June 11, 2008 (David Cloud, Fundamental Baptist Information Service, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061, 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org; for instructions about subscribing and unsubscribing or changing addresses, see the information paragraph at the end of the article) -

The following is excerpted from THE NEW AGE TOWER OF BABEL, copyright 2008 by David W. Cloud. This book is available from Way of Life Literature, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061, 866-295-4143 (toll free), fbns@wayoflife.org (e-mail)

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A study done by David Eisenberg of Beth Israel Hospital in 1990 found that Americans were spending $14 billion a year on alternative health care, including New Age practices such as meditation, touch therapy (including Reiki), positive confession, guided imagery, polarity therapy, aromatherapy, sound therapy, gemstone healing, magnetic therapy, spiritual healing, biofeedback, foot reflexology, iridology, urotherapy, homeopathy, emotional freedom techniques (EFT), hypnosis, and acupuncture.

That figure has grown dramatically since then. According to a report in the U.S. News & World Report for January 21, 2008, alternative medicine has gone “mainstream.”

A friend who read a pre-publication edition of this book observed, “If you go into any health food store it is like going into a New Age chapel.”

The New Age has indeed invaded the field of health care. The following information from The Eagle Forum report for April-May 1989 is typical of a widespread phenomenon that has only grown more popular over the past two decades. I first became aware of this in the mid-1980s when a friend’s daughter took nurses training in Virginia and was surprised to be confronted with New Age doctrine and practice:

“In 1970 a standing-room-only program was held at the De Anza College in Cupertino, CA, underwritten by Lockheed Aircraft. There, a group of scientists and physicians, influenced by Edgar Cayce teachings, gathered to share their interests in SPIRITUAL/MEDICINE ALTERNATIVES TO HEALTH. Six months later, similar programs and attendees converged at UCLA and Stanford. There the emphasis was the role of the ‘mind’ in disease. ‘New’ therapies were introduced: meditation, visualization, biofeedback, acupuncture, hypnosis, psychic healing, and folk healing. Within a few years more meetings were held on the campuses of most major universities in the country. These included Yale, Harvard, New York U, New York Institute of Technology, and the Universities of California, Massachusetts, Michigan, Miami and Illinois. Programs exploring the convergence of the occult and health were funded by the Rockefeller, Ford and Kellogg foundations. ...

“THERAPEUTIC TOUCH (TT) is one of the occult techniques being used on patients in hospitals. This term coined by Delores Krieger, R.N. refers to an occult philosophy and procedure which is supposed to transfer healing energy from one’s hands to the patient to promote normal healings more quickly. It uses a special technique to ‘unruffle’ the ‘energy field’ of the congested area of the ‘aura’ in the patient. This supposedly causes a relaxation response and then the body will heal itself. This is also referred to as Touch Healing. This concept follows ancient religions, as Janet Mentgen said, and associates with the Hindu concept of chakras and the energy force which is also referred to as ‘light.’ She also mentioned shamans, witchdoctors, medicine men and psychic healers as using TT. One problem with TT appears to be getting it scientifically proven. Since that’s not possible, TT falls into the category of the ‘miraculous’ and ‘spiritual healing’ or ‘energy medicine.’ It's of course ‘a new field.’ This ‘new frontier of medicine’ is also now called the field of PSYCHONEUROIMMUNOLOGY.

“Mentgen was named the 1988 nurse of the year at the AMERICAN HOLISTIC NURSES ASSOCIATION in Melrose, Florida. There, nurses were taught about their force fields, gathered around crackling bonfires and did Sufi dancing. Drs. Brad and Leslie Rachman, chiropractors, led the nurses in Hindu chants and dances. And Dr. Eleanor Schuster led the group in a smudging ceremony and invocation (smudge is an unregulated hallucinogenic drug common to occultists). To the cadence of drums, they danced what they called their ‘power animal,’ and were led through guided imagery and meditation.

“AHNA offers ‘full spectrum nursing’ for the ‘nurse of the future’ and is snagging otherwise solid nurses into the esoteric view of healing. AHNA held another conference in Estes Park last June, where Barbara Marx Hubbard spoke on transcendental nursing and the Goddess Earth. And Dr. Melody Olson taught a workshop on out-of-body experiences (OBEs). She said in ancient Tibet there was always a person at the death bed to serve as a guide through the death process.

“Another, RAM DASS, a questionable survivor of over 2000 acid trips, communicates with spirits of the dead and teaches at such places as John Denver’s Choices for the Future Symposiums. He has opened Dying Centers around the country to help the terminally ill to ‘cross over.’ A spirit guide named Emmanual, his drugs, books of the dead and some macabre experiences have taught him death is just another vehicle for ‘awakening.’ Dass believes death is absolutely safe, like taking off a tight shoe, and is simply a soul about to drop a body. He faults society for teaching people to fear death, trying to keep the body alive, in ICUs. He feels death can become an adventure. He's been accused of running a death cult and by his own admission, likes to sit at someone's death bed meditating and resonating on the dying body, and thinks he receives power from the death throes.

