|
|
|
NEW
AGE |
|
Eastern Mysticism
-- Part Two
By
Dave Hunt
(Occult Invasion, Harvest House, 1998) |
|
Life is an Illusion—So Make Up Your
Own! Much credit for bringing Eastern
mysticism into the West goes to Jesuit priest Pierre Teilhard de Chardin.
As a young girl, psychologist Jean Houston was heavily influenced by de
Chardin. 1 Houston claims that
the techniques she teaches for activating the imagination open the
person to a new reality. Echoing de Chardin’s Eastern mysticism, she
claims that this alternate reality is more real than the "cultural
trance," known as "normal waking consciousness... in which we all dream
the same dream, more or less, and call it: reality." 2
Carl Jung wrote introductions to some of the first
Western editions of books on yoga and Eastern mysticism. Reflecting the
Hindu view that life is but a dream, Jung was obsessed with dreams and
their interpretation. In one dream he saw himself in yogic meditation
representing his "unconscious prenatal wholeness...." In commenting upon
the dream, Jung declared:
In the opinion of the "other side" [i.e., the communicating spirit
guides] our unconscious existence is the real one and our conscious
world a kind of illusion... which seems a reality as long as we are in
it. It is clear that this state of affairs resembles very closely the
Oriental conception of Maya. 3
Jung claimed to have received multiple communications from the "other
side." The messages he received were consistent with the vast majority
of such communications—proving again a common source and identifying it
beyond dispute. Over and over, Eastern mysticism rears its serpentine
head. Ramtha’s message is no exception: "You are God, and therefore
capable of creating any reality you desire, if not now, then in a later
incarnation." 4 Again it is Hinduism’s belief that all is maya,
or illusion. Houston’s goal is to deliver us from this common delusion
so that "... we will one day look back astounded at the impoverished
world of consciousness we once shared, and supposed to be the real
world—our officially defined and defended ‘reality.’" 5
Yoga was developed to escape from this unreal world of
time and sense and to reach moksha, the Hindu heaven. With its
breathing exercises and limbering-up positions, yoga is promoted in the
West for enhancing health and better living—but in the East it is
understood to be a way of dying. Yogis claim the ability to
survive on almost no oxygen and to remain motionless for hours, free of
the "illusion" of this life.
The Deceit and Danger of the "Science of Yoga"
In a classic flimflam, one of the world’s most ancient
religious practices is being sold as the "science of
yoga." The average Westerner is not aware that yoga was introduced by
Lord Krishna in the Baghavad Gita as the sure way to Hindu
heaven, or that Shiva (one of the most feared Hindu deities) is
addressed as Yogeshwara, or Lord of Yoga.
That yoga is Hinduism is usually denied. Hearing
occasional references to Patanjali’s second-century B.C. Yoga
Sutras, the Westerner assumes that Patanjali was an early Indian
Plato or Einstein. In fact, Hindus regard him as one of their greatest
religious leaders. Thinking they are buying health, millions are
unwittingly getting involved in Hinduism. Believing they are
being taught scientific practices, yoga enthusiasts are led
unaware into Eastern religious beliefs and rituals which are
designed to open them to the occult.
Hatha Yoga, known as physical yoga, is alleged
to be devoid of the mysticism in other forms. Not so. Yoga is yoga, and
all of the positions and breathing exercises are specifically designed
for yoking with Brahman, the universal All of Hinduism. If the goal is
physical fitness, one should adopt an exercise program designed to that
end, not one designed for reaching godhood. In one of the most
authoritative Hatha Yoga texts, the fifteenth century
Hathayoga-Pradipika, Svatmarama lists Lord Shiva (known by Hindus as
"The Destroyer") as the first Hatha Yoga teacher. No wonder yoga can be
so destructive!
The average yoga instructor does not mention the many
warnings contained in ancient texts that even "Hatha Yoga is a dangerous
tool." 6 In an unusually frank
interview in Yoga Journal, Ken Wilber (practicing mystic and yoga
enthusiast, often called today’s "Einstein of consciousness") warns that
any form of Eastern meditation, even done "correctly," involves "a whole
series of deaths and rebirths; extraordinary conflicts and stresses...
some very rough and frightening times." 7
David Pursglove, a therapist and transpersonal
counselor for 25 years, lists some of the "transpersonal crises" common
to people who get involved in Eastern meditation:
Frightening ESP and other parapsychological occurrences…
[spontaneous] out-of-body experiences or accurate precognitive
"takes"… profound psychological encounter with death and subsequent
rebirth... the awakening of the serpent power (Kundalini)... energy
streaming up the spine, tremors, spasms and sometimes violent shaking
and twisting.... 8
"Such experiences," admits the Brain/Mind Bulletin, "are
common among people involved in Yoga, [Eastern] meditation and other
