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Christian Meditation
L.F.: Saint John spoke about the Word, the Logos, as in the beginningand, as being God. He was using a Greek concept, the Logos; you also find the concept of the Word in the Hebrew Bible. The word of God that is coming to the prophets, and entering into the mind and consciousness of the
prophets.
L.M.: Even through dreams, prophetic dreams.
L.F.: There is in the Greek idea of the Logos—which has been translated as reason and as speech—nuances that would not have been familiar to the Hebrew 'mind. The Logos goes back to the origins of Greek thought. As Heraclitus says, the Logos is the principle of harmony and order which affects, controls, or, guides—that is, I think, the word he uses—the whole universe. So you can see the attraction of that concept of the Logos to Saint John.
The Logos is a very important concept for Christians, as they enter into dialogue with other religions. Because we probably face—as Bede Griffiths liked to remind us—the same kind of challenge today in relation to non-Christian religions, as the early church faced in its encounter with the Gentile world.
We have to expand our terminology, our thinking; we have to allow other ways of expression and other ways of thought to become our own—as we struggle to speak about the inexpressible mystery of God. We can do that because we believe in the Logos. Because we believe that wherever human beings have discovered, or expressed truth, or beauty, or goodness, that has been through the Word of God. The Word has been present and is present in other religions. For us Christians, we believe that this Logos became flesh for the world; the Word became flesh in Jesus Christ. The fullness of the divinity was present in that unique individual in an unrepeatable way.
L.M.: Is there any ongoing dialogue between the Christian meditation community and the Islamic community? The Western media are almost overwhelmingly negative about Islam, and Muslims are largely associated with terrorists and dictators.
L.F.: I would like to have more dialogue with the Islamic world, and I have been personally involved in some cases, but not as much as I would like. There is this stereotyping of the Muslim world, and even of Muslim belief. There are some terrorists who blow up planes in the name of the Prophet
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