The New Age movement brought a tremendous amount of spiritual ideas and spirituality practices to our society. A lot of these practices became mainstream over the past decades.
Have a look at the list of practices at the end of the article. How many of them have you read about? How many have you seen in friend’s houses? How many of them have used or practiced yourself or are used in your church?
In my 35 years of searching for the truth I have been involved in many of these practices, in some more than in other. And to be honest, I didn’t know what I was doing. I was ‘just’ searching for THE Truth and for Wisdom. I didn’t know that all these practices were attributed to New Age, that it was all the enemies way to keep us away from the One True God. I wasn’t on purpose doing the wrong things, I just didn’t know better!
It was only after I had started to read the Bible that I realized that I was trying to acquire wisdom in ways that were not from God. That I was misled by the devil, just as Eve was misled in the Garden of Eden (Gen 3: 4-6). After all those years of looking for the Truth, I had finally found the Truth in the Word of God.
I will expand on a few practices that are very common in our society and are even practiced in churches! Just to give you an idea of the background and the goals of each practice.
Crystals and essential oils
You now could say: is it wrong to have a crystal in my house? Or when I use an essential oil? As for most things, the answer is: it depends. If you use a beautiful creation of God to decorate your house, there’s nothing wrong with that. If you use lavender oil because the smell is so nice or it brings some beautiful memories of walking in lavender fields … no problem with that. God created everything so we could enjoy the greatness of His glory.
But … if you think crystals or oils or anything else have powers attached to it, then you’re on the wrong path. Don’t expect a stone or an oil to make you (feel) better or to change a situation in your life. Only your relationship with Jesus can do that. If you want to decorate your house with crystals, make sure that you buy them at a ‘neutral’ shop and that nobody has done spiritual work on it like enchantments or rituals.
Yoga, Meditation & Mindfulness
How are your thoughts on yoga and meditation? “Those are innocent practices, right? We offer them in our church and it is great!”
Yes, we see yoga and meditation everywhere, for sure. But what do you know about the origins? Are these practices really innocent?
Yoga
Even if you don’t feel or experience it this way, yoga is a religious practice! It’s not just a physical exercise of stretching and relaxing. However, the philosophy behind yoga is much more than physically improving oneself. It is an ancient practice derived from India, believed to be the path to spiritual growth and enlightenment.
The word yoga means “union,” and the goal is to unite one’s transitory (temporary) self with the infinite Brahman, the Hindu concept of “God.” This god is not a literal being, but is an impersonal spiritual substance that is one with nature and the cosmos. This view is called “pantheism,” the belief that everything is God and that reality consists only of the universe and nature. Because everything is God, the yoga philosophy makes no distinction between man and God.
It teaches one to focus on oneself instead of on the one true God. It encourages its participants to seek the answers to life’s difficult questions within their own consciousness instead of in the Word of God. It also leaves one open to deception from God’s enemy, who searches for victims whom he can turn away from God (1 Peter 5:8). ().
What do you think: should you practice yoga? Or is it better to look for an alternative?
Meditation
Meditation is a technique for achieving inner peace, bliss and spiritual renewal, using different techniques like mantra’s or specific type of breathing to empty your mind. But, what happens after your mind is ‘emptied’? It’s like cleaning your house, removing all furniture and then leaving windows and doors wide open. Who will enter your home? Who or what will come into your mind to fill the empty space? It can be a dangerous practice!
The Bible is clear about what to meditate on: not a meaningless word or phrase, but on the Word of God. The person “who meditates on his law day and night” is blessed (Psalm 1:2). Peace is a fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22). Peace is not found in the emptying of one’s mind but in the filling of one’s mind with the Word.
Mindfulness
Mindfulness also has its origins in Buddhism. It’s a term used to describe a meditative state in which people direct their attention inward to become more self-aware. Mindfulness is self-examination of one’s thoughts, feelings, physical sensations, and emotions with no judgment of their being right or wrong. The goal of meditative mindfulness is to experience relaxation and reduced levels of stress by identify thoughts and feelings about a particular issue, to live in the moment, and to accept oneself completely.
Being aware of your own feelings and thoughts is in itself not a bad thing, but … what is the next step? Experiencing temporal relief, rest or peace? No, the next step should be to examine your thoughts and feelings in the light of Gods Word. And to take responsibility in obeying God’s Word, regarding your thoughts and feelings.
Summary
I want to encourage you to have a look at the extensive list below. If you participate in one or more of these New Age practices, please pray for wisdom and discernment. Ask God’s guidance, meditate on His word and learn the truth. So He can show you if it is OK for you to practice these things. Don’t participate because it seems innocent or if you don’t know the background of these practices. Please be careful!
In a follow-up on this series I will share how to witness to people that hold these spiritual beliefs.
(NB The source of the descriptive texts regarding yoga, mindfulness and meditation is (partly) www.gotquestions.org. A great website for finding answers to faith-related questions)
Affirmations
Angel Numbers / Angel Readings
Astral Projection & Out of body Experiences
Astrology & Horoscope
Automatic writing
Cards (Tarot, Oracle, Angels, etc)
Channeling & Channeled books
Crystals
Divination & Pendulums
Eastern Philosophies (incl. Feng Shui, I-Ching)
Empowerment
Energy healing (incl. Reiki, EFT/Tapping)
Enneagram
Essential oils & Sage
Harry Potter (books, movies)
Hypnosis & guided meditation
Meditating (without God)
Mediumship, Past-life regression & Psychic Readings
Mindfulness
Sacred Geometry, Flower of Life & Mandala’s
Visualization (incl. Vision boards, Mood boards, Law of Attraction, Manifesting & The Secret (book))
Yoga (including Tantra, Chakra’s, Kundalini, Mudra’s & Sutra’s)