The Christian Meditation Movement: A Critical Perspective

Abstract

The Christian Meditation Movement: A Critical Perspective Alexandra Slaby Introduction Lex orandi, lex credendi. The law of prayer determines the law of faith.1 In other words, how you pray determines how you believe, and how you pray can modify what you believe. Since the end of the Second Vatican Council, which steered the Catholic Church in the direction of ecumenism and interfaith dialogue, and in the postmodern context of an interiorisation of faith, Catholics have been led to ‘ask themselves what value non-Christian forms of meditation might have for [them]. Above all, the question concerns Eastern methods’.2 Fascination for Eastern forms of prayer among Catholic laity and clergy is not new and predates the 1960s. As early as 1943, German JesuitHugoLassallesawthatthemeditationtaughtbyJapaneseZenBuddhism helped him deepen his Catholic faith, and his work has been carried on by Belfast-born fellow Jesuit William Johnston.3 Benedictine monks also have a long history of interest in bridging Eastern and Western contemplative prayer practices – from John Cassian who inspired the Benedictine Rule to Henri Le Saux (aka swami Abhishiktananda)4 to Jean-Marie Déchanet (aka the father of Christian yoga)5 to John Main, the founder of the Christian Meditation Movement to Laurence Freeman, his disciple. It has never been easier to travel East, physically or culturally. At the same time, however, Christians are less well equipped for this spiritual encounter than in the past, when the contents of their Christian faith were transmitted with a reliable continuity in time and space. Meanwhile, Eastern spiritual traditions are valued in a postmodern, New Age synthesis of cultures and spiritualities where ecclesial authority has been challenged and where elements of different faiths and spiritualities can be combined (‘Buddhist and Catholic’) if they offer a new hope of receiving affirmation and healing. Eastern meditation has gained a growing attraction in the Western Catholic world, to the point where it has become a mainstream practice taking place in spiritual and lay settings. In Ireland, it is not uncommon to find The Christian Meditation Movement: A Critical Perspective Studies • volume 108 • number 431 313 Studies_layout_AUTUMN-2019.indd 81 21/08/2019 09:14 Irish Catholics saying that such a form of meditation helps them in their Catholic practice. The Dominican retreat centre in Tallaght offered a Holy Week session in 2018 called ‘Zen and the self-emptying of Christ’. Louis Hughes OP in Kilkenny writes and preaches about body-mind spirituality, yoga and Christian meditation.6 The Jesuit Centre for Spirituality and Culture in Galway has recently been organising sessions called ‘Dive Deeper: Exploring spirituality and ways of prayer’ in a ‘contemplative approach drawing on Christian spirituality and Eastern practices such as mindfulness’.7 The newsletters of Christian Meditation Ireland, Irish chapter of the World Community for Christian Meditation (WCCM) show that the group holds sessions in various parishes throughout the country. These developments unfold at a time when, the Vatican notes, ‘it must unfortunately be admitted that there are too many cases where Catholic centres of spirituality are actively involved in diffusing New Age religiosity in the Church’.8 New Age religiosity is animated by the aspiration to create a global spirituality transcending boundaries between faiths, in search of a common global spiritual core which will unite mankind among itself and with the cosmos. So, when we hear the phrase ‘Christian mantra’, as proposed by WCCM, not only the Tibetan meditation bell, but alarm bells may ring as well. Can such a word and a practice as ‘mantra’be imported into the Christian prayer tradition without modifying the contents of the faith? It is in the light of these questions that I would like to offer an attempt at discernment on Christian Meditation Movement, understood as the prayer practice taught by WCCM. John Main’s Christian Meditation movement The Christian Meditation Movement, led by Anglo-Irish Benedictine monks, is embraced and established in Irish Catholic life, judging by the frequency of visits to the island by Fr Laurence Freeman and by the invitation of Mary McAleese as speaker at the 1997 John Main Seminar which was held in Dublin. Beyond Ireland, the movement is relatively marginal, but has not been condemned, and its members have...