“Dr. BERNIE SIEGEL has become the most recent darling of New Age medicine. In his book, Love, Medicine and Miracles, Siegel promotes occult practices mixed with health care. He uses guided imagery, visualization, meditation and Silva Mind Control as vehicles for self-healing. Occult healing has spread so very rapidly throughout medical society. Mental health institutes are key to metaphysical experimentation, since the intangible area of the mind is fertile ground for these concepts. At Menninger’s in Topeka, patients are introduced to the new consciousness of the west, psychic phenomenon, parapsychology, telepathy, faith healing, Ram Dass, the universal oneness concept, biofeedback (the yoga of the west), the Theosophical Society, Mayan gods, the sufi way and more. Patients are taught out-of-body experiences and watch ‘Films for a New Age.’ Hurting people are given bogus hope and a complete indoctrination into witchcraft beliefs.

“These are but a few accounts of occult medicine being practiced in our civilized society. However, there is good news! There are still conscientious doctors and nurses in the health care field who do feel the necessity of practicing scientific medicine. They are not among those sitting around meditating on the insides of their skulls. We need to seek them out for medical advice, as well as educate them on the deception coming into their vocation.”

In 1987 USA Today reported on the increase in meditation practices within the medical field:

“Once a practice that appealed mostly to mystics and occult followers, meditation now is reaching the USA’s mainstream. ... The medical establishment now recognizes the value of meditation and other mind-over-body states in dealing with stress-related illness” (USA Today Sunday supplement, July 24-26, 1087).

Ray Yungen observes that those who practice meditation for health can get more than they bargain for:

“As one meditation teacher explains, ‘It is more than a stress reducer. It is the vehicle all religions use to impart the esoteric knowledge of their own mystical tradition.’ Thus, many people have unwittingly become New Agers by simply seeking to improve their physical and mental health through meditation. ... [Joan] Borysenko, a medical doctor, revealed: ‘I originally took up secular meditation for its medical benefits and in time discovered its deeper psychological and spiritual benefits’” (A Time of Departing, p. 99).

Reiki

A study on alternative medicine in the January 2008 report in U.S. News & World Report focused on the rapid growth of Reiki (pronounced ray-key). The report says the number of Reiki practitioners worldwide is in the millions, with half million in the United States and over a million in Germany.

Reiki is an occultic practice that allegedly channels “universal healing energy” for human benefit such as relaxation and physical healing. The word “reiki” is Japanese for “spiritually guided life force energy.”

It was developed in Japan in the early 20th century by Mikao Usui. During a 21 day program of fasting, meditation, chanting, and other pagan contemplative practices he allegedly experienced “the great Reiki energy entering” into him and found that he could use the energy to heal others. It came in the form of a light that moved toward him and entered the middle of his forehead (Mohan Makkar, The New Reiki Magic, p. 5). Usui allegedly began to heal with his touch and to initiate others into the “energy.” Reiki was established in Hawaii in the 1930s and from there spread to North America. The American International Reiki Association was formed in 1982.

The International Center for Reiki Training says:

“Reiki is a Japanese technique for stress reduction and relaxation that also promotes healing. ... Reiki is a simple, natural and safe method of spiritual healing and self-improvement that everyone can use. It has been effective in helping virtually every known illness and malady and always creates a beneficial effect.”

That sounds harmless enough, doesn’t it?

Reiki has three levels or degrees of initiation, the third level being the master level. The degrees are called “attunements” whereby the student is brought into harmony with the reiki energy and taught how to channel it. The initiations are thought to create channels for the flow of Reiki. Paula Horan says, “Through this channel Reiki then flows in through the top of the student’s head, down through the body and out through the hands” (Abundance through Reiki, p. 18).

Reiki masters initiate people into the various levels.

Reiki is transferred or initiated by the laying on of hands. The Reiki manual is subtitled “The healing touch.” The Reiki practitioner places his hands on the same spot of the body for three minutes at a time, and the energy is supposed to be mystically drawn out by the recipient. Horan says, “... if I lay my hands on you to do a treatment, your body will naturally draw the appropriate amounts of energy it needs, and to the proper places” (p. 20).

Reiki is largely Hindu in its philosophy. It is described as “an energy incomprehensible to the intellect which flows through everything, transforming all realms of life ... Reiki is oneness” (Horan, Abundance Through Reiki, p. 10).

Reiki is founded on the Hindu concept that God is everything and man is part of God. One Reiki Master says that “Reiki will eventually guide you to the experience that you yourself are Reiki or Universal Life Force Energy. ... you and I are that same Universal Life Force Energy” (Abundance Through Reiki, pp. 9, 23).

Reiki is thought to open the chakras of the “astral body,” which is a Hindu doctrine.

