The Cloud of Unknowing, written by an anonymous monk, has passed under the radar of many church libraries, Christian bookstores, and theological seminaries and colleges. But this book is a primer on mystical contemplative spirituality. Check your church library and see if this book is sitting on the shelves.
by Ray Yungen
To my dismay, I discovered ‘mystical silence’ is accomplished by the same methods used by New Agers to achieve their silence—the mantra and the breath! Contemplative prayer is the repetition of what is referred to as a prayer word or sacred word until one reaches a state where the soul, rather than the mind, contemplates God. Contemplative prayer teacher and Zen master Willigis Jager brought this out when he postulated:
Do not reflect on the meaning of the word; thinking and reflecting must cease, as all mystical writers insist. Simply”sound” the word silently, letting go of all feelings and thoughts.( Jager, Contemplation, p. 31)
Those with some theological training may recognize this teaching as the historical stream going back centuries to such figures as Meister Eckhart, Teresa of Avila, John of the Cross, and Julian of Norwich. One of the most well-known writings on the subject is the classic 14th century treatise, The Cloud of Unknowing, written by an anonymous author. It is essentially a manual on contemplative prayer inviting a beginner to:
Take just a little word, of one syllable rather than of two … With this word you are to strike down every kind of thought under the cloud of forgetting. (Ken Kaisch, Finding God, citing The Cloud of Unknowing, p. 223)
The premise here is that in order to really know God, mysticism must be practiced—the mind has to be shut down or turned off so that the cloud of unknowing where the presence of God awaits can be experienced.
Practitioners of this method believe that if the sacred words are Christian, you will get Christ—it is simply a matter of intent even though the method is identical to occult and Eastern practices. (from A Time of Departing, p. 33)
More from A Time of Departing, the book that exposes the truth about the spiritual formation deception that has come into the church:
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Jesus never told us to empty our minds but to fill it with His Word, the Bible. Meditation and mantras do damage to not only our minds but our hearts. They dumb people down so they cannot reason anymore or think for themselves. You can see the results of meditation and mantras by noticing what has happened to all the swamis and gurus in other countries. They end up total idiots possessed by evil spirits.
Quote: “Do not reflect on the meaning of the word; thinking and reflecting must cease, as all mystical writers insist. Simply ”sound” the word silently, letting go of all feelings and thoughts.” — This is completely unbiblical. The Lord tells us in His Word to meditate ON HIS WORD — to receive it into our hearts, to ponder what it means, to ABIDE in His Word, letting it abide richly within us. The Holy Spirit is THE Spirit of Truth (the only One) who leads us into all Truth. The advice above, to empty the mind, is extremely dangerous, because evil spirits which are not of God but are out to destroy people’s lives (John 10:10) will do so if they are allowed entrance. We must be diligent, alert, because (as Peter said), the enemy roams about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. This is serious business, and every person needs to be warned of this reality. Thank You for sounding the alarm here! God Bless You all.
You can’t reach God by practicing something that He banned. Jesus said not to pray repetitiously. The fact that they feel the need to resort to this tells you that something is wrong. A Christian already is connected to God, we entered that relationship when we got saved.