Photo by Jared Rice on UnsplashThis article about a priest who dabbled in transcendental meditation for 18 years before coming back to the Faith, comes as a wake-up call to so many Christians who are casually introducing Eastern meditation techniques into their prayer lives. Many of these practices are not as innocent as they appear!
Many people are being misled into Centering Prayer after being told that St. Teresa of Avila and the Desert Fathers taught a version of it. This blog contains a few facts that will challenge these assertions.
AM writes: “My friends make fun of me for playing ‘bible roulette’ but I’ve sometimes received very appropriate answers to my questions. What’s wrong with it?”
B writes: “[O]ne topic that might be helpful to address, if you haven't already, is the Hindu meditative chanting practice called, Kirtan. It's become very popular on a local level as well as artists who travel around the country(ies), often performing in Yoga studios. The music is beautiful, enticing, esp. in a large group and can produce deep, trance-like effects. It's sung in Sanskrit and invokes the Hindu deities. It's another of those Eastern practices that's become a ‘cool’ form of spirituality...or rather pseudo-spirituality.”
MS writes: "So many Catholics parents like myself are conflicted about allowing our children to take up the practice of karate and the martial arts. Can you give us some information and advice?"
PM writes: "My children attend a Catholic Primary school in Australia. They tell me they do meditation at school and use the word 'Maranatha.' Is this in line with Catholic teaching? Should I exclude them from these sessions. I just read a blog of yours about centering prayer, (John Main). This seems to be exactly what they do, empty their minds and repeat the word 'Maranatha'. What do you think?"
JM writes: “Where does Gregorian Chant come from? Someone recently told me that it has roots in the New Age and occult. Is this true?”
It’s trendy these days to incorporate non-Christian forms of worship into Christian practices, but Scripture is replete with warnings from the Lord about why this fad should be avoided.
We recently had a caller on EWTN’s Wacky Wednesday radio show who said a local Catholic retreat center was offering biospiritual focusing. She wondered if this was a New Age practice and if it was something that belongs in a Catholic retreat facility.
PC writes: "Over the weekend I had a conversation with a few people (felt like a firing squad really) where they were saying it is perfectly fine for a Catholic to also be a Buddhist. Their argument was that Buddhism is not a religion but a philosophy for interior peace and nothing is contradictory to what Jesus said and did (to me Galatians 5:22-23 debunks this issue as God sends the Holy Spirit that gives us everything; therefore, Jesus is truly the "all in all"). The lengthy part of the argument was to say that Buddhism gives the peace that Christianity does not. Of course I argued the opposite to all of this but did not make a dent. Do you know of any good resources that I can look at?"
