And I'm not? I have not once quoted any other author outside the Christian tradition, as wide and as varied as that is, in support of the practice of meditation. In fact, I have quoted directly from the Bible in support of it upon many occasions. As have others in this debate with you in your position against this practice for Christians. Please recall, you set yourself up as a sort of Grand Inquisitor on a mission to purify the faith to "sound doctrine" here.
I am debating all of this from a Christian perspective, albeit from the far more liberal and progressive point of view. But that is still a Christian perspective, regardless of how you might wish to exclude all those with different views outside your preferred ultra-conservative version as identifying themselves with Christianity. I am not in here debating Buddhism or Hinduism against Christianity, even though unlike you I allow myself to see truth in all human faith systems. It is clear you prefer to close yourself away from anything beyond your church doors, but I do not. And you may choose to debate the merits and value of that, but that is not what this discussion is about.
I disagree with you on this. As does every other person in this thread. In fact, I don't believe any other Christian in this thread has jumped in in support of your position so far.
You are twisting and distorting what I said. You hear or interpret things I did not say, which itself goes to my point about how you can't then claim to be free of your own subjective mind in how you read the Bible. You just did it with me here! I did not say to "get beyond" what is revealed in scriptures. You are implying I am saying you must reject your faith. I did not, and am not saying that. All I am saying is what is "higher", is your understanding from what it was before. When I say look higher, I mean to God. God illuminates the mind through Spirit. The spiritual mind, is what is higher. And how, how in the world is that not in the Bible???
Just because you may not understand it in a lived, realized experiential way through such practices as meditation with directly puts you in communion with God on a spiritual level, do not assume this goes against the Bible. This may go against your understanding of the Bible and Christian faith, but as has been pointed out to you repeatedly in this thread, do not construe your understanding as "THE" understanding of the message of Jesus. I have a different understanding through my own personal, spiritual experiences with God and through my considerable knowledge of Biblical and Christian texts. I do not see this in conflict with that at all. And in fact, for me, it illuminates it in such a way that it deepens my respect and appreciation for them and the value they add in that goal of union with God.
I am not New Age. The only thing in common with New Age I have is I believe there is truth and value in all systems of faith. With due respect to them, that's where the commonality for me ends.
As you will note, I say "Perennial Philosophy" under religion? That is not New Age. My faith lineage is Christian. I have a degree in theology, and was on that path towards entering into the Christian ministry (which I opted out of for personal reasons). I also have knowledge of and respect for other faith traditions. My perspective is able to see the same God, in various forms in all faith traditions. This is not a rejection of Christianity - even though you in some Grand Inquisitor role may make yourself judge over others this way. There are in fact many ways to embrace Christianity, even though you can't accept them yourself.
Once again, the only faith perspective you will hear me present here is that of Christian traditions. I am not quoting from Hindu scriptures or authors in support of my position. I am quoting from the Bible. I haven't even yet introduced other Christian traditional texts used by Christians that got thrown out by committees under the direction of a political edict from the Emperor of Rome, such as the so-called Gnostic writings. Even though I rightly could because they too, like it or not, are part of the Christian faith practiced by Christians (just because some committee won the political position to suppress them, does not mean they were not Christians!). But I'm restricting this to just the adopted canon of the NT alone for your sake.
If you wish to brand my, and everyone else's interpretation of the Bible in this thread as "New Age" because it doesn't square with you and your particular Christian group's thinking, what can I say? Would it be helpful if I called your reading as "lost" because it disagrees with the Christian Wisdom traditions? Christianity is bigger than your group. And that is where the problem in all of this lies for you. Everyone outside your small group is "wrong". You cannot put yourself into the shoes and see from their perspective. Hence, the inquisitor role starting topics to warn of the "danger" of meditation in Christian practice.
Amen.
Again, yes.
Again yes, and note is says "in our hearts". The subjective, spiritual experience illuminating mind. That is what meditation opens you to.
And so forth...
One last thing I wish to say to the practice of meditation is to not give the sole impression that it is only about direct communion with Spirit. That's more a deeper level experience (and there are many levels of it, if you read about the castles that Thersa of Avila describes, for example). But first and foremost, it is a mind discipline.
Think of it like riding a bike for exercise, or going to the gym. As you tune the body, you feel heathy. You subjectively experience a greater sense of well-being, because you are not neglecting the body, but allowing it to become balanced in a physically fit condition. Meditation takes the sloppy, noising debris buzzing around in our heads without purpose and tunes the mind's focus. The effect of this is manifold. You actually become "smarter". I felt as if my IQ shot up 15 points when I first started practicing. And the reason for that is simple actually. What intelligence is there is so distracted and clouded by unnecessary chatter, it has to fight its way through. Now instead, a disciplined mind is able to think and see more effortlessly. You become less anxious, calmer, etc.
And that is good for all things, spiritual insights included. You learn as well your emotional states, rather than simply being tossed about trying to swim in this constant flowing current, you are in effect commanding the waters to be still and "walk on water", so to speak.
You still the mind, and then your thoughts are clear, effortless, directed, and pure. All of this, all of it, is supported in the Bible.
There is much more I can add, but my fingers are getting tired here. Suffice to say, there is more than one valid path in Christian faith which is wide and varied. A narrow path, does not equate to a constricted one defined by one group against all others. To me, doing that, is the "wide" path. I see Christian faith as inclusive, not exclusive.
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