These words are not common nor ordinary language.

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.

Here are some of the most common words and their meanings.

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]. [Sanskrit 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 confused 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 Christianized 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 caliber 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 Labyrinth 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 mindset. 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.

About OM [Aum] - The great Hindu/Buddhist Mantra.

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 recognized 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'.

The Word, "Jesus" is used as a mantra by those teaching meditation.

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?

WHAT MUKTANANDA SAYS ABOUT HATHA YOGA - He teaches this to his students. (From an article, "What Eastern Gurus Say About Occult Practices Part 1" by Dr. John Ankerberg, Dr. John Weldon quoting Muktananda). "I was assailed by all sorts of perverse and defiling emotions. My body started to move, and went on like this in a confused sort of way.... After a time, my breathing changed, becoming disturbed. Sometimes my abdomen would swell with air, after which I would exhale it with great force. Often the breath that I took in would be held inside me. I became more and more frightened... my mind was sick with fear.... My thoughts became confused, meaningless. My limbs and body got hotter and hotter. My head felt heavy, and every pore in me began to ache. When I breathed out, my breath stopped outside. When I breathed in, it stopped inside. This was terribly painful and I lost my courage. Something told me that I would die at any moment.... I could not understand what was happening, how it was happening, who was making it happen.... By now it was after 9:00. Someone had seated himself in my eyes and was making me see things.... It seemed that I was being controlled by some power which made me do all these things. My intellect was completely unstable.... I heard hordes of people screaming frightfully... and saw strange creatures from six to fifty feet tall, neither demons nor demigods, but human in form, dancing naked, their mouths gaping open. Their screeching was horrible and apocalyptic.... An army of ghosts and demons surrounded me. All the while I was locked tight in the lotus posture, my eyes closed, my chin pressed down against my throat so that no air could escape. Then I felt a searing pain.... I wanted to run away, but my legs were locked tight in the lotus posture. I felt as if my legs had been nailed down permanently in this position. My arms were completely immobilized.... Then, from over the water, a moonlike sphere about four feet in diameter came floating in. It stopped in front of me. This radiant, white ball struck against my eyes and then passed inside me. I am writing this just as I saw it. It is not a dream or an allegory, but a scene which actually happened—that sphere came down from the sky and entered me.... My tongue curled up against my palate, and my eyes closed. I saw a dazzling light in my forehead and I was terrified. I was still locked in the lotus posture, and then my head was forced down and glued to the ground.... I started to make a sound like a camel, which alternated with the roaring of a tiger. I must have roared very loudly, for the people around actually thought that a tiger had gotten into the sugarcane field.... I am in a terrible state. I have gone completely insane. You may not be able to see it from the outside, but, inside, I am crazy.... My body began to twist.... Now, it was not I who meditated; meditation forced itself on me. It came spontaneously; it was in all the joints of my body. Then, suddenly, a red light came before me with such force that it seemed to have been living inside me. It was two feet tall and shone brightly.... Every part of my body was emitting loud crackling and popping sounds.... At this time, I understood nothing about the various experiences.... Only afterward did I learn that they were all part of the process pertaining to [spiritual enlightenment].... People who have experienced it call it the awakening of the Kundalini. The experiences I had had under the mango trees were due to the grace of my Gurudev Nityananda; they were all his prasad [blessing].... Sometimes I would jump and hop like a frog, and sometimes my limbs would shake violently as though shaken by a deity. And this was what was actually happening; a great deity in the form of my guru had spread all through me as Chiti [consciousness], and was shaking me with his inner Shakti [power].... The power of the guru’s grace enters the disciple’s body in a subtle form and does many great things.... Every day I had meditation like that. Sometimes my body would writhe and twist like a snake’s, and a hissing sound would come from inside me.... Sometimes my neck moved so violently that it made loud cracking sounds, and I became frightened.... I had many astonishing movements like this. Sometimes my neck would roll my head around so vigorously that it would bend right below my shoulders so that I could see my back. When the intensity lessened, I became peaceful again. But because I did not understand these kriyas [spontaneous yoga movements], I was always worried and afraid. Later, however, I learned that this was a Hatha Yoga process effected by the Goddess Kundalini in order for Her to move up through the spinal column into the sahasrara [upper psychic center]."

