Modern mystical movements are convinced that if a one world government and a one world religion are to see fruition, then the thoughts of man must be transformed. This "paradigm shift" is a change in consciousness, a change in the way man perceives, thinks, and conceives values. It is a spiritual, cultural, global and personal change. Man's view of life, God, and himself, is modified and altered according to the new view of reality. Willis Harman, president of Institute of Noetic Sciences says, "By deliberately changing the internal image of reality, people can change the world. I agree the world will change, but for the worse. Reality, for the apostate age ahead is known only by the psychic subconscious mind while the conscious mind is blind in itself to the real world. This new reality is based upon the belief that all is consciousness and this consciousness is omnipotent, creator, love, ultimate reality, and the subconscious mind of man.

Several hundred leaders of the New Age meet regularity with world politicians, and religious leaders to map out the destiny of the next decade. Erving Laszlo, head of U.N.I.T.A. R. (the United Nations Institute for Training and Research) declared:

"We live in a crucial epoch, at the tail end of one world civilization and at the dawn of another...In the coming period of transformation we shall, indeed, have a chance to be masters of our own destiny. (2)(3)

Linda Grant, an educator in Ontario, Canada echoes the political mystics when she says,

"The new world will not be achieved through a mandate from the Ministry of Education, but through those of us who struggle day-to-day in the classrooms and administrative offices...Change will come from within. We must recognize ourselves as empowered individuals, catalysts in the transformation process."(4)

Can man reshape his world in an effort to rescue the cosmos from destruction and divert the judgment of God? Ecological programs are good. Peace is needed. Education is a necessity. A transformation is needed for all mankind and this transformation must occur within man, but can the judgment of God be diverted by such a transformation? Occultist Elizabeth Clare Prophet doesn't believe in a personal God or the judgment of God; but she believes that if a man summons the mighty I Am Presence that is within, he would be able to turn back personal and planetary Karma. (5) But what she fails to admit is that the mighty I Am Presence is not self but the God of the Bible.

Transformation Through Ecumenicalism

Does World peace hinge upon the fulfillment of a one-world religion? Is ecumenicalism a good thing? All faiths today have been plunged into one melting pot in the hope that a one - world religion will arise to the surface. Man has found what he believes to be the answer to a one-world religion. This is a spirituality that changes with a belief in the evolution of mankind. This is a spirituality that grants each man the freedom to establish his own ethical standards. This is a spirituality that advocates wholeness by a forgiveness, which accepts all people, cultures, and traditions. This is a spirituality that evicts all judgments and all fears. Matthew Fox sums up this counterfeit spirituality: "Without mysticism there will be no deep ecumenism." (6) David Steindl-Roast, a representative of Christian monasticism at inter - religious dialogues, affirms this position when he states that "mysticism is a universal human phenomenon. There is our common ground for dialogue." (7) What is mysticism?

Re-defining Mysticism

There is a need within Christian circles to re-define mysticism. Mysticism is not merely a mysterious experience. Mysticism is man's inward search for the "mysteries" of life and man's inward quest for unity with the Divine. The New Age movement is Christian mysticism, but not Biblical Christianity. It is the converging of biblical terminology, eastern philosophies, mind - power techniques and psychologies, with various mystical experiences which center a person within themselves to find spiritual truth. The ancient mystery religions had the same esoteric experience. By initiatory ceremonies the believer was "reborn into eternity." Now David Spangler speaks of a satanic initiation into a new age.

