That's certainly a Christian answer.



Good. Very good.



With all their quirks, yes. Learn something new everyday.

~Zoo

Uh, I didn't read all the responses.  And I'm not gonna...um...get into any debates here, yanno?  I just wanted to let you know that meditation, to those that practice it for spiritual reasons, isn't about focus and emptying the mind.

My understanding is that it's a really simple premise.  It's the same premise that all those "Inner Game of..." and "The Zen of..." books are about.  Erasing that inside voice that has you second guessing yourself all the time.  The premise is that you can't hear someone or something telling you the "truth" if you're running your mouth all the time.  So meditators are seeking to shut down the subconscious "running of the mouth" in themselves so they can better perceive things clearly.

The purpose of meditation is to increase the clarity of your perception so that you can make decisions that aren't based on subconscious issues you might suffer from.  It's the art of being totally quiet inside and out.

To make a parallel with the monotheistic religion of your choice, how are you supposed to hear what God is telling you if you do all the talking.  At some point you stop thanking and asking for stuff and just listen, no?  That's meditation at a very basic level.  VERY basic, mind you.  It's the equivalent of the kid that pushes a bowling ball between his legs down an alley with the gutters blocked when compared to a guy that bowls 300 games on a regular basis.  To see how difficult real "listening" aka mediatation is, set an alarm clock for 30 minutes.  Close your eyes and count your breaths to 10.  Every breath you take in and blow out, the count goes up one.  When you get to 10, start over.  Do it for 30 minutes and watch how many times you forget what number you're on or how many times you realize you're thinking about something else and have stopped counting.  It's usually because of some distraction.  Your mind may wander to what's for dinner.  You may hear a dog bark outside.  You might start thinking about how Ock keeps promoting those damned pawns (Couldn't resist  ) or you might be inclined to start talking with God again.  But right at that moment, he might be trying to tell you something, but your mind is so full of what you think, there's no room for him to be heard.

Jack Kornfeld once said that meditating is like training a puppy.  You sit it down in front of you and tell it to "stay."  It gets up and runs across the room.  You retrieve it and set it down and tell it to stay.  It jumps up and licks your face.  You set it down and tell it to stay.  It goes and pees on the rug.

Such is the case with the untrained mind.  It is easily distracted, and won't behave on your command.  If you're one that believes a God is talking to you, then meditating should be in your plan of every day, because how otherwise are you going to get the puppy to sit long enough to hear when its master is telling it to "stay?"

ASaxygirl:

As much as I hate to admit it, there is often a disconnect between my knowledge of my faith, my belief in my faith, and my actions. Just because I know I should be praying unceasingly doesn't mean that I'm actually praying unceasingly. It's always been so easy to get distracted. But that's what it's supposed to be, just like everything else about Christianity - it's simplistic, idealistic, and utterly impossible without the grace of God.

Ock:

Thank you for the much more detailed discussion of what 'meditation' is. See, I don't know what meditation is. But I think when I said 'emptying the mind' that's what I was trying to say, all that you just said - basically shutting yourself off, so that you can hear whatever it is you're trying to hear. It's good to have it clarified.

That being said, I kept it simple simply because I know more about prayer than meditation and figured you'd be by to clarify. So thanks!

I like to rub my mind's belly until it's leg shakes.

~Zoo

Whenever I think of meditation I think of this wonderful picture of this practice that God gives us......

"Blessed is the man that walks not in the counsel of the ungodly nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful.  But his delight is in the law of the LOrd and in his law does he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that brings forth his fruit in his season, his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he does shall prosper." 

I take this to mean that when we meditate on God's word than those other things will not have a hold on us.  When we let go of all the stuff that wants to weigh us down, we are more peaceful, serene and better able to serve both God and man.  We find ourselves spiritually healthy and fruitful not to mention much happier than we'd ever imagine. 

I guess we can all agree that meditation has been around for a long time and its various techniques have been evolved for the purpose of making it more effective.

Catholic contemplatives have practiced meditation as an exercise specifically ordered to spiritiual improvement ever since the early 1600s. Catholics understand meditation as a form of mental prayer differing from vocal prayer becasue it is mainly, if not exclusively, an interior activity aimed at arousing the will to acts toward perfection for the exercise of each talent that God has given.

Jythier, very enlightening and informative!  I remember to pray on a daily basis, even if it's one sentence! 

Insightful from me!

I just had that one... congestion + headache = bleh.

