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They are usually the "Sanskrit" words of the Hindu Scriptures: Upanishads, Rig Vedas and the Bhagavad-Gita. Sanskrit is only used by Brahmin priests in their ceremonies and the worship of their deities. This may be valid for them of course, but how valid is it for a Christian? Sadly there are a frightening number of Catholics caught up in these many forms of New Age practices. A black & white version of the picture above for example, was used to advertise a "De Mello Weekend" in a Catholic parish. It depicts Jesus in the yoga lotus position, seated on a multi-hooded Cobra: the goddess Kundilini. Not only is this a sacrilege, but it is also an offense to the Hindus who worship these snakes. This commentary therefore is meant to sound a warning bell to those who, perhaps unwittingly, have become caught up in these New Age practices masquerading as "Christian" prayer & meditation.
The most influential infiltration into Catholic spirituality apart from paganism and the syncretism with Hinduism, comes through Buddhism. It seems somewhat ironic that whilst Hinduism and Christianity are theist [albeit diametrically opposed], Buddhism [an offshoot of Hinduism] on the other hand is atheist and claims no god other than a state of Buddha consciousness. Never-the-less, in spite of calling itself a philosophy, it has many deities which are consulted and communed with through their meditations and many acts of worship. The Dalai Lamas are discerned and chosen through using the horoscope [a practice condemned by God] and believed to be an incarnation of the Buddha [a concept diametrically opposite to the Resurrection]. A discerning look at the differences will alarm you when you consider that Christians are asking these religions that do not know Christ to teach them how to pray to him. (2 Corinthians 7: 14-16) [a] Mantra [Magical Incantation]. [Sanscrit lit;] A sound symbol of one or more syllables often used to induce a mystical state. It must be passed on by the living voice of a guru and cannot be learned any other way. The user need not understand the meaning of the mantra; the virtue is in the repetition of the sound. It is said to embody a spirit or deity and, the repetition of the mantra calls this being to the one repeating it. Thus the mantra both invites a particular being to enter the one using it and also creates a passive state in the meditator to facilitate this fusion of beings. [Source: "Death of a Guru" by Rabindranath Maharaj]. The meaning of the word Mantra according to John Main, Dom Freeman et al - World Christian Community Meditation. "The mantra is simply a means of turning our attention beyond ourselves, a method of drawing us away from our own thoughts and concerns. The real work of meditation is to attain harmony of body, mind and spirit. This is the aim given us by the psalmist; be still and know that I am God. In meditation we turn the search light of consciousness off ourselves." Not quite the same is it. The WCCM have used a clever semantic to give a new meaning to a specific Sanskrit word to justify their syncretism with Hinduism and Buddhism in particular. In addition, "Be still and know that I am God" refers to abiding in The Word (The True Vine) and The Word abiding in us, not a vain repetition of a single mantric word like Jesus or Maranatha, but the whole Word of God in Holy Scripture; that is the true meaning of peace and harmony. (John 15: 1...) However, we will take a closer look at the WCCM later in this article. The influence of these people have confussed young Christian Brothers as well as many that teach in Catholic schools. In August 2003 while speaking to a young Christian Brother in Perth WA regarding their discernment process for vocations, the subject of Enneagram, Yoga and Mantras came up. During what was a difficult but friendly conversation, he proceeded to explain that the word Mantra in the way they were using it didn't mean the same thing as the Sanskrit. To him it was just a "prayer word" and said that the Rosary was, by that definition, a mantra. He continued to justify this by saying that many words had lost their meanings today and so I cannot be so literal in this regard. After a lengthy discussion he finally listened and I was able to make my point although he was not easily convinced. Not only is the practice of Yoga used merely as a Christianised technique and not as it is in the East [although it remains Yoga by any other name], but also the accompanying mantra doesn't mean what it meant either. I explained that even though he might mean something else by the use of the word, when one of his students accepted it and then saw it expressed in its Hindu, Buddhist or New Age context, it would be natural to think of it as the same meaning. It would then be easy to conclude that they are all the same and so it is OK to accept these religions into their Catholic faith. All words mean what they mean and that is why we have dictionaries. In this case, the Sanskrit meaning of the word means exactly what that language says it means. We cannot take a word and add another meaning to it and expect it to be understood without confusion. The reality is, that is exactly what people are doing. After sharing my journey from New Age, rock music and the drug scene when I practiced many of these things prior to my conversion, our meeting concluded with a sense of new friendship. Two days later I received a card thanking me for what I had said and encouraging me to continue. "Through tough experiences you know the pitfalls and you need to name them. Rightly so!", he said. With a young man of this calibre in the Church there's hope yet. Articles from Newsweek August 4/03 on TM, Yoga, Mantra