Hey Everybody! It’s been a while since I chimed in. The “monkey mind” is the hardest thing to subdue in meditation. In my own practice a simple Christianized version of Zen breathing works wonderfully. On the inhale (a good, deep, cleansing breath) think to yourself “Lord have mercy.” On the exhale think to yourself “Christ [...]

Helpful observations, Terence. There are indeed many Christians who have been taught that meditation opens the door for delusions and demons. I believe that this fear is at least partially based on meditation’s potential for two things: (1) deeper self-awareness, which leads to confronting the deep doubts, fears, and wounds that are often covered over [...]

If you intend to really explore this path you may run into some people from time to time who are against such practices as Christian meditation or believe it to even be “eviel”…and I am speaking of fellow Christians more often than not. At least this has been my experience over time. This used to [...]

Byron, It’s a myth that you have to be able to completely still and quiet your mind in order to meditate well. Just paying attention to how your mind is active is in itself good meditation. Also, some of the possibilities that are extolled as “ideal” by various authors are skills that have to be [...]

Hey, brother! Yeah, the Buddhists call that the monkey mind because it just jumps from one thing to another. May I suggest sunsets! They are beautiful, they evoke a natural intuitive sense of awe, and from that place of awe I would suggest moving to contemplative prayer. Be patient. Monkey mindedness takes time to settle. [...]

Thank you for your suggestions, Chuck & Grace. I have tried meditation (seems to be called centering prayer within Christian Mysticism) in the past, but it seems my mind is far too active for it. I cannot seem to keep it from going everywhere when i try it. Any suggestions? Perhaps a prayer before hand [...]

Byron ~ You’ll find a host of practices and techniques used by members here, some of them more scholastic, others more intuitive. Something which helps me greatly, is to simply set aside a segment of time during the day to sit and talk with Christ. Over time, the time spent this way has kind of [...]

Hi Byron, Welcome! There are countless things that might be recommended to you. As a preface, I suggest you see if there is someone near you who could serve as a spiritual director in such things, someone who has experience in deep spiritual practice. You might start by looking for representatives of Contemplative Outreach or [...]

You know, Steve, I cant help but wonder if we dont run into God from time to time when talking to people like that. I really do, brother. And you know what else? Everything I have ever learned that was worth learning came from a living, dynamic voice…peopke for whom dialogue is part and parcel [...]