Posts Tagged ‘Buddhism’

From OneNewsNow:

According to a Christian renewal alliance, a California seminary affiliated with the United Methodist Church is revisiting its plans to launch schools of ministry for non-Christians.  

Two years ago, officials at the Claremont School of Theology (CST) set in motion its plans for “The University Project” to “rethink classical models of theological education” as part of an effort promoting “interreligious cooperation” and training leaders in a number of religious traditions such as Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and others. One of the objectives, according to the project website, is to teach students to recognize the “legitimacy and integrity” of other religious traditions they will encounter in society.
 
In response, earlier this year the school was hit with an embargo on $800,000 from the United Methodist Church’s Ministerial Education Fund; and also was sanctioned by the University Senate, which is concerned about CST’s “proposed transformation from a school of theology to a university with schools of ministry.” Click here to continue reading.

(courtesy Christian Investigator.com)

By Lauren Green
FOXNews.com

The Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of millions of Buddhists around the world, ended a brief U.S. tour with packed sessions at Radio City Music Hall in New York.

It’s the home of the high-kicking Rockettes, but for a few days this week, it was the venue for a veritable rock star in religion — the Dalai Lama.

The spiritual leader of millions of Buddhists around the world ended a brief U.S. tour with packed sessions at Radio City Music Hall in New York.

Thousands of people waiting in long lines to see him this week seemed to be of one mind in their quest to hear his words of wisdom.

“[He] is carrying a really important message and we really need to hear it today, which is the cooperation with each other, and compassion which seems to be sadly missing,” Chad Doury of Brooklyn said.

But compassion in political terms still can be anathema to America’s economy.  Click here to continue.

Related News:

FACISM IN EMERGING CHURCH AND THE DALAI LAMA IS A MARXIST by Apprising Ministries

by Mike Oppenheimer
Let Us Reason Ministries

This may seem like an inconsequential question, even a silly question to ask, but many people may not know how involved they are in the New Age movement that has permeated our society.

In other words, do you believe or practice what is taught in the new age movement without knowing it?

Here are some questions to ask yourself…

Do you believe God is a force–that God is all things (pantheism) or that God is in all things (panentheism)?

Do you believe in karma and reincarnation as Hindus or Buddhists do?

Do you believe life is not real but just an illusion and the real world is unseen?

Do you believe that all religions and spiritual paths lead to the same place and are acceptable to God (universalism)?

Do you deny a moral standard for all people that is understood by our conscience or the law given to Moses?

Do you believe that all holy books are given by God at different times?

Do you believe that all religions and spiritual beliefs are based on or point to the same God who is known by different names?

Do you think Jesus was an enlightened master like many others? That he discovered God by realization of what is inside Him?

Do you believe we can leave our bodies and visit other realms through psych spiritual techniques or dreams?

Do you believe  we can come in touch with God through Yoga or mantra meditation?

Do you believe that man can pass onto you by touch, a spirit, or gift?

Do you believe that ghosts are people that once lived and are trying to communicate with us?

Do you believe space aliens are visiting to give us knowledge for the advancement of human kind?

Do you believe that spirit beings from other dimensions are desiring to channel to us information?

If you believe any of these, you are involved to some degree willingly or unwillingly with the New Age.

If you believe any of these as a Christian, then you are accepting beliefs and practices that go against the faith that is to be focused on Jesus Christ.  Source: Let Us Reason Ministries

The following pertains to our January 25 article, Buddhist/Universalist Sympathizer Woos Nazarene Students at NNU. NNU’s president, Dr. David Alexander, has issued the following response to an undisclosed number of concerned Nazarenes. We are posting this and also our comments and documentation about his response (see our commentary below Dr. Alexander’s response).

From Dr. Alexander:

Greetings from the campus of Northwest Nazarene University.  I am writing to follow-up on an email you sent to General Superintendent Porter regarding the appearance of a guest on the NNU campus several years ago [2006].  Please allow me to speak to that, as well as make a couple general observations and finally update you on the present work of NNU for the Kingdom.

You wrote asking about the appearance of Jay McDaniel on our campus.  He was a guest speaker at NNU in the Fall of 2006.  Unfortunately, the video clip that you are referencing omits an NNU faculty member’s introduction of Dr. McDanie[l].  In effect, the introduction was a “disclaimer” regarding the fact that while we welcome him to speak, not all his views may align with our institutional views on matters of orthodoxy, theology and creedal statements.

