Possibly converting

[Laughing_Crow]

Thank you everyone, sorry for my absence, i contracted a rather nasty stomach bug better now though

I am looking into my local library, I know for a fact they do have ‘Catholic approved’ books on the shelves as I’ve seen them when browsing, though most seem to be fiction novels rather then theology or philosophy

I have been praying more, but i still feel weird with short prayers, or as i call them ‘hi…bye’ prayers. I’ve also separated them from my meditation, as meditation helps me look into myself, not outwards to God.

Perhaps ask Him to guide you to Him.

God gives us matches, but we are the ones who have to light them. Asking for guidance i just cant do as I feel I need to find my way, not ask for it.

 

[joandarc2008]

Thank you everyone, sorry for my absence, i contracted a rather nasty stomach bug better now though

I am looking into my local library, I know for a fact they do have ‘Catholic approved’ books on the shelves as I’ve seen them when browsing, though most seem to be fiction novels rather then theology or philosophy

I have been praying more, but i still feel weird with short prayers, or as i call them ‘hi…bye’ prayers. I’ve also separated them from my meditation, as meditation helps me look into myself, not outwards to God.

God gives us matches, but we are the ones who have to light them. Asking for guidance i just cant do as I feel I need to find my way, not ask for it.

You may wish to be careful with Meditation - as it can be dangerous and open up our souls to negative influences other than God. A good type of meditation to start with is the Rosary. Are you familiar with it? Do you know how to pray it? It is a form of meditation as you have 5 different mysteries to meditate on as you go through the Rosary - it takes about a half hour as you get used to it.

Here is a link on how to pray the Rosary:

Instructions on Praying the Rosary with the Prayers

You may also need the lists of the Different Mysteries to Meditate on if you are not familiar with them:

The Sorrowful Mysteries

The Joyful Mysteries

The Light Mysteries

The Glorious Mysteries

I hope this helps.

 

[RebeccaJ]

Thank you everyone, sorry for my absence, i contracted a rather nasty stomach bug better now though

I am looking into my local library, I know for a fact they do have ‘Catholic approved’ books on the shelves as I’ve seen them when browsing, though most seem to be fiction novels rather then theology or philosophy

I have been praying more, but i still feel weird with short prayers, or as i call them ‘hi…bye’ prayers. I’ve also separated them from my meditation, as meditation helps me look into myself, not outwards to God.

God gives us matches, but we are the ones who have to light them. Asking for guidance i just cant do as I feel I need to find my way, not ask for it.

Here are the readings for today, that could possibly be the best study to take up.

usccb.org/nab/101710.shtml

Also, sacredspace.ie has daily prayers.

 

[sojo]

God gives us matches, but we are the ones who have to light them. Asking for guidance i just cant do as I feel I need to find my way, not ask for it.

You might want to contemplate why this is? I have found that many are unable to find their own way until they give up thinking they have to do it on their own. Geez, that’s not real clear, but maybe someone will help.

Its just linked to the reason that many don’t find God until they are that the very bottom and have given up all hope of figuring stuff out on their own. The ego gets in the way.

So just ask yourself, “why does it only count if I do it or figure it out for myself?”

“If” God is real, and He is truly the biggest, most almighty being of all time, and “if” you really are just a tiny, miraculous speck of His creation, then why on earth would it matter if you found your own way or you simply gave Him a shout out to please scoop you up? And “if” God is truly a father to us, like Christians believe, then as a father, would you be any more receptive to the child who tried to figure out your relationship or the child who simply fell and cried out, “DADDY!!! Help me!!!”

Just some stuff to think about. I, too, had trouble of letting go of “me” in the search.

 

[Laughing_Crow]

You may wish to be careful with Meditation - as it can be dangerous and open up our souls to negative influences other than God. A good type of meditation to start with is the Rosary. Are you familiar with it? Do you know how to pray it? It is a form of meditation as you have 5 different mysteries to meditate on as you go through the Rosary - it takes about a half hour as you get used to it.

Here is a link on how to pray the Rosary:

Instructions on Praying the Rosary with the Prayers

You may also need the lists of the Different Mysteries to Meditate on if you are not familiar with them:

The Sorrowful Mysteries

The Joyful Mysteries

The Light Mysteries

The Glorious Mysteries

I hope this helps.

I understand Catholics dont like meditation to much. Why is that? I do it alot to help if I am annoyed, angry, anxious etc etc. I learnt in my old dojo. Basically, as I know there are multiple types of ‘meditation’, the one I do is concentrate on replacing the ‘fire chi’ (negative thoughts and aggression that occurs when in combat) and replacing it with ‘water chi’ (returning to our calm, normal selves). I focus on the sound of rain or running water to help me ‘calm down’.