Why does mysticism today evolve as the answer to globalism: Firstly, mysticism provides a common experience when unity could not be found in a one-world theology. We read in the "Course in Miracles," which was mediumed by Helen Schucman and who also teaches that her book was written by Jesus himself, that "A universal theology is impossible, but a universal experience is not only possible but necessary." (8) This mystical experience is already common to Hinduism, Buddhism, Bahai, Confucius, Spiritism, and Theosophy. Mysticism is basic to all occult religions. Mysticism is Spiritism...A "Communion of Spirits." With yoga and meditation, mysticism in Hinduism is a union of the self with the god Brahman...a union with the divine. The enlightened Buddhist finds truth and immortality in the same meditative way. Theosophy supports yoga, meditation, and occultism as ways to explore the latent powers within man. The shammanistic experience is a mystical journey into the underworld of demons and into the heavenlies of evil spirits. Leaders of our world today have unearthed these putrid traditional beliefs of mysticism from the graves of many pagan societies and have deceptively glamorized mysticism as our salvation for a global religion.

Secondly, mysticism for the future is non judgmental, for each man's source of knowledge and truth is found within himself. When every man's truth is the truth' how can we judge, condemn, or question the experience of another? When there is no belief in sin or judgment within mysticism, neither is there any need to divert the judgment of God. Every man does that which is right in his own eyes. This kind of an apostate society is developing today.

Thirdly, a mind transformation potentially makes everyone a mystic for they believe the universal energy is within us. Shakti Gawain, a well-known New Age writer, explains this radical spiritual transformation by saying:

"The new world is being built as we open to the higher power of the universe within us and consciously allow that creative energy to move through us. As each of us connects with our inner spiritual awarenesses, we learn that the creative power of the universe is within us." (9)

A Bahai song goes like this:

"The mystery of worlds, the riddle of life is found in us, open our eyes to spirits inside you, within..."

Man after 6000 years, stumbles again in search for the riddle of life within himself. Man's problem is within; but it is a problem of sin. Salvation is not a result of man's quest for God, but God's quest for man. Salvation is a gift of God apart from man's ability or quest for any mystical experience.

Salvation by Mystical Techniques

Modern techniques such as meditation, yoga, bio - feedback, visualization, shamanism, channeling, and hypnosis are mystical because they lead the mind into altered states of consciousness. These states are passive and dangerous. Such mystical states alter the blood pressure, the brain waves, the heartbeats, the blood flow, and the skin temperature, and thus relaxing the mind into esoterical states of mind. These dimensions of mind are states of feeling not intellect. The rational mind rests in "park" while the subconscious mind assumes control. Concerning the magic of yoga, Israel Regardie says,

"Yoga seeks to arrive at reality by undermining the foundations of the ordinary waking consciousness... the spiritual axe is laid to the root of the tree, and the effort made consciously to undermine the whole structure of consciousness in order to reveal the soul below." (10)

The same applies for all mystical techniques. The mind is empties of all thought in meditation as the individual focuses the mind upon a particular object in him imagination. This object may be the belly button, a crystal, a pyramid, a dark cave, etc. There is also a state of meditative relaxation, which is evoked by a mantra, the repetition of a word or words. Mantras focus the mind away from the physical realities of life to multi - dimensional worlds of the psyche. Visualization is the way of the shaman, which misguides the mind on a visual journey to worlds unseen by the natural eye.

Transformation is Spiritual

Meditation is a spiritual transformation. The American dollar reads, "Novus ordo seclorum." Willis Harman interpreted these worlds to mean,

"A new order of the ages is born," declares that this event is not just the formation of another nation but of a new spiritually - based order for the world."(11)

Inward change occurs when mystical meditative states are reached. Man's focus on life is changed. Although altered states of consciousness can only be maintained for short periods of time according to William James, he states,

"Mystical states are never merely interruptions. Some memory of their content always remains, and a profound sense of their importance. They modify the inner life." (12)

Swami Rama acclaimed that "Meditation not only changes dogma but your whole personality."(13) New Age teaches that as you perform deep breathing exercises, the very air you breath assumes a new identity. Apostasy sees the air as the cosmic energy force. [EdNote: Gloria Copeland told that in a healing meeting.] It becomes the breath of ultimate reality, the very Spirit of God.

