How are Catholics supposed to approach meditation?

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The “mental void” could have referred to that state sought in a process of self-hypnosis - which reveals the danger of seeking it. Hypnotizing oneself is a psychological possibility, and it is not prayer - it is in truth self-seeking, and God will not be found in such a way.
 
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Yes, but God is not everything He created, nor is He anything He created, such as the center of a human soul. Of course, the “center” of a spiritual reality begs a question of definition.
 
“Seeking the face of God in everything, everyone, all the time, and his hand in every happening; This is what it means to be contemplative in the heart of the world. Seeing and adoring the presence of Jesus, especially in the lowly appearance of bread, and in the distressing disguise of the poor.” St Mother Teresa

Jim
 
Jim, is your post meant to address something I wrote? It appears to be a response to a post of mine, but I don’t see the connection - is there one?
 
Yes, I think “Living Flame Of Love”" is my favorite work and image of God.

Center of soul…center of God…we have to appreciate the poetics in these depths.
 
God is the centre, or the beginning, of the soul (Genesis 1). He made the soul, along with all things coming to be, through Christ (John 1:3). In Baptism, we became a part of Christ’s Body (Cor. 12:12 - amongst other references).
 
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I didn’t imply it is new age.

I think the mixing of Eastern pagan and Catholic spiritually is the issue.

Quiet prayer is good, but during that time I want my mind full of/aware of timeless Catholic spiritual matter, not empty.

Gazing at the Blessed Sacrament in a monstrance and simply listening to anything Our Lord may say to me, or where He guides my mind is as quiet as I can get.

Nothing in Christ’s teaching indicates direction of emptying the mind or soul.
 
I was referring to the article you posted. New Age and ancient Eastern non-Catholic religious methods for prayer have their links e.g:- Yoga. And no doubt other practices, too.

It depends what we mean by ‘empty’. If we mean something aggressive, as in forcing a mind-state, then that is problematic. Maybe ‘emptying’ is not a suitable word. ‘Resting’, is a safer way to put it. It then puts emphasis on the soul rather than the mind.
 
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