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Button	Formation
Formation	Can
Can	there
there	be
be	a
a	Christian
Christian	Zen
Zen	November
November	by
by	Connie
Connie	Rossini
Rossini	For
For	the
the	past
past	three
three	columns
columns	we
we	have
have	been
been	discussing
discussing	the
the	document
document	on
on	prayer
prayer	issued
issued	by
by	Spain
Spain	s
s	bishops
bishops	in
in	September
September	My
My	Thirst
Thirst	for
for	God
God	for
for	the
the	Living
Living	God
God	Last
Last	time
time	we
we	examined
examined	what
what	it
it	says
says	about
about	the
the	problems
problems	with
with	Buddhist
Buddhist	methods
methods	of
of	meditation
meditation	Now
Now	we
we	ll
ll	delve
delve	into
into	the
the	final
final	paragraph
paragraph	of
of	that
that	section
section	which
which	answers
answers	a
a	vital
vital	question
question	To
To	what
what	extent
extent	can
can	Christians
Christians	incorporate
incorporate	Buddhist
Buddhist	practices
practices	into
into	their
their	spirituality
spirituality	Paragraph
Paragraph	of
of	My
My	Soul
Soul	Thirsts
Thirsts	begins
begins	Sometimes
Sometimes	Zen
Zen	meditation
meditation	is
is	practiced
practiced	by
by	Christian
Christian	groups
groups	and
and	church
church	organizations
organizations	Some
Some	even
even	speak
speak	of
of	a
a	so
so	called
called	Christian
Christian	Zen
Zen	In
In	principle
principle	this
this	would
would	not
not	represent
represent	an
an	obstacle
obstacle	if
if	it
it	were
were	limited
limited	to
to	incorporating
incorporating	certain
certain	techniques
techniques	into
into	the
the	pedagogy
pedagogy	of
of	Christian
Christian	prayer
prayer	that
that	predispose
predispose	the
the	body
body	and
and	spirit
spirit	to
to	the
the	silence
silence	necessary
necessary	for
for	prayer
prayer	Nevertheless
Nevertheless	often
often	times
times	it
it	goes
goes	beyond
beyond	this
this	having
having	no
no	little
little	impact
impact	on
on	the
the	understanding
understanding	of
of	what
what	prayer
prayer	is
is	In
In	William
William	Johnston
Johnston	published
published	a
a	book
book	titled
titled	Christian
Christian	Zen
Zen	He
He	was
was	a
a	Jesuit
Jesuit	priest
priest	living
living	in
in	Tokyo
Tokyo	who
who	took
took	up
up	Zen
Zen	meditation
meditation	and
and	sought
sought	to
to	find
find	commonality
commonality	between
between	Buddhism
Buddhism	and
and	Christianity
Christianity	The
The	bishops
bishops	are
are	almost
almost	certainly
certainly	referring
referring	to
to	Johnston
Johnston	s
s	work
work	We
We	should
should	also
also	recall
recall	however
however	that
that	the
the	Spanish
Spanish	bishops
bishops	apply
apply	the
the	term
term	Zen
Zen	to
to	all
all	meditative
meditative	practices
practices	that
that	originate
originate	in
in	Buddhism
Buddhism	The
The	only
only	specific
specific	practice
practice	they
they	reference
reference	is
is	mindfulness
mindfulness	Therefore
Therefore	what
what	they
they	say
say	of
of	Christian
Christian	Zen
Zen	especially
especially	applies
applies	to
to	what
what	is
is	sometimes
sometimes	called
called	Christian
Christian	or
or	Catholic
Catholic	Mindfulness
Mindfulness	The
The	bishops
bishops	distinguish
distinguish	between
between	techniques
techniques	and
and	methods
methods	The
The	method
method	considered
considered	as
as	a
a	complete
complete	itinerary
itinerary	of
of	meditation
meditation	is
is	inseparable
inseparable	from
from	the
the	goal
goal	to
to	be
be	achieved
achieved	and
and	from
from	the
the	anthropological
anthropological	religious
religious	and
and	theological
theological	assumptions
assumptions	from
from	which
which	it
it	is
is	born
born	and
and	that
that	sustain
sustain	it
it	On
On	the
the	other
other	hand
hand	concrete
concrete	techniques
techniques	to
to	help
help	reach
reach	a
a	certain
certain	disposition
disposition	prior
prior	to
to	prayer
prayer	could
could	be
be	separated
separated	from
from	the
the	whole
whole	method
method	and
and	its
its	foundations
foundations	It
It	is
is	not
not	possible
possible	however
however	to
to	have
have	true
true	Christian
Christian	prayer
prayer	that
that	assumes