Any method or technique that modifies the inner life and personality must be examined not ignored. If such a change causes your religious beliefs to align with Eastern mysticism than Biblical truth is distorted. If any belief causes the Spirit of God to be breath only and not a person of the trinity, then we deny the God of the Bible.

Meditation is not merely a relaxation trick of Satan, but Satan's counterfeit experience of salvation. The spiritual transformation of the above techniques counterfeit the born- again experience of which Jesus spoke about to Nicodemus: "That which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the spirit is spirit. Ye must be born again. (John 3:3) Shakti Gaiwain an expert in visualization wrote, "when we finally give up the struggle to find fulfillment "out there," (meaning in every day reality) we have nowhere to go but within...this is like being reborn." (14) If man can ascend to a spiritual life and find salvation within himself, where is man's need for a personal Savior to die on a cross? This apostate counterfeit experience is dangerous in magnitudinal proportions.

The Tree of Life or Death

Central to all occult religions of the world, exists a myth about a tree of life. In Phoenicia the cypress was sacred to Astarte. In Athens it was the Sacred olive tree; for the Prussians, the sacred Oak. Scandinavian myth identifies the ash "yggdrasil" as this world tree. The tree was a significant symbol of the ancient Chaldeans and Assyrians. Many of their pillars, temples, and stones were engraved with a sacred tree. In Persian mythology, the sacred tree was the cypress, the tree of the god Mithra. In Mesopotamia the cedar tree was sacred to the god Ea. In India the sacred tree was the fig, Assvattha. In Egypt the tree of life was the sycamore fig and the acacia tree associated with Osirus. For C.G. Jung a father of psychology, the tree was an archetype of the alchemical process called individuation. The Cabala tree symbolizes Jewish mysticism. Tradition teaches that Buddha found enlightenment as he meditated under the Bodhi tree. Vishnu of Hinduism was born beneath the pillared shade of the Banyan tree.

Many peoples symbolized their mystical experience to the climb of the sacred or cosmic tree. The ascension of the tree was the symbol of the Buddha experience of enlightenment. The initiatory rites of the shaman included the ritual ascent and ecstatic journey of the mind up a birch tree to heaven.

Ecstatic trances took the Siberian shaman supposedly to heaven and hell. On initiation day for the shaman, a strong birch was set up on the center of the yurt. The birch was "the guardian of the door" of heaven for the shaman. Up the birch he would climb, through the smoke hole and summon the gods with mournful shouts.

In another location far from the village were arranged many birch poles. A goat was sacrificed. The new shaman was anointed with the blood of the goat. As the master shaman climbed the birch pole, he would cut nine notches in the birch to represent the nine heavens. The ritualistic climb symbolized his transformation from one world to another. Then his mystical journey in the mind actualized the ritual and supposedly allowed him to meet god face to face and bring him an offering, to seek a soul of a sick person, to lead a dead man's soul to his heavenly abode, and to increase his knowledge by his association with higher beings.

The world tree symbolized the center of all things, the source of all life and the absolute beginning. Mythologically the tree depicts for the occultist the three-fold structure of the cosmos, the underworld, the earth and the heavenlies. Just as a tree is rooted in the earth, and passes the dwelling place of man into the heavenlies, so can the mystic live in the many worlds of the spirit as well as on earth. Scandinavian mythology called these three worlds, hel, the world of demons and frost giants; Midgard, the world of mortals; and Asquarde, the world of the gods. The mystical tree also represented the tree world of God, man and the universe.

The ascension of a cosmic tree was also symbolic of the Buddhist who meditated until he had reached Buddha consciousness and had achieved oneness with the universe. This meditation experience the Buddhist believed lead them to their heavenly blissful state.

Today the mythological ascent of the tree symbolizes for the modern world, man's ability to transcend the material world to the world of the gods. It symbolizes man's ability to evolve to a spirit being, or demigod. It symbolizes man's potentiality to discover godhead in altered states of consciousness. It is the ascent of man escaping h is ego-self to discover his real self. It symbolizes man's power to create his own reality and save his own universe.