YOU DECIDE - CAN THIS REALLY BE CHRISTIANIZED? IN MY OPINION - NO IT CANNOT!

The man was/is clearly possessed and it would seem to have been induced - transferred - by what he calls "The power of the guru's grace" and that, "My body began to twist.... Now, it was not I who meditated; meditation forced itself on me. It came spontaneously; it was in all the joints of my body." As I read this it astonished me that the experience was clearly demonic, out of control, dangerous and could have killed him, and yet the lying spirit behind it, convinced him that it was grace and enlightenment.

This description from Muktananda should serve as a warning and evidence that those teaching Hatha Yoga as being for physical exercise only are blatant liars. This is even more repulsive when certain priests and nuns teach this as well as Raja Yoga on the pretext that it has been Christianized and only used as a prayer technique, or as Don Freeman would say, a discipline, and yet even in his teachings as well as others, we find a clear recognition of the same phenomenon with the same instruction - Just ignore it and keep on with your mantra.

As you continue to read through the meanings of the Sanskrit words in this article, keep this in mind because this is what all yoga leads you to no matter who teaches it or on what premise it is based. - As someone once said, "You cannot come to a sound conclusion based on a false premise."

[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 realization] 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 Realization.
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 symbolized 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.

[j] 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].

Mandala: A visual mantra.

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).

Jung's psychology was not scientifically neutral.

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 visualization and deep breathing whilst repeating your prayer word, you were told that, "It doesn't matter, we are only using the techniques, we have Christianized 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 recognize any of these techniques, then know they are taken directly from Hinduism [or Buddhism] and you may be practicing these religions without realizing it.

Certainly, keeping your back straight, focusing and deep breathing techniques also appear to have their roots in these practices.

Let's not just take my word for it -

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 modernized 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."

Fr. George Maloney and Necromancy.

"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 recognize 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 recognize 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.

"The Marriage of East and West".

Many years ago I came across The Marriage of East and West, a book written by Bede Griffiths OSB. When I began to read, it didn't take long to confirm my suspicion of the title. The late Fr. Bede believed that Christianity was incomplete [West] until it is fully synchronized [married] with Hinduism [East]. He seemed to believe that Christianity needed feminizing. The way to accomplish this is to marry Christianity with Eastern spirituality, practice and thought with a balance of left brain and right brain functions; male-female. Whilst Fr. Bede firmly claimed that he was a Christian, he included the Hindu scriptures in his Mass. Not only that, his altar displayed a great deal of Hindu paraphernalia, not the least of which was a statue of the Snake god Kundilini right at the front and attached to the door of the Tabernacle. It seems to me that he [like so many] spent more time preaching the virtues of Hinduism rather than Christianity and affronts the Eucharist in the Tabernacle with a Satanic deity to seal the doors. In other words, to access the Eucharist we must go through the goddess Kundilini first - How blasphemous can they get before retribution strikes. Not only is this a nefarious sacrilege but I wonder if he, and many like him, consider that this might be a serious offense to Hindus too? The John Main/Freeman WCCM are closely associated with Griffith's and his spiritual adultery and recommend his works to their members. Not only that, both Griffiths and Freeman are real pals with the Dalai Lama who is doing a marvelous job of Buddhising the world and, through these priests and their nuns - the Catholic Church. Do not underestimate the impact of all this as these pictures show. (Further on you will see the connection between the Dalai Lama/Freeman-yoking too). The evidence speaks for itself and this is especially notable in the fact that Griffiths has replaced the Crucifix with an abomination called "The Cosmic Cross." This is the penultimate syncretism and corruption of Catholics that have been blinded by the "charming" (a witchcraft technique) of Griffiths and his satanic disciples. Why am I so blunt? Because some people can only be awoken by a hammer blow to the third eye chakra! Do take note of the use of the OM mantra, and if you did not read what it really means earlier in this article, go back and read it again to see the incredible effrontery of this so-called Catholic priest. The sacrilegious Cosmic Cross used as a Shantivanam community symbol by Bede Griffiths. He says, "The Cosmic Cross bears the inscription: Saccidananda Namah around the circle, and OM at the centre of the cross. This means that we try to live our Benedictine Life in the context of Indian spirituality, that is, in the recognition of the Divine Presence in the whole cosmos and in the centre of our own being." (Dom Bede Grififiths) Its very bastardized symbolism states that the Cross of Calvary was ineffective and this cross brings redemption: The crucified OM mantra becomes the savior and Hinduism the true faith; "Indian spirituality".