[pagan] spiritual disciplines...." 9
Transcendental Trickery
Transcendental Meditation (TM), one of the most
popular forms of yoga in the West, exemplifies the deliberate
misrepresentation that characterizes so much of today’s New Age scene.
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi at first introduced TM to the West as a Hindu
religious practice. He openly taught that its purpose was to produce "a
legendary substance called soma in the meditator’s body so the
gods of the Hindu pantheon could be fed and awakened."
10
But when TM was excluded from public schools and government funding as a
religious practice, Maharishi quickly deleted all reference to religion
and began presenting TM as pure science.
Such deliberate deceit says much about Maharishi’s
integrity. Nothing was changed except the labels. This deception has
been furthered by the many celebrities, who have practiced and then
enthusiastically promoted TM. Subsequent advertisements dishonestly
declared that TM "is not a religion, not a philosophy, not yoga...
involves no change of belief system...." In fact, TM involves all of
these. According to Kropinski, Maharishi told those on the inside:
It doesn’t matter if you lie teaching people... [because] TM is the
ultimate, absolute spiritual authority on the face of this Earth.
[TMers] are the only teachers and upholders of genuine spiritual
tradition.... They’re running the universe.
They are controlling the gods through the soma sacrifice. 11
Beachheads of Occult Invasion
The proliferating centers where yoga and other forms
of Eastern meditation are taught become focal points of the occult
invasion. Channeled messages describe such centers as "the first
beachheads secured by the approaching forces... to prepare the human
species for its collective awakening."
12
This so-called "awakening" into "higher consciousness" is actually the
demonization of mankind in preparation for Antichrist and his world
religion.
It is astonishing that millions of otherwise
intelligent and well-educated Westerners can be so easily persuaded to
accept as "truth" information transmitted by mysterious entities whom
they are unable to identify. Yet this fact offers further proof of the
Genesis account of Satan’s seduction of Eve and confirms the universal
appeal of his lies.
The practice of yoga and other forms of Eastern
meditation creates the same altered state as do drugs, hypnosis,
drumming, dancing, visualization, and other shamanic techniques now so
widely used in the West. The door is opened to demonic seduction of
mankind. Incredibly, yoga is now widely practiced and promoted within
the church.
Notes:
1 Jean Houston, Life Force: The Psycho-Historical Recovery of
the Self (Quest Books, 1993), pp. 254-56.
2 Ibid., pp. 211-42.
3 C. G. Jung, Memories, Dreams, Reflections (Pantheon Books,
1963), pp. 323-24.
4 "The World According to Ram," The Utne Reader, July/Aug.
1988, p. 80 abridged from Martin Gardner, The New Age: Notes of a
Fringe Watcher (Prometheus Books, 1988)
5 Robert Masters and Jean Houston, Mind Games (Dell
Publishing, 1972), pp. 13, 229-30; see also Houston, Life Force.
6 Georg Feuerstein, "A Brief History of Hatha Yoga, Part II," in
Yoga Journal, September/October 1987, p. 67.
7 Catherine Ingram, "Ken Wilber: The Pundit of Transpersonal
Psychology," in Yoga Journal, September/October 1987, p. 43.
8 Naomi Steinfeld, "Passages In: For People in Spiritual Crisis,"
In AHP Perspective, February 1986, p. 9
9 Brain/Mind Bulletin, July 12, 1982, p. 3
10 Art Kunkin, "Transcendental Meditation on Trial, Part Two," in
Whole Life Monthly, September 1987, pp. 14, 17.
11 Ibid., pp. 15-17.
12 Ken Carey, The Starseed Transmissions: Living in the
Post-Historic World (Harper Collins, 1991), pp. 54-55.
|
Media Wise Authors
Dr. Ted Baehr
Dr. Tom Snyder
Dan Wooding |
|
|
|
|
|
THE JOHN
ANKERBERG SHOW |
|
Make a donation to
The
John Ankerberg Show
If you have
been
ministered to today, please help us minister to others by making
a contribution to the ministry.
Please enter gift amount then press
"Make a Donation"

CLICK HERE
TO WATCH ONLINE
HARRY POTTER
SUPPORT RESOURCES

Confused about Harry Potter?
CLICK
GO
FOR SUPPORT RESOURCES

DR. JOHN ANKERBERG'S RESPONSE TO CREATION QUESTIONS

Dr. John Ankerberg answers your
questions on creation in the following article available both as
a downloadable PDF and broken down into individual questions for
online reading. Click the link below to read:
Does Scientific Evidence Today Show
that God Created the Heavens and the Earth? And What Does the Bible Say
About When He Created?


Facing Financial Facts -
How to Kill the Debt Monster
AUTHOR:
Riser, Dr. Steven C.
For an increasing number of people, debt is becoming a real monster. The fear and dread that comes from debt is just as real as a predator in the home. So how can you dispatch the debt
monster?

The Coalition of Nations
in Daniel 11
AUTHORS:
DeYoung, Dr. Jimmy
One of the major trends for the last days is a coalition of nations that will come against Israel. Dr. Jimmy DeYoung describes those nations and what brings them together.
|
Copyright 2006, Ankerberg Theological Research Institute
|