Psychology views the ascent as a psychic journey from the conscious world to the sub-conscious imagination. Jung claimed that man's spiritual and psychological development was rooted in this dark unearthed subconscious mind. The tree of life is psychologies symbol of the psyche and a symbol of the self, which grows as man unearths his self from the unconscious.

Modern anthology depicts man's accent to new astral plains. For example...the sorceress of Princess of Poser" points to the portal that lead from Eternia to Etheria. Alpha flight, by the power of the shaman, answers the mystic summons to an illusionary world beyond time. The ex-men after chanting transform into beings of pure energy. (15)

Chanellers, today are mythologically climbing the same world tree to spirit realms. Chanellers like shamans and the gnostics seek a new kind of knowledge... a knowledge revealed by spirit guides. Modern men think they have rediscovered the old way to ascend to an aesthetic revelation of the Divine, wherein they identify themselves with nature and God.

Visualization is the way of the shaman. Those who visualize are also deceived in believing that the mind can create realities of success, healing, wealth, and power. They too have climbed the cosmic tree of imagination.

As one climbs the ladder of imagination to higher astral plains within the subconscious mind, thinks he experiences a unity with Divinity. The ultimate deception has then been attained with man believes he has become god.

Is it possible that Adam and Eve were tempted to eat of the same cosmic tree? The serpent's promise of life, knowledge, and godhood is the same. Maybe not, but the mystical and mythical tree of knowledge figuratively stands at the heart of modern society. The deceptive persuasive truce of Satan to participate in the mystical experience reverberates from every cult, occult, and ungodly organization in the world today. Even some churches are echoing the same ungodly mystical summons.

The axe of God's judgment is laid to the root of the cosmic tree because man seeks knowledge without the morality of good and evil, unity without the forgiveness of sins, and salvation within himself while ignoring God's provision for salvation. John the Baptist warned the Pharisees of judgment to come. "Brood of vipers! Who has warned you to flee from the wrath to come? The fruits of repentance were necessary or the tree would be cut and cast into the fire. The fire of the Holy Ghost too would burn the leaves of sin and hypocrisy. Jesus is coming, he warned, to purge His threshing floor and burn the chaff with unquenchable fire. (Matthew 3:7-12)

God's holiness is either a pillar of the church today or holiness becomes a disintegrated ruin caused by a mystical belief that supercedes all right and wrong. Man cannot chart his own destiny without trampling underfoot the holiness and sovereignty of God.

In the Garden of Eden the judgment of God was not diverted. Eve was deceived as millions are today. Neither can His judgment be buried today by godless men who have become gods in their own eyes. True transformation is a work of God not man. The world's problem is sin, not ecology; unrighteousness, not a lack of mysticism; hence, Satan's promise of life brought physical and spiritual separation from God. The promise of godhood can no more be fulfilled today than it was in the Garden of Eden. God's judgment can only be diverted if man repents and implants the real tree of life, the tree of Calvary that once stood two thousand years ago at the center of the universe, mount Calvary. Endnotes:

[1] . Willis Harman, Global Mind Change, Indianapolis: Knowledge Systems, Inc., 157.

[2] .Omega-Letter, Special Report: Blueprint: For Building The New World Order, Dearborn: Omega-Letter, 4,5.

3. Ibid.

[4] . Linda Grant, The Nature of Learning, Newsletter Toronto: The Federation of Women Teachers" Associations of Ontario, June 1989, 24.

[5] .Elizabeth Clare Prophet, Saint Germain on Prophecy, Livingston: Summit University Press, 79.

[6] Matthew Fox, The Coming of the Cosmic Christ, San Francisco: Harper and Row, 13.

[7] . David Steindl-Roast, A Shift in Buddhist- Christian Dialogue, Areopagus, Advent 1988, Volume 2, No. 1,18.

[8] . Helen Schucman, A Course in Miracles, California: Foundation for Inner Peace, Manual for Teachers, 73.

