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441 Meditate, Meditation 442 popularized. The World Parliament of Religions son (Al-mura¯ qaba høajj al-aql)” (cf. Massignon: 171, (1893) was a major marker of borrowings and adap- n. 65). tations among the world religions, with the intro- These practices, which find biblical analogues, duction of Swami Vivekananda and Hinduism to were conceived to be an imitation of practices of the America. While later in the 20th century, D. T. Su- prophet Muh ammad, linked to his custom of en- zuki was travelling across the Pacific to instruct gaging in vigils (S 73:1–4, 20; cf. Pss 63:6, 77:6; Sir Westerners in Zen meditation techniques, Christian 39:7). He would spend one month a year, often in clergy began writing texts and practicing these seclusion, in a cave on Mt. H ira¯ outside Mecca (cf. Asian forms of meditation. Among this group were Matt 14:23; Mark 6:46). There he would engage in Bede Griffiths, Thomas Merton, Anthony de Mello, meditation and other devotional practices (Arab. ta- William Johnston, and John Main. John Main, a høannuth, see Wensinck, “tahøannatha”; Kister: 223– Benedictine monk, began to recite a Christian man- 36), which can be equated with the contemplation tra, rather than longer passages from the Bible. In of God and devotion to his worship (Arab. taabbud). 1991 a seminar led by another Benedictine, Bede This practice can be identified with seclusion or (re- Griffiths, led to the founding of the World Commu- ligious) retreat (Arab. khalwa), a focus of which was nity for Christian Meditation, termed “a monastery (religious) meditative reflection (Arab. tafakkur; see without walls.” Meadow attempts to “assimilate” Abu¯ H a¯ mid al-Ghaza¯ lı¯ (d. 1111), Kita¯ b al-Tafakkur or Buddhist vipassana or insight meditation into Car- “The Book of Meditation”; a brief summary is given melite spirituality, especially John of the Cross, in Waley: 542–43; cf. Treiger: 35–47). making the integrated form a meditation upon Around the 10th century, early pietistic trends “emptiness” that spiritually satisfies (Meadow: xvi). in Islam, which became known as Sufism, revolved More recently among evangelicals, a “rediscov- around particular styles of mystical praxes that in- ery” of spiritual disciplines has led to some renewal cluded prolonged withdrawal into solitary spiritual in meditation practices, but there is equally caution meditation (Arab. khalwa; from the Arabic verb in practicing “new age” or Buddhist/Hindu medita- khala¯ , “to be alone”). Khalwa constitutes an integral tion practices, as threats to biblical orthodoxy. This component of spiritual training in the Sufi tradition is especially noted in anti-cult literature on Tran- and involves ascetic self-discipline, gradually in- scendental Meditation, the International Society for creased fasting, vigils, periodic voluntary seclusion, Krishna Consciousness, and some forms of Yoga. isolation, or a retreat in a solitary location (cf Luke Bibliography: ■ Balthasar, H. von, Christian Meditation (San 2:37; Acts 14:23). Khalwa is frequently comprised of Francisco, Calif. 1989). ■ Davis, J., Meditation and Commu- personal devotions and meditative practices and nion with God (Downers Grove, Ill. 2012). ■ Eifring, H. (ed.), states (Arab. awra¯ d, sg. wird). It is usually combined Meditation and Culture (London 2015). ■ Hancock, M., with intense meditation through the continuous re- “Meditation,” Dictionary of Christian Spirituality (Grand Rap- membrance and recollection of God (Arab. dhikr), a ids, Mich. 2011). ■ Kang, J., Scripture by Heart (Downers Grove, Ill. 2010). ■ Meadow, M., Christian Insight Meditation repetitive recitative practice derived from the (Boston, Mass. 2007). ■ Mello, A. de, Sadhana, a Way to God Qura¯ n (S 8:45, 18:24 and 33:41; cf. Ps 119:55). The (New York 1984). ■ Mermis-Cava, J., “An Anchor and a practices are often coupled with specific breathing Sail: Christian Meditation as the Mechanism for a Pluralist patterns, bodily postures, and rhythmical move- Religious Identity,” Sociology of Religion 70 (2009) 432–53. ments. The meditation on a qur a¯ nic quotation ■ Merton, T., Spiritual Direction and Meditation (Collegeville, (most often the credo la¯ ila¯ ha illa lla¯ h, “there is no Minn. 1960). ■ Versteeg, P., “Meditation and Subjective Signification: Meditation as a Ritual Form within New god but God”), or a divine name or names, can be Christian Spirituality,” Worship 80 (2006) 121–39. a collective or a solitary practice, vocal/audible or William T. Purinton mental/silent, and can be performed either during a retreat or in everyday life. Both the physical and IV. Islam the “subtle” bodies provide sacred spaces in which From the earliest period, various forms of medita- dhikr can take place and the practice can also be di- tive and contemplative disciplines were cultivated rected at different body parts. Especially important within Islam. These revolved primarily around