Paula Horan said that her Reiki teacher gave her a new name, Laxmi, the Hindu goddess of wealth. He said to her, “I am giving you the name Laxmi, because in this lifetime, you will fulfill all of your desires” (p. 152).

The recipients of Reiki describe it as a powerful sense of warmth and security, “a wonderful glowing radiance that flows through and around you.” It is not only supposed to provide healing but also to initiate the recipient into higher levels of spiritual transformation. The International Reiki Center says that “many people find that using Reiki puts them more in touch with the experience of their religion rather than having only an intellectual concept of it.” This is the mystical approach that bypasses thinking with an experiential connection with God or the “higher power.”

Reiki involves not only “life energy” but also spirit guides. The International Reiki Center web site says:

“Occasionally witnessing miracles. Feeling the wonder of God s love pass through you and into another. SENSING THE PRESENCE OF SPIRITUAL BEINGS, feeling their touch, knowing they work with you. Being raised into ever greater levels of joy and peace by simply placing your hands on another. Watching your life grow and develop as your continual immersion in Reiki transforms your attitudes, values and beliefs. Sensing that because of your commitment to help others, BEINGS OF LIGHT ARE FOCUSING THEIR LOVE AND HEALING ON YOU AND CAREFULLY GUIDING YOU ON YOUR SPIRITUAL PATH. This is the promise of a developing Reiki practice. ... THERE ARE HIGHER SOURCES OF HELP YOU CAN CALL ON. ANGELS, BEINGS OF LIGHT AND REIKI SPIRIT GUIDES as well as your own enlightened self are available to help you. ... There must be congruence, an alignment within you in order for the Higher Power in the form of Reiki to flow through you in a powerful way and in order for THE ANGELS, REIKI SPIRIT GUIDES AND OTHER SPIRITUAL BEINGS TO WORK WITH YOU.”

The Reiki practitioner is taught to get in tune with these spirit guides, to pray to them, and to yield to their control.

“Try the following prayer: ‘Guide me and heal me so that I can be of greater service to others.’ By sincerely saying a prayer such as this each day, your heart will open and a path will be created to receive the help of higher spiritual beings. They will guide you in your Reiki practice and in the development of your life purpose.”

Reiki is even said to open up “psychic communication centers”:

“During the Reiki attunement process, the avenue that is opened within the body to allow Reiki to flow through also opens up the psychic communication centers. This is why MANY REIKI PRACTITIONERS REPORT HAVING VERBALIZED CHANNELED COMMUNICATIONS WITH THE SPIRIT WORLD” (Phylameana Desy, The Everything Reiki Book, 2004, p. 144).

The Reiki Journal suggests that message therapy is an excellent tool for spreading Reiki.

Lighthouse Trails observes:

“If US News & World Report is correct in their assessment that Reiki, Yoga, and other types of healing practices are now mainstream, then Reiki is here to stay. One can only wonder if Reiki is going to become as popular in Christian circles as Yoga now has. If it does, then as with contemplative spirituality, the spiritual lives of countless people will be jeopardized and the Gospel of Jesus Christ seriously compromised.”

Ayurveda

Ayurveda is a Hindu occultic folk healing system that claims to be four to five thousand years old. It is used by millions of people in India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Fiji, and elsewhere in the East and has been growing rapidly in the West since the 1970s. New Age teacher Deepak Chopra has helped popularize it. After meeting Maharishi Mahesh Yogi (the Transcendental Meditation guru), Chopra founded the American Association for Ayurvedic Medicine in 1985 and later became the director of the Maharishi Ayurveda Health Center for Stress Management.

Chopra’s 1989 book Quantum Healing promoted Hindu concepts, and his book Perfect Health (1991) was “the first widely read book on Ayurveda” (Wikipedia). His 1993 book Ageless Body, Timeless Mind, which quotes “ancient Indian rishis” and claims that man does not have to experience aging, went into the stratosphere of book sales after it was recommended by Oprah Winfrey. In one day 130,000 copies moved off the shelves.

Chopra says that Ayurveda not only holds the key to personal healing but to planetary rejuvination, as well:

“Ayurveda is the science of life and it has a very basic, simple kind of approach, which is that we are part of the universe and the universe is intelligent and the human body is part of the cosmic body, and the human mind is part of the cosmic mind, and the atom and the universe are exactly the same thing but with different form, and the more we are in touch with this deeper reality, from where everything comes, the more we will be able to heal ourselves and at the same time heal our planet” (interview with Veronica Hay, InTouch magazine, http://www.intouchmag.com/chopra.html).

In India, Ayurveda is a recognized medical health system governed under the Central Council of Indian Medicine. Practitioners undergo five and a half years of training to earn the Bachelor of Ayurvedic Medicine and Surgery, and higher degrees are available.

