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Meditation, The Occult, And The Bible: An Ex New-Agers Critique
By Marcia Montenegro| A voice intones: “Close your eyes…relax…let each muscle relax…let your mind go blank…see yourself as a cloud…floating…getting lighter and lighter…”
Words like these, a form of guided meditation, are heard today in stress reduction workshops, human potential classes and on relaxation tapes. Is this what David means in Ps. 19:14 when he says, “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord…?” Is meditation just another form of prayer?
There is a clear distinction between Biblical meditation, which means reflection, devotion and contemplation, and which makes use of the mind, and the meditation techniques mentioned above which are often taught without the word “meditation” even being used.
The Hindu Connection:
Meditation as taught and practiced today in the West originates from practices and beliefs of Hinduism and Buddhism. In Hinduism, the goal of meditation is to realize that one’s personal identity is a barrier to the truth that the real self is part of the divine godhead, which is ultimate reality.(1)
The mind in both Hinduism & Buddhism is seen as part of the material body and therefore a barrier to spiritual enlightenment.(2) Meditation is designed to bypass the mind, using special breathing techniques.(3) The ultimate goal is samadhi with no cognition, or absorption into a state of pure consciousness through disengaging the mind and a loss of self-awareness and subject-object awareness (4) : “The mind which for so long stood between us and our true nature has been overcome.” (5)
One of the most common ways this is done is through various forms of yoga, including the popular hatha yoga taught in the West. (6) “Though their means may differ, all yogic paths seek to transcend duality in union” so that one’s “mistaken belief in himself as a separate, unique individual apart from God will be overcome.”(7) Exhaling the breath is “the surrender of our ego” and the move from attachment to “non-attachment.”(8)
This imported meditation is usually packaged as a way to relax or reduce stress. But this was never the purpose of meditation in its Hindu or Buddhist form. Sometimes taught with visualizations and breathing exercises, this “relaxation” exercise has many hidden dangers. The mind often goes into an altered state of consciousness, also known as a light trance or hypnotic state, during the meditation.(9)
The exercises are designed to bring this about. In such a state, rational judgment and discernment is suspended, and the mind is highly suggestible and open to any influences present. In one class the writer attended, a student who fell asleep was reprimanded because he would miss the “spiritual trip” intended by the exercise.
This state of mind is not the same as spontaneous daydreaming, quiet contemplation, or conscious, rational concentration. The euphoria or peace experienced by many at first is short-lived and deceptive. Instructors of these techniques who teach them as a spiritual discipline often warn students that psychic experiences and supernatural encounters are common, some of them frightening, and that the breathing techniques can be dangerous (10). The effect for some people is similar to a drug trip. It is this state of mind during which one is supposed to contact guides from the spirit world.(11)
http://reasonsforjesus.com/meditation-the-occult-and-the-bible-an-ex-new-agers-critique/