Therefore, let me state explicitly so you know exactly where NNU stands as an institution.  NNU believes and affirms the Articles of Faith and Covenants of Christian Character and Conduct that are the bedrock of the Church of the Nazarene.  Furthermore, we espouse the centrality of Christ in all we are and all we do.  To that end, I’m inserting a paragraph from the Hallmarks of an NNU Education, that underscore this fact:

Northwest Nazarene University is built upon belief in and relationship with the One Triune God—Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  In Him and His Son all things live and move and have their being.  He is the way, the truth and the life.  Therefore, we gather and organize ourselves around our relationship with God in Christ, made available to us through the Holy Spirit.  We exist to seek God.  He is the centerpiece around all we plan, do and are.  We seek His rule, righteousness and relationship in our lives and in the life of the institution.

Here is a link to the entire Hallmarks of an NNU Education document:  

http://www.nnu.edu/offices/office-of-the-president/hallmarks-of-an-nnu-education/

Let there be no doubt.  We organize and act from our belief that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life.  I understand that in viewing the remarks of our campus guest that some may mistakenly assume that what he said is what we believe.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  

Having said that, I want to explain the nature of his invitation.  (Please recall that this occurred in Fall of 2006, I became President of NNU in Summer of 2008.)  The university as a whole and our School of Theology & Christian Ministry in particular realize that the world is shrinking.  Culture and belief systems that were once a world away, are now as near as an immigrant student, a next door neighbor or a link to a website.  Consequently, it is the duty and responsibility of the university to make ourselves and our students aware of the world’s religions, sects and quests for God.  This is necessary if we are to appropriately know how we as Christians, are to proclaim the gospel to Muslims, pantheists, or Buddhists (an area where Dr. McDaniel has done research). 

It is our privilege and duty to assess and guide in this process, so that we and our students become adept at highlighting the good intentions and fallacies of various religions in order to then preach Christ and Him crucified.  This is in keeping with the same posture that the Apostle Paul used on his missionary travels, when he spoke directly to the belief systems of a particular town or region (e.g. Athens, Corinth) and then connected the hunger for a god, with the path to God in Jesus Christ.

To this end, we, as a missional expression of the Church of the Nazarene, promote the exercise of faith and reason, so that we might better observe the hand of God and His grace, preveniently at work in the world, so that we might be a part of the Holy Spirit’s moving.  In fact, my recent address to the campus community in our first Spring Semester Chapel, explores how to deal with the healthy tension that God has placed within us, His children, as we learn to exercise our minds in harmony with our faith.  Here’s a link to the text of that chapel message:  

http://www.nnu.edu/offices/office-of-the-president/presidents-messages/spring-2010-chapel-january-13th/

I’m sorry if this video of one of our guests, which you have encountered, has caused you to think poorly of our work.  I wanted to be quick respond and encourage you to stay in dialog.  For NNU has, is and always will be committed to proclaiming the good news of the gospel, saturating all we teach and do with His perspective, as we continually seek to provide transformative experiences for our students as they grow up into the full measure and stature of Jesus Christ.

Thank you again for your interest and concern.  I take it to mean that you have a heart for our beloved Church and the work the university does as the Church at work in higher education.  

May God bless you, may God bless NNU,

David Alexander, President

Northwest Nazarene University

Lighthouse Trails’ Commentary and Documentation Refuting Dr. Alexander’s Response:

We believe this is a case of a university president who does not appear to understand the nature of the current spiritual deception sweeping through the church, and very much so the Nazarene denomination. By his own admission, Dr. McDaniel was there to instruct the students, as Dr. Alexander points out (end of paragraph 6) when he says “make ourselves and our students aware of the world’s religions … an area where Dr. McDaniel has done research.”I think many parents would disagree with NNU’s idea that New Age Christians who dangerously teach another gospel should be the ones to teach their students about world religions. That’s a ridiculous argument by Dr. Alexander. There are many excellent books and resources that teach on world religions, written by fine Christian men and women. So when Dr. Alexander says that “it is the duty and responsibility of the university to make ourselves and our students aware of the world’s religions,” how that is done is up for dispute. 