Ayruvedia means knowledge of life and it is said to be “a science of life that deals with the problems of longevity, and suggests a safe, gentle, and effective way to rid diseases afflicting our health” (Swami Sada Shiva Tirtha, The Ayurveda Encyclopedia, 2006, p. xix).

It claims to have been handed down from Brahma to other gods and obtained through meditation by an ancient Hindu sage named Bharadvaja and then passed along to other gurus (p. xxiii).

“It is said that they received their training of Ayurveda through direct cognition during meditation. That is, the knowledge of the use of the various methods of healing, prevention, longevity, and surgery came through Divine revelation” (p. 3).

It is one of the Hindu Vedic religious systems and is intimately associated with yoga. It was once a part of Jyotish veda, which refers to astrology. Jyoti means light.

It is based on the concept that all existence is part of God and man is divine and can achieve union with God through meditation and other practices. The objective of Ayurveda is to bring man into a divine wholeness in all areas of his life, physical, life purpose, relationships, and spirituality.

“According to Vedic philosophy life is Divine and the goal of life is to realize our inner Divine nature. AYURVEDICALLY SPEAKING THE MORE A PERSON REALIZES THEIR DIVINE NATURE THE HEALTHIER THEY ARE. Thus it is the responsibility of the Ayurvedic doctor to inspire or help awaken the patient to their own inner Divine nature. ... When patients are taught they have this Divinity within themselves, they feel a connection to life and God (however each patient defines God). ... Having someone recognize one’s inner Divinity and self-healing abilities develops confidence. Experiencing positive results from self-healing and spiritual development further generates confidence, health, mental peace, and Divinity” (pp. 8, 11).

According to Ayurveda, life is composed of five essential elements: ether, air, fire, water, and earth. These are not elements in the chemical sense but are “states of matter” (Aghora II: Kundalini, p. 31).

The five elements combine to form three types of human constitutions called doshas: Vayu (or Vata), Pitta, and Kapha. Vayu is a combination of ether and air. Pitta combines fire and water. Kapha combines water and earth. Each dosha is thought to control a part of the body’s function. Vayu controls movement and basic body processes such as breathing and circulation; Pitta, hormones and the digestive system; Kapha, strength, immunity, and growth.

An imbalanced dosha is believed to interrupt the natural flow of prana, or vital energy.

The practice of Ayurveda in a nutshell is composed of identifying the patient’s dosha, determining how it is out of balance, and bringing it into harmony through various tools such as diet, massage, enema, yoga, etc.

Each type of dosha individual is thought to have certain personality traits when they are in proper balance. Healthy Vayu types, for example, are adaptable and cheerful, but if they have excess Vayu they will possibly be very thin, have dry skin or bone problems, talk fast, become easily tired, forgetful, worried, fearful, or nervous (p. 18). Balanced Kapha types are loyal and calm, but when Kapha is excessive they tend toward being overweight, having bronchitis, being lethargic, too attached, and sentimental.

It is obvious that to ascribe such a wide range of problems to an unbalanced “dosha,” which is mythical and cannot be detected in any measurable sense, leaves the field wide open to runaway quackery.

Cancer in the blood is supposed to indicate excess Pitta; Osteoporosis, too much Vayu in the bones. Muscular Dystrophy is a Kapha problem (p. 20).

Types of disorder pertaining to the dosha are thought to evidence in the stool. Hard stools indicate a Vayu disorder “from the dryness caused by gas.” Soft or liquid stools reflect a Pitta excess heat. Moderate stools indicate Kapha (p. 19).

In fact, having lived in Asia for two decades, I would say that liquid stools indicate something more along the lines of an intestinal bug!

The Ayurvedic doctor must also learn to handle ojas or life sap. You have to be really careful with this stuff, because it “pervades every part of the body” (p. 21). Ojas is depleted by excessive sex, drugs, talking, loud music, insufficient rest, and high technology. Signs are “fear, worry, sensory organ pain, poor complexion, cheerlessness, roughness, emaciation, immune system disorders, and easily contracting diseases.”

Ayurveda teaches that as the body has its three doshas, the mind has three gunas. These are sattwa, rajas, and tamas. The Ayurvedic doctor tries to determine what type of mind the patient has, understanding that an individual might have a combination of gunas.

The Ayurvedic doctor wants to get everything working harmoniously, the gunas all aligned for mental health and the doshas purring along for physical well-being and the ojas flowing nicely.

This is just the very beginning of the mysteries of Ayurveda. A skilled practitioner must learn how to deal with the five different divisions of each of the doshas, the twenty gunas, the seven dhatus and three malas, the seven chakras, and the 72,000 nadis, and that is just for starters.

Ayurvedic remedies include herbology, nutrition, enema, sun bathing, exercise, bloodletting, fasting, exposure to wind, baths, inducing sweating, inducing vomiting, snuff therapy, inhaling powder or smoke, exercise, oil message, herb plasters, relaxation, sleep, yoga, mantras, acupuncture, surgery, aromatherapy, sound therapy, color, gem and ash therapy, astrology, psychology, architectural harmony, yagya (ceremonies soliciting the aid of Hindu gods), ethics, and spiritual counseling.