Lama & Griffiths: A happily married couple. Please note the dominant hand position of the Dalai Lama. Griffiths is indeed submissive. Griffiths offers arati at a celebration honoring founders: Swami Abhishiktananda and Fr. Jules Monchanin. Griffiths and Sr. Pascaline Coff, foundress of Osage Monastery in Sand Springs, OK. USA. Please note sister's cross. It is not the Crucifix! See below.

The following testimonies posted on the WCCM web site are disturbing in their ignorance of the Bible and Christian spirituality. Read them and judge for yourself if they express a proclamation of Jesus or another doctrine other than Christian.

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 Lordship 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.

He says, "...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 judgment 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 accommodation. [The Baptism of Fire]

Spot the difference...

Christian Meditation. Dom Freeman meditating using a Mantra and breathing techniques in the ancient Christian tradition according to John Main.

Buddhist Meditation. Buddhist Nun meditating using a Mantra and breathing techniques in the ancient Buddhist tradition according to Buddha.

The Dalai Lama & Dom Freeman meditating according to each other. -------------------------------------------------- For many years I have challenged Catholics who have maintained that they were only using the techniques, telling them that, "Prayer is not a technique - It is a relationship". I noticed recently on the WCCM web site, that the new word replacing Techniques is now "Disciplines".

STOP FOR A MOMENT AND TEST YOUR SKILLS OF OBSERVATION Do actions speak louder than words? Take a close look at this young man and then name the religion he is practicing and giving witness to by his posture. When you have concluded your impression click here to see if you are correct.

DISCIPLINE: A state of order maintained by training and control; instruction and excersise designed to train to proper conduct or action. - Webster's Dictionary.

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 syncretism. 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 Christianity but in fact, Buddhist. - This displays clearly the syncretism and accommodation 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 refereed 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 Christianized 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 refereed 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 referring to Jesus during his earthly ministry and afterwards, to the indwelling Holy Spirit at Pentecost and onwards.

The Baptism of Fire The Prophecy. The Promise. The Anointing & The Consequences. A short film produced by Eddie Russell FMI tells the audio visual story of the prophecies from 1990 until now. How will this Fire effect these forms of spiritual adultery. Is it a prophetic message for our times? You be the judge.

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;

1. Even if Adam had not sinned, he would have died.
2. Adam's sin harmed only himself, not the human race.
3. Children just born are in the same state as Adam before his fall.
4. The whole human race neither dies through Adam's sin or death, nor rises again through the resurrection of Christ.
5. The (Mosaic Law) is as good a guide to heaven as the Gospel.
6. Even before the advent of Christ there were men who were without sin.

("Contra traducem peccati")

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.

"On... April.... 2004, at 7:30 pm, Father Richard Rohr, OFM, [The Enneagram man] well-known author and retreat leader, will deliver an address in a continuation of the WCCM's Way of Peace initiative. The talk will presented at St. ... Catholic Church, Texas. Father Rohr was chosen to continue the Way of Peace because of his powerful and eloquent witness for nonviolence and peacemaking..."