Secondly, if the school is indeed “committed to proclaiming the good news of the gospel” and if something has changed since Dr. Alexander became President of NNU, which he points out in his letter that he began AFTER McDaniel’s visit, then why was Brian McLaren invited to speak in 2008, Philip Yancey this year and why do they presently have a Spiritual Formation program, in which heretical authors such as Richard Foster, Rob Bell, Henri Nouwen, Brian McLaren, Dallas Willard, Steve Chalke, David Benner, Brother Lawrence, Eugene Peterson, and Donald Miller are being used to teach the students?  http://www.nnu.edu/academics/graduate-programs/graduate-theological-online-education/master-of-arts-tracks/wwwnnuedumasf/textbooks/ Some of these listed above have outrightly denied the Atonement of Jesus Christ and all listed above are part of the new emerging spirituality, which promotes a mystical viewpoint. 

At the risk of sounding disrespectful, we will tell you why this is happening at NNU – it is because Dr. Alexander and the other teachers and leaders at the school think they understand, but they do not. 

Incidentally, the use of heretical teachers (ones who promote mysticism and panentheism) does not stop at NNU’s Spiritual Formation program. In their Missional Leadership program, the same thing is happening. Part of that list includes Brian McLaren (clearly a favorite of NNU, though McLaren calls the doctrine of the Cross and Hell “false advertising” for God), Eddie Gibbs, Leonard Sweet (promotes quantum spiriutality – see AWD), Dan Kimball, and a number of others. Dr. Alexander needs to understand that he is president of a university that has become an institution that is promoting the new emerging spirituality, a spirituality that by its very nature denies the tenets of the Christian faith, of which he says the school believes. 

For Dr. Alexander to single out McDaniel as if this was some rare exception is erroneous, because the names we have mentioned above are following the same spirituality as McDaniel. In his case, he was just more candid than some of the others. But for those who have studied McLaren, Sweet, and Foster, they have learned that the spirituality is the same.

Note: For detailed information on the beliefs of the names mentioned in this commentary, use the Lighthouse Trails Research Topical Index and Search Engine.

Below is a link to a video* of a lecture that took place at Northwest Nazarene University in Idaho, one of the Nazarene Universities that is strongly promoting the contemplative/emerging spirituality. The lecture, presented by NNU Thomas Oord and College of Idaho, Denny Clark, was taught by Dr. Jay McDaniel, a self-proclaimed “Christian” Buddhist universalist sympathizer who is said to be highly influenced by the late Catholic panentheistic monk, Thomas Merton. This is an 83 minute video, but for those who want to understand the paradigm shift that has occurred in the church and continues wooing millions with the mystical, universalist spirituality, this video is well worth the watch. But we warn you, it is very disturbing. Here is are two quotes from Jay McDaniel in the video:

“God has been … luring all people in the world toward different forms of wisdom … and we don’t have to equate them. It’s possible that a Buddhist might know something that’s truly different from what a Christian knows and they might be complimentary rather than contradictory. ”

“I think everything is interconnected. That’s part of my Buddhism.”

When asked by a student whether he believed that Jesus was “the way, the truth, and the life,” McDaniel stated that if Jesus had meant to say that He himself was the way, the truth, and the life, it would have been egocentric and arrogant of Jesus – He only meant to point people in the right direction – letting go of ego and grasping love. McDaniel stated also that Buddhist mindfulness (eastern meditation) is just as truth filled  as doctrine and theology. He said there was an overemphasis in the church on doctrine calling it bibliolatry (idol worship of the Bible).

*The date that the NNU lecture with Dr. Jay McDaniel took place is October 12, 2006. Because the Nazarene universities are continuing to move in the same direction (toward the new mystical spirituality) as they were then, we believe it is appropriate to post this video now.

VIDEO LINK OF JAY MCDANIEL AT NORTHWEST NAZARENE UNIVERSITY

LTRP Note: Since the McDaniel lecture took place, NNU has continued to promote to their students the mystical New Spirituality including speaking events with emerging figure Brian McLaren (in 2008) and in 2010 contemplative proponent Philip Yancey. 

