On October 10th, Lighthouse Trails posted the following: “Newsweek Cover Story on a New Age Perception of Heaven and God .” This post included a letter from one of our readers telling us about a Newsweek cover story about one man’s “near-death” experience and how this experience was very much like a New Age one. We have now learned from the same Lighthouse Trails reader that on this man’s website, he admits that he practices deep meditation exercises. The implications here are staggering.
Dr. Eben Alexander, the doctor featured on the Newsweek article, has written a book, Proof of Heaven, about his experience. The book is coming out on October 23rd. In the meantime, on his website, Dr. Alexander reveals his views and his personal use of meditation. Under the heading “Meditative Accoustics,” Dr. Alexander states:
Much of my work in meditating to achieve deep levels of consciousness since my near-death experience involves my use of meditative acoustics, initially as Hemi-Sync® audio signals [electronic mantras]. These were first elucidated by Robert A. Monroe, founder of The Monroe Institute (TMI) in Faber, Virginia, USA.
Dr. Alexander then advises how people can have the same deep meditation experiences that he is having:
[I]f you are interested in pursuing such deep meditation, I recommend you take a 2-day Outreach Course (offered by TMI-trained personnel around the world) or take the introductory 6-day Gateway Voyage Course at TMI, or at one of their centers around the world. You will gain far more by training with a credentialed TMI facilitator.
The significance of this is that millions of people will read about this man’s mystical experience through Newsweek and other media (Yahoo News is now reporting on the story) and could be introduced to eastern meditation techniques, and begin practicing them in order to have a similar “heaven” experience that Dr. Alexander had. No doubt, Dr. Alexander will be seen as a credible source: he has taught at Harvard University and has a reputation as a respected neurosurgeon. And according to the Yahoo News article, Dr. Alexander calls himself a Christian, which means even unsuspecting Christians could see him as a credible source.
To better understand the nature of what Dr. Alexander is recommending, a brief look at The Monroe Institute will shed some light. According to The Monroe Institute’s website, its mission is to see “The Global Awakening of Humanity.” In addition, the website states:
The Monroe Institute serves as the core of a research affiliation investigating the evolution of human consciousness and making related information available to the public. The Monroe Institute also provides experiential education programs facilitating the personal exploration of human consciousness. Over the last 30+ years, thousands of people have attended the Institute’s residential and outreach programs, and millions have benefited from our educational materials.
The Monroe Institute offers an array of methods and practices to fascilitate entering altered states of consciousness. Their educational programs” include yoga, out-of-body experiences, energy healing (e.g. Reiki) and other eastern meditation practices. One of the resources offered by the Institute is “Chakra Meditation with Hemi-Sync” (Hemi-Sync is meditation induced by sounds). At least one of the facilitators of the Institute is experienced in “kundalini yoga,” Reiki, and Buddhism. Listed as a “Friend” of the Institute is the Edgar Cayce Association of Research and Development (Let Us Reason ministries has some excellent information on the occultic background of Edgar Cayce.)
Essentially, while Dr. Alexander and The Monroe Institute claim that their mystical experiences are grounded in scientific and medical research, what they are actually offering is nothing other than New Age/Eastern meditation, no different than what a Hindu or Buddhist guru would teach. Research analyst Ray Yungen explains how this is done:
“In the last [few decades], many groups and individuals have come forward with various psycho-technologies for maximizing personal growth and human potential—this potential being in the higher self. New Agers understand that metaphysics must be presented in a way which will attract the greatest number of people—the advantage being that those who might reject any perceived attempts to slip them religion of any kind, would find the idea of growth techniques acceptable. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi did this with his Transcendental Meditation program emphasizing “the Science of Creative Intelligence” rather than mantra yoga, which is what it really is. Others have promoted scientific sounding terms like alpha state awareness or intuition development, which are just imaginative names for meditation.
“The advantage New Agers have in enacting significant change in our society is evident in the following quote:
Metaphysics can be taught in highly religious terms, or it can be taught as a pure science, without any religious connotations whatsoever.1
“When metaphysics is presented as a science, it is possible for a person to not be aware of its spiritual influence. Many people now coming into direct contact with the Ancient Wisdom do not realize nor understand what it’s all about. They may be told it concerns the latest findings on human development, since many times the people presenting it do not want them to know its true nature. The goal is to merge these practices into society so they will be considered normal and acceptable.” (Yungen, For Many Shall Come in My Name, pp. 38-39)
On an October 11th Twitter post, Dr. Alexander told his followers that he hoped to present a copy of his book to the Dalai Lama that day. No doubt, the Dalai Lama would very much resonate with the book Proof of Heaven. Sadly Dr. Alexander believes his “angel of light” whom he saw during his near-death experience was from Heaven, when in fact, the Bible warns us that Satan’s ministers come as “angels of light” deceiving many. And in these dark occultic days prior to Christ’s return, the stage is being set to usher in a world leader who will eventually require humanity to worship him. What tool is Satan using to draw humanity toward this anti-christ? It is meditation, for it is in the meditative state that man comes to believe God dwells in everything and in everyone (no need any longer for a Savior, having changed Jesus from a Savior to a model). And as meditation (through Yoga, Reiki, contemplative prayer, spiritual formation, etc.) is fast becoming the norm throughout the world, with even the Christian church now jumping on board, the “day of the Lord” is fast approaching, and most are completely oblivious to what is happening. But God will not be mocked, and while Satan’s efforts to obtain God’s glory for himself will not diminish until the end, God, the Creator of everything, will prevail. And the sacrifice on the Cross by His Son, Jesus Christ, will not be in vain, and He will redeem all “who call upon the name of the Lord” through faith by His grace. But those who stand proudly declaring their own “divinity” will be lost. Thus, as Christian believers, let us not grow weary in declaring and defending the Gospel message to the lost while it is still day.
For the day of the Lord of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low . . . And the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be made low: and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. (Isaiah 2: 12,17)
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