And they took on a more esoteric meaning to scripture.
Peace to you, and keep on seeking.