assumes	a
a	method
method	in
in	its
its	entirety
entirety	that
that	does
does	not
not	originate
originate	in
in	or
or	departs
departs	from
from	the
the	content
content	of
of	faith
faith	Incorporating
Incorporating	a
a	complete
complete	program
program	of
of	Buddhist
Buddhist	meditation
meditation	into
into	one
one	s
s	prayer
prayer	life
life	would
would	be
be	problematic
problematic	If
If	one
one	exclusively
exclusively	used
used	Buddhist
Buddhist	methods
methods	in
in	place
place	of
of	traditional
traditional	Christian
Christian	ones
ones	one
one	might
might	adopt
adopt	a
a	view
view	of
of	human
human	nature
nature	and
and	of
of	the
the	divine
divine	that
that	has
has	no
no	room
room	for
for	redemption
redemption	in
in	Christ
Christ	Practicing
Practicing	Buddhist
Buddhist	methods
methods	outside
outside	of
of	one
one	s
s	prayer
prayer	time
time	could
could	reap
reap	similar
similar	results
results	Techniques
Techniques	on
on	the
the	other
other	hand
hand	may
may	be
be	separated
separated	from
from	their
their	Buddhist
Buddhist	influences
influences	How
How	By
By	using
using	them
them	only
only	as
as	a
a	physical
physical	or
or	psychological
psychological	preparation
preparation	for
for	prayer
prayer	rather
rather	than
than	a
a	stand
stand	alone
alone	supplement
supplement	to
to	prayer
prayer	or
or	substitution
substitution	for
for	it
it	The
The	Congregation
Congregation	for
for	the
the	Doctrine
Doctrine	of
of	the
the	Faith
Faith	CDF
CDF	noted
noted	this
this	same
same	possibility
possibility	in
in	its
its	document
document	On
On	Some
Some	Aspects
Aspects	of
of	Christian
Christian	Meditation
Meditation	In
In	context
context	the
the	CDF
CDF	is
is	referring
referring	to
to	such
such	practices
practices	as
as	focusing
focusing	on
on	one
one	s
s	breath
breath	or
or	doing
doing	stretches
stretches	before
before	prayer
prayer	These
These	practices
practices	can
can	calm
calm	the
the	body
body	and
and	the
the	mind
mind	and
and	help
help	set
set	aside
aside	distractions
distractions	However
However	the
the	CDF
CDF	teaches
teaches	that
that	these
these	practices
practices	are
are	only
only	a
a	preparation
preparation	for
for	prayer
prayer	not
not	prayer
prayer	itself
itself	While
While	a
a	particular
particular	technique
technique	might
might	be
be	separable
separable	from
from	the
the	goals
goals	and
and	assumptions
assumptions	of
of	Buddhism
Buddhism	a
a	method
method	of
of	meditation
meditation	cannot
cannot	For
For	the
the	Spanish
Spanish	bishops
bishops	full
full	fledged
fledged	Buddhist
Buddhist	meditation
meditation	is
is	a
a	danger
danger	whether
whether	or
or	not
not	the
the	practitioner
practitioner	sees
sees	it
it	as
as	prayer
prayer	See
See	my
my	column
column	Spain
Spain	s
s	bishops
bishops	Only
Only	God
God	can
can	quench
quench	our
our	thirst
thirst	in
in	the
the	Oct
Oct	edition
edition	of
of	the
the	Catholic
Catholic	Voice
Voice	What
What	then
then	about
about	mindfulness
mindfulness	which
which	often
often	relies
relies	on
on	Buddhist
Buddhist	meditation
meditation	to
to	help
help	form
form	the
the	habit
habit	of
of	living
living	in
in	the
the	present
present	Like
Like	other
other	Buddhist
Buddhist	practices
practices	mindfulness
mindfulness	is
is	inseparable
inseparable	from
from	the
the	anthropological
anthropological	religious
religious	and
and	theological
theological	assumptions
assumptions	from
from	which
which	it
it	is
is	born
born	and
and	that
that	sustain
sustain	it
it	no
no	In
In	other
other	words
words	it
it	is
is	incompatible
incompatible	with
with	Christian
Christian	prayer
prayer	and
and	belief
belief	Connie
Connie	Rossini
Rossini	is
is	a
a	member
member	of
of	St
St	Peter
Peter	Parish
Parish	in
in	Omaha
Omaha	She
She	is
is	co
co	author
author	of
of	The
The	Contemplative
Contemplative	Rosary
Rosary	released
released	by
by	EWTN
EWTN	Publishing
Publishing	and
and	author
author	of
of	four
four	other
other	books
books	on
on	Catholic
Catholic	spirituality
spirituality	Previous
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of	Omaha
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of	Omaha