Thanks to Al Mohler, I ran across this story from the Leaf Chronicle.
Syncetism is the reconciliation/fusion of opposing belief systems.
the Leaf Chronicle story talks about Christians using eastern meditation in their devotions.
Like many churchgoers in the Bible Belt, Kristy Robinson teaches Sunday school with her husband and helps prepare communion at their Episcopal church in Franklin, Tenn.
She rounds out her church- and prayer-filled life with another spiritual practice that’s not quite as familiar: meditation.
“I’ll see a difference in my day if I don’t,” says Robinson, who opens each day with 20 minutes of absolute silence.
All the chanting and incense and — yikes — even meditation altars may seem too New Age and mystical for some, but meditation has gone mainstream and been embraced by suburban moms and busy people.
Younger generations get an introduction in yoga classes, careerists escape on meditation retreats and boomers seek tranquility in meditation gardens. Meditation, it seems, is no longer associated as a counterculture activity made hip by The Beatles and favored by flower children.
Some approach meditation through Buddhism or other Eastern religions; more and more Christians meditate through the ancient ritual of centering prayer; while others develop their own style, whether it’s patterned after the breathing techniques of popular guru Deepak Chopra or not.
this is syncretism. eastern meditation involves clearing your mind. Christian meditation means to fill your mind with scripture and focus on it exclusively.
here is Al Mohler
The Bible does speak positively about meditation. In the Psalms, David sings of meditating on the Law of God day and night. The biblical concept of meditation is not without reference to thought and content. To the contrary, it is about thinking that is directed by the Word of God — scripturally saturated thought.
This is almost the exact opposite of Eastern meditation, which sets the emptying of the mind as its goal. The Eastern concept of emptying the mind is just not anything close to the biblical vision of filling the mind with the Word of God.
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The biblical concept of meditation on the Word of God does involve an emptying, of course. We must empty our minds of ungodly and unbiblical thoughts, of desires for sin and resistance to the reign of God in our lives. But that emptying never involves an empty mind. Instead, it involves a mind in which unbiblical thoughts are replaced by the truth of Scripture — not a blank slate of meditation that revolves around the self.
we should focus on God as he reveals himself in his Word. We should never engage in a practice that encourages us to focus on anything else. Otherwise, we are practicing syncretism. and we all know how God feels about that. Just take a peek at Ezekiel 16 if you aren’t clear on God’s feelings.