Also thank you, but unfortunately I do not possess a rosary or crucifix at the moment, so praying on it or meditation on it is a no go

Thanks for the link RebeccaJ, I read it, though it may not all be in my head now cause its 2am here

To sojo, I’ve said before that my ‘pride’ is the most difficult to let go of, and that remains true still. Before I mentioned I broke out of my nihilistic following by believing everything has a value in someones eyes. I guess I see tasks I complete myself as having more ‘value’ then tasks I do not complete alone.

 

[sojo]

Crow, I hear you. The pride is definitely one of the hardest things to let go. And when you finally do, you find yourself snatching it back at the earliest moment! Believe me, I can’t give it up for more than a moment or two!

FYI - if you still have 10 fingers or 10 toes, you don’t need to have a rosary. You can also just read it while you meditate and then you don’t need fingers or a rosary to keep track. It is online in various places, but EWTN has one you can listen to and follow along online. Or message me and I’ll send you one. Having gone the Buddhist meditation route before Jesus grabbed me and dumped that billboard on my head I spoke of, I learned to meditate, and as a result, I found the Rosary to be both familiar as well as stretching. It is a weird combination of mindless and mindful.

Some folks are a bit paranoid about meditation as it “might” allow evil spirits in. But I believe that if one goes into it with the right intention, and asks the Holy Spirit to oversee the process, I can’t see any harm. It is important to note that what the Buddhist tradition calls “meditation” is what the Catholic flavored Christians call “contemplation.” In Catholic “meditation” we do keep our mind focused on a thought, like a bible passage, and think about or try to relive it as if we were there. Contemplation is more of the “emptying the mind and allowing God to fill your heart and mind” kind of thing. Some Catholics warn against contemplation for any but the carefully, monastically trained. But I learned about it from a Monk who felt that was all so much hogwash, so its all in who you believe. There’s a lot of controversy about “centered prayer” which is just what you would call meditation.

By dojo, were you referring to be in the martial arts? Or were you training to be a Buddhist monk? Just curious. My son has special needs, but he has been in a dojo for MA training since he was 6. It was one of the first places that accepted my son for his intrinsic value as a human being - in the dojo, he is equally valued. Just one small gift of many.

 

[SonCatcher]

Asking for guidance i just cant do as I feel I need to find my way, not ask for it.

It is an exercise in humility to stop and ask directions. You already did that by coming here in the first place. It’s a start.

 

[Jez1519]

Hey Laughing Crow,
i’ve tried this on me laptop-
virtualrosary.org/
Its a nice application if you don’t have a rosary yourself. If you can get to a church, though, i dare say a priest will give you a rosary. My priest gave me a prayer book so i could follow the Mass and familiarize myself with the sacraments a bit more. I take that little book to every Mass (especially as i can’t remember too many words).
I’ll be praying that the Lord will guide you to a church, especially one where you can sit in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament. And also that Our Lord’s Blessed Mother will make her presence know to you. She’s awesome when it comes leading people to Christ.
The Lord be with you, LC.

 

[joandarc2008]

Crow, I hear you. The pride is definitely one of the hardest things to let go. And when you finally do, you find yourself snatching it back at the earliest moment! Believe me, I can’t give it up for more than a moment or two!

FYI - if you still have 10 fingers or 10 toes, you don’t need to have a rosary. You can also just read it while you meditate and then you don’t need fingers or a rosary to keep track. It is online in various places, but EWTN has one you can listen to and follow along online. Or message me and I’ll send you one. Having gone the Buddhist meditation route before Jesus grabbed me and dumped that billboard on my head I spoke of, I learned to meditate, and as a result, I found the Rosary to be both familiar as well as stretching. It is a weird combination of mindless and mindful.

Some folks are a bit paranoid about meditation as it “might” allow evil spirits in. But I believe that if one goes into it with the right intention, and asks the Holy Spirit to oversee the process, I can’t see any harm. It is important to note that what the Buddhist tradition calls “meditation” is what the Catholic flavored Christians call “contemplation.” In Catholic “meditation” we do keep our mind focused on a thought, like a bible passage, and think about or try to relive it as if we were there. Contemplation is more of the “emptying the mind and allowing God to fill your heart and mind” kind of thing. Some Catholics warn against contemplation for any but the carefully, monastically trained. But I learned about it from a Monk who felt that was all so much hogwash, so its all in who you believe. There’s a lot of controversy about “centered prayer” which is just what you would call meditation.