and other Hindu and Buddhist disciplines were distributed at a parish prayer retreat held at the Benedictine Abbey, New Norcia WA for Acolytes and other lay ministers led by a woman that presents Walking the Labyrith for the Catholic Maranatha Institute in Perth. Clearly presented as acceptable for Catholic ministers, the whole religious practice is referred to in Newsweek as "The science of Yoga." Of course, if we accept that lie it will be easy to adopt another religion as merely a neutral science and therefore harmless. The idea of science to our Western mind is more acceptable than the intuitive Eastern mind-set. You can call it a science if you will, but it is still the same religious spiritual practice of Hinduism, New Age and Buddhism. In order for eastern religious thought and practice to become acceptable to westerners, they have re-marketed and repackaged it as a science. It is boasted by those that have done this, that Yoga, because it is a neutral science, transcends all religions and aids all forms of prayer and therefore it is superior; they even refer to it as Christian Meditation. The Gita tells us that all roads lead to Krishna. To achieve Krishna Consciousness one must perpetually repeat the mantra, and Yoga is the fundamental discipline for this as it is with all Hindu and Buddhist meditations. It seems that if we accept Yoga as a science and let it transcend all other forms of prayer, then no doubt, it will indeed lead us to Krishna. Included in the material handed out at this parish prayer retreat was the use of the great occult magical mantra - OM. I wonder what they meant this to mean if it didn't mean what it really meant in the Sanskrit meaning of the word.
Dubois stated that the Brahmins of his time [approximately 190 years ago] tried to keep the real meaning of this sacred word a profound secret. In fact, many of them did not even understand it themselves. He said that Om is "the symbolic name of the Supreme Being, one and indivisible." [1, 143]. It is also said that "As long as there has been a Hindu Faith, the power of sound has been recognised in the sacred Word. In that lies all potencies, for the sacred word expresses the one and latent Being, every power of generation, of preservation and of destruction". Om is the most solemn of the most powerful class of mantras [magic words] and magical utterances called bijakshara. Every true bijakshara mantra ends with a nasal sound, actually going over in a kind of "vibration". The bijakshara are used to worship the deities, like Shiva, Ganesh, Lakshmi etc. The brief Mandukya Upanishad is entirely devoted to the mystic syllable Om. "It is compounded of three sounds, a, u, m, representing the three Vedas [Rig [Veda], Yagur [Veda], Sama [Veda], they are the three words, heaven, atmosphere and earth, which are the three deities, Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. Om Embraces all the secrets of the universe, which are, as it were, gathered to a point within it, it is used for invocations, affirmations and blessing and at the commencement and termination of prayer, meditation or work. It is said to be the mystical quintessence of the entire cosmos... the monarch of all sounded things, the mother of vibrations, and the key to eternal wisdom and power." [Vol. II, 103-104]. It is clear that if any Christian is using this particular Om mantra [amongst other Sanskrit words], then they are calling on this deity and not the True God that they intend. It is also clear that those Christians that dabble with eastern mystical prayer come to embracing the Cosmology of Christ in their attempt at Syncretism as we find underpinning Bede Griffiths, Anthony de Mello and Matthew Fox's 'Creation Spirituality'.
Judging by the above definition of the "Sanskrit" meaning and use of the word mantra, one needs to consider if the "Name of Jesus" should be used in this way. Jesus is not a mantra! Nor does He need to be conjured up by magic and incantation to be present to anyone. I suggest that, to do this is heretical, and blasphemes the person, and the Holy Name of "Jesus". Another, perhaps more popular mantra espoused by the WCCM is the Aramaic word, Maranatha which means, Come Lord Jesus. - Considering that a mantra 'both invites a particular being to enter the one using it and also creates a passive state in the meditator to facilitate this fusion of beings.' One can begin to see the subtle corruption of authentic Christian Mystical Theology which I believe is leading so many spiritually hungry Christians away from the Tree of Life and sitting them firmly under the Bodhi Tree. [Genesis 3: 1-15]. [b] Yoga, Literally, "yoking" and refers to "Union with Brahman." There are many schools of Yoga, and various techniques, but all have the same ultimate goal of, "union with the Absolute." The bodily positions and breath control are intended as aids to "Eastern Meditation" and are a means of controlling the body in disciplining oneself to renounce all desires which the body might otherwise impose upon the mind. Yoga is designed specifically to induce a state of trance which supposedly allows the mind to be drawn upward into a yoking with Brahman. It is a means of withdrawal from the world of illusion [Maya] to seek the one true Reality. There are Yoga exercises for physical fitness only, but no part of Yoga can be separated from the philosophy behind it. [Source: "Death of a Guru" by Rabindranath Maharaj]. * There is no part of yoga that is not rooted in the occult and that includes Hatha touted in the West as a merely a physical exercise only that is allegedly good for your health... Oh really? SEE WHAT POPULAR GURU MUKTANANDA SAYS ABOUT THE SO-CALLED HARMLESS HATHA YOGA... He teaches this to his students...