[9] . Shakti Gawain, Living in the Light San Rafael: Whatever Publishing, 3. [10] .Israel Regardie, The Tree of Life, York Beach: Samuel Weiser Inc., 30.

[11] . Willis Harman, Mind Change, 163

[12] . William James, The Varieties of Religious Experience, New York: Penguin Inc, 293,4.

[13] . Swami Rama, Meditation in Christianity, Honesdale: The Himalayan International Institute of Yoga Science and Philosophy, 1983, 16.

[14] .Shakti Gawain, Living Light,, 37.

[15] . X-Men, The Fall of the Mutants, Vol 1, No 227, (March 1988), 19.

New Age Directory ................ Go to Next Chapter

 

 

Did Jesus Meditate Mystically

by carolyn chapman

 

Worldwide ecumenical forces are endeavoring to unite eastern religions and western Christianity. All faiths are being plunged into one melting pot hoping that a one- world religion will rise to the surface. Man strives to reconcile Christianity with eastern beliefs; but Christianity is to be believed, not reconciled. The cornerstone erected by the New Age to create unity of faith is not Jesus Christ but meditation; not a person but a method.

To encourage Christianity to accept this new cornerstone, New Age writings are presenting reprobate interpretations of Scripture and persuasive deception. New Age writers are endeavoring to prove, by twisting historical truth, that Jesus and the leaders of the early Church meditated. By spurious interpretations of history, they emphasize that the dogma of the Christian Church has departed from the true meaning of Christian meditation. As a result of this misconstrued foundation of truth, counterfeit spiritual alliances with God are being contracted. The real alliance is with Satan who schemes to rule the minds of men. A fraudulent, imaginary unity is the result of the 'meditation' experience leading to altered states of consciousness; while the foundations of Christian dogma are being deliberately crushed and the rubble of so-called narrow-minded Christianity is being replaced with a new life-style and value system.

Has the Christian been following a delusive path? Can peace and unity really be accomplished by the New Age experience and a change of consciousness? Did Jesus really meditate? Have we failed and are we dissatisfied with Christianity because the 'meditative' practicum is missing from our lives? Our hearts must be firmly devoted to Jesus or we shall fall to the bedrock of 'meditation. Do you have neighbors and friends who are confused and relate biblical meditation with New Age or Eastern meditation? Firstly, in this article we want to clarify the difference between New Age meditation and biblical meditation.

The Empty Mind

The process of each meditation is completely different. The biblical Hebrew word denotes a babbling, a muttering or a verbalization. Transcendental meditation is a silent process whereby the mind is emptied of all thought and the body relaxes. Psalm 2:1 can be translated: "Why does the heathen rag, and the people meditate on an empty thing?"

There is also a state of meditative relaxation that is evoked - by a mantra, the repetition of a word or words. Monastic gurus use "om" a symbolic name of the "supreme god of gods." We are reminded of the Scripture that says, "When you pray, use not vain or empty repetitions, as the heathen do" (Matthew 6:7).

The Rational Mind

Biblical meditation is practiced with a rational mind. "My mouth shall speak wisdom, and the meditation of my heart shall bring understanding" (Psalm 49:3). "The mouth of the righteous speaks or meditates wisdom. .." (Psalm 37:30). Biblical meditation is not empty thought; we are encouraged to meditate on God, His precepts, His word and His mighty deeds. This is objective knowledge that enters the rational mind not subjective knowledge that arises from the cosmic subconscious mind while in meditation. Does biblical truth arise from the inward self? No. God's Word is truth. This refers to the laws, precepts and commandments of God. Christian doctrine is founded upon the written revelation of Scripture not the meditations of an irrational and empty mind.