There is a lengthy chapter in The Ayurveda Encyclopedia on Yoga. Yoga means union and it is the practice of meditation with the objective of manipulating the chakras in order to achieve union between the individual and God or the higher Self.

The Hindu chakras are occultic centers of psychic energy and consciousness in the “astral body” or “subtle body.” They are “perceptible only to the enlightened mind.” There are supposed to be seven chakras, running from the base of the spine to the top of the head. They are the Muladhara (at the base of the spine, the place of kundalini), the Svadhishthana (in the pubic area), the Manipura (at the naval), the Anahata (near the heart), the Vishuddha (in the throat), the Ajna (in the center of the forehead, the Third Eye), and the Sahasrara (at the top of the head).

The chakras are symbolized in Hindu art by the lotus blossom, each chakra having a different number of petals. The Sahasrara, being the place of perfect enlightenment and union with God, is depicted as the “thousand-petaled lotus.”

The chakras are supposed to be connected by sushumna, “a spiritual tube within the spine.”

The prana, or life force or life energy or life breath, flows through the nadis, which are the ethereal nerves of the astral body. There are thought to be from 72,000 to 350,000 nadis channels. The nadis supposedly meet and connect with one another in the chakras.

Yoga seeks to direct the prana through the channels of the nadis up through the sushumna to the sahasrara and thus achieve Self-Realization or union with the divine.

Consider some statements from The Ayurveda Encyclopedia about yoga:

“Spiritually, yoga means the union of the red spirit force at the base of the spine with the white spirit force at the crown of the head; the union of the sun-spirit at the navel with the moon-spirit at the head; and the union of the small self with the Divine eternal Self” (pp. 297, 298). [What is called “white spirit” and “red spirit” here is called Shiva and Shakti in other Hindu writings.]

“The first five chakras have nadis that extend to the various organs or sense and action. The sixth chakra relates to higher mental or spiritual activity. Beyond the sixth chakra one enters the realm of the ‘non-describable’ and begins to merely ‘be’ in the state of unbounded eternity or Brahman. This is the goal of life--Brahman or Self-Realization. ... So we see that prana cleanses the nadis, and in turn the chakras. As they are cleansed, one’s spiritual life-force is allowed to flow higher, developing or utilizing the benefits of the higher chakras. As one is able to live with their higher chakras opened, life becomes more peaceful, graceful, and Divine” (p. 328).

The Ayurveda Encyclopedia explains that one can encounter internal voices through yogic mediation, and the practitioner is instructed to listen to the voices and follow their counsel.

“Just as with all spiritual experiences that are out of the norm of supposed societal acceptance, the hearing of inner sounds or voices (nada) has generally been associated with mental illness. Spiritual counseling reassures a person that their experiences and feelings are spiritual--not abnormal. Understanding nada helps persons feel comfortable when hearing any inner sounds. ... If a sound is heard, listen to it. If many sounds exist, listen to those in the right ear. The first sound heard is to be followed. Then, the next sound heard is also to be followed” (p. 343).

I have never read a more effective formula for demon possession!

Kundalini is mentioned many times in The Ayurveda Encyclopedia in connection with yoga. Consider this statement:

“Like a double-tongued snake, kundalini (the essential life force) has two mouths: internal and external. One mouth is stuck in the internal sushumna (a spiritual tube, running up the spine) that leads to Self-Realization. The other mouth is open to the external passage. ... When through the grace of a Guru, the kundalini is awakened, it may appear as a flash of lightning. Once awakened, the kundalini gradually rises up the sushumna. It cleanses karmic sludge out of the spine and the chakras, just as a hot iron rod cleanses the dirt from a hookah pipe tube. Persons may have experienced quivering, shaking movements of the body, or suspension of breath during meditation. This is the experience of the kundalini shakti cleansing the inner tube and chakras” (p. 362).

Kundalini is a Hindu concept that there is powerful form of psychic energy at the base of the spine that can be “awakened.” It is described as a coiled serpent and is called “serpent power” and is depicted in Hindu art as a hooded cobra. It is supposed to be located in the first of the seven “chakras” or power centers in the body. If the kundalini is awakened through such things as yogic mediation, tantric practices (e.g., fire worship, goddess worship, and tantric rites), intensive chanting and dancing, and the laying on of hands, it can be encouraged to move up the spinal column, piercing the chakras, eventually reaching the seventh chakra at the top of the head, resulting in spiritual insight and power through “union with the Divine.”

Kundalini is called the female Shakti, which is considered the ego or self identity, and the objective of the practice is to unite her with the god Shiva and thus unite the individual into the whole of the divine which is considered the real Self. “The purpose of Kundalini Yoga is to reunite Shiva and Shakti, to create the eternal form of Shiva, Sadashiva” (Robert Svoboda, Aghora II: Kundalini, p. 69).