[c] Brahman - The Ultimate Reality. Formless, inexpressible, unknowable, and unknowing; neither personal nor impersonal; both Creator and all that is created. Brahman is all and all is Brahman. The ultimate truth and salvation for the Hindu is to "realise" that he is himself Brahman [self realisation] that he and all the Universe are one and the same being [I am God]. Brahmin is everything and yet nothing; it comprises both good and evil, life and death, health and diseases and, even the unreality of Maya [illusion]. [Brahmin is all good, but also, all evil]. [d] Self Realisation. The ultimate goal of Eastern Meditation and Yoga by whatever name it is called: deliverance from the "illusion" that the individual self is different from the Universal Self, or Brahman. Through ignorance man has supposedly forgotten who he really is and thus thinks of himself as distinct from his neighbor and Brahman. Through "Self-Realisation" he is liberated from this ignorance of individual existence and returns to "Union with Brahman" again. [e] Nirvana. Literally; a blowing out" as to extinguish a candle. Nirvana is "heaven" to both Hindu and Buddhist. Supposedly it is neither a place nor a state and is within us all waiting to be "realised." It is "nothingness", the bliss that comes from no longer being able to feel pain or pleasure, through the extinction of personal existence by absorption into pure Being. [f] Bliss. The state of being achieved when the illusion of existence apart from Brahmin, who is pure existance-knowledge-bliss, has been dispelled through meditation and enlightenment, and all desires have ceased. Since this state is said to be beyond pain or pleasure, Buddha, who was raised a Hindu, thought of it as "nothingness," which he also called "Nirvana." [g] Meditation. To the Westerner this signifies rational contemplation, but to the Eastern Mystic it is just the opposite, causing considerable confusion on the subject in the West. Eastern Meditation [taught as Yoga, Zen etc.] is a technique for detaching oneself from the world of things and ideas [from Maya] through freeing one's mind from all voluntary or rational thought, which projects one into "higher" states of consciousness. [h] Higher Consciousness. There are various "levels" of consciousness opened up in Yoga and Meditation, called "higher" states because they differ from one's normal state of consciousness and are experienced on the road to Nirvana. Different schools of Eastern mysticism define the different ways. Typical states would be "Unity-Consciousness," where one experiences a mystical union with the universe and, "God-Consciousness" where one experiences that he himself is actually God. Similar "states of consciousness" are experienced through certain drugs such as LSD, Hypnosis, Mediumistic Trances, Witchcraft Ceremonies, Voodoo etc., and all seem to be slight variations of the same occult phenomenon. [i] Kundilini, Literally -"coiled." This is the name of a goddess symbolised by a serpent with three and one half coils, sleeping with its tail in its mouth. This goddess, or "serpent of life, fire, and wisdom" supposedly resides in the body of a man near the base of the spine. When aroused without proper control, it rages like a vicious serpent inside a man with a force that is impossible to resist. It is said that without proper control, the "Kundilini" will produce supernatural psychic powers having their source in demonic beings and will ultimately lead to moral, spiritual, and physical destruction. Nevertheless, it is this "Kundilini" power that meditation and Yoga are designed to arouse and control. Chakra, Literally - "wheel" or "disk" The word chakra is Sanskrit for wheel or disk and signifies one of seven basic (psychic) energy centers in the body. Each of these centers correlates to major nerve ganglia branching forth from the spinal column. In addition the chakras also correlate to levels of consciousness, archetypal elements, developmental stages of life, colors, sounds, body functions, and much, much more. [Source: "Death of a Guru" by Rabindranath Maharaj].
