Be Still And Exercise Your Mind

RELIGION IN THE NEWS

A report and comment on religious trends and events being covered by the media.This week’s item is from The Capitol Times, November 8, 2007, with a headline: “Kid Contemplatives.”The following are excerpts:If gym class helps children tone the body, what helps them exercise the mind?Researchers suggest the ability to be still and contemplate is what can make a positive difference.In 2008, local middle school students will be among those who participate in a National pilot project that studies the effects of contemplation in the classroom, says Richard Davidson, a University of Wisconsin researcher, neuroscientist.Time Magazine selected him as one of the world’s 100 most influential people of 2006.“We’re still trying to understand how these practices work scientifically in a grade K through 12 setting,” John Dun of Atlanta’s AmberUniversity says.It seems likely that there are things that can be done to regulate emotions effectively.Centering prayer, meditation, breath work, chanting, sitting in silence, extended concentration on an object and focusing on positive thoughts and images are examples of contemplative exercises that can be taught.The level of controversy associated with bringing the concept into classrooms in part depends upon the presence of religious overtones.“In my view it’s not a religious issue,” says Catholic priest and practicing mystic Thomas Keating.Because of the many forms that contemplation can take silence is not denominational, and it can be practiced in a methodical way.Sitting in silence for 20 minutes, twice a day gradually introduces us to our deeper self, but the academic world allows no time or place to pursue this in an organized matter. That includes seminaries, he says.Like Buddhist meditation, centering prayer for Christians is an age old religious practice that has experienced a revival in contemporary times.Keating says both practices transcend the rational mind and are a way to be present to psychological content of the moment.

Tom:

Dave, I hope our audience picks up on some of this.This is what we have been saying, Buddhist meditation, centering prayer, I mean, it’s all connected. Eastern mysticism and Catholic mysticism, and so on, it’s all related.But there is an irony here.Do you remember—well, we’ve written about it, how Maharishi Mahesh Yogi tried to introduce meditation, he called it the Spiritual Regeneration Movement, he tried to introduce it into schools in the United States, and he was put off.But then he changed the name to TM, Transcendental Meditation, and he had great success getting it into schools.But as we have mentioned in past program, Christianity is being kept out of schools because it’s religious.But now days, well, look what we are seeing here!We have Christianity, recognized as such with its meditation, centering prayer, chanting, and so on, being introduced.So, it’s coming back in, but this is not Biblical Christianity.

Dave:

Well, as we mentioned earlier in the program, you can’t find this in the Bible, never is it recommended, never do we see it practiced by anyone really.Certainly it’s not godly, it has nothing to commend it.It is as we have already discussed a technique that supposedly brings about an automatic spiritual response, reaction.It gives you the feeling of closeness, or of wonder, or whatever, and it’s taking us away from the Bible.It’s taking us away from God; it’s taking us away from Jesus.Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life, no man comes unto the Father but by me.”He’s talking about truth, “You continue in my Word you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

Tom:

Dave, comment on this:we see, as we mentioned earlier, that an apostasy is taking place in the church, but what about the apostasy in the world?For example, what will these techniques do to prepare the world for the god of this world, the Antichrist who will come?

Dave:

Well, you want to get involved in techniques, and you think you are—well, becoming spiritual.Now they’re not necessarily seeking God, and I can say that, Tom, with the authority of the Bible. Because the God of the Bible says, you will seek for me and find me when you seek for me with all your heart.So if these people are really seeking the true God, He will reveal Himself to them.But if they are seeking a spiritual experience, or something that will give them warm fuzzies or whatever, and whoa, I must be getting close to God.

Tom:

Or feeling good about their deeper self.

Dave:

Right, yeah, introduced to their deeper self.That is the wrong way to go about it, it’s not biblical and it will open the door to demonic delusion.

Tom:

Dave, what about mind control?Aren’t these techniques similar to self-hypnosis, a program in which a person can be programmed and controlled?

Dave:

This is what Jose Silva learned from a demon literally when he would go out of his body, there was this yogi sitting there and promised that if he would follow his instructions he would give him some techniques, and so forth.So Silva Mind Control is now called Silva Method.The whole thing was based upon visualization, you visualize a couple of spirit guides and the elevator comes down into your laboratory and the door opens and out they come and these become your spirit guides and you can do some very impressive magic with their help.To see this being recommended and recommended for children, again it’s very disturbing and I hope that we are not just harping on this too much, but we’re very concerned.

Tom:

It’s a serious deception, Dave, very dangerous.

Dave:

Right.