One of the unspoken rules of someone who meditates, it to no talk about it openly because the energy you take to explain yourself, takes away your desire to actually do it. But for intellectual purposes, I want to give a bit of information on my own personal desire to practice it, and how it began. It began during a time in my life when I was alone. I had lost a group of friends that I grew up with, and was really transitioning to adulthood. I was living in a rented room away from my family, and I was trying to find direction in my life. The desire didn't come from studying other religions, it was a natural desire for peace of mind and companionship, that lead me to seek out what other religions taught about a spiritual practice, that I heard about in College and now felt a mysterious connection to.
My journey took me to the Trent University Library to seek out a book on meditation, which I found. It wasn't much of an instructional book but it was neat to hold it in my hands, knowing that I really was curious about what it was! One of my friends, was sort of a door into what eventually lead me to California to a meditation retreat, where I was baptized so to speak into the practice through my essence of just being there. There is a great mystery about meditation, that you will eventually have to experience yourself. For me, it took sacrificing a part of my life, just to be open to this practice and you might be wondering what it does for me? There is another unspoken rule not to say too much, but if you want a theology of my practice, all I can say it that it has become a part of me to the point that if I were to give it up, I would feel lost. It is not a religious practice as much as it is a practice to clear my mind, and I know this is where most people who don't meditate find or create a problem.
In the beginning it was my religion, and to a certain degree it still is, however to build a theology on this ancient practice, you would have to go back to certain texts that other religions hold as their own. As in the Christian faith, there is an element of mystery in faith, or of faith, so it is with meditation for me. So recently, the demand to openly declare it is really a violation of my conscience. It has to be that way. I have written about my practice in a book recently, but I do not desire to divulge anymore information.
I can tell you I find a peace that is inherent in my soul through this practice and it leads me to consider that you can find the same inner peace, if you wanted it to. I know that my life belongs to God, but meditation is more for myself. It's a way I can connect with my thoughts, and that is why I learned it in the first place. I wanted to say that for me, it was a turning point in my life & still is.
It also helps me to become a better person. I was born again in 1995 and I know to a certain degree meditation is incompatible with Christian theology, but practising the Presence of God isn't. My very fist experience with it, gave me a greater awareness of the Holy Spirit living within me and it gave me my faith back. Meditation allows me to see the world with compassion and from a Christian perspective, it allows me to see my sin with compassion and true repentance. When it was the strongest, when I was tempted to sin, I would use my practise to calm my mind and feel peace within so that I didn't feel alone or abandoned by God. It gave me greater concentration so I could work better and meditation released me from a world of anxiety, caused by a lack of self control. Meditation must be taken seriously to work in my opinion, and what grew from a desire became an experience. I wasn't seeking the benefits of meditation, but when I approached it with sincerity and heartfullness, the experiences came and so did the faith. This is Mike.
My journey took me to the Trent University Library to seek out a book on meditation, which I found. It wasn't much of an instructional book but it was neat to hold it in my hands, knowing that I really was curious about what it was! One of my friends, was sort of a door into what eventually lead me to California to a meditation retreat, where I was baptized so to speak into the practice through my essence of just being there. There is a great mystery about meditation, that you will eventually have to experience yourself. For me, it took sacrificing a part of my life, just to be open to this practice and you might be wondering what it does for me? There is another unspoken rule not to say too much, but if you want a theology of my practice, all I can say it that it has become a part of me to the point that if I were to give it up, I would feel lost. It is not a religious practice as much as it is a practice to clear my mind, and I know this is where most people who don't meditate find or create a problem.
In the beginning it was my religion, and to a certain degree it still is, however to build a theology on this ancient practice, you would have to go back to certain texts that other religions hold as their own. As in the Christian faith, there is an element of mystery in faith, or of faith, so it is with meditation for me. So recently, the demand to openly declare it is really a violation of my conscience. It has to be that way. I have written about my practice in a book recently, but I do not desire to divulge anymore information.
I can tell you I find a peace that is inherent in my soul through this practice and it leads me to consider that you can find the same inner peace, if you wanted it to. I know that my life belongs to God, but meditation is more for myself. It's a way I can connect with my thoughts, and that is why I learned it in the first place. I wanted to say that for me, it was a turning point in my life & still is.
It also helps me to become a better person. I was born again in 1995 and I know to a certain degree meditation is incompatible with Christian theology, but practising the Presence of God isn't. My very fist experience with it, gave me a greater awareness of the Holy Spirit living within me and it gave me my faith back. Meditation allows me to see the world with compassion and from a Christian perspective, it allows me to see my sin with compassion and true repentance. When it was the strongest, when I was tempted to sin, I would use my practise to calm my mind and feel peace within so that I didn't feel alone or abandoned by God. It gave me greater concentration so I could work better and meditation released me from a world of anxiety, caused by a lack of self control. Meditation must be taken seriously to work in my opinion, and what grew from a desire became an experience. I wasn't seeking the benefits of meditation, but when I approached it with sincerity and heartfullness, the experiences came and so did the faith. This is Mike.
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