"On the weekend of April... in Houston Texas, Father Laurence Freeman, OSB, the director and spiritual teacher of the World Community for Christian Meditation, and Father Richard Rohr, OFM, Founding Director and animator of the Center for Action and Contemplation, will present a conference entitled Seeking Peace: A Dialogue on Jesus."

"...Both Father Laurence and Father Richard believe that Jesus is one of the few individuals in history who can be called a universal teacher by all people. Jesus teaches and embodies not just a path of personal spiritual formation, but a way of tolerance and compassion, a unique bridge of the spirit among people of different faiths, between rich and poor, and among those suffering conflict or division. The great social and psychological distresses of modern society call for a new and deeper contemplative response. Each human being, whatever his or her circumstances, is called to a contemplative peace, and is capable of it."

Incredible! - Jesus is not presented as Lord of all, but as a "universal teacher embodying a unique BRIDGE of the spirit to OTHER FAITHS!" - Note that 'spirit' does not have a capital "S" referring to the Holy Spirit, but a lower-case 's' referring to the human spirit. If you read our article on Kything prayer you will see this connection very clearly.

Also note this comment, "A short meeting of lay people committed to the practice was held after the seminar. A six week programme has already been scheduled for this group. This we hope is the starting point of the Journey to the Centre of our BEING which we are all called to make by Jesus. It is Jesus who prays in us, with us and for us."

I cannot find any reference to Jesus asking us to make a journey to the centre of our being. Also, according to Saint Paul, it is the Holy Spirit that prays in us. If Jesus is also praying for us, then it is easy to see why these people only sit around thinking about and contemplating the whole thing. Jesus mediates, he does not do our praying for us. We pray in the Holy Spirit, through Jesus, to the Father. The Lord's Prayer alone makes that clear when Jesus says, "When YOU pray, pray this way, Our Father...".

Freeman and Rhor together at the seminars. It seems that the connection to the Enneagram and a new form of Kything from Freeman have finally got married; Kythed in 2005.

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. This marriage of Rhor & Freeman: Meditation and the Enneagram, seems to be the next step. We will now have to see if those WCCM meditators are now asked to do Enneagrams as well, and the Enneagram people asked to deepen their meditations by learning from the WCCM. To further advance my argument regarding the New Age spirit of these priests, we find on the same page a bold link promoting Yoga and Rolfing classes, and at great cost if you do them I might add. On this page you will find several dates advertising, "Meditation & yoga retreats with Laurence Freeman and Giovanni Felicioni." Felicioni teaches Yoga, Rolfing, Bodyworks and, "Touching".

Also on the WCCM events page are these disturbing announcements amongst others.

"John Main Seminar 2004 to be led by Sr. Joan Chittister, O.S.B. on the topic, "Heart of Flesh: A Feminist Spirituality for Women and Men' at ... The Seminar will be preceded by a 3-day silent retreat with Fr. Laurence Freeman at the same venue."

"April 04 ... His Holiness the Dalai Lama will confer the Kalachakra Initiation in Toronto. This is primarily for Tibetan Buddhists but is open to all."

The way this announcement reads you could be forgiven for thinking that the Freeman and Chiitister segments are two separate things but they are not. They are connected and form a whole.

The constant brainwashing techniques used on these retreats is to fill the participants with these teachings and techniques and then keep them silent for three days. Those that have done this have told me that they are not allowed to interject and the three days of silence causes them to focus only on what they have been told and taught to practice.

The silence itself is the indoctrination time. By preceding the seminars, the silence causes people to focus only on what is to come. At the end of three days the participants are champing at the bit for the answers to the questions arising in their minds that have been stimulated by the subject matter. This works on the fact that no-one attends without first hearing of, knowing something, or having an interest in the subjects at hand.

So far the list of Freeman's "Christian meditations" are in fact, Yoga, Mantras, Enneagram, Rolfing, Buddhist Initiations, Hinduism, New Age and Feminism!

July 2008:
Freeman has now claimed at the 08-WYD in Sydney, that his connection with Buddhism is only a wrong perception!

