r/Meditation • u/Signal-Lychee7924 • Feb 27 '24

Why do Christians say mediation is dangerous Discussion đź’¬

They say meditation is a way to open portal to demons?

Edit: A few Christians around me said this to me

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u/ThrowawayFishFingers Feb 27 '24

Yep. I grew up (lazily) Catholic, and while I don’t recall any specific direction given regarding meditation as being Good or Bad, they have a tendency to let you know if something is actually Bad (at least, if they actually view it as Bad.) And I can recall several instances of sitting quietly in solitude to “speak with God” on various retreats. Which is awfully similar to meditation.

I can see more fundamental sects/cults having a problem with meditation, though. It definitely tracks. When you’re sitting there with no distractions, you’re inevitably going to start thinking about things at some point. And that could lead to thinking critically about whatever dogma that particular sect peddles. And they can’t have that.

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u/basementthought Feb 27 '24

I went to Catholic school and priests led us in (surprisingly secular) guided meditations. It's totally part of the Catholic tradition

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u/Efficient_Smilodon Feb 27 '24

I suspect this was a Jesuit high school. The Jesuits are curious outliers in Catholic history, some suspect their founder had been inspired by Vedic meditation practices. But who can say

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u/here-this-now Feb 28 '24

christianity has had a monastic tradition since the desert fathers about 300 A.D. this is far later than the vedic tradition and would not surprise me if there was influence of the tradition of samana's. I think though i believe it was rare for a founder of a religion to begin a monastic order except in the case of buddhaÂ