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Mindfulness Meditation vs. the Sacrament of the PresentMoment

Posted on January 4, 2012by SBrinkmann

MM asks: Is there anything wrong with Mindfulness Meditation? It sounds like its nothing morethan living in the present moment. Could there be anything wrong with that?

In a word yes.

The technique known as Mindfulness Meditation is thebrainchild of Jon Kabat-Zinn, a biomedical scientist andfounder of the Center for Mindfulness in Medicine,Health Care and Society at the University ofMassachusetts Medical School. In 1979, he developedsomething called Mindfulness-Based StressReduction (MBSR) which is an 8-week coursecombining meditation and Hatha yoga to help patientscope with stress, pain, and illness through moment-to-moment awareness.

Kabat-Zinn is also a board member of the Mind and

Life Institute, an organization dedicated to exploring therelationship of science and Buddhism as ways to betterunderstand the nature of reality.

This is where Mindfulness Meditation comes from. Itappears to incorporate qualities from CenteringPrayer/Transcendental Meditation techniques aimed at suppressing thought.

It also reminded me of another New Age guru, Eckhart Tolle, who teaches another version ofliving in the present moment known as the Now. Tolle claims that once we arrive in the Nowour problems will no longer exist and we will finally discover our true selves as being alreadycomplete and perfect (which eliminates the need for a Savior).Im not surprised that Mindfulness Meditation has crept into the health care industry because of

Kabat-Zinns medical background. Clinical applications of MBSR probably dont broadcast theseEastern roots, much like Reiki, Therapeutic Touch and Yoga are also widely used in clinicalsettings without sufficient explanation to patients.

However, we Catholics have our own method of living in the present moment which is explainedby the late great spiritual director, Father Jean-Pierre de Caussade in the book, The Sacramentof the Present Moment. This practice involves the realization that every event in our lives, fromthe most ordinary to the most spectacular, are all manifestations of Gods will for us. It teachesus to experience every moment such as this very moment as you read these words as a holysacrament because God is at work in it. As we acquire this holy practice, God becomes muchmore real to us, much more a part of our lives, and a true Companion on our journey.

Another good book which complements the above work is The Practice of the Presence of God

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by Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection. This Catholic classic teaches us how to converse withGod throughout the day, not just at prayer time. Brother Lawrence wrote that this practicebrought him such joy in life that he actually begged God to stop it because he couldnt take somuch happiness.

The bottom line is that we dont need Buddhist practices or New Age techniques to enjoy thebenefits of living in the present moment. We can use our own methods to accomplish this inways that will benefit not just our minds and bodies, but our souls as well.

This blog contains more information about Kabat-Zinn and his writings.

Posted in New Age, Prayer/Meditation |

Tagged Brother Lawrence, Fr. J. P. de Caussade, Jon Kabat-Zinn, present moment ShareThis

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