Other links:

Jay MacDaniel lecturing to a class at Northwest Nazarene University

Jay McDaniel on Panentheism

G12 Master Plan Could Expose Thousands of Nazarenes to Contemplative/Emerging Spirituality

Point Loma Nazarene University Welcomes Brian McLaren and Embraces Contemplative Spirituality

As a follow up to our recent posting about a new film, The Men Who Stare at Goats, we are issuing this special news report about a project currently underway with US Military Chaplains and other military personnel to receive ongoing training in contemplative mysticism.  Those who understand the serious implications of the contemplative/emerging spirituality will likely be quite troubled by this report.

The Center for Contemplative Mind in Society was founded in 1991 and was inspired by retreats led by Thich Nhat Hanh (a Buddhist) and Ram Dass (a Hindu). The Center states that its “intention is ‘not to isolate meditation, but to reflect on the contemplative traditions as powerful techniques that have potential for beneficial change in American society.’” 1 The Center’s objective is to bring meditation into all facets, both religious and secular, of society.

Over the past decade or so, some of those involved with the work at the Center for Contemplative Mind in Society include a number of eastern meditation advocates, some of whom are Daniel Goleman (The Meditative Mind), the Dalai Lama, Charlie Halpern,  Thomas Keating, and Dr. Dean Ornish. The Center’s targeted areas in society to bring “awareness” in the role of eastern meditation have included education, medicine, environmental, business, law, prisons, economics, youth, philosophy, psychology, and religion.

The Center now has added a relatively new project,  one that is geared toward training those in the military in contemplative/mindfulness meditation. The project is called the Military Care Providers Project. The Center says it is “working with the US Army to explore the uses of meditation to restore resiliency in chaplains and medical caregivers.” Chaplains and caregivers would then be able to pass on their newly-learned meditation practices to soldiers, other military personnel, and even families:

The project includes a research report on The Use of Meditation and Mindfulness Practices to Support Military Care Providers. That report will be the basis of a meeting at the National Cathedral in Washington DC … a one-day dialogue between mindfulness [New Age] meditation and contemplative neuroscience subject matter experts (practitioners and scientists) and Army leaders. The symposium will focus on research related to the use of mindfulness training and contemplative practices with caregivers, soldiers, and family members.2

In the Center’s 57-page report (written  by Maia Duerr, Chaplaincy Coordinator for the Upaya Zen Center) on bringing eastern-style meditation into the military on a large scale, a wide range of meditative practices are discussed. Interestingly, the report kicks off with a quote by emerging church author Tony Jones from his book The Sacred Way. In his book, Jones makes an appeal for contemplative mysticism. Clearly, the eastern mystics of the Center for Contemplative Mind in Society resonate with someone presenting “Christian” contemplative prayer for the reason, as Lighthouse Trails has been stating for years, they are the same thing, and this report does not hide that fact, even though the majority of “Christian” contemplative advocates try incessantly to convince Christians that contemplative prayer and eastern meditation are two completely different belief systems.

The Preface of the research report is written by a US Army Chaplain and a US Army Major. They discuss practices such as The Jesus Prayer and Centering Prayer, saying such practices are “the foundation of this study.” Other meditative practices that are talked about in the report are: “T.M., contemplative prayer, lectio divina, mindfulness meditation, insight meditation (also called vipassana), Zen meditation (also called zazen), and movement meditations such as yoga and qigong” (p. 9). The Center’s Tree of Contemplative Practices illustrates the variety of meditative practices that can be incorporated. The project’s objective is to use meditation in various trauma and stress related scenarios for those in the military and for their families.

The report acknowledges that contemplative prayer has its “roots in early Christian monasticism” and that Thomas Merton, Basil Pennington, William Menninger, and Thomas Keating were instrumental in bringing the contemplative tradition to the forefront and “distill[ing] the practices and teachings of St. John of the Cross, St. Teresa of Avila, and other Christian contemplatives into the discipline of centering prayer [mantra meditation]” (p.11). The report also acknowledges that these meditative practices are mind-altering techniques used to change one’s thinking patterns.

The report says that a similar program in Canada uses meditation techniques after deployment but states it would be advisable to teach meditation before, during, and after deployment (p. 31). Thus, if all goes according to the Center’s plans, soldiers would receive training throughout their entire military service. It is determined by the Center that “it is probable that Soldiers will benefit by receiving improved care from military care providers who have been supported to develop greater skills in self-care and self-awareness [through meditation] (p. 33).

