Meditative space...

I have a friend who recently wrote in his blog "Good meditation has nothing to do with religion." We are both meditators and share an appreciation for the benefits of maintaining an ongoing practice. In this instance, however, I disagree with him. By referring to good meditation (as opposed to... what, bad?), I think he's missing the point. Meditation is all about non-judgement... all about letting go of concepts such as good or bad. Meditation just is.

And for many of us, meditation is very much about religion. Religare: to bind fast. It's about reconnecting to that mysterious life force within... that force some call God... that force that calls us simply to be. As a practitioner of Christian Mediation, meditation is a form of prayer for me. Richard Rohr, founder and director of the Center for Action and Contemplation, writes:

"Prayer is whatever calls us to detach from our own self, from our own compulsions and addictions, from our own ego, from our own place. We are all too trapped in our own places by virtue of the egocentricity of the human person. In prayer the Spirit entices us outside of our narrow comfort zone. No wonder we avoid prayer: We have to change places."

See more about what my friend has to say about meditation at waldencabin (recently chosen as one of the 10 best blogs in Ottawa by Alex Munter of the Ottawa Citizen!).

One thing is certain: Meditation - it's not what you think.