| dc.description.abstract | The Church of Sweden has in recent years offered activities such as Christian deep medita-tion, mindfulness and health days. This may be a way for the Church of Sweden to reach the modern man who would not otherwise have come to the church, but there are critics who argue that new spirituality has made its entry in the Church of Sweden. The phenomenon of Christian deep meditation has become increasingly common in the Church of Sweden. In order to satisfy my curiosity about what a Christian deep meditation is, I decided to write an essay about this. My question is as follows: How important is Christian deep meditation as a religious practice in the Church of Sweden? This essay is a qualitative study and I have cho-sen to perform eight pieces of interviews, two of them are recorded. I have also chosen to go into theory related to the Christian mystics, meditation and new spirituality. In the interview, questions about religious practice and experience put to the respondent, but also why they meditate, and the effect of meditation. Questions have also been put to respondents about their views on Christian deep meditation in the Church of Sweden context.
The practice of meditation has on respondents a functional significance. Number of re-spondents meditates primarily to achieve a mental and physical balance in their body, to re-duce stress and to become more focused. They talk about the importance of posture and breathing in meditation, the importance of having the body of their spirituality. Some of the respondents call themselves believers or Christians, but what is clear in the analysis is that a number of interview participants are showing signs of private religiosity and new spirituali-ty. This I base on their view of God as a power, or that God is something that lives inside them. But they also have similar thoughts as Christian mystics, such as that God is found in love rather than intellect. The interview participants have had several mystical experiences, which they can tell you about. It is a criticism among some of the respondents to the Church of Sweden on the view of man as sinful, the belief in Jesus as the Son of God, and how he suffered and died. But there is also an aversion to institutional religion, such as the Church is an authority that makes demands and calls for commitment. There is a desire for direct con-tact with God without a church to tell them how to live. Interview participants would like to think for themselves, be their own authority. Spirituality is not linked to the dogmas and re-quirements, but spirituality is something that happens in moments of relaxation. | sv |