"Father Freeman said Christian meditation is making a comeback, and the practice is being reclaimed from the common perception that it is a Buddhist tradition." - Zenit / WYD SYDNEY, Australia, JULY 18, 2008.

Frankly, I just do not know what to say about this incredulous claim that gained so much publicity through World Youth Day reports. It leaves me speechless considering the body of evidence to the contrary. How can Freeman now disassociate the self-confessed foundational connections after so many years, so much teaching, practice and indoctrination?

Dom, does this mean that all your Christian Meditation people and groups have now given up yoga and mantras?

I doubt it. This is just another deception, and even certain cardinals have swallowed the con. It is a blatant hypocritical statement contradicting everything Main and Freeman have ever said and taught about this form of so-called Christian meditation! And as someone once said, "Denial is not a river in Egypt."

Wake up Church! Even blind Freddy can see this for what it really is.

These Catholic priests and all like them would be wise to learn from Sadhu Sundar Singh.

Still not convinced of the Dalai Lama's real intentions? Click Here and return to this page. When you have viewed this site, you can then ask yourself why Dom Freeman would be so interested in Buddhist spirituality and not only teach us to practice it, but promote the Dalai Lama's sexual sorcery.


PONTIFICAL COUNCIL FOR CULTURE - PONTIFICAL COUNCIL FOR INTER RELIGIOUS DIALOGUE.

3.5. The “god within" and “theosis” Here is a key point of contrast between New Age and Christianity. So much New Age literature is shot through with the conviction that there is no divine being “out there”, or in any real way distinct from the rest of reality. From Jung's time onwards there has been a stream of people professing belief in “the god within”. Our problem, in a New Age perspective, is our inability to recognize our own divinity, an inability which can be overcome with the help of guidance and the use of a whole variety of techniques for unlocking our hidden [divine] potential. The fundamental idea is that 'God' is deep within ourselves. We are gods, and we discover the unlimited power within us by peeling off layers of inauthenticity. 63

Spiritual Pride prevails in the Meditation Movement.

Over the years I have noticed an attitude change in people I know who have taken up this meditation. On one occasion I met a woman who used to attend my prayer group. After the usual politeness I asked why she hadn't been to the meetings, "Oh, no, that's not for me, I'm into higher things now". She informed me that she was doing the John Main meditations. This incident could be ignored as pride-filled vanity from one individual except that I have had the same response from many people since then. When I have tried to talk to certain priests who do this meditation about my concerns with Yoga, they have patronizingly passed me off with a verbal pat on the head as child who just doesn't understand. Consequently I have noticed a certain elitism, superiority and spiritual pride in these people and it seems to be a common fruit of this spirituality.

Although this form of meditation has wide support within the Church even from many bishops, and it certainly did at the 08 World Your Day in Sydney, the question remains as to whether this is really Christian or not? If it is, as the WCCM claim it to be, then other questions arise about why there is such a clear and obvious connection with Hindu and Buddhist spirituality as well as Dom Freeman's relationship with the Dalai Lama? If it is in fact Christian, why is there such a strong connection and promotion of these Eastern religious methods?

It seems that the term CHRISTIAN MEDITATION is a wrong terminology. CHRISTIANS MEDITATING would be a more accurate and fitting terminology to describe the prayer methods of the WCCM.

Buddhism is NOT accepted by His Holiness Pope John Paul II.

Crossing the Threshold of Hope. Pope John Paul II

Vittorio Messori: I would like to ask you to speak more fully on the subject of Buddhism. Essentially - as you well know - it offers a "doctrine of salvation" that seems increasingly to fascinate many Westerners as an "alternative" to Christianity or as a sort of ''complement" to it, at least in terms of certain ascetic and mystical techniques. John Paul II: Yes. you are right and I am grateful to you for this question. Among the religions mentioned in the Council document Nostra Actate. it is necessary to pay special attention to Buddhism. which from a certain point of view, like Christianity is a religion of salvation. Nevertheless, it needs to be said right away that the doctrines of salvation in Buddhism and Christianity are opposed.