the is the notion of the conceptualization of the subtle pietistic practice of the devotional recitation of the body, and in particular of the mystical heart. Even Qura¯ n. Early ascetics are known to have retreated though historical influences have not been estab- into a mosque for a number of days and to have lished in a conclusive way, there are resemblances devoted their time to continuous prayers and medi- between certain aspects of the dhikr and the hesy- tation, sometimes contemplating just one qura¯ nic chastic prayer of eastern Christianity, that is the verse for an extended period (cf. 1 Thess 5:17). An monastic traditions of “constant prayer” which can early representative of this world-renouncing piety be traced back to the Desert Fathers (Nasr 1986: is Ibra¯ hı¯ m Ibn Adham (d. 777/8) of Balkh in 195–203), also known as the Jesus prayer or prayer present-day Afghanistan, who advocated a constant of the heart, as it is based on Jesus’s injunction in meditative and contemplative activity (Arab. mura¯ q- the Gospel of Matthew (Matt 6:6) (cf. Teule: 18). aba): “Vigilant meditation is the pilgrimage of Rea- Certain features of the dhikr are also comparable to Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception vol. 18 © Walter de Gruyter, Berlin/Boston, 2020 443 Meditate, Meditation 444 the meditation techniques of Yoga (Anawati/Gar- Christliche und islamische Mystik im Orient (ed. M. Tamcke; det: 235–58). Wiesbaden 2010) 11–23. ■ Waley, M. I., “Contemplative As in the Jewish and Christian meditative tradi- Disciplines in Early Persian Sufism,” in Classical Persian Su- tions, Islamic meditation practices can involve visu- fism from its Origins to Rumi (ed. L. Lewisohn; London/New York 1993) 497–548. ■ Wensinck, A. J., Concordance et indices alization and imagination (on the use of imagina- de la tradition musulmane, 6 vols. (Leiden 1936). tion in meditation and the need to master and to Sara Kuehn leave it behind, see al-H a¯ rith al-Muh a¯ sibı¯ ’s (d. 857) Kita¯ b al-Tawahhum). In Sufi practice, individual let- V. Literature ters of the written Arabic of the Qur a¯ n, as well as One of the most influential works of the medieval the calligraphic form of the divine name or names, period was the anonymous Franciscan text, Medita- are visualized and meditated upon (Nasr 1987: 31– tiones vitae Christi (ca. 1300, Meditations on the Life of 33). Another meditation technique of Sufi contem- Christ), with its immersion of the reader in a vivid plation (Arab. tawajjuh) involves intense concentra- experience of the visual and other sensory details of tion undertaken in a dream or waking state, when the Gospel narrative. Its stated aim was to make the a transmission of spiritual energy or love (tawajjuh) reader “in thy soule present” at the scene, for exam- creates an inner vision (Arab. tasawwur), often of the ø ple witnessing the breath of the ox and the ass on image of a disciple’s master (Bashir: 206–9), entail- the holy child. This affective approach was forma- ing a spiritual experience. Further, Sufi music and tive of the whole genre of the religious lyric and dance performances (Arab. sama¯ , literally hearing thus of the meditative poetry of Richard Rolle, Wil- or audition) aim to draw the audience towards con- liam Dunbar, François Villon, and others. The re- templation of God (Boivin). cent publication of the short Italian text of the Medi- With these practices, the mystic strives to even- tationes may reveal the earliest version of this work. tually overcome different stages of development in Irrespective of this, its journey format suggests an order to transform his lower self into a soul at peace important influence on Dante. The work as trans- (Arab. nafs mutma inna; S 89:27). This goal can only ø mitted more widely also influenced the develop- be achieved through immense spiritual discipline ment of the lullaby in the English carol and the Ger- and meditation, the ultimate aim being a perfection man Wiegenlied. Yet, as Michelle Karnes argues, built on the annihilation of the self in God (Arab. Nicholas Love’s Mirror of the Blessed Life of Christ (ca. fana¯ fı¯ Alla¯ h). 1410) was exceptional in presenting a revision in English of the Meditationes, which was equivalent to Bibliography. Primary: ■ al-Ghaza¯ lı¯ , Abu¯ H a¯ mid, Le livre de la méditation (Kit a¯ b al-Tafakkur) (trans. H. Boutaleb; Beirut a vernacular gospel for lay people and which yet 2001). [Arab.] ■ al-Muh a¯ sibı¯ , al-H a¯ rith, Kit a¯ b al-Tawahhum treated gospel scenes not as something the reader (ed. A. J. Arberry; Cairo 1937). [Arab.] imaginatively entered into directly but as the basis Secondary: ■ Bashir, S., “Movement and Stillness: The Prac- for a consciously textual experience in the present tice of Sufi Dhikr in Fourteenth-Century Central Asia,” Medi- (Karnes: 6–10, 18–22). tation in Judaism, Christianity and Islam: Cultural Histories (ed.
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