To further along the research of the Center’s plans for the military, in April 2009, the Symposium on Contemplative Practices for Army Care Providers was held at the National Cathedral in Washington, DC. Representatives from across Army organizations attended:

The one-day symposium was a formal way to bring proponents from the Army medical community, Army Training & Doctrine Command’s Human Dimension, Army Comprehensive Soldier Fitness program, Army Chaplains, DOD’s Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury, Army research labs, civilian neuroscientists, scholars, and experienced contemplatives/mindfulness trainers into a dialogue with each other about the research and science related to contemplative practices/mindfulness and care providers.4

 It is important to understand that the Center’s studies and efforts to incorporate eastern meditation into the military is not an isolated event, and the implications are serious. For instance, in a November 2008 Lighthouse Trails article titled Will Department of Defense Turn to Meditation to Bring World Peace?, it was revealed that US Defense Secretary Robert Gates said that “[e]nlightened counter-measures … will bolster the internal strength of vulnerable states so they will not harbor violent networks seeking to launch the next attack.” It was suggested that in the Department of Defense’s “struggle to eliminate violent extremism,” eastern-style meditation techniques should be used.

The Lighthouse Trails article pointed out that Dr. David Leffler, an eight-year US Air Force veteran, now the Executive Director at the Center for Advanced Military Science (CAMS) explained in his article titled “A proven enlightened counter-measure”:

Extensive scientific research indicates that the best way to reduce collective societal stress, eliminate extremism and thereby snuff out war and terrorism, is to adopt an ancient strategy. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi has revived the ancient Vedic technology of Invincible Defense Technology (IDT) in a non-religious manner. It has been quietly and successfully used by members of many faiths to eliminate conflict in the past.5

We feel we need to reiterate some of the information that was pointed out in our own article last year. According to research, special units would be trained using Transcendental Meditation (TM) and TM-Sidhi (psychic powers) programs.

In the Leffler article, it states that for this “Maharishi Effect” (ME) to take place, a certain percentage of the population would have to practice this joint-efforted meditation: “Extensive research shows that the group size needed to reduce social stress depends on population size. It needs to be at least the square root of 1% of the population.” Leffler says that based on research, crime drops and quality of life goes up when the ME takes place.

Leffler states that the ME could take place around the world if each country’s military would establish what he calls Prevention Wings of the Military. This group would make up for the percentage supposedly needed to meditate for world peace. As for the US military, Leffler says, “Ultimately, it is the DoD’s duty to build a Prevention Wing of the Military.”

According to New Age teachings, Leffler’s proposition that a certain percentage of meditators will rid the world of terrorism, crime, and even poverty could work. New Agers say that a “critical mass” of meditators is needed to bring the ME about. While critical mass is a scientific term, it is used here to refer to “an explosion in global consciousness capable of ‘touching’ or transforming all of humankind.” The idea is that when a certain critical number of people all share the same awareness, then change can come to all people’s thinking because of the critical mass. This critical mass would bring about a global paradigm shift.

As Lighthouse Trails has documented for several years now, the number of people practicing eastern meditation is quickly increasing. From babies being taught to meditate to a huge infiltration of meditation in all sectors of society, and finally through the contemplative (i.e., spiritual formation) movement in the evangelical church, meditation practice is overwhelmingly accepted and embraced in the world today. Leaders of meditation believe that it is through meditation that the world will finally experience true peace and unity.

While the Bible says that the world will at some point reach a momentary, false global peace (through occultic practices, we believe), it will be short lived and demonically inspired. Ray Yungen discusses the false sense of unity and oneness that is achieved through meditation and why it is spiritually dangerous:

Dr. Rodney R. Romney, former Senior Pastor of the First Baptist Church of Seattle, is a person frequently quoted as an example of a New Age Christian. He very candidly revealed what was conveyed to him in his contemplative prayer periods. The ’source of wisdom’ he was in contact with told him the following:

I want you to preach this oneness, to hold it up before the world as my call to unity and togetherness. In the end this witness to the oneness of all people will undermine any barriers that presently exist (Romney, Journey to Inner Space, p. 132).

