Christian Meditation - A Source Of Controversy And Debate

Rather than a distinct form of meditation as practiced by other faiths, Christian meditation has been the source of controversy and debate, struggling for centuries to find an acceptable and ecumenical form for all paths of Christianity.

Perhaps the most strict or accepted term for Christian meditation is as a form of "devotional contemplation" or more precisely, a form of deep prayer. In this sense, the use of the rosary while reciting in constant repetition the Lord's Prayer is directly related to Hindu-based forms of Japa meditation. Just as the Japa repetition is designed to stop when reaching a larger bead, so the rosary shifts course with the intervention of the Nicene or Apostle's Creed.

However, the main point of the debate in Christian theology is that meditation has taken two forms of interpretation: intent and focused thought (meditatio) and an unfocused, free state of awareness (contemplatio). These definitions are clearly the opposite of those practiced by eastern meditative traditions, hence the source of debate and regular attempts at reinterpretation.

The earliest forms of Christian meditation came from the monastic practice of Lectio Divina, where monks were instructed to read sections of the Bible slowly, broken by intervals of reflection. A great step forward in this practice was taken by Saint Ignatius of Loyola, the spiritual father of the Catholic Jesuit order, whose 16th century work Spiritual Exercises recommends meditation on segments of the life of Christ. However, the Exercises and its companion text Contemplation to Attain Love appear to recommend elements of both meditatio and contemplatio forms, which contributed to further theological debate.

Perhaps the most important and controversial 20th century figure in the development of Christian meditative forms was Father John Main, a Benedictine monk who, after considerable travel and exploration in the Far East, recommended the adoption of the mantra system for meditating Christians. The result was the recital of psalmic phrases as a means of getting closer to God during intervals of prayer.

Fr. Main's forms of contemplatio meditation have been followed and widened by Father Lawrence Freeman, the founder of the World Community for Christian Meditation, whose International and Medtitation Retreat Centres are located in London, England. As a "monastery without walls", the centre is home to seminars, retreats and conventions promoting Main's meditative teachings. In recent years the centre has taken the significant step of interfaith dialogue, in particular with the Buddhist and Muslim communities, to foster understanding and continue development of the mantra techniques set out by Fr. Main.

Fr Main's counterpart in contemplatio meditation teachings is Thomas Keating, a US Trappist monk who created "centering prayer", which he described as "a very simple method in which one opens one's self to God and consents to his presence in us and to his actions within us." Developed as a deeper prayer technique for non-monastic Christians, centering prayer requires no mantra or deep scriptural reflections, instructing the student instead to "be with God and wait for God." Centering prayer continues to find converts in all corners of the Christian world.