A graphic cosmic symbol shown as a square within a circle bearing representations of deities arranged symmetrically used as a meditation aid by Buddhists and Hindus. In the terminology of the Swiss psychologist Carl Jung, 1875-1961, a symbol depicting the endeavor to reunite the self. The implications of the building of mandalas (magic diagrams). According to Victor and Victoria Trimondi, experts on Mandala Politics (see Shadow of the Dalai Lama, http://www.trimondi.de/SDLE/Index.htm): It is an act of sorcery -- "a magic title of possession, with which control over a particular territory can be legitimated.... One builds a magic circle (a mandala) and "anchors" it in the region to be claimed. Then one summons the gods and supplicates them [through ritual prayers and incantations] to take up residence in the 'mandala palace.' After a particular territory has been occupied by a mandala, it is automatically transformed into a sacred center of Buddhist cosmology. Every construction of a mandala also implies the magic subjugation of the inhabitants of the region in which the 'magic circle' is constructed." They also state, "In the case of the Kalachakra sand mandala, the places in which it has been built are transformed into the domains under the control of the Tibetan time gods. Accordingly, from a tantric viewpoint, the Kalachakra mandala constructed at great expense in New York in 1991 would be a cosmological demonstration of power, which aimed to say that the city now stood under the governing authority or at least spiritual influence of Kalachakra...." (Later in this article we will see the connection of the Dom Freeman's promotion of this in Canada as advertised on the WCCM web site).
He included all sorts of 'pagan' religions in his writings relating to what he called, the Collective Unconscious. There are numerous programs on 'spirituality' offered in Christian circles based on Jung's teachings which use art as a therapy: By designing your personal Mandala for getting in touch with the 'self'. However, considering what the word 'Mandala' means and what Jung's psychology is based on, it cannot be divorced from the ethos behind it. But we'll let Jung speak for himself. "I am for those who are out of the Church." Jung wrote in a letter to Joland Jacobi when he heard she had become a Catholic. Jung: "What is so special about Christ, that he should be the motivational force? Why not another model - Paul or Buddha or Confucius or Zoroaster?" In a letter to Freud: "I think we must give [psychoanalysis] time to infiltrate into people from many centers, to revivify among intellectuals a feeling for symbol and myth, ever so gently to transform Christ back into the soothsaying god of the vine, and in this way absorb those ecstatic instinctual forces of Christianity for the one purpose of making the cult and the sacred myth what they once were—a drunken feast of joy where man regained the ethos and holiness of an animal." Right now you might be thinking this is an over reaction on my part. After all, if Sister so and so, or Father so and so taught it to you, then it must be ok. Well, consider the "words" you have been taught to use such as "mantra". If you ever asked what that word means you would have been told that it was only your "prayer word". Perhaps when you questioned them about the techniques such as visualisation and deep breathing whilst repeating your prayer word, you were told that, "It doesn't matter, we are only using the techniques, we have Christianised it". If you ask if it's some sort of Hindu thing, they simply tell you to "ignore it". Also consider what practices you have been taught. Breathing exercises whilst keeping your back straight, emptying your mind, repetitions of words, imagining Jesus in front of you, then imagining Jesus coming into you. Perhaps you have been "guided" to visualize yourself next to a sparkling brook and walking up a path to a house on the hilltop where you enter for some form of encounter with Jesus. This technique is called "visualization" and it is guided prayer in the same way as that done in Hinduism, Buddhism and Shamanism. This particular meditation is the Christianized version of the Buddhist meditation called "Back to the Market Place". There is no problem using your imagination to picture a scene when reading the Bible, but that is a far cry from sitting in a group and being led by the facilitator as they project those pictures into your mind - During this technique you are usually asked to to get in touch with your Inner Child and converse with it. Often referred to as Inner Healing or Healing of the Memories, it is nothing more than a Christianized version of regressive hypnotherapy masquerading as Christian prayer. If you want to know exactly what true Christian Meditation really is, Click Here and return. You may have sat in a cross legged position and gone through some form of ceremony using fire, water, flowers and incense and, possibly in front of the Eucharist to give it credibility. You may have been taught to count down from Ten to One as you go deeper into so called prayer states [which in reality is self hypnosis] to get in touch with "the Christ within". Focusing on the end of your nose and concentrating on the area between your eyes. This area is one of the seven "chakras." These are the psychic energy centers located in various parts of your body through which your soul can supposedly leave to travel astrally. Yoga Body Disciplines [Hatha Yoga] are designed to protect these chakra centers when the practitioners [Yogi-male, Yogini-female] are experiencing an out of body experience [astral flight] to communicate with the ascended masters on their planetary domains. If you recognise any of these techniques, then know they are taken directly from Hinduism [or Buddhism] and you may be practicing these religions without realising it. Certainly, keeping your back straight, focusing and deep breathing excersises also appear to have their roots in these practices.
