Buddhist influences

[EmilyCatholic]

Hi All,
This might sound like an obvious question, but is Buddhist Meditation banned by the Church? ?Common sense tells me of course, and the Catechism says that all Meditation should be directed towards Our Lord. But 3 priests have said it’s fine. What is the Church’s teaching on “Mindfulness”?
Thanks

 

[JimR-OCDS]

Hi All,
This might sound like an obvious question, but is Buddhist Meditation banned by the Church? ?Common sense tells me of course, and the Catechism says that all Meditation should be directed towards Our Lord. But 3 priests have said it’s fine. What is the Church’s teaching on “Mindfulness”?
Thanks

Not sure what you mean by Buddhist meditation, but the diffference in any prayer form or meditation, is the intention of the will.

In Christian meditation, the intention is union with God, dwelling within.

In Buddhist meditation, it’s seeking a higher level of consciousness for the sake of enlightenment.

Obviously, Christian meditation is a relationship with God, for the sake of growing closer to God, because he is God.

Buddhist meditation is for a purpose outside of a relationship with God, but within the self, which is considered equal to the divine.

Jim

 

[EmilyCatholic]

Jim,
Thank you. I completely agree

 

[Rainaldo]

Hi All,
This might sound like an obvious question, but is Buddhist Meditation banned by the Church? ?Common sense tells me of course, and the Catechism says that all Meditation should be directed towards Our Lord. But 3 priests have said it’s fine. What is the Church’s teaching on “Mindfulness”?
Thanks

Short answer: yes.

Long answer: vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_19891015_meditazione-cristiana_en.html

 

[EmilyCatholic]

Thank you, that link was great. With Buddhist Meditation, I would feel that all sorts of spirits could come in, being in a trance and therefore vulnerable

 

[GreatergoodGod]

Isn’t the contemplative side of Catholic mysticism have an almost eastern philosophy?

 

[JimR-OCDS]

Isn’t the contemplative side of Catholic mysticism have an almost eastern philosophy?

Not Eastern as in Far East.

But Eastern Christian Orthodox influences, absolutely.

The hermits of Mt Carmel and the Desert Fathers of Egypt, were given the gift of contemplation which they taught to their disciples, which spread to the West.

However, during the dark ages and especially during the Inquisition, teachings on contemplation were confined to convents and monasteries.

During the time of St Teresa of Avila, in the 1500’s Spain, books on such spirituality were banned and destroyed.

It was only through the Holy Spirit that Teresa of Avila and St John of the Cross were able to revise teaching on contemplation, but even there, it remain pretty much in the convents and monasteries.

Eventually lay people seeking a deeper level of prayer were drawn to the spirituality of the contemplative orders and 3rd orders were formed from them.

Since Vatican II, lay people have had access to the writings of the Spiritual Masters of the Catholic Church which were before kept obscure.

Jim

 

[GreatergoodGod]

Thanks for clearing that up.

 

[GreatergoodGod]

Thanks for clearing that up for me.

 

[BluesPicker]

Same Vatican document to the Bishops:
Still others do not hesitate to place that absolute without image or concepts, which is proper to Buddhist theory,14 on the same level as the majesty of God revealed in Christ, which towers above finite reality. To this end, they make use of a “negative theology,” which transcends every affirmation seeking to express what God is and denies that the things of this world can offer traces of the infinity of God. Thus they propose abandoning not only meditation on the salvific works accomplished in history by the God of the Old and New Covenant, but also the very idea of the One and Triune God, who is Love, in favor of an immersion "in the indeterminate abyss of the divinity."15 These and similar proposals to harmonize Christian meditation with eastern techniques need to have their contents and methods ever subjected to a thorough-going examination so as to avoid the danger of falling into syncretism.COLOR=“Red”]

  The way  I read that  Buddhist meditation is not advisable.

