그리스도교 묵상: 하나님 임재 체험하기 (Christian Meditation: Experiencing the Presence of God)

서지정보

· 발행기관 : 한신대학교 한신신학연구소
· 수록지 정보 : 신학연구 / 52권 / 1호 / 187 ~ 213페이지
· 저자명 : 권명수

초록

Nowadays, the level of interest in meditation and contemplation is increasing not only in Korean society, but also in the Korean Christian Church. Christian prayer can be divided into two different types. One type of prayer is an earnest request to God and the other type of prayer is focused on waiting in silence for a response from God. According to Teresa of Avila, there are seven mansions in prayer, but since then Church scholars have expanded the seven mansions of prayer into nine: vocal prayer, meditation, affective prayer, prayer of simplicity, infused contemplation, prayer of quiety, prayer of union, prayer of conforming union, and prayer of transforming union. This paper simplifies them into three: vocal prayer, meditation, and contemplation.
Contemplative prayer in this article refers to apophatic (emptying) prayer. The apophatic prayer involves being silent and naturally emptying one’s mind. Contemplative prayer can be put into practice through 1) practicing silence, 2) keeping an open heart and staying awake in the present, and 3) gazing on the things arising in the mind without any evaluation and meditating with a compassionate heart.
When one keeps on praying with these three contemplative practices, a moment of spontaneous meditative awareness often takes place. It is idiosyncratic and hard to express in language. In this moment, one feels awakened to the sheer miracle of simply feeling alive. Moments of feeling alive pass through our hearts.
Meditation or contemplative prayer is a special method responding to our longing for the moment of awakening. Meditation is defined as any act habitually entered into our whole heart as a way of awakening and sustaining a more interior meditative awareness of the present moment. The transformative power of meditation is not based on the person’s determination or one’s disposition, but rather on the fact that it slowly becomes one's sincere habit.
A good way to express the spontaneous experience taking place during contemplative prayer is ‘in and as.’ For example, when a woman sees someone she loves, she holds that person in her arms. In doing so she is aware of the love that transcends the physical existence of the person she loves. The love she becomes aware of awakens the mystery of love manifesting itself in and within the person she loves. This principle also applies to the experience of feeling the presence of God. When we look at a painful experience from the past, God approaches us from within the pain and also through the painful experience.
Through such meditative experiences, we gradually become aware that ourselves, others, and things around us are not separate, but that we are in unity with each other and have communion with things around us. Theologically speaking, this relates to being aware that we are one with God.
There was an experimental study conducted on two groups, one group of Christians who practiced contemplative prayer, and one group who prayed traditionally through vocal prayer. We asked the former group to write about their feelings right after contemplative prayer. When their feedback was grouped according to similar themes, they could be grouped into the three subgroups of mindfulness meditation, which are awareness, attention, and acceptance.

영어초록

Nowadays, the level of interest in meditation and contemplation is increasing not only in Korean society, but also in the Korean Christian Church. Christian prayer can be divided into two different types. One type of prayer is an earnest request to God and the other type of prayer is focused on waiting in silence for a response from God. According to Teresa of Avila, there are seven mansions in prayer, but since then Church scholars have expanded the seven mansions of prayer into nine: vocal prayer, meditation, affective prayer, prayer of simplicity, infused contemplation, prayer of quiety, prayer of union, prayer of conforming union, and prayer of transforming union. This paper simplifies them into three: vocal prayer, meditation, and contemplation.
Contemplative prayer in this article refers to apophatic (emptying) prayer. The apophatic prayer involves being silent and naturally emptying one’s mind. Contemplative prayer can be put into practice through 1) practicing silence, 2) keeping an open heart and staying awake in the present, and 3) gazing on the things arising in the mind without any evaluation and meditating with a compassionate heart.
When one keeps on praying with these three contemplative practices, a moment of spontaneous meditative awareness often takes place. It is idiosyncratic and hard to express in language. In this moment, one feels awakened to the sheer miracle of simply feeling alive. Moments of feeling alive pass through our hearts.
Meditation or contemplative prayer is a special method responding to our longing for the moment of awakening. Meditation is defined as any act habitually entered into our whole heart as a way of awakening and sustaining a more interior meditative awareness of the present moment. The transformative power of meditation is not based on the person’s determination or one’s disposition, but rather on the fact that it slowly becomes one's sincere habit.
A good way to express the spontaneous experience taking place during contemplative prayer is ‘in and as.’ For example, when a woman sees someone she loves, she holds that person in her arms. In doing so she is aware of the love that transcends the physical existence of the person she loves. The love she becomes aware of awakens the mystery of love manifesting itself in and within the person she loves. This principle also applies to the experience of feeling the presence of God. When we look at a painful experience from the past, God approaches us from within the pain and also through the painful experience.
Through such meditative experiences, we gradually become aware that ourselves, others, and things around us are not separate, but that we are in unity with each other and have communion with things around us. Theologically speaking, this relates to being aware that we are one with God.
There was an experimental study conducted on two groups, one group of Christians who practiced contemplative prayer, and one group who prayed traditionally through vocal prayer. We asked the former group to write about their feelings right after contemplative prayer. When their feedback was grouped according to similar themes, they could be grouped into the three subgroups of mindfulness meditation, which are awareness, attention, and acceptance.

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