podcast

In this episode, I explore the origins of meditation in the West and its connections to Eastern religions like Hinduism and Buddhism. I share my personal experience as a Christian who was not introduced to meditation in my religious upbringing, only prayer. However, after a near-death experience and exposure to New Age teachings, I began to learn about meditation and its history within Christianity.

We delve into the lesser-known world of Christian meditation practices, which may be unfamiliar to many listeners. While meditation is often associated with Buddhist or Hindu traditions, Christianity has its own rich history of contemplative prayer beyond and hidden within the typical church setting. Join me as we explore this fascinating aspect of spirituality and its potential impact on our lives.

Timestamps:

• Meditation commonly associated with eastern religions due to the influence of the Beatles in the 60’s (00:23)
• Prayer in Christianity was emphasized while I was growing up, not meditation (03:40)
• Surprising to find deep history of meditation in Christianity (04:27)
• Difference of meditation and contemplative prayer (05:18)
• Eucharistic Adoration as the external form of contemplative prayer (06:40)
• Jesus taught external prayer and internal contemplative prayer (07:10)
• Martha and Mary are how the different prayer forms are expressed (09:55)
• Distinctions between prayer and meditation (10:40)
• Meditation has a long history within Christianity (12:00)

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