"I will meditate on Your precepts
And regard Your ways."
- Psalm 119:15
Meditation is an important practice for all kinds of reasons, as talked about elsewhere in the Renewed Man program. As I pointed out in a video some time ago, there are two types of meditation — discursive meditation (where you meditate
ON something, such as a Bible passage), and what I call “quiet mind” meditation, where you seek to slow down your thoughts and “rest” in God, either through the use of a single word you keep coming back to, or by bringing your focus back to your physical senses, such as your breath.
Today we’ll focus on Discursive Meditation.
One of the best, and simplest sets of instructions for this comes from Ecknath Eswaran, a contemporary and friend of Mahatma Gandhi. Eswaran writes a short chapter about meditation in his book “Your Life is Your Message.” Here’s
what he says about it, and how we should do it. As you read this, apply what he says to meditating on short Bible passages that you've memorized:
1. Set aside 30 minutes a day for this, as close to first thing in the morning as you can. If you want to devote more time, don’t make the session longer … add another session in the
afternoon or evening. By the way, most other teachers I’m familiar with suggest devoting 20 minutes, not 30. Eswaran wrote his book some years ago, and I personally think his recommendation of 30 minutes is too long for beginners. If you're just starting out, I suggest you set aside 15 minutes for this, and work your way up to 20. Then if you want more time, add another time later in the day.
2. Find a special place that is devoted just to this practice. If you can have a special room for it, great. If not, devote a corner of a room, or a special chair — something that, when you are in that space, it carries with it the association of meditation. This helps your mind associate with meditation in that place.
3. As you meditate, sit in a straight backed chair. If you sit on the floor, you might find it helpful to sit with your back against a wall, to help you sit up straight. You want your body to be comfortable as you meditate … but not so comfortable that you fall asleep. For this reason, most people do not recommend that you lay down.
4. Start your meditation by thinking through a Scripture passage. Here’s how he states it: “Once you have closed your eyes, begin to go slowly, in your mind, through a passage from the scriptures or the great mystics which you have memorized for use in meditation. … Do not follow any association of ideas or try to think about the passage. If you are giving your
attention to each word, the meaning cannot help sinking in. When distractions come, do not resist them, but give more attention to the words of the passage. If your mind strays from the passage entirely, when you realize this, bring it back gently to the beginning and start again.”
5. When you finish meditating through a passage, you
can meditate on another one, or go back through the same one again. For this reason, it’s helpful to have a number of passages memorized that you can use for this purpose.
6. The secret of meditation is simple: We become what we meditate on.