Let us take the word of the popular author, George A. Maloney S.J. from his book "Inward Stillness." [j] "Many today are discovering the healing power of deep, transcendental prayer, found in the prayer disciplines of the Far Eastern Religions, such as Hinduism, Zen Buddhism, and the modernised version of Transcendental Meditation [TM] as taught by Mahirishi Mahesh Yogi. Sufism, Eastern Christian Hesychasm, and Mind Control Techniques have their devotees... Such techniques are not prayer in the Christian sense... To pass beyond the superficial levels of our own controlled consciousness in order to pass into the innermost core of our being, great discipline is required. But as one does pass through layers of psychic experiences, danger zones rear up... Repressed material that has been drowned in the unconscious can rise threateningly to disturb the one in prayer. Sexual feelings can arise, even influencing our whole body and bringing us close to move over to see strange faces of the demonic that flash now brilliantly, now darkly from within."
"Flashes and lights, psychic powers of telepathy, communing with the dead can come forth. "What is reality, what is hallucination before the beckoning visions of enticing forms that whirl over the screen of our consciousness? Voices that we recognise and strange voices give their messages with impelling realism. Again, what is real, what is false?... I have known Christians who have given up Christ and spent several years in India meditating daily for hours under the guidance of a Hindu guru who felt they had unleashed powers within themselves that they could hardly control [Kundilini]. "This summer a veteran yoga meditator in Ohio went into a trance over a weekend and never returned to this life. He wanted to project himself as far as he could "astrally." The demonic is within all of us. We carry within our minds psychic power undreamed of. Only in Heaven will we understand what potential is really locked up within our minds and that for both good and evil. But because such powers can be dangerous and the evil spirits can enter and manipulate us if we passively yield to their presence is no reason why we should avoid deeper prayer." [bold emphasis mine]. Not only does the author recognise the spiritual, mental and physical dangers, but encourages the reader to ignore them, and continue on regardless! We also note that it admits that these techniques are not prayer, they are psychic, not spiritual and, admits to Satanic influences. In spite of this, Fr. George Maloney S.J. refers to it as, "deeper prayer." Mons. Vincent Walsh sums this up when he said it was appropriate for a young person to date different people before they are married, but when they find the right one and marry them, it is not appropriate for them to flirt or date other men or women. He says that it is valid for people to belong to different religions as they search for the truth, but when one has found it and becomes a Christian, it is no longer appropriate for them to flirt or date others outside their marriage. It would be adultery to do so. Many of my friends have accused me of fundamentalism in this regard. Perhaps they have forgotten that I have not always been a Christian. These practices were part of my life before then. I have experienced these things first hand so I "know" what it is that I have rejected to accept Jesus Christ as my Lord and Saviour. I can assure you, they are not valid for Christians. Regardless of what people might think of my position on these matters, I am certain that I will be vindicated in the end and the Church will act to protect the faithful. Rabindranath Maharaj was a Brahmin Priest and was worshipped as an Avatar [Incarnation of a Hindu deity] before he found Christ. His understanding and definition of the words used in the above glossary, come from the "horses mouth" so to speak. I think you will agree that he, of all people, would know what he is talking about when he warns Christians about the dangers they can experience when practicing or dabbling in these things.
