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Aspects of Christian meditation was the topic of an October 15, 1989 document of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. The document is titled "Letter to the Bishops of the Catholic Church on some aspects of Christian meditation" and is formally known by its incipit Orationis formas.〔Acta Apostolicae Sedis 82 (1990) 362-379〕〔(''Letter on certain aspects of the Christian meditation'' on the Vatican Document Index )〕〔(Vatican website: ''LETTER TO THE BISHOPS OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH ON SOME ASPECTS OF CHRISTIAN MEDITATION'' October 15, 1989 )〕 The document issues warnings on differences, and potential incompatibilities, between Christian meditation and the styles of meditation used in eastern religions such as Buddhism.〔(''Letter to the Bishops of the Catholic Church on some aspects of Christian meditation'' on EWTN )〕〔''The meeting of religions and the Trinity'' by Gavin D'Costa 2000 ISBN 0-567-08730-1 page 152〕 The document warns of fundamental errors in combining Christian and non-Christian styles of meditation. Referring to the constitution ''Dei verbum'' the document emphasizes that all Christian prayer and meditation should "proceed to converge on Christ" and be guided by the gift of the Holy Spirit. It reaffirmed that the Church recommends the reading of the Scripture prior to and as a source of Christian prayer and meditation. Similar warnings were issued in 2003 in ''A Christian reflection on the New Age'' which characterized New Age activities as essentially incompatible with Christian teachings and values.〔〔 ==Warnings== This document of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith stresses the differences between Christian and eastern meditative approaches. It warns of the dangers of attempting to mix Christian meditation with eastern approaches since that could be both confusing and misleading, and may result in the loss of the essential Christocentric nature of Christian meditation.〔''Catholicism in dialogue: conversations across traditions'' by Wayne Teasdale 2004 ISBN 0-7425-3178-3 Page 74〕 The letter warns that "euphoric states" obtained through Eastern meditation should not be confused with prayer or assumed to be signs of the presence of God, a state that should always result in loving service to others. Without these truths, the letter said, meditation, which should be a ''flight from the self'', can degenerate into a form of self-absorption. The letter warns against concentration on the self, rather than on Christ, and states that:
The letter also warns that concentration on the physical aspects of meditation "can degenerate into a cult of the body" and that equating bodily states with mysticism "could also lead to psychic disturbance and, at times, to moral deviations." 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Aspects of Christian meditation」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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