editation vs Contemplation

Meditation and Contemplation are two words that are often confused due the similarity in their
meanings. Strictly speaking there is some difference between their meanings and connotations.
Meditation consists in concentrating on an object or a religious symbol for a considerable period
of time. It requires some techniques as well for its smooth execution. The techniques of
meditation are taught by the spiritual guru or teacher to the disciple or the student. Meditation
forms a very important part of Ashtanga Yoga. In fact, it is one of the eight limbs of Yoga.
On the other hand, contemplation involves serious thinking on a particular topic, or any other
aspect concerned with our routine of work or ideas. Contemplation involves thinking, whereas
meditation relates to cessation of thoughts. Hence, it can be said that contemplation is exactly
opposite to meditation in purpose.
Contemplation involves reflection of thoughts, the various ways of implementing those thoughts
into action and the like. On the other hand, meditation is aimed at perfecting the art of Yoga. It is
aimed at spiritual absorption of the mind. Meditation in other words, results in emancipation. On
the other hand, contemplation results in bondage.
Contemplation at times ends in strengthening spiritual knowledge too. If we contemplate on the
nature of the supreme soul or the Brahman, then it amounts to moving closer towards spiritual
growth. If we contemplate on personal ends, then it results in universal bondage according to
philosophical truths.
Great sages have recommended meditation to achieve your goals of attaining liberation at the
end of life. On the other hand, contemplation at the most can strengthen meditation procedures
but it cannot directly lead us to liberation at the end of life. Contemplation involves study also.
Mediation does not involve study for that matter.

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contemplation/#ixzz35S7COTAZ

