Meditation
When Christians say they “meditate,” what do they mean? Meditation may bring to mind a middle-eastern monk with legs crossed, arms out, fingers forming circles, and chanting “ohmmm.” This is not what Christians mean when we say we “meditate.” So what do we mean?
Emptying versus Filling
What was described above is what’s called “transcendental meditation,” and it is practiced by people all over the world. It has its roots in Hinduism, and the goal is to empty your mind. The person meditating is trying to “transcend:” to detach, to feel nothing. In order to do that, they attempt to separate themselves from all thoughts and feelings. They try to empty their mind.
Contrast that with what the Bible says about meditation: “How I love your instruction! It is my meditation all day long” (Psalm 119:97); “How happy is the one who does not walk in the advice of the wicked or stand in the pathway with sinners or sit in the company of mockers! Instead, his delight is in the LORD’s instruction, and he meditates on it day and night.” (Psalm 1:1-2). When a Christian meditates, he does the opposite of what the Hindu does. Instead of emptying our minds of thoughts and feelings, we fill them up with God’s words. We stare long and hard at the text. We memorize the text. We ask good questions of the text. We spend time with the text. We meditate on it.
Burning inside
I love The Beatles, even if we don’t see eye to eye religiously. They spent time in India studying Hinduism and practicing transcendental meditation. What they learned (and apparently bought into) while they were there is all over their songs. “Across the Universe” is a good example. Aside from having a Hindu Sanskrit prayer in the song, the refrain illustrates perfectly the purpose of transcendental meditation: “Nothing’s gonna change my world,” repeated over and over again. Detachment; lack of identity; lack of emotion. Emptiness.
Again, contrast this with the Bible: Psalm 39:3-4 says “My heart grew hot within me; as I mused, a fire burned. I spoke with my tongue: ‘LORD, make me aware of my end and the number of my days so that I will know how short-lived I am.’” as the psalmist mused (thought deeply), his heart began to burn. It affected him. He had to let it out. This is the opposite of detachment. We want the Word of God to make us feel something, and so influence our actions. So as Christians, when we meditate, we’re not seeking to detach or empty ourselves. We’re looking to fill ourselves up with God’s thoughts, God’s instructions, God’s commands, God’s Spirit. We want the truth of God to so affect us emotionally that it drives us to action, whether that be worship, service, prayer, or anything that will bring glory to God. That is what Christians mean by meditation.