Ancient Meditation and Modern Religious Communities
By Luis Andres Henao and Deepa Bharath. Originally published by the Associated Press.
On most Monday nights, the sanctuary of All Saints Episcopal Church — with its vaulted ceilings, stone arches and stained-glass windows — seamlessly transforms into a space of quiet contemplation.
It’s in this Gothic Revival church in Pasadena, California, that Betty Cole, a longtime Zen practitioner and “card-carrying Episcopalian,” leads a weekly interfaith group in seated and walking meditation. The group has evolved into a “quiet fellowship” since she started it in 2001, Cole said.
“It’s mostly people who are really not very inspired by the liturgy, pomp and music of the church, but do enjoy the building, the quiet of the chapel and the sense of encouragement and accountability in that shared quiet,” she said.
Christian, Jewish and other religious congregations across America have in recent years been introducing meditation practices from Eastern religions like Buddhism and Hinduism, or resurfacing ancient contemplative practices in their own religious traditions, now adapted to the needs of a fast-paced, modern world.
While longtime practitioners like Cole say these contemplative practices are inherently spiritual or religious, they recognize that mental health and social benefits are added attributes.
In some deeply religious spaces, meditation has been disparaged as a gateway to the demonic; in some secular circles, it’s debunked as superstition. Skeptics raise concerns over cultural appropriation, particularly in cases where Eastern practices have been marketed as trendy self-improvement.
But nationwide, more people — religious and non-religious — seem to be showing more interest in such practices. Increasingly, houses of worship are encouraging a variety of contemplative practices.
Connecting to ancient practices
Voices chanting “Om” — a sacred sound in several Eastern religions — blend with sounds of singing bowls, piano and other instruments at meditation held in an Ivy League university chapel. A rabbi leads virtual meditation and breath work while drawing from Jewish scriptures. In the sanctuary of a Unitarian Universalist congregation, a group gathers to study Buddhist dharma and to be enveloped in the meditative practice of a sound bath.
Across centuries, meditation has been common in Buddhism, where the goal is to become enlightened like the Buddha, and Hinduism, in which the ancient spiritual practice of yoga is rooted.
Contemplative and meditative practices in many religions seek to find a direct connection with God. That includes the Desert Fathers and Mothers — early Christian ascetics who followed a form of meditation focused on silence in the Egyptian desert. It also includes Kabbalistic and Hasidic meditation techniques in Jewish tradition, and the whirling dervishes in Sufism, a mystical movement within Islam.
“The next resurgence that we’re seeing now, is people moving all the way out from saying, ‘I’m going to practice a religious tradition’ into ‘I’m willing to do some of the practices that exist within those traditions,’” said Lodro Rinzler, a Buddhist teacher and author of “The Buddha Walks into a Bar.”
For others, Rinzler said, it has helped rekindle a connection to their own religions and their ancient, lesser-known meditative practices.
“Some of the practices that have been spliced out and stand alone are now coming back under the umbrellas,” he said. “People are then being attracted to the traditions from which they’ve always been a part of.”
This article was originally published by the Associated Press and is partially reproduced here without the permission of the author, who is not affiliated with this website or its views.
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