Kundalini is often worshipped in the form of a goddess. She is called “the Great Mother Goddess Kundalini” (Aghora II, p. 13). Hindu guru Vimalananda encountered Kundalini as a goddess of crematory fire and death. “When Kundalini awakened for him, she took the form of the Tantric goddess Smashan Tara, the goddess of the burning grounds who enables one to cross over from the reality of life to the reality of death” (p. 21). 

Kundalini is occultic. Biblically speaking, it is pure devil worship, because the serpent is Satan and the worship of anything other than the one true and living God is idolatry and thus devil worship (Deuteronomy 32:17; 1 Corinthians 10:20).

It is not surprising that Kundalini has resulted in many demonic manifestations and its own practitioners issue many warnings about its danger.

The Ayurveda Encyclopedia says, “Those who awaken their kundalini without a guru can lose their direction in life ... they can become confused or mentally imbalanced ... more harm than good can arise” (p. 336). Kundalini pratictioner R. Venu Gopalan says that “wrong awakening” of Kundalini is “a very dangerous situation” that can “really hamper a person’s life” and “can cause havoc” (Soul Searchers: The Hidden Mysteries of Kundalini, p. 269). He says, “Sadhaka who tries to awaken the Kundalini in haste can cause himself some irreparable damage including psychic difficulties” (p. 262). He says that it can even cause “cancer or other dreaded diseases” (p. 263).

The book Aghora II: Kundalini warns many times that “indiscriminate awakening of the Kundalini is very dangerous” (p. 61). It says, “Once aroused and unboxed Kundalini is not ‘derousable’; the genie will not fit back into the bottle. ‘After the awakening the devotee lives always at the mercy of Kundalini,’ says Pandit Gopi Krishna ... Those who ride Kundalini without knowing their destination risk losing their way” (p. 20). Kundalini practitioner Krishna had terrifying experiences and a near death crisis. In fact, the book says “some die of shock when Kundalini is awakened, and others become severely ill” (p. 61).

Kundalini is likened to a toddler grasping a live wire (p. 58). It is said to create sensations of heat and cold, tingling, electric current, inner sounds, inner voices, compulsive movements, loss of memory, a sense of an inner eye, drowsiness, and pain.

The Inner Explorations web site tells of a man who, while dabbling in the activation of kundalini, experienced touches by invisible hands and animals that would attach themselves to him or bite him or lick his face (http://www.innerexplorations.com/ewtext/ke.htm).

Philip St. Romain, a Roman Catholic substance abuse counselor and contemplative retreat master, wrote the book Kundalini Energy and Christian Spirituality (1990). He believes that Catholic contemplative practices put one in touch with kundalini, which is “a natural evolutionary energy inherent in every human being.” He began to have strange experiences through centering prayer, which involves emptying the mind and centering down into oneself. He said that after he had “centered down” into silence that gold lights would appear and swirl in his mind, forming themselves into captivating patterns. “Wise sayings” popped into his mind as if he were “receiving messages from another.” He felt prickly sensations that would continue for days.

If you play with fire, don’t be surprised if you get burned. The Bible warns the believer to be sober and vigilant (1 Peter 5:8), which means to be in control of one’s mind at all times, to be spiritually alert and on guard against spiritual deception. This is impossible if one tries to empty his mind and meditate on his inner being. Furthermore, the Bible says that “the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked” (Jer. 17:9), and if we look far enough into ourselves we will find darkness and not light. The Bible says that Christ lives in the believer, but it never instructs us to pray to him inside of ourselves or to search for Him there.

To participate in practices that are contrary to God’s Word, is called presumption, and God does not bless those who do such things. “And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light” (2 Cor. 11:14).

Returning to Ayurveda, it is important to understand that its Color Therapy and Gem Therapy are associated with astrology.

“In the Vedic texts on astrology (Jyotish) and architecture (Vastu Shastra), the colors are another name for different deities. ...

“Jyotish is the Vedic astrological system of which Ayurveda was once a part. This astrological system notes that gems are related to the various planets and produce a balancing effect to counter specific diseases. ... The color or vibration of the gems affects the human body. ... In the Ayurvedic tradition these stones are used to balance the three doshas and to heal specific diseases” (The Ayurveda Encyclopedia, pp. 372, 375).

It is very clear that we are not dealing here with something biblical or with innocent “science”!

In the section on Vedic Astrology, The Ayurveda Encyclopedia says:

“Jyotish means inner light. THIS SCIENCE HELPS REVEAL ONE’S INNER DIVINE LIGHT. Ayurveda and Jyotish were once a part of the same science, but later developed into two separate forms of healing. ... By looking at the planets, the 12 houses and their relationship in the astrology chart, one can determine health tendencies, planetary causes of disease, dharma, necessities for spiritual relationships, and tools for one’s spiritual path” (p. 655).