FROM THE WCCM [World Community of Christian Meditation] WEB SITE 2003 "... By 1992 it seemed crisis time was approaching in my spiritual life. Then one Sunday after Mass I saw a small advertisement inviting people to come to a certain church hall in Brisbane to hear Dom Bede Griffiths speak. The photo of a man with long white hair and beard did not fit my image of a monk but I said to myself, "Why not go?" The hall was packed. Down the centre isle walked a thin, frail-looking, bearded old man in saffron robes. I couldn't believe he was a Benedictine monk. And then he began to speak with his beautiful Oxford English accent! He spoke about the Universe, morphogenetic fields, the interconnection of energy fields, then on to the Vedas, the Vedanta and the Upanishads. I was turned upside down and I can remember that evening as if it were yesterday. The first step I took was to buy "The Marriage of East and West." I began to meditate. I bought "New Vision of Reality" and tapes and videos, anything by Bede Griffiths! I also turned to John Main, Laurence Freeman, Abishktananda and there have been many other teachers. However it is with love and gratefulness that I look at Bede Griffiths. I never met him or knew him personally but it doesn't matter because we will meet again in that other way. [Name omitted by the author] OSB Obl - Kenilworth, Qld, Australia." We note that there is NO mention of Jesus Christ or the Gospels in Griffiths' teachings to this priest. On the contrary, Griffiths espouses, preaches and extols the virtues of metaphysics and New Age concepts along with the Hindu scriptures and gives no testimony to the Lorship of Jesus Christ or of the Christian Bible. It is clearly Hinduism and Buddhism along with New Age metaphysics et al that are promulgated by these meditators following Bede Griffiths OSB, John Main OSB and Dom Freeman OSB. When asked for direction about a dream in which a Buddhist statue smiles at a participant on a guided retreat, the priest concerned does not explain about Jesus Christ, but directs the person to Bede Griffiths' book, The Marriage of East and West. Judging by the response of the participant it only approves of, and reinforces his previous involvement with Hinduism. "...I was at the Pecos Monastery. A monastery that is part of the family of monasteries that Fr. Laurence belongs to. I had a dream: a Buddhist statue turned and smiled at me. I was on a guided retreat so the next morning I asked my spiritual adviser, Fr. ----, how would you interpret this dream? He was quiet for a moment then popped up and said; "Read Fr. Bede." Soon after, in reading Fr. Bede's book "The Marriage of East and West," I was introduced to Fr. John Main. I am looking forward to this year's John Main Seminar. I was raised catholic, I spent 4 years in a Hindu Ashram, Christ is again Lord and Sat Guru. For anyone who has been touched by Hindu spirituality this seminar will be wonderful. If you cannot make it, get the tapes. Peace. [Name omitted by the author] Phoenix AZ" To the discerning reader these letters should speak for themselves as a witness to the deceiving spirit at work here. However, I do not cast any judgement on the authors of these testimonials and they are published here in good faith that they are public domain. I have removed reference to any names other than those of whose doctrines I am concerned with. However, I do cast the responsibility on those priests who teach this to them; Their ordination should compel them to preach Christ and him crucified and not the doctrines of false gods. I do call upon the Church to take these matters to heart for a more serious consideration and I hope that She wakes up quickly to this spiritual syncretism and accomodation. [The Baptism of Fire]
Faith and Reason - East and West Dialogue. Dialogue, which is a frank exchange of ideas or views in an effort to attain mutual understanding, is vastly different from actually practicing something. In the encyclical 'Faith and Reason' the Pope encourages us to learn from what he calls 'the rich heritage of the East', but nowhere does he encourage us to take on their religious practices and disciplines as Dom Freeman is doing. What is offensive to me is the propagation of the idea that these yoga meditations using mantras, are Christian. I'm not saying that we shouldn't investigate that which is good and compatible and, I firmly believe that many of those Christians who practice these things are genuinely seeking the Lord with a good heart albeit in ignorance and error. However, I cannot say the same for Dom Freeman and the other Catholic nuns and priests that teach this eastern mystical snycretism. Therefore by presenting this article I am not trying to be uncharitable to anyone. I am simply attempting to make people aware of what they might be doing without understanding it. I am however, saying to those who know the difference - Stop lying, confusing and deceiving people by your words. You are guilty of corruption and deception and as Jesus said, "It is far better for you to be thrown into a lake with a millstone around your neck than to lead one of these little ones astray". Does Freeman [The successor of John Main] forget that Buddhism is the ultimate atheistic humanism, or does he simply ignore the fact? Since the object is to learn prayer from the Dalai Lama's Buddhism, how is it that someone who doesn't believe in [a] god and yet has so many acts of worship, teach anyone about praying to the living and true God? Clearly it is not prayer, nor is it meditation as practiced by the Christian Saints and early Desert Fathers as John Main has claimed. Published in the Record Catholic Newspaper in Western Australia, Freeman told how John Main learned meditation and mantra prayer from Eastern religions. He said this is the prayer-methods used by the early Desert Fathers and Christian mystics like St. John of the Cross, St. Teresa