By dojo, were you referring to be in the martial arts? Or were you training to be a Buddhist monk? Just curious. My son has special needs, but he has been in a dojo for MA training since he was 6. It was one of the first places that accepted my son for his intrinsic value as a human being - in the dojo, he is equally valued. Just one small gift of many.

Alright LC - My soon to be ex husband owns two dojos. And I used to practice meditation. Yes, you can ask the Holy Spirit to come in - but there is no guarantee because what are you doing when you properly practice Eastern forms of Meditation is finding the void which I believe is ku (and my Japanese is a bit rusty) which you can leave the opportunity for any spirit to come in by emptying which is what the Eastern forms do - which by the way have pagan roots which are a whole other story. Or you can practice things like Rosary which are form of meditation which will not leave room for other forces to have influences. If you are saying that you are having problems praying than possibly there is an issue with the influences.

Most “good” pagans that you meet don’t realize by the time they have made the second level they have already called Satan by several other names. I have seen more of that side of life than I care to see in my lifetime but I do a disservice to the Lord Jesus Christ who has gotten me through it by not reaching out a hand.

 

[Laughing_Crow]

Crow, I hear you. The pride is definitely one of the hardest things to let go. And when you finally do, you find yourself snatching it back at the earliest moment! Believe me, I can’t give it up for more than a moment or two!

FYI - if you still have 10 fingers or 10 toes, you don’t need to have a rosary. You can also just read it while you meditate and then you don’t need fingers or a rosary to keep track. It is online in various places, but EWTN has one you can listen to and follow along online. Or message me and I’ll send you one. Having gone the Buddhist meditation route before Jesus grabbed me and dumped that billboard on my head I spoke of, I learned to meditate, and as a result, I found the Rosary to be both familiar as well as stretching. It is a weird combination of mindless and mindful.

Some folks are a bit paranoid about meditation as it “might” allow evil spirits in. But I believe that if one goes into it with the right intention, and asks the Holy Spirit to oversee the process, I can’t see any harm. It is important to note that what the Buddhist tradition calls “meditation” is what the Catholic flavored Christians call “contemplation.” In Catholic “meditation” we do keep our mind focused on a thought, like a bible passage, and think about or try to relive it as if we were there. Contemplation is more of the “emptying the mind and allowing God to fill your heart and mind” kind of thing. Some Catholics warn against contemplation for any but the carefully, monastically trained. But I learned about it from a Monk who felt that was all so much hogwash, so its all in who you believe. There’s a lot of controversy about “centered prayer” which is just what you would call meditation.

By dojo, were you referring to be in the martial arts? Or were you training to be a Buddhist monk? Just curious. My son has special needs, but he has been in a dojo for MA training since he was 6. It was one of the first places that accepted my son for his intrinsic value as a human being - in the dojo, he is equally valued. Just one small gift of many.

I learnt it in my martial arts dojo. Chinese Kung Fu Southern Preying Mantis style. The meditation was taught as it was a full contact martial art (we would spend 20 minutes striking each others arms and legs to ‘condition’ them to getting used to taking strikes) and due to this, many students would leave in a ‘fight’ mind set. We meditated to get us out of that fight mind set and back to normal.

 

[joandarc2008]

I learnt it in my martial arts dojo. Chinese Kung Fu Southern Preying Mantis style. The meditation was taught as it was a full contact martial art (we would spend 20 minutes striking each others arms and legs to ‘condition’ them to getting used to taking strikes) and due to this, many students would leave in a ‘fight’ mind set. We meditated to get us out of that fight mind set and back to normal.

I have no doubt where you learned it - it is very dangerous to use.

I used to believe as you did. There is a whole thread on this subject.

It is this thread right here

 

[SonCatcher]

I learnt it in my martial arts dojo. Chinese Kung Fu Southern Preying Mantis style. The meditation was taught as it was a full contact martial art (we would spend 20 minutes striking each others arms and legs to ‘condition’ them to getting used to taking strikes) and due to this, many students would leave in a ‘fight’ mind set. We meditated to get us out of that fight mind set and back to normal.

For future reference, a more Catholic alternative could be to just say the rosary at the end of a session.

 

[Laughing_Crow]

For future reference, a more Catholic alternative could be to just say the rosary at the end of a session.

I dont do it anymore, I had to give up my martial arts when we moved, just to far to go.