The Dangerous and Deluding Practice of Mantra Meditation:
A Warning About an Occult Meditation Technique
By Chris Lawson
Mantra meditation is a dangerous game, even when it is “Christianized.” New Agers and occult practitioners that have become “unhinged” through this practice rightly resist the urge to go back to it. Unfortunately, many undiscerning Christians today see no problem engaging in it.
If Bible believers today only knew the occult and Hindu/Buddhist roots of this practice, perhaps they would not be so careless as to bring it into their Christian lifestyle and church setting. Just because spiritual practices are popular and seem “to work” (pragmatism) does not necessarily make them right and healthy. Repetitious prayer methods, such as mantra meditation, are condemned in Scripture by Jesus Christ:
If Bible believers today only knew the occult and Hindu/Buddhist roots of this practice, perhaps they would not be so careless as to bring it into their Christian lifestyle and church setting. Just because spiritual practices are popular and seem “to work” (pragmatism) does not necessarily make them right and healthy. Repetitious prayer methods, such as mantra meditation, are condemned in Scripture by Jesus Christ:
"But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him." (Matthew 5:6-8)
Mantra meditation extraordinaire John Main, whose works and practices greatly influenced the beginnings of the modern-day Contemplative Centering Prayer movement and its leaders, was the forerunner of many today who practice this occult technique.
A website fully devoted to the person and teachings of John Main, called The Christian Meditation of John Main, defines "the mantra and the practice of meditation" this way:
A website fully devoted to the person and teachings of John Main, called The Christian Meditation of John Main, defines "the mantra and the practice of meditation" this way:
The mantra and the practice of meditation
There are various mantras which are possible for a beginner, but if you have no teacher to help you, you should choose a word that has been hallowed over the centuries by our Christian tradition. Some of these words were first taken over as mantras for prayer by the Church in its earliest days.
One of these words is 'MARANATHA'. This Aramaic word means, 'Come Lord, Come Lord Jesus'. It is the mantra recommended by Dom John Main (1926-1982), a Benedictine monk who has put into contemporary language this ancient teaching of prayer. It is the word which St. Paul uses to end his first letter to the Corinthians (1 Cor. 16:22), and the word with which St. John ends the book of Revelation (Rev. 22:20). It also has a place in some of the earliest Christian liturgies. This Aramaic word is preferred because it has no visual or emotional connotations and its continuous repetition will lead us over time to a deeper and deeper silence.
The focus of repeating the mantra is Christocentric. This means that it is centered on the prayer of Christ, which is continuously poured forth in the Holy Spirit in the depth of each human being. Thus, in this way of ‘pure prayer’ we leave all thoughts, words and images behind in order to 'set our minds on the kingdom of God before all else'. In this way we leave our egotistical self behind to die and rise to our true self in Christ.
Meditation therefore is an inner journey of silence, stillness and simplicity, and is the missing contemplative dimension of much Christian life today.”
- Source: Christian Meditation of John Main, “Be Still and Know”, The mantra and the practice of meditation
- Link: http://christianmeditationnorthwest.org/mantra.html
If one understands clearly what Hindu, Buddhist, Jain and other occult mantra meditation forms comprise, one can see very clearly how John Main's "method" is virtually identical to these other forms of meditation. Main has simply turned biblical prayer into a vortex of confusing Christianized occultism. Simply put, we don’t need John Main’s mantras and his unbiblical prayer techniques.
Mantra meditation is just one more dangerous practice entering the church today. Christians would do well to see it for what it is, by definition and in context, and reject it! If people who claim to be Christians are not content praying to the God of the Bible through the Lord Jesus Christ, perhaps they are not Christians at all, but mere counterfeits. What kind of Christian adds occult meditation techniques to their prayer life? Compromised Christians, and counterfeit Christians!
For those who are interested, Ray Yungen is an author of several books that expose and biblically refute New Age and occult practices. Ray and I and numerous others have made it clear in our writings that mantra meditation is a dangerous occult practice. I wholeheartedly agree with what Ray has written and we both believe that mantra meditation is not only very dangerous, it is an open doorway to spirit contact. That is, spirit contact with baleful entities that seek to destroy the human soul.
If people want to play with fire they will eventually get burned. So too, if people want to engage in mantra meditation, its only a matter of time before they experience dangerous occult forces. What’s more, it is only a matter of time before they experience the deluding influences that these demonic forces bring.
—Chris Lawson
Mantra meditation is just one more dangerous practice entering the church today. Christians would do well to see it for what it is, by definition and in context, and reject it! If people who claim to be Christians are not content praying to the God of the Bible through the Lord Jesus Christ, perhaps they are not Christians at all, but mere counterfeits. What kind of Christian adds occult meditation techniques to their prayer life? Compromised Christians, and counterfeit Christians!
For those who are interested, Ray Yungen is an author of several books that expose and biblically refute New Age and occult practices. Ray and I and numerous others have made it clear in our writings that mantra meditation is a dangerous occult practice. I wholeheartedly agree with what Ray has written and we both believe that mantra meditation is not only very dangerous, it is an open doorway to spirit contact. That is, spirit contact with baleful entities that seek to destroy the human soul.
If people want to play with fire they will eventually get burned. So too, if people want to engage in mantra meditation, its only a matter of time before they experience dangerous occult forces. What’s more, it is only a matter of time before they experience the deluding influences that these demonic forces bring.
—Chris Lawson