Please help!! Meditation at school - lesson

[Becca]

In my psych class I'm told we'll be meditating on Friday. Is this right within Christianity? It wont be Christian meditation which is what I have the issue with, and the teacher is not religious so she won't put any of God into it. I've read somewhere on here [I think] that it lowers your defences in your mind and lets the devil in. We'll be meditating to relieve stress and make 'problems seem smaller' but I'm scared what will happen if I do meditate and let evil in seeing it as a small problem... help!?!

[Giga Hertz]

While they're meditating you could pray?

[Damaris]

As far as I know, meditation is basically just relaxing and thinking about absolutely nothing, or at least that's the goal.

If that's against Christianity then sleeping should be too.

If you are concerned, feel free to pray silently instead of doing the whole "emptying your mind" thing and just make it a time to relax and spend some quality time with God.

If you are absolutely convinced that it is evil and that you should stay away from it, then you can privately inform your teacher that it goes against your religion and request an exemption.

[Sweetoffee14]

Like Heidi says if it really bothers you, you can always ask to be excused on religious grounds, you don't have to explain any more than as a christian you don't agree with meditation in the way it's been done in the class and they can't make you.

Otherwise yeah I agree that if you meditate upon the bible or pray or just have an internal dialogue you'll be fine, emptying your mind can allow the devil to implant thoughts but you're aware (and not emptying your mind so you can hear God which I think is where most people do wrong) so I doubt that'd be a problem.

[Zipster]

Yar, as the others have said, meditation is primarily the exercise of clearing your mind and focusing on nothing. I, personally, see no spiritual danger in this (The danger comes when one attempts to go beyond simple meditation to altered states of consciousness and into trances).

The Christian discipline of meditation is much different, and I would recommend doing it instead of normal meditation. As has been said, Christian meditation is clearing your mind of all things except God and His Word, and thinking deeply on those things and your standing with each of them. There can be no rule against your thoughts in school, so - I'd say to do that.

[Becca]

Thanks a lot everyone
I know I'm easily influenced and distracted so I may sit out of this one just in case, but thanks :D
I can see how meditation wouldnt be harmful if you were focussed on God but I think my teacher will be talking and making us visualise stuff so I wouldnt be able to fully do this.

[Zipster]

Visualization isn't quite meditation, and if she's talking, the chances of entering a trance state are easier. I'd suggest to take your Bible, tell your teacher that you have issues with the Eastern practice of Meditation, and instead you would rather meditate on something more suitable for your religion.

[AliveInHim]

Originally Posted by Becca

In my psych class I'm told we'll be meditating on Friday. Is this right within Christianity? It wont be Christian meditation which is what I have the issue with, and the teacher is not religious so she won't put any of God into it. I've read somewhere on here [I think] that it lowers your defences in your mind and lets the devil in. We'll be meditating to relieve stress and make 'problems seem smaller' but I'm scared what will happen if I do meditate and let evil in seeing it as a small problem... help!?!

There are actually very serious benefits to meditation. It is proven through research that it is a stress reliever. This is something that is important to psychology because problems relieving stress and dealing with problems in a rational manner is a problem that MANY people have. In college -- this can be dramatically increased because your life changes in major ways when you get into college.

Your teacher may be religious and may not be religious. Sometimes professors simply do NOT let their faith be made known in the classroom. Some of them do, and that is their choice. However, some of them do not let others know about it because it is 1) personal, and 2) has the possibility of changing the dynamics of the classroom. No professor wants too much personal information out around the school. To be honest, there are some of them that won't even talk about their kids, marriage, or anything like that. They don't want people to KNOW that about them.

She may not be using any religious references within this exercise because it is meant to be a learning experience -- not really a spiritual one. Besides that, there is no telling what beliefs are in that classroom. There is a high chance of pushing someone out of a learning experience by adding religion to it. There's a FINE line that professors are forced to dance around.

Now, all that being said -- There is a very simple form of meditation that you use on a regular basis. I'm sure there aren't many days that you go without using this form of meditation. It's so important to a Christian that if this form of meditation is neglected the relationship that we have with Christ drops down dramatically. What is it? Prayer. The simplest form of meditation is prayer.

In addition to that, there are multiple references to meditation in scriptures. There are many times that the word is used as a way to meditate on scriptures. You can still do the exercise. Make it your thing, but also -- pay attention to what your teacher is talking about because there is a REASON that she is doing it in class. In other words, there may be something referencing this on a test coming up. You never know.

Amanda