In Luke 11 (and Matthew 12) Jesus uses a curious parable to rebuke the Pharisees and others who were trash-talking about his ability to cast out demons. Jesus tells them,
24 “When an impure spirit comes out of a person, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ 25 When it arrives, it finds the house swept clean and put in order. 26 Then it goes and takes seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that person is worse than the first.” (Luke 11:24-26)
Jesus’ point was that the Pharisees had clean lives, as they did live according to the Law, but were empty of a real connection to God. In the end, their spiritual condition would be worse. Empty obedience would be filled with horror in the end. As the old saying goes, “Nature abhors a vacuum.” Something evil will fill that space. That is why wrong meditation may destroy you, but right meditation will save you.
Wrong meditation is best exemplified by the Buddhist tradition of TM (Transcendental Meditation). There’s a note of caution to be made here. Moderate and small amounts even of TM can have positive effects; it can reduce anxiety and depression by getting your mind out of a rut of negative thinking. Like an old-style phonograph record that’s been scratched and endlessly loops, the human mind can develop obsessive thinking. TM can help break that obsession. But TM also has many dangers; there is a better way of meditating.
In “The Dark Side of Mindfulness” by Olga Khazan (The Atlantic, accessed Sept. 4, 2026), the author profiles Willoughby Britton, an academic who built her career in clinical psychology by focusing on TM. She practiced it herself, spending at times hours per day meditating. To prove its usefulness and validity, she set up a study with half the group meditating, and half not, to demonstrate how TM promoted better sleep. The results shocked her – it did just the opposite. She wouldn’t publish it until years later because it went against her personal beliefs in the power of TM. Then she began to realize that it was causing her to hallucinate, lose sleep, and have dissociative episodes (out of body experiences), she began to cut back. She also began to meet people who had experienced full out psychotic episodes, depression, paranoia, and extreme passivity, things akin to schizophrenia. When she spoke of these things to Buddhist monks, they would describe those experiences as a good thing, the path toward the truth of “no-self.” Or they would suggest the solution was – more meditation. Willoughby herself has stopped TM and now works with people who have had these bad outcomes from it.
The problem with TM is it is the wrong kind of meditation. It is an emptying of the mind, shutting it off from thought, to empty out yourself. But again, nature abhors a vacuum; if you empty yourself, something is going to come in and fill it. The article mentions that for hundreds of years, Buddhist themselves have identified negative consequences for many in TM, including an eighth century text in Chinese that talks of fifty “demonic states” in which meditators can become trapped. If you empty your mind often enough, something’s going to fill it.
Biblical mediation is completely different. The word “meditate” in Hebrew is hagah, which might be better translated as “ruminate.” To ruminate is mull over, think about, chew it over. Ruminate is also used to describe what a cow does, a process called rumination, where a cow brings back up grass it has eaten to chew it over again. What we’re talking about is thinking deeply about a passage of scripture – to turn it over in our minds, thinking through its meaning and applications, until we’ve absorbed it. The ultimate end of all that mental effort is to put it into practice.
This type of mediation is totally different than TM. Instead of an emptying of the mind, it is filling it with positive, Godly thoughts; it is filling it with scripture. In the “The Dark Side of Mindfulness,” the author mentions in passing that people who receive treatment with positive thinking therapy do better with mental stress than doing TM. What better positive thinking than the Word of God itself. That’s why Paul says,
8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. 9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you. Phillipians 4:8-9
Paul was no hippy-dippy psychologist grad student, but that’s right on with what a modern psycho-therapist would tell you. Think about good things, which for Paul, were Biblical things. But don’t just think about them – put them into practice. Note the result: the God of peace will be with you. That’s right, the cure for a lot of anxiety and depression is to ruminate on God’s Word and put it into practice – do what you know you’re supposed to be doing.
I try to ruminate on a passage, especially one I will be speaking on. I read through it, take some notes, eventually work up an outline, but at odd moments of the day, I’ll think about, mull it over, and contemplate parallel passages, illustrations, deeper applications and connections. I’ll often pray as I do it, asking God to open my mind to what’s there. I’ve learned a lot that way, been challenged often in my own walk, and treasured many inspiring insights. I think many of us also listen to a lot of Christian music, finding most meaningful the songs that are directly from words of scripture. Listening and thinking about and singing along with those lyrics is ruminating on them – you may be doing meditation without even realizing it.
There are many spiritual practices, such as reading God’s word, praying, fasting, sharing, but I don’t know if there is enough emphasis on meditation, or for that matter, fasting. (We also don’t do pilgrimages, a spiritual practice in most religions but not among evangelical Protestants. Why is that?) Given all the scriptures in both Old and New Testament, especially the Psalms, that command meditation, you need to practice this discipline. Fill your mind with God’s Word, and it will change your thinking and your choices and your actions.
For a challenge, meditate on the Lord’s prayer. Think about the meaning of each word (hallowed?), the order in which things are prayed for, ask questions of it (why pray for daily bread – only daily? Not monthly? Why bread?) and consider parallel ideas (where else does Jesus talk about something that’s daily? Where else is forgiving discussed?). Pray for the Holy Spirit to guide you in opening this passage. What part of this prayer model are you not putting into practice? Ruminate a while, and see what you learn and what is changed in you.
Just for fun: would the triathlon of spiritual disciplines be fasting on a pilgrimage where you’re meditating as you walk? Anyone want to sign up for that? Let me know in the comments below!
Written By: Tim Barsuhn
