THE FULLNESS OF LIFE
Meditation: Christian Approach
(3rd of a Series)
1. Environment
Suppose you live in a room with two windows. One window opens to a beautiful garden with colorful and fragrant flowers. The other opens to a nearby noisy market and a heap of garbage swarming with flies.
No one needs to tell you how these two windows can influence your life for better or for worse. And yet, probably you have been going through life without taking into consideration how your exposures to both physical and psychological environments can affect your attitudes and orientations in life, for good or for ill.
Meditation is a way of closing the unwholesome "window" and exposing ourselves to the other "window" that can bring greater enrichment. We meditate in order to shut out the negative influences in our life and let in the more positive ones. It is for the reason that St. Paul said: "Whatever true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things" (Philippians 4:8).
To meditate is to "think about these things". It is to consider those positive values and allowing ourselves to be influenced – to be transformed for the better. Through meditation we expose ourselves to spiritual values which will transform our mind to the very mind of Christ.
Life is a series of choices. From one moment to another we are given the opportunity to choose between life and death. There are always those "windows" and we can always choose between one and the other. The choice between one or the other environment is important; it can mean either life or death.
The environment to which we expose ourselves need not always be the external physical reality that surrounds us. We can also be exposed to the more subtle psychological environment which is created by the words, attitudes and reactions of people around, or the mass media (printed or spoken words) that have become part of the modern life. Beyond these, we can also create our own mental environment by exposing ourselves to the thoughts and feelings which we habitually entertain.
A life which is committed to the higher spiritual values through a regular daily meditation will inevitably bring about a quiet positive influence on the surroundings. The inner transformation of a person through meditation does not end up only in personal growth and improvement but will tend to be communicated and to be shared for the benefit of others. Slowly yet surely, such a life will bring about wholesome transformation to the immediate environment and will continue to widen its circle of influence.