Could this be a familiar spirit speaking [to Romney] here? Jesus Christ did not teach that all people are one [spiritually speaking]. There are the saved and the unsaved. And Jesus Christ is the catalyst for this distinction. (from A Time of Departing, chapter 4)

We have established in previous articles and reports that contemplative spirituality is a New Age belief system with which meditation is implemented and altered states of consciousness are reached. We have also shown how New Agers believe that the one common factor that unites all religious traditions is the metaphysical (i.e., mystical meditation). Yungen elaborates:

But the spirit who spoke to Dr. Romney also revealed something else of vital importance. It declared, “Silence is that place, that environment where I work.” Please pay attention to this! God does not work in the silence — but familiar spirits do. Moreover, what makes it so dangerous is that they are very clever. One well-known New Ager revealed what his guiding (familiar) spirit candidly disclosed: “We work with all who are vibrationally [meditationally] sympathetic; simple and sincere people who feel our spirit moving, but for the most part, only within the context of their current belief system” (Carey, The Starseed Transmissions, p. 33).

Some may think our suggesting that the US Department of Defense would turn to meditation techniques is absurd. Perhaps the DOD would never consider taking Leffler’s advice to use eastern mystical practices. But consider this: In October 2008, the Department of Defense awarded a $411,000 grant to the Center for Mind-Body Medicine to study the effectiveness of a non-drug approach for brain-injured soldiers who are suffering from depression. 6 The Center for Mind-Body Medicine uses various forms of eastern-style practices including guided imagery, meditation, and has an advisory board that includes New Age sympathizer Dean Ornish (also involved with the Center for Contemplative Mind in Society ). Caryl Matrisciana discusses Ornish in her book Out of India:

In the 1970s, Ornish met Sri Swami Satchidananda (who was teaching Ornish’s sister meditation techniques at the time) and told the guru he wanted to learn from him too. Today, he credits Satchidananda for inspiring his heart disease program. His book, Program for Reversing Heart Disease, became a New York Times best-seller and is a product of the swami’s advice. Ornish says:

Swami Satchidananda began teaching me in 1972 the meditation and Yoga techniques that evolved into the stress management program described [in this book]. Since then, he has remained my teacher and close friend (Ornish, p. xvii).

Ornish devotes two chapters in his book to Yoga and other meditative techniques, explaining that “Yoga is a system of powerful tools for achieving union . . . with a higher force,” and through meditation, the higher self can be experienced. Quoting Swami Vivekananda, he states:

In one word, this ideal is that you are divine . . . All the powers in the universe are already ours (Ornish, p. 21).

Ornish was appointed to the White House Commission on Complementary and Alternative Medicine Policy by former President Clinton and also served as a physician consultant to Clinton and several bipartisan members of the U.S. Congress. (from Out of India, pp. 165-166)

It is Swami Vivekananda’s spirituality to which the Department of Defense is giving nearly 1/2 million dollars! So Leffler’s hope that the Department of Defense will incorporate meditation will most likely become a reality.

It is tragic to watch the futile efforts of the world seeking so desperately after peace in all the wrong places. The world has rejected Jesus Christ as the only Prince of Peace and has turned to the prince of this world (Satan) and his methods instead. Those methods convince humanity that it has the capability within itself to mend, heal, and save. Those methods, in particular meditation, convince man that he is divine and he needs no savior because salvation comes not from one person but from humanity itself.

What is equally tragic is that those calling themselves Christian leaders have turned to these methods as well, and now instead of being the salt of the earth and a light shining on the hill (always pointing to Jesus Christ), they have joined forces with the world to bring about peace through meditation. The fact that Henri Nouwen believed in “reconciliation” and peace through meditation and is touted by countless Christian ministries, organizations, schools, and churches is astounding.

Contemplative spirituality is of the same spirit as the Maharishi Effect. That silent sacred space that Christian contemplatives promote is the same silent space that is promoted by Hindu yogis, Buddhist monks, and New Age leaders. It is interspiritual, interfaith, and recognizes no single savior.