The Dalai Lama, spiritual leader of the Tibetans, is a well-known figure in the West. I have met him a few times. He brings Buddhism to people of the Christian West, stirring up interest both in Buddhist spirituality and in its methods of praying. I also had the chance to meet the Buddhist "patriarch" in Bangkok, Thailand, and among the monks that surrounded him there were several, for example, who came from the United States. Today we are seeing a certain diffusion of Buddhism in the West.

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.

Buddhism is in large measure an "atheistic" system.

We do not free ourselves from evil through the good which comes from God; we liberate ourselves only through detachment from the world, which is bad. The fullness of such a detachment is not union with God, but what is called nirvana, a state of perfect indifference with regard to the world. To save oneself means, above all, to free oneself from evil by becoming indifferent to the world, which is the source of evil. This is the culmination of the spiritual process.

At various times, attempts to link this method with the Christian mystics have been made - whether it is with those from northern Europe (Eckhart. Tauler, Suso, Ruysbroeck) or the later Spanish mystics (Saint Teresa of Avila, Saint John of the Cross). But when Saint John of the Cross, in the Ascent of Mount Garmel and in the Dark Night of the Soul, speaks of the need for purification, for detachment from the world of the senses, he does not conceive of that detachment as an end in itself. "To arrive at what now you do not enjoy, you must go where you do not en joy. To reach what you do not know, you must go where you do not know. To come into possession of what you do not have, you must go where now you have nothing" (Ascent of Mount Carmel, i, 13, ii).

In Eastern Asia these classic texts of Saint John of the Cross have been, at times, interpreted as a confirmation of Eastern ascetic methods.

But this Doctor of the Church does not merely propose detachment from the world. He proposes detachment from the world in order to unite oneself to that which is outside of the world - by this I do not mean nirvana, but a personal God. Union with Him comes about not only through purification, but through love. Carmelite mysticism begins at the point where the reflections of Buddha end, together with his instructions for the spiritual life. In the active and passive purification of the human soul. In those specific nights of the senses and the spirit, Saint John of the Cross sees, above all, the preparation necessary for the human soul to be permeated with the living flame of love. And this is also the title of his major work - The Living Flame of Love.

Therefore, despite similar aspects, there is a fundamental difference. Christian mysticism from every period beginning with the era of the Fathers of the Eastern and Western Church, to the great theologians of Scholasticism (such as Saint Thomas Aquinas), to the northern European mystics. to the Carmelite mystics - is not born of a purely negative "Enlightenment". It is not born of an awareness of the evil which exists in man's attachment to the world through the senses, the intellect, and the spirit. Instead. Christian mysticism is born of the Revelation of the living God. This God opens Himself to union with man, arousing in him the capacity to be united with Him,especially by means of the theological virtues - faith, hope and, above all, love. (Crossing the Threshold of Hope) [Bold emphasis mine]

AUTHENTIC CHRISTIAN MEDITATION IN THE BIBLE HERE

Dalai Lama tells Australian school children that Gay Sex is OK.

During a visit to Australia the Dalai Lama was reverently interviewed on early morning national television on May 22nd 2002. When asked to give his views on homosexuality and same sex marriage his answer was, "As long as there is no abuse... Men, men, woman, woman, OK". The incredible thing is that schools with students attending in the thousands revered the Dalai Lama like some divine being with teachers groveling before him as the epitome of wisdom and enlightenment. The question I have to ask, and the one I must challenge Freeman with is; Since when did light have fellowship with darkness?

You cannot dismiss the philosophy from the discipline and I suggest this is spiritual adultery is detrimental to Catholics and young people in general judging by his May 2002 visit to Australian schools. - This Freeman/Lama fellowship and Freeman's adoption of Buddhist spiritual disciplines only condones the Dalai Lama's views. I doubt very much that the Dalai Lama on the other hand has learned how to use Christian spiritual disciplines as a result of this association with Catholics. On the contrary, he seems to be doing a very good job of evangelizing us without any effort on his part, which of course is, pure Zen.