of Avila and many others. As stated above, I have read all the works of St. Teresa, John of the Cross and others and there is absolutely no mention nor even the slightest hint that they ever did such a thing! In addition, you will not find this in the Bible or any Catholic teaching. As much as Main postulated the authenticity of his mantra meditation as rooted in and derived from ancient Christianity this is not borne out by Freeman's ABC series - ABC Sunday Nights; 18/02/2007 - Christian Meditation with Benedictine monk, Dom Laurence Freeman - http://www.abc.net.au/sundaynights/stories/s1850678.htm. - Programme excerpt - "John Main was born and raised in Catholicism. After studying Law he joined the British diplomatic service and was sent to Malaya. One day he visited an Indian monk to thank him for the work he was doing for peace in that conflict-torn country. During the conversation he realized he was with a man of spiritual depth and they began to speak about prayer. This was John Main’s first introduction to meditation. ... The monk opened John Main’s mind to a prayer of silence and simplicity that itself opened the heart to the presence of the Spirit of God praying in us. The universality of meditation is shown by the fact that he was able to learn how to meditate from another tradition while continuing to grow in his own." (Freeman). - I guess that sums it up; it is not Christian meditation nor is it rooted in it as claimed. Also we note that the concept of the universality of meditation mentioned is not that from Christiantiy but in fact, Buddhist. - This displays clearly the syncretism and accomodation of Main and Freeman in that the Buddhist meditation is the universality. I noted after reading about a WCCM retreat in Penang in January 2003, that Freeman and participants refered to this meditation as a gift. "Each participant was asked to relate his/her own experience on how they received this gift." - "Fr Laurence reminded us that meditation is a gift to be shared." Titles of Freeman's publications reveal what I consider to be a subtle shift establishing this Christianised Eastern meditation to be accepted as a Christian [Holy Spirit] Gift. Such titles as ‘Sharing the Gift’ are very interesting. For example, using a capital G for gift gives it a Holy Spirit connotation. I am now waiting to see if this makes the subtle transition to becoming refered to as a Gift of the Holy Spirit in future Freeman teachings. In isolation this seems harmless enough until we note other titles like, 'Jesus the Teacher Within'. This title also seems very innocent and we can forget that John Main learned his techniques from Eastern mystics. The god within concept is very essential to New Age spirituality and it is central to Hinduism. Most importantly we need to see if this has any Scriptural basis. St. John's Gospel explains that Jesus told his disciples that he would send Another Advocate. He taught that this Advocate was the Holy Spirit, who, at Pentecost would be 'in' them. Jesus said that The Holy Spirit would teach them [and us], all things and lead us into all truth; It is the role of the Holy Spirit therefore to reveal the Mind of God. - In the Bible, they shall be taught by God is refering to Jesus during his earthly ministry and afterwards, to the indwelling Holy Spirit at Pentecost and onwards. John Main, Dom Freeman and the Cassian Semipelagianism heresy. One of the main mystics cited by Dom Freeman to validate authenticity of his yoga-mantra is John Cassian, a monk and ascetic writer of Southern Gaul, and the first to introduce the rules of Eastern monasticism into the West. John Cassian was regarded as the originator of Semipelagianism that was finally condemned by the Council of Orange in 529. Semipelagianism: A doctrine of grace advocated by monks of Southern Gaul at and around Marseilles after 428. It aimed at a compromise between the two extremes of Pelagianism and Augustinism, and was condemned as heresy at the Ecumenical Council of Orange in 529 after disputes extending over more than a hundred years. The name Semipelagianism was unknown both in Christian antiquity and throughout the Middle Ages; during these periods it was customary to designate the views of the Massilians simply as the "relics of the Pelagians" (reliquiœ Pelagianorum), an expression found already in St. Augustine (Ep. ccxxv, n. 7, in P. L., XXXIII, 1006). The most recent investigations show that the word was coined between 1590 and 1600 in connexion with Molina's doctrine of grace, in which the opponents of this theologian believed they saw a close resemblance to the heresy of the monks of Marseilles (cf. "Revue des sciences phios. et théol.", 1907, pp. 506 sqq.). After this confusion had been exposed as an error, the term Semipelagianism was retained in learned circles as an apt designation for the early heresy only. - New Advent Encyclodedia As stated previously, you cannot come to a sound conclusion based on a false premise and it would seem that WCCM teachings and syncretism are just that, and considering the heretical doctrines of Pelagious that, along with the influences of Caelestius (411-415) should alert us to serious error. It said;
If
there is any doubt that the WCCM is New Age and therefore
Neo Gnosticism, the following announcement from their 2004
website should leave no doubts to the discerning
Catholic. If
Freeman is not influenced by New Age thinking as he
and his disciples emphatically claim, he would not
see the value in the Enneagram and feminism by
working with Rhor. It seems this new initiative is
another step in spiritual integration and the
"marriage" that Bede Griffiths espoused that is
inclusive of all faiths and the basic spiritual
tenet of the New Age Movement. Buddhism is
NOT accepted by His Holiness Pope John Paul
II. The
Buddhist doctrine of salvation constitutes the central
point, or rather the only point, of this system.
