Christian meditation

[Heim]

The Roman Catholic Church of Belgium started a website called 'Start de Stilte' (literally 'Start the Silence) some time ago. The website has various pages on prayer, meditation and contemplation in a Christian context. There's guides on meditating with mantra's, praying the rosary, some yoga techniques, praying with the bible, etc.

The website is in Dutch, but I still thought I'd share it. It is a nice initiative.

Start de Stilte

 

[Jeff @ Deily]

That's a cool site, thanks for sharing. I hadn't heard of meditation being practiced in Catholicism. Since it was a little clunky to use Google translate on every page, I found an English site with similar information: The World Community for Christian Meditation.

 

[Sirona]

I think it was Pope John Paul II. who stated that Zen meditation was allowed for Catholics.

 

[Jeff @ Deily]

Thanks for the lead! I found this letter written by Pope Benedict XVI when he was Cardinal Ratzinger. It specifically addresses meditation for Catholics. It's interesting, but it would be nice if they would include the tl;dr version. My take is that meditation and other "eastern" practices are OK as long as they have a goal of and are focused on God via Christ.

The letter was approved by Pope John Paul II, but it also has a footnote referring to a homily by John Paul II that doesn't necessarily not support meditation but cautions against a "mental void".

 

[Rick O'Shez]

There is a tradition of silent worship in the Quakers, which some use for meditation.