Does Eastern Meditation Empty the Mind?

By Christopher J Boozell – http://www.TantricChrisitianity.com

I’ve lost track of the number of articles I’ve

read trumpeting the difference between
Eastern meditation and Christian meditation.
Setting completely aside the writers trying to
scare readers with foolish notions about
becoming possessed (or at least open to
demonic influence) as a result of meditation,
there seem to be two primary claims about
the supposed difference between Eastern
and Christian meditation.

1. Equating Eastern meditation and New Age meditation.

It’s true that most of current New Age thought and
terminology was taken directly from Hinduism and Buddhism
(with some healthy chunks of Christian angelology added),
but the translation from these well developed spiritual
cultures into New Age’s fairly loose ‘philosophy’ has been
sloppy. Reincarnation, karma, and ethics – all foundational
notions for both Hinduism and Buddhism – each suffered
rather badly in the process. The idea of meditation fared no
better. In place of techniques aimed at reforming how the
meditator relates to the Absolute, the world, and even
themselves, New Age proponents suggest day dreaming as a
way to change the world (a la ‘the Secret’), or trance
induction techniques aimed at theme park style experiences
(out of body travel and so on).

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 Bottom line: there is no good analogy between Eastern
meditation techniques and New Age fluff.

2. Eastern meditation’s goal is to empty the mind, while

Christian meditation fills the mind with the Word of
God. This comparison reveals a fairly deep ignorance about
both the method and the effect of meditation. Meditation,
regardless of the culture we see it in, relies on two skills:
placing our attention on some chosen point of focus and
watching our mental activity to catch ourselves when our
attention wanders.

There is no emptying or filling – just directing your attention

with purpose instead of the random wander we usually allow
our thoughts. Regardless of whether we are focusing on our
breath or a selection from the Gospels, meditation is
meditation – and you no more empty your mind by
meditating than you empty your voice box when you stop
talking and pay attention to a conversation partner.

While both claims are obviously mistaken, I wouldn’t be too

worried about them if it weren’t for one thing: such inaccurate
claims run the risk of misleading folks who really want and need
additional ways to cultivate their relationship with our Father.
Confusing them with talk of emptying their minds or scaring them
off with talk about New Age goofiness provides no help at all.

Of course, there IS a substantial difference between Eastern

meditation and Christian meditation: the goal. Christian
meditation is specifically aimed at developing our relationship
with the Trinity (specifically with Jesus the Christ) while Buddhist
meditation focuses on developing clear insight into the nature of
reality (shunyata) and Hindu meditation looks for a realization of
union between the meditator and Brahma. Clearly, each is
incompatible with the others, but any

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method of meditation is Christian so long as the firm goal is
cultivating openness to God’s embrace.

So as a faithful Christian hoping to foster a more direct

relationship with Abba, take heart. You can do so without fear of
compromising that faith. If you would like to learn more about
how to take this path, go to the Tantric Christianity website and
sign up for the free mini-course on meditation. The information
presented in that course will give you everything you need to get
started!

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