The Ayurveda Encyclopedia also recommends Architectural Harmony as part of the whole life balance of health.

“The focus of this book has been on healing prevention, and rejuvenation through Ayurvedic balance. This balance is achieved by living in accordance with nature’s laws. ... The Vedic science of architecture, Vastu Shastra, integrates the sciences of Ayurveda and Jyotish by providing the link between humans and the astrological influences. Vastu considers the magnetic fields of the earth, the influences of the planets and other heavenly bodies essential elements when designing commercial or residential buildings, temples, and even towns, villages, and cities. IT IS BELIEVED THAT ARCHITECTURAL STRUCTURES ARE ALIVE, influenced by natural laws, just as the health of humans is influenced by nature. ...

“For example, in Hindu religion, the deity of the sun is said to ride on a chariot pulled by seven horses or deities. They are called the seven rays of the sun. It is important to have these rays enter eastern windows for health reasons. ... Yet these seven deities also happen to be called the seven visible colors of the spectrum ...

“Since the focus of Ayurveda is holistic (i.e., all-inclusive), it is useful to consider harmonizing or balancing the external influences involving architectural structures. ...

“Persons living or working in a Vastu-built structure experience the enhancement of health, general well being, and prosperity” (pp. 658, 659).

Ayurvedic Music Therapy, too, is associated with mystical union with God.

“From the earliest days in India, music was another form of attaining spiritual union ... The musical path towards Self-Realization was one lacking intellectual analysis or discussion. Merely by playing music, one would gradually merge with the eternal Divinity” (p. 367).

The Ayurveda Encyclopedia reports that musicians in the West are blending classical Indian music (which is associated with seeking union with God) with jazz and other sounds to create New Age music.

Healing Mantras also play a role in Ayurveda. They are said to “help balance prana, tejas, and ojas” and “strengthen the five elements” (The Ayurveda Encyclopedia, pp. 362, 364). Both the doctor and the patient use mantras during an Ayurvedic session, since “they empower all actions on a subtle level, infusing the cosmic life force into the healing process” (p. 363).

It is claimed that “Ayurvedic physicians can recognize an illness in the making before it creates more serious imbalance in the body” (p. 6). 

If this were true, their patients would never get sick, never have a disease, and never die because they would always be able to catch the problem before it even had a physical manifestation.

My friends, beware. Ayurveda is pagan from beginning to end! There is no effective way to separate any true medical help it might offer from the idolatrous religious package. The best thing for the believer to do is leave Ayurveda completely alone.

Homeopathy

Homeopathy is also associated with occultic principles. It claims not only to be able to provide physical healing but also to “transform and improve a person’s emotional and mental state” (Dana Ullman, Homeopathy A-Z, p. 5). As we will see, homeopathy is the treatment of illnesses with occultic water.

Homeopaths usually criticize the practice of traditional medicine and the use of pharmaceutical drugs. Dana Ullman, for example, accuses doctors of medical child abuse for prescribing drugs to children (Elaine Lewis, “An Interview with Dana Ullman: Treating Children with Homeopathic Medicines,” April 2005, http://www.hpathy.com/interviews/danaullman2.asp). While it is true that modern medicine is not infallible and can be wrongly used and abused, it is also true that it has provided mankind with wonderful remedies that did not exist even a few decades ago. The invention of vaccines and antibiotics alone has resulted in a tremendous increase in the quality of life in modern society. Through the practice of modern medicine, people routinely survive diseases and wounds that would have killed them 50 years ago.

Homeopathy was developed in the 18th century by Samuel Hahnemann (1755-1843). His book Organon of the Art of Healing remains the foundational text in the field. At the 1960 Montreux International Congress on Homeopathy, the 160th anniversary of the Organon was celebrated. The congress said, “The Organon is for the homeopath what the Bible is for the Christian.”

David L. Brown observes that Hahnemann was “drawn like a magnet to occult ideas” (“New Age Medicine: Homeopathy,” Logos Resource Pages). He rejected the Christ of the Bible, identified with Eastern religions, and took Confucius as his model. One biographer says, “The reverence for Eastern thought was not just Hahnemann’s personal hobby, but rather the fundamental philosophy behind the preparation of homeopathic remedies” (Samuel Pfeifer, Healing at Any Price, 1988, p. 68). He was a follower of Emanuel Swedenborg, who taught his followers to enter an alternative state of consciousness in order to commune with spirits. Hahnemann called the occultic practices of Franz Mesmer “a marvelous, priceless gift of God” by which “the vital energy of the healthy mesmerizer endowed with this power [can be brought] into another person dynamically” (Organon of Medicine, 6th edition, pp. 309, 311). Hahnemann held to the pantheism view that God is in all things.

