Christian Meditation: Experiencing the Presence of God (Hardcover)

~ (Author) "The reflections in these pages are intented to serve as a guide in understanding and practicing Christian meditation..." (more)
Key Phrases: Saint John of the Cross, Saint Benedict, Christ the Word (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Finley, a spiritual counselor who studied with Thomas Merton, presents a clear introduction to meditating as a Christian. He situates meditation—by which he principally means "a form of prayerful reflection, using thoughts and images"—in a historic tradition of Christian spiritual practice. The book's first seven chapters examine some major themes of Christian meditation, e.g. "entering the mind of Christ" and "hearing the Lord's voice." Finley is to be commended especially for the way he interweaves theology and practice, as in his examination of the role of the body in Christian meditation. Through meditation, we learn to inhabit our bodies better, he observes, and gain insight into the true meaning of the Incarnation—the Word becoming flesh. Another section that deserves special mention is the treatment of "Trinitarian mysticism." Many Christian titles aimed at a broad market skip over the complicated doctrine of the Trinity, but Finley suggests that meditating on the triune nature of the Christian God is crucial. These heady discussions are rounded out by concluding chapters—a revision of portions of Finley's 2000 title The Contemplative Heart—that are full of practical instruction. The evangelical market may find this title a bit too New Agey, but many other Christian readers will delight in it.
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Product Description

Enter a Monastery Without Walls

Christian Meditation introduces an ancient practice to a contemporary audience. James Finley, a former monk and student of Thomas Merton, presents the fundamentals of both understanding and practicing Christian meditation. He provides simple, helpful instructions, as well as explaining the deeper connection with the divine that meditation can bring. Above all, he makes clear that the aim of meditation is to allow us to experience divine contemplation -- the presence of God.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: HarperOne; First Edition edition (June 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060591927
• ISBN-13: 978-0060591922
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.8 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #567,773 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars I enjoyed this despite reservations, April 5, 2005

By	Romantic Anna (Bronx, NY United States) - See all my reviews

This book is one that I enjoyed despite some stylistic quirks. The author's tone is one of benevolent teacher, mainly for the novice. I would say that I am a novice meditator. I pray regularly but have always ound meditation a bit more difficult so I appreciate Finley's advice about breathing and sitting. His personal stories and the quotes he picks are excellent, one feels that that the saints and holy people he quotes are better, more concise sources of information.

My main complaint is that Finley is extremely repetitive, to the point of redunduncy; there are only so mnay ways to make a point and he makes them over and over again.

If the rest of the book had been like chapter 7 (entering the mind of Christ) I would have been a happier reader. This chapter is far more theological but also more mystical. I suppose that this is what I was looking for in a guide.

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars For the ongoing spiritual journey...., November 22, 2005

By	Peter Menkin (Mill Valley, CA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

There is so much in this hardback with the attractive dustcover that it is difficult to know where to start. The author, James Finley, says what his book is about from his perspective as the writer, and what could be better: "...I am sharing with you what I have learned thus far in my ongoing spiritual journey." For people who see their life as a spiritual journey, even a pilgrimage or travel through the desert, James Finley has written an articulate if somewhat detailed text on being with and learning to seek God in ones life.

I had read somewhere in a book about the poor by the Jesuit Gary Smith that Christ is seeking us, and that we are "followed" by Christ. This book purports that one lives and prays a realized oneness with God, preparing oneself through contemplation as one discipline. "When engaged in contemplation, we rest in God resting in us. We are at home in God at home in us." The role is basically receptive.

The person who seeks God in this way, so the book instructs, and the book is a kind of instruction by one who has knowledge to share, and a heart with love to teach, will have a "life-transforming realization of oneness with God." In some way, by manner of practice, and the nature of contemplation. Some of his phrases are moving, and give reason to think about with a reverent consideration that looks towards divine destinations. He does this in the Christian way. One can "...quietly begin to illumine the most intimate of moments."

In this conversion of life and the heart, which I have practiced and in practicing found this book useful as a contemplative seeking and traveling the way, even when not knowing the path but being there anyway, I found the practice of meditation is a starting point in the interior journey. This isn't a gibberish of the supernatural; the practice can extend to quiet moments of the sunset, or taking coffee in the morning. He suggests the day by day time of "Here I am, Lord."

There is a lot of ground and stuff and thoughts and ways discussed in this 286 page book by the former Trappist Monk who studied with Thomas Merton. Ones heart can be combined or moved in a way that connects it with similar experiences of past and passing centuries. Here is one lesson that is gained through Christian meditation:

"...meditation embodies a desire for God that brings us back full circle to a more clear-minded, Christlike compassion for others and our selves." I am going to tell you something that took the author a while to say in the section on "A Ladder to Heaven." When the Lord or we self disclose our love to another we seek to have our heart met and hearing that love come back to us. God does this with us in contemplation and meditation. There is this God of love which is the Christian love, and it is a powerful, drawing, and fulfilling force.

There are risks to the contemplative practice in the Christian tradition, outlined, explained, and taught in this book by HarperSan Francisco. "Dealing with the dying away of who we used to be." "Ego-based ways of experiencing ourselves are yeilding..." Sometimes the transformative experience is extremely difficult.

James Finley likes to explain the journey, and he tells us that the journey can be hidden, that He is hidden and that He does abide within us. So he quotes Saint John of the Cross. In my own life I have sought this method of prayer and practiced it, relying on the centering qualities and the quietude. Sometimes I have entered into the desert of aloness of my own life, and faced myself and memories. A hard thing to do, and one that can necessarily be something one endures. All in all, on what is called in this good book of contemplative life and doing, one is learning and practicing the general loving awarenesss to rest in the passageways. It is the claim of the author that this method of prayer, more a practice and part of living life, is an experience of spiritual fulfillment. The contemplative would say so, too. By that I mean others than James Finley, who has been steeped in this knowledge and carefully writes about it as a teacher in the book.

Before I close, here is the nondual oneness with God that is a ground of the experience, outlined as entering the mind of Christ. "...rest silently in God's presence..." This way allows "...access into the depths of realized oneness with God that is at once Christ's life and your own." As a reviewer, my suggestion is to read with care and with some patience this detailed book about Christian meditation, and to pause from time to time to think on some of the concepts and things written. Plainly, the practice is a simple resting in attentive openness to God.

There is some how-to in the book, where to set your eye glance, breathing, and the like. For this reader, who recommends this book to the seeker, the better parts are the explanations of experience and the preparation for the silent reception of God. Certainly a good book for seekers. This is a book of the ongoing spiritual journey.

--Peter Menkin, Obl Cam OSB

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Experiencing God in Silence, July 31, 2004

By	James A Graven "Friend of God" (Colorado Springs CO) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The silent path is difficult to describe with words. Finley does it well.

If you have been walking the silent path of the Buddha in part because there seems to be more assistance available you may want to read this book. It was written by one who has rediscovered "Lost Christianity", and is not only living it but can describe it well.

If you are of a Christian tradition and have considered meditation as a pracitce to deepen your faith you are not likely to find a better book to begin with than this one.