Meditation and Dogma

In explaining the path of meditation, Swami Raffia says: "Every theological system requires its followers to believe in a definite way, with definite notions of God, soul, heaven, hell, sin and virtue. But any predetermined notions that one carries to the deeper states of meditation binds the meditator and prevents him from crossing the boundaries of the conditioned mind. ..Consequently, when one is restricted by dogma, one cannot realize the universal truth that the self within is the self of all. "1 This statement unveils the hidden conflict between meditative dogma and biblical dogma.

Christian dogma should be a rapturous consolation not a restrictive burden. "Oh, how I love your law," David said. "It is my meditation all the day"

(Psalm 119:97). Old Testament meditation is a rational musing upon the precepts of God. Paul clarifies New Testament meditation. "Meditate on these things: give yourself entirely to them" (1 Timothy 4:15,16). Timothy was to meditate on his conduct, doctrine and the gift that was in him. Contrary to the Bible, Swami Raffia says: "Meditation does not require a belief in dogma or any authority. "2 Whereas the meditation of the psalmist brought obedience and respect for the laws of God. It is dangerous to omit doctrines and authorities as unimportant to our Christian experience. Such omissions make us prey to the doctrine of devils.

Meditation differs according to our source of knowledge and enlightenment. Do you agree with Swami Raffia, who said, "Mere promises in the scripture are not satisfying. When one realizes the importance of life and its purpose then one turns to the philosophy of meditation and finds solutions therein. "3 Meditation as a source of knowledge superimposes upon an individual heart a whole New World view which is contrary to the Christian world-view of life. This common world-view created by meditation or centering provides the cornerstone of unity and the secret to establishing a one-world religion. Man is thereby initiated into the ancient mysteries of Babylon the Great only to face the wrath of Almighty God.

The Purposes of Meditation

The New Ager seeks to know self to know God. "Self realization is the experiential awareness of the divine unity pervading all existence and the practice of meditation leads to this ultimate realization. "4 New Age says that self-realization is a discovery of the full potentiality of the human mind. Man becomes unlimited in his abilities.

But the Christian seeks to know God by meditating upon His statues that the individual self may not depart from God's ways. What Andrew Murray wrote about the self, is magnified by the humanistic philosophy of the New Age. "We have within us a self that has its poison from Satan -from hell -and yet we cherish and nourish it. What do we not do to please sell and nourish self and we make the devil within us strong? " Man needs to be more concerned about not deceiving himself, than knowing himself; for in thinking he knows himself, he deceives himself.

Meditation aims for unity in a mystical state of mind. Man and God become one. Man feels at 'one' with the whole universe. This experience of oneness they call 'rebirth,' at which time one enters the Kingdom of God. This deception is demonic and destructive.

The goal of biblical meditation is not a metaphysical union but a moral purpose. "The mouth of the righteous speaks (or meditates) wisdom, and his tongue talks of justice. The law of his God is in his heart" (Psalm 37:30,31). Biblical wisdom leads a man to follow righteous and godly paths. "My tongue shall talk or meditate on your righteous-ness." (Psalm 71:24)

Meditation is transformation. "Meditation not only changes dogma but your whole personality. "6 Transformation that occurs when one meditates is the changing of consciousness - a change in the way one looks upon life. This transformation distorts biblical truth. This transformation tears down traditional values and morals and estab- lishes a new order of self-values. But salvation is the transformation of man's nature to the conformity of God's righteous character. Is our purpose in life to transform self, and establish self as God; or do we yield self to the Master Transformer - Jesus -to mold His moral image in us?

Did Jesus Meditate? The New Age attributes to Jesus the role of a master yogi, one who has reached the highest meditative state of mind. Their demonic interpretations of Scripture have no grounds for debate.

They defend their lack of evidence with the following argument. "Jesus taught only a few the highest of spiritual teachings which were passed on by tradition and vanished and which were "cloaked in allegory" so that He wouldn't be casting His pearls before swine " At the same time they classify the Bible as "disputable.

