Natural Meditation – Barry Schoedel, Meditations

Mindfulness of Breathing and Mindfulness of God

Mindfulness of Breathing In contemporary culture the ancient Buddhist technique of mindfulness of breathing has been mainstreamed in the past 20 years. Secularized versions of it are found in Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) and Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT). These practices are rooted in Buddhist teachings about Right Mindfulness or Sati. Right Mindfulness is the 7th […]

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On Christian Fear of Meditation

A little context: when I was working for the Diocese of Baton Rouge in Catechesis another peer and I were talking about prayer and I began to speak of meditation as a necessary step to, support for, and component of prayer. She was alarmed to even be speaking of meditation in the context of Christian

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Catechetical Essay on Centering Prayer

Part One A. Introduction This essay is a catechetical response to the debate about Centering Prayer that has taken place within some sectors of the Catholic Church, and to some extent in Protestant ecclesial communities. There is a debate as to whether Centering Prayer is orthodox Christian prayer or whether it is New Age or too

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རིག་པ་ – Knowledge of the Ground

In the Indo-Tibetan philosophical tradition, there is a teaching known as rigpa or knowledge of the ground. This teaching is in particular a feature of the Bon and Nyingma schools of Indo-Tibetan philosophy. Rigpa can be viewed also as a psychological experience, or an experience of mind where there non-duality becomes an experiential reality. Non-duality

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From Practitioners to Friends

I started a new group to study and practice the art and science of contemplation. I was able to choose what participants of the group would be called. I initially chose the term Practitioners. It is a term I picked up from meditation groups I was a part of when I was younger. I liked

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Meditation and Contemplation

In the Western tradition there is an history that helps us to understand a common misunderstanding that forms a cultural narrative. The narrative is this: meditation is an Eastern practice largely based in either the Buddhist or Indian (Hindu) tradition that westerners weren’t aware of until the encounter between the meditative and yogic traditions of

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Stages of Natural Contemplation

Natural Contemplation: From Being to Divine Love These stages are followed in succession as the focal point of meditation.

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Comments on Pre-Christian Forms of Natural Meditation

Definition of Natural Meditation: Meditation that takes place in reference to the first order of knowledge, nature, rather than the Word of God in Sacred Scripture and Holy Tradition. The ancient Greeks (esp. Plato and Aristotle) and Romans (e.g. Cicero), Buddhists (Buddha and followers, e.g. Thich Nhat Hahn), Hindus (followers of yogic meditative traditions of

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