Words have meanings and they are real and have real effects no matter what language they are in. Jesus tells us that by our words we will be acquitted or by our words we will be condemned. He also says that we are accountable for every idle word that falls from our lips. He also tells us that the one is wise who hears his words and acts upon them. [Matt 7:24-27 - Matt 12:36-37] DOMINUS IESUS.

Repentance, restitution and turning to the Bible and true doctrine is the only hope for those who lead God's people astray. If you are one of these, then heed the Word of God lest your names be completely removed from the Book of Life. [Because you were in fact created, this is an eternal absolute, conscious living knowledge that you are totally forgotten by God and removed from his creative thought, because as far as he is concerned, you had never existed: Your name never appeared in the Book].

Buddhism - Is it really a gentle religion?

This report appears on NEWS.com.au. 09 Feb 04

Arsonists torch charity office

ARSONISTS including Buddhist monks firebombed the office of a Christian charity today amid increasing religious tensions in Buddhist-majority Sri Lanka, officials said. More than a dozen men hurled petrol bombs at a building in Anuradhapura housing the World Vision office, setting it ablaze, police said.

World Vision is a Christian humanitarian organization serving poor children and families in nearly 100 countries. The organization has been conducting social work in Anuradhapura, about 180 kilometers northeast of the capital, Colombo, for years.

"Nine men, including three Buddhist monks and a university professor, have been arrested for the attack," said MN Junaid, secretary to the interior ministry.

The arrests were the first since President Chandrika Kumaratunga ordered police to take tough actions in response to mounting attacks on Christian places of worship.

Attacks on churches have escalated since December following the funeral of a Buddhist monk, Gangodavila Soma, who led a campaign against religious conversions by Christian groups.

Although medical reports said he died of a heart attack, some Buddhists have blamed Christians for his death.

Buddhists make up 70 per cent of Sri Lanka's 18.6 million people. Buddhist groups have urged the government to introduce legislation against religious conversions. About 6 per cent of Sri Lankans are Christians. <End>

The above report is not isolated; Hinduism also wants to outlaw Christian evangelisation in several parts of India. Pakistan has the infamous Blasphemy Law and the new European Constitution omits the role of Christianity in the history of Europe. The reality seems to be that Christianity is becoming illegal, and when we consider the UN Peace Summit 2000 we can see that the major tenet of New Age 4th Reich's agenda that calls for the abolition of Christianity, Islam and Judaism is taking root through many areas and currently focussing on Christianity.

Of course this is not true of all Buddhists as much as anyone else, but when we also consider the Mayanmar [Burma] government's massive financial support of Buddhism to build gold layered temples whilst literally giving Christian parishes a few bags of rice and then boasting about it on the front pages of newspapers for an example, we really need to wonder about true justice in a world that prides itself on equality; the human rights violations against Christians continue with impunity in many countries and without comment or censure. Therefore, I have to question the WCCM's relationship with the Dalai Lama as the head of Buddhism.

WCCM are not the only pseudo Christian Meditation organization.

There are many others claiming to be authentic "Christian" meditation, but just like the WCCM they all use techniques and teachings from Hinduism and Buddhism. They will usually quote Meister Eckhart, the Christian mystics and others to give them credibility. To the unsuspecting Catholic this mystical and biblical gobble-gook is very convincing. The so-called Association of Christian Meditators [ACM] have a link called "A Judeo-Christian technique of meditation." This site looks very Catholic but apart from mixing Eckhart, Thomas Merton, Hinduism and Buddhism, they communicate with extra-terrestials telling adherents that "It doesn't matter who communicates with you, it's the message that matters." Even the most innocuous meditation exponents will offer body posture instructions. All of these things will be your clue that they are not authentic regardless of the Christian words or images used by these people.

There is no such thing as "Christian Zen" nor a "Marriage of East and West."

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 Counseling 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"...