What's the Difference between Prayer, Meditation, and Contemplation?
What's the difference between prayer, meditation, and contemplation?
These three terms have been used rather loosely by the church over the past several centuries, but
each of these terms designate very specific acts. Although the word prayer has always been a
somewhat generic word used as an umbrella to cover virtually all communication between the
profane (the physical world) and the holy (the spiritual world), it also carries with it a specific
style of communication.
Prayer, in its specific meaning, means to ask or beseech God for something or another. A slightly
broader understanding would include any sort of "talking" with God. Most people who pray at all
are most familiar with prayer. Table grace, bedtime prayers, crisis pleas, and so on all fall under
this definition of the word. Certainly prayer is the best known form of communication with God.
But prayer only covers a very small segment of the "divine communication" field. Meditation
was popularized by the Transcendental Meditation movement a couple decades ago (TM was
characterized by people sitting in lotus positions chanting "ooohhhhhmmmm"). Many --most --
churches viewed TM as tantamount to dabbling in the occult, and so mediation became a "dirty"
word in many circles. However, meditation had been practiced by the Israelites long before TM.
In Joshua 1.8 we read, "The book of law shall not depart from your mouth; you shall meditate on
it day and night." The Hebrew word translated as meditate carries with it a sense of mumbling or
murmuring, though the murmuring was meant to be the points of the law. In the early church,
however, meditation could be compared to TM.
The practice of meditation includes the intent concentration on an object worthy of
consideration. Most often, in the church, this would be a particular passage of scripture. Some of
the more popular passages have been short phrases such as "Lord Jesus, have mercy upon me, a
sinner" and "Be still and know that I am God." Generally, these phrases are repeated (murmured)
and every other thought is purged from the mind so full concentration can be brought to bear on
this single-minded devotion. The purpose of meditation is to offer devotion to God, to obtain
deep understanding, and to garner tranquility. Many who practice this form of prayer claim they
reach a spiritual presence and union with God.
Contemplation is generally considered the most difficult form of prayer to achieve, in essence
because one can not really "achieve" it. In contemplative prayer, one seeks to empty their very
being, allowing God to fill them with God's presence and love -- allowing them to become one
with God. Unfortunately, this state of union, or "one-ed-ness" as the 14th century mystic Julian
of Norwich would call it, is elusive. The more we try to clear our head of thoughts, the more we
become aware of the thoughts in our head. For those fortunate enough to experience one-ed-ness,
they find that it's been lost at the moment they become aware its been found! The more one
strives for it, the further away it gets. The more one puts into it, the less room there is for God to
come into them. Contemplatives have found that full union is a gift from God, not something
achievable through their own doings.
So why engage in contemplative prayer? Because the practice itself offers an opportunity to re-
center and focus. But even more, contemplatives claim that nothing can compare to those times
when the fullness of contemplation is realized. They describe overwhelming feelings of being
loved, a sense of peace beyond understanding, vivid images or pictures which carry meaning for
themselves or loved ones. In the words of Jesus, arguably the premier contemplative, they
experience his sentiments, "I and the Father are one" (John 10.30).
Prayer, meditation, and contemplation then are quite different in focus and practice. And yet all
three strive to achieve something that seems to be an innate need for all humanity -- the need for
communion with the divine. For those willing to risk the known, much peace can be discovered
in the unknown.
What is the Difference Between Meditation
and Contemplation?
Posted on 10 May 2012
Theres no use getting caught up on words. Words are just signs that point to the reality.
But the reality, as I understand it from throwing myself quite foolishly into the writings of Saint
John of the Cross, is this.
In meditation, we do some mental work. We might, for example, read the Gospel. Then we
might think on the Gospel, maybe write some lines about it or form some thoughts about it with
regards to what God is saying to us. What practices of meditation we do depends on our state of
life, our experiences, and the ideas and people God has made us familiar with. They are just
whatever works for us or appeals to us. For example, Charles de Foucauld was constantly
drawn to the Gospel. Both he and Thrse composed meditations while sitting before the
Eucharist. Saint Damiaan spoke in the honest and perturbing way of a saint:
I confess to you, my dear brother, the cemetery and the hut of the dying are my best meditation
books, as well as for the benefit of my own soul as in view of preparing my instructions.
And John Paul II was drawn strongly to the Rosary. All are meditative practices. All are different
meditative practices. There is some raw material. And theres a practice, an activity.
Contemplation is about something else.
Contemplation is a word used to describe a different reality. We could also use the
word passio divinorum, suffering divine things. (Saint Francis de Sales said that contemplation
is a loving, simple and permanent attentiveness of the mind to divine things.) We can choose
our words. The words dont matter much. The reality matters more. Words just point to a reality.
The reality that contemplation describes is, as John of the Cross says,
naught else than a secret, peaceful, and loving infusion from God which, if it be permitted,
enkindles the soul with the spirit of love. (Dark Night, Bk 1, Ch 9, #2)
Alphonsus says, in the same spirit,
Contemplation is very different from meditation. In meditation, God is sought after by a
discursive effort; in contemplation there is no effort of this kind as God has been found and is
gazed at.
Contemplation is not a practice. Its something that happens either consciously or (I think)
unconsciously in the higher parts of the soul. Its a gift from God. Its an infusion straight from
God-is-Love to our soul. Its a gaze. Its an infusion. Its not an effort. Its a kind of divine peace
amid our chaos.
And one of the key recommendations of the saints is to place meditation at the service of
contemplation. Saint John of the Cross says it thus:
Therefore directors should not impose meditation on persons in this state [of contemplation], nor
should they oblige them to make acts or strive for satisfaction and fervor. Such activity would
place an obstacle in the path of the principal agent who, as I say, is God, who secretly and quietly
inserts in the soul loving wisdom and knowledge, without specified acts (Living Flame, St 3,
#33)
Saint Francis de Sales says it thus:
If, while saying vocal prayers, your heart feels drawn to mental prayer, do not resist it, but
calmly let your mind fall into that channel, without troubling because you have not finished your
appointed vocal prayers. The mental prayer you have substituted for them is more acceptable to
God, and more profitable to your soul. I should make an exception of the Churchs Offices, if
you are bound to say those by your vocation in such a case these are your duty.
If God calls us to leave aside meditation for some moments or more or less frequently, in order
to focus on contemplative love, then the answer is always to be yes.
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