Let me offer an example of deeply Christian meditation. The concept of Christian meditation is precisely NOT to empty your mind, but to fill it with realities of which you’ve never dreamt. Some Christians have never tried to imagine what it means when God says every day in your life is like a thousand years to Him, and that His thoughts toward you in that day are more numerous than the sand on the sea shore, and that He knows His intentions toward you – that they are good.

There’s a richness and health to filling your mind with those thoughts. Especially when your life seems to prove them all lies.

The linked post (not one of mine) gives a wonderful example of Christian meditation. I hope it blesses you.
http://christthetruth.wordpress.com/2009/11/21/recipe-for-a-15-minute-quiet-time/

I tend to side with anonymous and codepoke – there’s enough in Christian tradition, and Zen could start us on the slippery slope into idolatry.

I’m grateful to never have been tempted to try Zen; instead I was blessed by the spiritual exercises as developed by St.Ignatius – focusing on the Word who is the Son – and silence definitely does play a role in that.
Another psalm came to mind, Ps.19:1-3 where God’s glory is declared by creation without sound. And a silence which gives glory to God must also be part of the chief end of humankind. My 2p …

There are however ’shades of meaning’ in every word. Give up – sounds like a wrestling term – cry uncle and I will let you go. The Hebrew I see in my BDB does not give ‘uncle’ or ‘give up’ as a direct gloss – but relax, sink: e.g. sink down – as hay in fire! (Isaiah 5:24). It also can imply abating of temper (Judges 8:3). BDB glosses Psalm 46 as ‘do nothing’ or let go. What I get from this psalm is that God will be lifted up – and I cannot help but think of how our Lord is lifted up for us as an offering by his own hands that we might be in him as he is in the midst of us.

And then, in church I wondered (as my mind wandered) if it would be accurate to translate it somewhere along the lines of “Stop striving, and recognize that I am God.”

As for the Zen topic, firstly I think that there is a very real longing for quiet in the midst of our hubbub. And, as has been mentioned, the church often contributes to the hubbub, rather than making space for quiet.

Secondly, I believe that the best quiet is not the quiet where I’m silenced, centered, at one with myself, but the quiet that comes from being in community. I don’t mean just quietness in the middle of a group service, but rather peace of being quieted, while being “with” (With is a preposition I use with an active meaning, almost in a verb sense, without needing an object after it).

No matter how alone and quiet I am, I know that I am anchored in community and that matters somehow to helping me be and find quiet. But also to be quieted, actually with someone, is really important. No words, no effort, no practice of discipline, just being with. To me that is something incredibly more valuable than being able to master quieting myself through a particular practice or method.

And finally, I like what Bob said over on his related post: “Technique is important and useful but ultimately insufficient.” and “Technique can provide a little discipline and can also be holy but it does not do the job of dealing with ___” [Bob said anger, but I read it as a fill-in-the blank].

That’s a helpful paradigm for me in thinking about technique, whether it be in connection with meditation or prayer or childbirth.

I’ve got mixed feelings about the Zen topic itself, but I’ve found all the little sideline conversations to be fascinating and thought-provoking.

I’ve long looked at the English of Ps 46:10, and of the preceeding verses. When I rejected contemplation, I learned that the context says God is an active – terrifyingly active – refuge, and we should sit quietly and wait on His salvation. I saw that this passage is not about intimate communion with God, but about quiet trust in His works.

Today I looked at the Hebrew, though. Wow. It appears “be still” is a soft translation of the Hebrew, which really means:
1) to sink, relax, sink down, let drop, be disheartened

Look at other uses of this word, and you see a very different picture. (AV — feeble 6, fail 4, weaken 4, go 4, alone 4, idle 3, stay 3, slack 3, faint 2, forsake 2, abated 1, cease 1, misc 9.) We are to be feeble and know that He is God. This passage is a reference to our position before His strength, not to knowing Him.

Some contemplate as unto the Lord, and some don’t contemplate as unto the Lord. Whether we contemplate, therefore, or don’t contemplate we are the Lord’s. (Rom 14) Thank you for pushing back.

I also agree that it isn’t good for the church to try to censure folks from looking into Zen, as you said it is pretty secularized here anyway. But also, it reminds me of another large cult that I went on a missions trip to witness to (which happened to be in the state of Utah). At an event where some of us were mingling and just trying to start up friendly, thought provoking dialog, church leaders were telling their members not to speak to us. That kind of censorship screams insecurity. Zen practices may not be particularly beneficial to us, but as Christians, I think we should always be free to look into other points of view and ways of doing things. We have the truth to refer to, and if we are mature in our faith and grounded in the Word, whatever isn’t compatible should raise red flags in within our spirit.

Just my two cents.