Do Christians meditate? That may seem like an odd question, but it’s a question I’m sometimes asked. Generally, the people who are asking want to know if Christians simply use Buddhist meditation techniques or if there’s a distinctive approach to meditation in the Christian tradition. With the predominance of Evangelic Christianity, most of the history of the contemplative and mystical dimension of Christianity is, well, mostly hidden from plain view. Today, I’m exploring some of the history of meditation and the contemplative spirituality of Christianity. Join me. We’re crossing nearly two millennia in ten minutes!
The following is a text version of this blog.
I’ve been asked this question a number of times. Do Christians meditate? Most people have no idea that the Christian tradition has a long history of meditation and other contemplative practices. Some of those practices pre-date Jesus. Today, because Evangelical Christianity has become the face of Christian practice, most people know nothing about Christianity’s rich contemplative tradition.
Before the time of Jesus, there were monastic groups like the Essenes and other ascetical groups within Judaism. It’s reasonable to assume that Jesus and his followers would have known about their practices which included silent meditation and chanting. But I want to focus on the development of meditation within the Christian tradition.
Within Christianity, meditation falls within the larger category of contemplative prayer. Meditation is a type of contemplative prayer. But there are other practices as well. The roots of this inner journey are most evident in the fourth century. In the year 313, Constantine declared Christianity the religion of the Roman Empire. In response, many devout Christians, including wealthy, educated people, priests and bishops, and average folks, moved out of the empire in an attempt to live the teachings of Jesus in authentic ways. They went to Northern Europe, the British Isles, and the Sinai desert. The records we have today from that period are largely from the desert. What we know is that people lived alone or in small groups, reflecting on the gospels and practicing contemplative prayer. There weren’t churches. People were living in caves. Over time, monasteries did develop.
This desert spirituality, named hesychastic spirituality after the Greek god Hesychia, the god of quiet, focused on the belief that inside each person is the image of the Divine. The path to living in union with the Divine in each person is an inward journey and requires letting go of everything that prevents a person from fully experiencing the Divine. By quiet, contemplative practice, everything that wasn’t consonant with the Divine Image within an individual would fall away. This concept is very similar to the Buddhist practice of transcending or killing the ego. It’s a process of letting go of everything that is not authentic about who we are so that who we are most deeply may be the focus of our lives.
An important person from the era of desert spirituality was a man by the name of John Cassian. I think Cassian is something of a patron saint for people trying to find authentic spiritual depth in life. Cassian spent years roaming the desert, interviewing the learned spiritual teachers of his day. Like many people, he wanted to find perfect spiritual practice. He recorded the teachings of these spiritual masters so that we have them today. Of course, he was never satisfied because there is no such thing as “the perfect” spiritual practice. There’s no one right path. After one begins a practice, it becomes individualized and nuanced. But Cassian continued his journey and went from Egypt, traveling into Europe, and eventually ended up in Gaul, the area we know today as France. It was there he established a monastery that endured for about 1400 years. From that monastery, the lessons he learned in the desert traveled throughout Europe. They are most evident today in English mysticism. It’s the writings of English mystics that are the foundation for what is known today as Centering Prayer, a form of meditation particularly popular among Roman Catholics, Presbyterians, and others.
While the hesychastic tradition is essentially the foundation for meditation within Christianity, there are many other distinct branches of the contemplative tradition in Christianity. Many people today have heard of the Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius of Loyola. He essentially took stories from the Bible and developed guided meditations for people to follow. Other mystics like Teresa of Avila didn’t depend on a method but simply sat in silence, much like Chinese Zen practitioners today whose basic approach to meditation is “just sit.” She describes her experience of deep meditation in the books she wrote. There was Hildegard of Bingen who has cosmic visions when she was in meditation as well as Meister Eckhart who was a rigorous academic and explained his deep experience in what we have today as his sermons and other writings.
If you consider the history of Christianity, there are many rivers of contemplative practice and meditation. Those rivers often reflect the time period and the cultures where they flowed. It’s much the same as Buddhism where Zen practices look very different from Tibetan practices, but they are all contemplative practices honed by practitioners over time.
Yes, meditation has a long history within Christianity. Unfortunately, today, it’s something of a hidden history. But there are many people who teach these practices and make them accessible once again today.