At the heart of homeopathy is the Hindu concept that there is a vital force or life energy that permeates all things (Keith Souter, Homeopathy: Heart and Soul, p. 19). Homeopathic remedies are thought to “act upon the Vital Force to restore balance within the body.”

David Brown says: “If you know New Age and occult philosophy you will recognize that what is in focus here is pantheism, that is, the belief that divinity or life force is inseparable from and immanent in everything. Leading homeopath Herbert Robert put it this way, relating homeopathy’s vital force to a pantheistic deity in his Art of Cure by Homeopathy. He said the ‘vital force’ of homeopathy was part of ‘the moving Energy, the activating Power of the universe,’ as being ‘passed on in all forms and degrees of living creatures,’ and as permeating the universe. Daisie and Michael Radner see the connection between homeopathy and occult energy fields. ‘Like Chinese medicine, homeopathy posits an energy field or vital force. Disease is a disorder of the body’s energy field, and the way to cure it is to manipulate that field. The energy field of the medicine stimulates that body’s own fluid to induce healing.’”

Homeopathic remedies are so highly diluted that they are nothing more than water. The dilutions are done according to the “Centesimal scale” of 1:100. 1C (or CH1) refers to one part of an original tincture of some substance mixed in 100 parts of water. One part of that super diluted mixture becomes the next “tincture.” At 3C “the mother tincture will be diluted to one in a million” and at 6C “the dilution will be one in a billion” (Homeopathy: Heart and Soul, p. 23). Homeopathic doctor Keith Souter admits that a 12C solution is “unlikely to have even a single molecule of the original compound left.” Yet he recommends 30C or 200C potencies (p. 26)!

Dr. H.J. Bopp of Switzerland, who has studied homeopathy carefully, says: “Any patient receiving a homeopathic treatment at CH30 should be under no illusions as to its composition. There is no longer any of the named material substance in his pill or liquid whatsoever.”

Homeopathic practice claims that the diluted solution is effective because it has undergone a process known as dynamization or potentialization, which makes it possible to contact and retain a hidden power in the liquid. Keith Souter calls potentialization “one of the bedrocks of homeopathy” (p. 19).

The book The Science and the Art of Homeopathy by J.T. Kent says: “In the universe, everything has its own atmosphere. Each human being also possesses his atmosphere or his aura ... it occupies a very important place in homeopathic studies” (p. 108). Kent says the homoeopath must learn to see “with the eyes of the spirit” (p. 120).

The Swiss Journal of Homeopathy says that the homeopathic cure has an occultic mind of its own. It “knows just where to locate the originating cause of the disorder and the method of getting to it” and “neither the patient nor the doctor has as much wisdom or knowledge” (No. 2, 1961, p. 56). This is exactly what is said for Reiki “energy.”

Many homeopaths use radionic pendulums (used to detect and analyze human “energy fields” and to occulticly “douse” for answers to questions) and astrology in their diagnosis. They also communicate with spiritualists in their search for cures. Dr. Bopp interviewed a woman who prior to her conversion to Christ had worked in a homeopathic laboratory of high standing in France. She said that when she was interviewed for the job she was asked for her astrological sign and queried as to whether she was a medium. When she passed the interview and was hired, she learned the secret of the inner working of the laboratory, that they researched new treatments by questioning spirits during séances! This woman renounced homeopathy after she was converted.

What about homeopathic healings? They could either be demonic or psychosomatic. Dr. G. Kuschinsky, who wrote a basic course in pharmacology in German, said of homeopathy, “Homeopathic substances may be admitted in the realm of suggestion, seeing that they possess neither main nor secondary effect.”

Dr. Bopp concludes with this warning:

“It would be naive to expect a clear response, a telling disclosure from doctors or chemists who give homeopathic treatment. There are to be sure some honourable and conscientious ones seeking to utilize a homeopathy detached from its obscure practices. Yet THE OCCULT INFLUENCE, BY NATURE HIDDEN, DISGUISED, OFTEN DISSIMULATED BEHIND A PARASCIENTIFIC THEORY, DOES NOT DISAPPEAR AND DOES NOT HAPPEN TO BE RENDERED HARMLESS BY THE MERE FACT OF A SUPERFICIAL APPROACH CONTENTING ITSELF SIMPLY WITH DENYING ITS EXISTENCE.

“HOMEOPATHY IS DANGEROUS! It is quite contrary to the teaching of the Word of God. It willingly favours healing through substances made dynamic, that is to say, charged with occult forces. Homeopathic treatment is the fruit of a philosophy and religion that are at the same time Hinduistic, pantheistic and esoteric.

“The occult influence in homeopathy is transmitted to the individual, bringing him consciously or unconsciously under demonic influence. ... It is significant frequently to find nervous depression in families using homeopathic treatments” (Homeopathy Examined, translated from French by Marvyn Kilgore, 1984).

Having examined the widespread influence of the New Age in health care, let’s look at the field of politics and government.