Nevertheless, both the Buddhist tradition and the methods
deriving from it have an almost exclusive negative
soteriology. The "enlightenment" experienced by Buddha comes
down to the conviction that the world is bad, that it is the
source of evil and of suffering for man. To liberate oneself
from this evil, one must free oneself from this world,
necessitating a break with the ties that join us to external
realities existing in our human nature, in our psyche, in
our bodies. The more we are liberated from these ties, the
more we become indifferent to what is in the world, and the
more we are freed from suffering, from the evil that has its
source in the world. Do we draw near to God in this way?
This is not mentioned in the "enlightenment" conveyed
by Buddha. Dalai Lama
tells Australian school children that Gay Sex is
OK. WCCM are not
the only pseudo Christian Meditation
organization.
The only marriage for the Church is to Christ! That is the only wedding that Jesus of Nazareth will attend when He comes for His Bride. He will expect her to be ready for Him, prepared and waiting, clearly distinguished as His. He is not going to enter a relationship with other gods nor practice their ways. There is only "One Way" for Christians to follow; Jesus Christ, the One and Only True God, the "Word" that has come in the flesh! The teachers of these techniques wrap their argument up in the Christian Mystical Theology of St. Teresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross, the Desert Fathers and many others implying, no, stating clearly, that this is what they were doing way back then. John Main allegedly 'discovered' this ancient tradition and developed it to its present form. The truth is that John Main developed this so-called ancient Christian method of meditation from Buddhist and Hindu teachings. I have read all of those works including the Book of Privy Counselling and The Cloud of Unknowing as well as The Desert Fathers and I cannot find anywhere the word mantra, let alone the style of prayer taught today. Jesus certainly didn't use Yoga. Unless of course, you believe he went to India between the Resurrection and Ascension to learn this stuff as the New Age Movement, Theosophists and Cabalists would have us believe. Never-the-less, the excommunicated Dominican priest Matthew Fox, author of Original Blessing, the foundation of his teachings on Creation Spirituality says in the book, Breakthrough - Meister Eckhart's Creation Spirituality in New Translation. - Introduction and Commentaries by Matthew Fox - The work of the 17th century Polish mystic-poet Angelus Silesius has been called a "seventeen-century edition of Eckhart" and, the 14th century Flemish mystic Jan van Ruysbroeck was influenced by him. - Fox continues, "We can be sure," says scholar Jeanne Ancelet-Hustache, "that through the intermediary of Flemish mystics, Eckhart's thought had anonymously found its way even into Teresa of Avila and Saint John of the Cross"... Meister Eckhart was condemned posthumously by a Papal Decree issued on March 27th 1329, and yet, in spite of this, Eckhart still seems to influence Catholic spirituality today and the connection between the WCCM and its New Age Syncretism might not seem immediately clear, but a closer examination shows this to be so. There is more about Eckhart later. In the meanwhile let us continue with a closer look at Dom Freeman and his so-called 'Christian' Meditation.
At times people have said that we are against Buddhists, Hindus etc. Our answer is, "On the contrary, we are not against anything or anyone - we are simply for Christ". In fact, we see it valid for these people to believe in and practice what they want and respect that. However, we are against the false gods and the lying spirits that hold people in superstition and bondage and believe by revelation that Jesus Christ is The Truth that all true religions seek. We can therefore say to the reincarnationists, "The good news of Jesus is that you do not have to keep dying; your karmic debt was cancelled on Calvary and the end of the never-ending cycle of birth-death-birth-death to reach your perfection is found by accepting Jesus as Lord and Savior in this life. By his death and resurrection he has beaten the power of death, forgiven your sin [or bad karma], cancelled the debt and made you acceptable to God. (Romans 8: 1-13) When we accept Baptism we die with him and are raised with him. Therefore, the sting of death is removed, and as a believer in the saving Grace of Jesus Christ you will not see death when you leave this life, but by the power of the Holy Spirit, who is the Lord and giver of Life, you will pass from life into everlasting life. (Romans 8: 11) Our concerns in this article are addressed to Christians who are compromising the Good News of Jesus Christ which we believe is confusing the truth that he has revealed for all people to know and accept in order to be reconciled with God (Romans 1:16-23). Therefore we can also say to the Neo-Pagan, "What is more important, the gift, or the giver? Why subject yourself to the worship of the creature rather than its creator? - It is illogical and belittling to love the gift given by a lover more than you love your lover, and the truth we proclaim is, God loves you." |