I can't claim to fully understand prayer, or what God really wants from our prayers. I mostly just know He wants them. So when we're praying, why not speak of our material needs as well as our non-material needs? I tell other people that I need a car, so that if they happen to know of a car for sale they'll tell me. So why not let God know, so he just might tell someone else to sell their possession and move to Japan to become a missionary... and now there's a car for sale, that I can buy, for cheap.

It could happen. I don't know what God plans when you ask him for 'things'. But God is willing to take on responsibility for both spiritual blessings and material blessings, as far as I can tell.

The more you use the blessings He gives you for His purposes, the more blessings you'll get.

Praying for her healing, the answer might be no. Praying for understanding, that will most likely get a yes. At least, that's what I would think, being the mortal I am. But why not pray for both?



I won't argue that, because I don't know. Could be, could not be. I do think that God expects one who knows Him to pray to Him, but accepts more general prayers from ones who don't. Though I may have gotten that from the Chronicles of Narnia instead of the Bible.



I'm addicted to placebos. I would quit, but it wouldn't matter.



Should it be, though? Why is it private? Who are you hiding from? Does God want it to be private? I know that feeling, for sure. This is private.

That I disagree with. I don't see how it is given that G-d's plan will not be changed by G-d based on human input.

(I also disagree on a more fundamental level that G-d's plan is something He pursues and we live with. I believe that G-d's plan relies on us to do His will.)

 

It is said that He did listen to prayers at that point.

 

I know you are directing the question at the Christians, but the answer is of course that the LAND, not the EARTH was flooded and that hence there was enough plant life on earth left (and cangaroos).

Many Christians seem to believe that taking the Bible literally (usually in an English translation) is the correct way to read it, except for that one word "eretz", which means "earth" as in "land" and not "earth" as in "world" or "planet".

I tend to prefer more traditional ways of interpreting the Bible.

 

 

 

well the traditional way is world-wide flood, not local flood. 

Well besides the fact that Noah had plants and such on board with him I also believe we can, once again look at Mt. St. Helens as an example.

When that Volcano blew up, with all the ash, lava and water that jumped out of Spirit Lake, all vegetation was destroyed.  Everything as far as the eye could see was destroyed.  Even every single blade of grass.

But little by little things started to sprout up again.  All over the place there were signs that we were not to walk off designated pathways because every single piece of new vegetation was important.  How did things start to regrow from nothing?

Well it seems two ways they found out.  One was the birds were dropping seed as they flew over these spots.  Another was while the vegetation was destroyed from above, underneath deep down the roots were not totally destroyed and little by little the grass and plants started to grow up from these roots deep underneath. 

God had taken care of it all.  He didn't miss a beat, either at St. Helens or the world-wide flood.

 

ASaxyGirl posts:

As far as praying for temporal blessings, such as health, success, fortune or material things, God may grant our prayer by denying us what we ask. If sickness were to bring us closer to God, and health make us forgetful of Him, if failure were to humble us and success puffs us up with pride and arrogance, if peverty were to make us followers of the Poor Christ (2 Corinthians 8:9), and riches cause us to abandon the Faith, ought not God in His Infinite Mercy and love refuse what we in our ignorance ask for?

According to Scripture if we pray humbly and perseveringly for spiritual blessings that will ensure our soul's salvation---the grace to resist temptation, the pardon of sin, and the grace of final perseverance---God will infallibly answer our prayer.



Praying for others is a spiritual work of mercy. People all over the world give testimony to the power of prayer. Sometimes in situations all we can do is pray...praying comes under the commandment to love.

In Genesis 6-9 we are told about the worldwide Flood that occurred around 1,656 years after Creation. The Flood affected the entire world and was so dramatic it was mentioned in later records, stories and legends.




KFC POSTS:

We know from the Genesis timetable that eventually the Flood waters abated. 8:11 tells us the second dove was sent out the second time and found the "olive leaf" (yikes! a live plant!!!), becasue "the waters were abated". 8:14---Noah waited until "the waters were dried from the earth" to remove the covering from the Ark. From the time that the covering of the Ark was removed to the day Noah and his family left the Ark, 57 more days went by when earth was adequately dry, Noah left.

Little by little similiar to Mt. St. Helens, grasses and plants began to grow.

Where's my delete button? Unless you want to discuss the merits of floods of PRAYERS...

Jy, Sorry for getting off track here with responding to Leauki's #42 question which was quoted from somewhere??? But....you're the boss man and I'll gladly conform...

Flood of prayers....I like that!