BP

 

[codefro]

Hi All,
This might sound like an obvious question, but is Buddhist Meditation banned by the Church? ?Common sense tells me of course, and the Catechism says that all Meditation should be directed towards Our Lord. But 3 priests have said it’s fine. What is the Church’s teaching on “Mindfulness”?
Thanks

There is a difference between the emptying of oneself which is mostly common in eastern religions, where Christian meditation revolves around filling oneself up with God. For some good practices on Christian meditation go to St. Ignatius’ Spiritual Exercises or go to St. Francis de Sales Introduction to the Devout Life. Both are top notch!

 

[JimR-OCDS]

There is a difference between the emptying of oneself which is mostly common in eastern religions, where Christian meditation revolves around filling oneself up with God. For some good practices on Christian meditation go to St. Ignatius’ Spiritual Exercises or go to St. Francis de Sales Introduction to the Devout Life. Both are top notch!

Actually Christian meditation also involves “Emptying of Oneself.”

Emptying of those things which are not conducive toward prayer.

We let go of thoughts that have nothing to do with the focus of our intention, which is God dwelling with in and being in His presence.

The Eastern Desert Fathers of the Church taught their followers about emptying our minds and hearts in order to let God in.

Jim

 

[codefro]

Actually Christian meditation also involves “Emptying of Oneself.”

Emptying of those things which are not conducive toward prayer.

We let go of thoughts that have nothing to do with the focus of our intention, which is God dwelling with in and being in His presence.

The Eastern Desert Fathers of the Church taught their followers about emptying our minds and hearts in order to let God in.

Jim

No disagreements here. Yet, my point still remains. A christian does not use meditation to empty his or herself and remain a thoughtless void, but to then fill themselves with God.

 

[JimR-OCDS]

On Emptiness, St Isaac the Syrian says;

“The truly humble man, wishes to enter and dwell in stillness, to forsake totally his former conceptions together with his senses, and to become as something that does not exist in creation, that has not come into being in the world, that is totally unknown even to his soul and his senses. And so long as a man is hidden, locked away and withdron from the world, he remains wholly with the Lord.”

In prayer we are emptying or as St John of the Cross describes it, “detaching,” from the appetites which distract us from our intention of being in the presence of God.

Jim

 

[JimR-OCDS]

No disagreements here. Yet, my point still remains. A christian does not use meditation to empty his or herself and remain a thoughtless void, but to then fill themselves with God.

But it’s God who fills the void, not us.

Jim

 

[codefro]

But it’s God who fills the void, not us.

Jim

No disagreements here. Glad we are saying the same thing.

 

[JimR-OCDS]

The big difference in Eastern meditation such as TM is the focus of our intention.

In Christian Meditation, our will is directed towards’ Christ dwelling with in, and to be in His presence, allowing His will to be done within us.

In TM, the focus is the experience of transcending of self in order to reach a level of nirvana or some other experience outside of self.

Christian meditation doesn’t have this goal at all. It is totally Christ Centered.

Jim

 

[Alfonsus]

Originally posted by codefro
No disagreements here. Yet, my point still remains. A christian does not use meditation to empty his or herself and remain a thoughtless void, but to then fill themselves with God.

Even meditation in Eastern religions are not meant to put your mind into void. No. Emptying your mind and self, yes. But void-ing your mind and self, no. Simply because it is impossible.

In Eastern meditation, you empty yourself by focusing yourself.

Talking about technique, our own Christian meditation is no different than Eastern religion meditation. The foundational technique is one: focus yourself (your heart, your mind, your powers).

The difference lays in the theological and philosophical. And this is what the Document from CDF said we must really careful about.
Of course, it does not mean you can adopt the externals whenever you want (such as sitting on splinters of glasses while meditating, getting rids the pews in the Church and change it with plank full of nails), but we must acknowledge that in the external there is much overlaps.

 

[J_Peterson]

I’m not an expert but detachment is a pretty big deal in Buddhism. I can’t see why using their techniques would be wrong as long as detacment isn’t the end but the means.

 

[JimR-OCDS]

I’m not an expert but detachment is a pretty big deal in Buddhism. I can’t see why using their techniques would be wrong as long as detacment isn’t the end but the means.

Detachment is also a big deal in Catholicism as well. St. John of the Cross gets into detachment pretty heavily.

Jim