Firstly, Jesus did not have to meditate to realize or experience oneness with the Father. It was considered blasphemy among the Jews of that day to claim 'oneness' with the Father, yet Jesus made the acclamation: "I and my Father are One" (John 10:30). "Before Abraham was I Am." He was eternally 'one' with the Father. He was born "Emmanuel." He is God.

The meditative practice destroys the necessity of dogma and commandments, but Jesus came to "fulfill all righteousness" and the law. Grace surpassed the law but never nullified it. Jesus said: ". ..till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled" (Matthew 5:18). How could Jesus, who recognized the Ten Commandments as the commandments of God (Mark 7:8-10), give approval to meditation. "If you do not believe Moses' writings, how will you believe My words?" (John 5:47).

Jesus' message was not the philosophy of meditation. "Meditation leads to the stillness of mind in which one can clearly see one's own divine nature. "7 Jesus saw the heart of man as sinful - not perfect. "From within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within and defile a man." (Mark 7:21,23) Man faces judgment not nirvana. Jesus never taught that self-realization was the way to the cross. "Take up your cross and follow Me." This was the denial of self.

"I am the way the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me" (John 14:6). Can you name one yogi or Tibetan master who, in the last 2,000 years of history, has discovered Jesus and His message through meditation? None. The New Age road signs of life are backwards. God is not found by "looking inward."

Is our purpose in life to know self or to know God? Do we discover God by a mystical experience of meditation or do we know God by meditating upon His Word that can be a daily experience? We cannot claim both a meditation transformation and a born-again transformation as the cornerstone of our faith. We cannot be Christian and meditate (in the New Age sense), whether we live in India, Sri Lanka or America.

Only an individual who has been misdirected by Satan would accept as the cornerstone of their faith a 'method' instead of a 'person' an intangible hallucinatory 'dream,' instead of a 'living reality.' As the future continues to offer Satan's trappings in colorful wrappings, may we continue to cherish the truth of "Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Colossians 1:27).

References:

1. Swami Rama: Mediation in Christianity, The Himalayan International Institute of Yoga Science and Philosophy, Pen, c1983, p9 2. Ibid. p12. 3. Ibid. p14. 4. Arpita; "Jesus and Meditation," Meditation in Christianity, p 105. 5. Andrew Murray; Christianity Today, February 3, 1989, p31 6. Swami Rama; p.16. 7. Arpita: p.90.

Carolyn Chapman @ faithissues unt Calvary. Endnotes:

[1] . Willis Harman, Global Mind Change, Indianapolis: Knowledge Systems, Inc., 157.

[2] .Omega-Letter, Special Report: Blueprint: For Building The New World Order, Dearborn: Omega-Letter, 4,5.

3. Ibid.

[4] . Linda Grant, The Nature of Learning, Newsletter Toronto: The Federation of Women Teachers" Associations of Ontario, June 1989, 24.

[5] .Elizabeth Clare Prophet, Saint Germain on Prophecy, Livingston: Summit University Press, 79.

[6] Matthew Fox, The Coming of the Cosmic Christ, San Francisco: Harper and Row, 13.

[7] . David Steindl-Roast, A Shift in Buddhist- Christian Dialogue, Areopagus, Advent 1988, Volume 2, No. 1,18.

[8] . Helen Schucman, A Course in Miracles, California: Foundation for Inner Peace, Manual for Teachers, 73.

[9] . Shakti Gawain, Living in the Light San Rafael: Whatever Publishing, 3. [10] .Israel Regardie, The Tree of Life, York Beach: Samuel Weiser Inc., 30.

[11] . Willis Harman, Mind Change, 163

[12] . William James, The Varieties of Religious Experience, New York: Penguin Inc, 293,4.

[13] . Swami Rama, Meditation in Christianity, Honesdale: The Himalayan International Institute of Yoga Science and Philosophy, 1983, 16.

[14] .Shakti Gawain, Living Light,, 37.

[15] . X-Men, The Fall of the Mutants, Vol 1, No 227, (March 1988), 19.