We beseech Christian figures and ministries to turn away from contemplative spirituality and return to the pure, simple and saving Gospel of Jesus Christ, offering that to the world of lost humanity. Many of these Christians leaders talk about Jesus through one side of their mouths while declaring the spirituality of Henri Nouwen, Thomas Merton, and Richard Foster out of the other side. It cannot work. It never will. The very nature of contemplative rejects man’s sinful nature and his need for a savior.

The peace that Jesus Christ offers is to individual men, women, and children, one soul at a time. This is why the preaching of the Gospel is so vital. It is indeed a Gospel of peace but not the peace the world gives, yet it is the only eternal peace there is. Jesus Himself explained this:

I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me… Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. (from John 14)

The true peace of God can never be reached through meditative practices but comes only to the repentant heart who accepts Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. Peace plans, peace coalitions, three-legged stools, mystical reformations, man-induced awakenings, enlightened counter-measures will never accomplish what only Christ can do.

Related Information:

Research on the Department of Peace

“Not one of the students [at the symposium at Bethel University] standing up refuted biblically what they these … Zen Buddhists were saying.” –Ingrid Schlueter

by CrossTalk with Ingrid Schlueter

Recently, Bethel University in the Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota, area held an interreligious symposium that was titled: Meditation–Buddhist and Christian: Is There Common Ground?

Pastor Bob DeWaay of Twin City Fellowship appeared on Crosstalk to discuss this symposium, a gathering that sought to explore how much common ground there is in both Christian and Buddhist meditation.

Just how dangerous is the belief that Christians can gain insight into themselves by practicing Buddhist approaches to meditation? Pastor DeWaay presents the Bible truths that speak directly to this issue on this edition of Crosstalk.  To listen to this interview, click one of these links: (mp3), (Windows media). You may also order the tape by clicking here.

Related Information:
Bethel University (MN) Throws Students to Interspiritual Wolves
Richard Foster’s Contemplative Prayer or Terror?

by Ray Yungen

Contemplative advocates propose that there has been something vital and important missing from the church for centuries. The insinuation is that Christians have been lacking something necessary for their spiritual vitality; but that would mean the Holy Spirit has not been fully effective for hundreds of years and only now the secret key has been found that unlocks God’s full power to know Him. These proponents believe that Christianity has been seriously crippled without this extra ingredient. This kind of thinking leads one to believe that traditional, biblical Christianity is merely a philosophy without the contemplative prayer element. Contemplatives are making a distinction between studying and meditating on the Word of God versus experiencing Him, suggesting that we cannot hear Him or really know Him simply by studying His Word or even through normal prayer—we must be contemplative to accomplish this. But the Bible makes it clear that the Word of God is living and active, and has always been that way, and it is in filling our minds with it that we come to love Him, not through a mystical practice of stopping the flow of thought (the stillness) that is never once mentioned in the Bible, except in warnings against vain repetitions.

In chapter three [of A Time of Departing] I quoted Thomas Merton’s statement that he saw various Eastern religions “come together in his life” (as a Christian mystic). On a rational, practical level Christianity and Eastern religions will not mix; but add the mystical element and they do blend together like adding soap to oil and water. I must clarify what I mean: Mysticism neutralizes doctrinal differences by sacrificing the truth of Scripture for a mystical experience. Mysticism offers a common ground, and supposedly that commonality is divinity in all. But we know from Scripture “there is one God; and there is none other but he” (Mark 12:32).

In a booklet put out by Saddleback Church on spiritual maturity, the following quote by Henri Nouwen is listed:

Solitude begins with a time and place for God, and Him alone. If we really believe not only that God exists, but that He is actively present in our lives—healing, teaching, and guiding—we need to set aside a time and space to give Him our undivided attention.1

When we understand what Nouwen really means by “time and space” given to God we can also see the emptiness and deception of his spirituality. In his biography of Nouwen, God’s Beloved, Michael O’ Laughlin says:

Some new elements began to emerge in Nouwen’s thinking when he discovered Thomas Merton. Merton opened up for Henri an enticing vista of the world of contemplation and a way of seeing not only God but also the world through new eyes. . . . If ever there was a time when Henri Nouwen wished to enter the realm of the spiritual masters or dedicate himself to a higher spiritual path, it was when he fell under the spell of Cistercian monasticism and the writings of Thomas Merton.2

