I came across this today and it inspired me to delve deeper into something I’ve heard, but not really looked at closely before. I read some articles, but decided the graphic below summed up the main points they covered better than I could. The sites where I got the quotation and the graphic are linked below.
The job of Medieval monks, “more than anything else, was to focus on divine communication: to read, to pray and sing, and to work to understand God, in order to improve the health of their souls and the souls of the people who supported them. For these monks, the meditating mind wasn’t supposed to be at ease. It was supposed to be energised.
“Their favourite words for describing concentration stemmed from the Latin tenere, to hold tight to something. The ideal was a mens intentus, a mind that was always and actively reaching out to its target. And doing that successfully meant taking the weaknesses of their bodies and brains seriously, and to work hard at making them behave.”
From How to reduce digital distractions: advice from medieval monks by Jamie Kreiner, associate professor of history at the University of Georgia. Bolding by CtH.
Sources:
polination.blog 
Go through that poster, and on each level, take the “Eastern” side and add, “Jesus!” Try it! You get the “Christian” side each time.
“Desire to become ‘one’ with the universal energy” is impersonal, atheistic? Add Jesus!
“Meditate on a meaningless word or phrase or action” is purposeless, undirected? Add Jesus!
Really, prayer and communion with God is not thoughtless and pacific, it’s thought-full, energetic. The Void is not a good counselor.
(As if I know anything about anything.)
♩♩♩Ommm + “Jesus” = ♫O My Lord♬
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Even worse is when the “wisdom” you get from the “universe” is coming from Satan’s team. :-O
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cth: Even worse is when the “wisdom” you get from the “universe” is coming from Satan’s team.
Yeahhhh…… Not to say folks can’t invite the Devil in (and if they do, they’ve got bigger problems already than their meditation techniques), and this may be splitting hairs, but…
Lots of what people “hear” by “mystic” means has gotta be their own prattling subconscious. It may be vague or may be detailed, but it’s akin to the “dreaming” part of the mind. Nonsense, static, and jumbled shadows of memories, open to any interpretation. “My voices tell me I’m not crazy.”
Then there’s superstition and autosuggestion. Kids playing with Tarot cards. Jenny’s friend says “Oh noes! Jenny! There’s ‘Death’ in your future!” Jenny freaks out, does something stupid, and dies. No demons needed. 😦
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I’m grateful that my mother was educated by nuns. Ouija boards became a fad when I was in elementary school. A friend of my h.s. aged brother got one for Christmas. She told me in no uncertain terms that God forbade any of that kind of stuff … from Ouija boards to tarot cards to consulting psychics, even visiting fake “gypsy foretune tellers” at the carnival. I took it to heart.
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I should write up my own experience with Tarot cards sometime. (Spoiler: Boring. Harmless as a newspaper horoscope – or, maybe, advice column – and about as accurate.)
When we were kids, somebody had a Ouija board. I figured out right away what the “game” was: one of you is intentionally pushing the little thingus around, while claiming not to; if that’s not you, it’s the other guy and you’re the sucker. OOoo, scary, keeds! Got it. No re-try needed.
Once, Milady and I got the thingus to move around, and neither of us (we swear) was moving it consciously.
“It’s moving! It’s spelling out… T… H… X… G… O… F… P… Yes… Moon… Hey! Waaaait a minute! This is gibberish!”
Nonsense answers, but intriguing in realizing how our subconsciouses were collectively trying to move toward “answers.”
My then-pregnant then-sister-in-law asked if her baby would be a boy, and the “mystifying oracle” answered, “Yes.” And it was! What ARE the odds!
😀
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I heard a Christian pastor tell about how a group of students in his dorm had gotten into playing at seances. He went once and prayed in the Spirit to bind any demonic influences. The other students wouldn’t let him come back because when he was there, nothing happened!
I had a similar experience with a funky dentist I used to go to. I liked that he was very careful of my chemical sensitivities, but some of the spiritual stuff they were into creeped me out. So while I was waiting on a filling to dry, I did binding prayer over the whole office.
When I was at the front desk, writing my check, a technician came out and handed the receptionist a plumb bob saying, “It didn’t work.” (It’s used for divination.) I just smirked inside. Of course it didn’t work. I bound the spirits that move the stupid thing.
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A divining dentist? Uhhh… I’ll stick with mine and his high-tech x-rays.
Belated Happy Birthday, youngster.
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Yeah. One of the dentists who used to work in his office moved out on her own. Dearest designed her office. I do really well there and she’s super careful with me. And she’s a Christian. Much better!
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