In his book, Thomas Merton: Contemplative Critic, Nouwen talks about these “new eyes” that Merton helped to formulate and said that Merton and his work “had such an impact” on his life and that he was the man who had “inspired” him greatly.3 But when we read Nouwen’s very revealing account, something disturbing is unveiled. Nouwen lays out the path of Merton’s spiritual pilgrimage into contemplative spirituality. Those who have studied Merton from a critical point of view, such as myself, have tried to understand what are the roots behind Merton’s spiritual affinities. Nouwen explains that Merton was influenced by LSD mystic Aldous Huxley who “brought him to a deeper level of knowledge” and “was one of Merton’s favorite novelists.”4 It was through Huxley’s book, Ends and Means, that first brought Merton “into contact with mysticism.”5 Merton states:

 He [Huxley] had read widely and deeply and intelligently in all kinds of Christian and Oriental mystical literature, and had come out with the astonishing truth that all this, far from being a mixture of dreams and magic and charlatanism, was very real and very serious.6

 This is why, Nouwen revealed, Merton’s mystical journey took him right into the arms of Buddhism:

 Merton learned from him [Chuang Tzu—a Taoist] what Suzuki [a Zen master] had said about Zen: “Zen teaches nothing; it merely enables us to wake and become aware.”7

Become aware of what? The Buddha nature. Divinity within all.

That is why Merton said if we knew what was in each one of us, we would bow down and worship one another. Merton’s descent into contemplative led him to the belief that God is in all things and that God is all things. This is made clear by Merton when he said: “True solitude is a participation in the solitariness of God—Who is in all things.8

 Nouwen adds: “[Chuang Tzu] awakened and led him [Merton] . . . to the deeper ground of his consciousness.”9

This has been the ploy of Satan since the Garden of Eden when the serpent said to Eve, “ye shall be as gods” (Genesis 3:4). It is this very essence that is the foundation of contemplative prayer.

In Merton’s efforts to become a mystic, he found guidance from a Hindu swami, whom Merton referred to as Dr. Bramachari. Bramachari played a pivotal role in Merton’s future spiritual outlook. Nouwen divulged this when he said:

Thus he [Merton] was more impressed when this Hindu monk pointed him to the Christian mystical tradition. . . . It seems providential indeed that this Hindu monk relativized [sic] Merton’s youthful curiosity for the East and made him sensitive to the richness of Western mysticism.10

Why would a Hindu monk advocate the Christian mystical tradition? The answer is simple: they are one in the same. Even though the repetitive words used may differ (e.g. Christian words: Abba, Father, etc. rather than Hindu words), the end result is the same. And the Hindu monk knew this to be true. Bramachari understood that Merton didn’t need to switch to Hinduism to get the same enlightenment that he himself experienced through the Hindu mystical tradition. In essence, Bramachari backed up what I am trying to get across, that all the world’s mystical traditions basically come from the same source and teach the same precepts . . . and that source is not the God of the Old and New Testaments. That biblical God is not interspiritual!

Evangelical Christianity is now being invited, perhaps even catapulted into seeing God with these new eyes of contemplative prayer. And so the question must be asked, is Thomas Merton’s silence, Henri Nouwen’s space, and Richard Foster’s contemplative prayer the way in which we can know and be close to God? Or is this actually a spiritual belief system that is contrary to the true message that the Bible so absolutely defines—that there is only one way to God and that is through His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, whose sacrifice on the Cross obtained our full salvation? If indeed my concerns for the future actually come to fruition, then we will truly enter a time of departing. (from chapter 9 of A Time of Departing – for more about Ray Yungen’s work, visit: www.atimeofdeparting.com).

Endnotes:

1.. Henri Nouwen, cited in Saddleback training book, Soul Construction: SolitudeTool  (Lake Forest, CA: Saddleback Church, 2003), p. 12.

2. Michael O’ Laughlin, God’s Beloved (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2004), p. 178.

3. Henri J.M. Nouwen, Thomas Merton: Contemplative Critic (San Francisco, CA: Harper & Row Publishers, 1991, Triumph Books Edition), p. 3.

4. Ibid., pp. 19-20.

5. Ibid., p. 20.

6. Ibid.

7. Ibid., p. 71.

8. Ibid., pp. 46, 71.

9. Ibid., p. 71.

10 . Ibid., p. 29.