BAD KARMA & GOOD VIBRATIONS

“All hands brace for shock!” That is the call heard on the intercom system of a naval vessel just before the unavoidable impact of a missile or torpedo slams into the side of the ship. Sailors are encouraged to brace themselves against some immovable object on the ship, in order to avoid being thrown to their deaths against the bulkhead or overhead structures when the blast hits. Akin to hiding under your school desk when the atomic bomb blows up your entire city; there’s not much hope that this will help, but what else are you going to do? Similarly, the church should be preparing itself to “Brace for shock” concerning what has been unleashed upon us in the West, by the deceptive traditions of Eastern mysticism. In this blog, I want to provide a brief critique of the growing influence of the Eastern Pantheistic Monism worldview on the West, as we become more interconnected with Asian markets and their cultural manifestations.

Always blaming the church first for the condition of our society is not an appropriate methodology for us to adopt, but in this case, it is fair to ask the question; “what was the church doing or not doing in the 1950’s and 60’s that drove an entire generation away from following Jesus, and into the arms of Eastern guru’s and mystics?” Secular reasoning would say that this generation was just rejecting, “…middle-class values… western technology… the Vietnam War… and Western thought… which ends in a maze of contradictions, acts of intellectual suicide and a specter of nihilism…” (Sire 145). These all may have some basis in fact, but what role did the church play in this exodus from truth? It is fair to say that the church as a whole does not remain balanced for very long. It has its high moments of reformation, revival, and renewals, followed by low periods of doubt, disunity, and destructive heresies that cloud and diminish its effectiveness in accomplishing the mission to which it was called, i.e. preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ, and making disciples of all men. 

Sadly, these ebb and flow cycles seem to coincide with the society that surrounds it, reflecting many of the ideologies and philosophies that the world is advocating. Down through the ages, churches have often Christianized and adopted various carnal mindsets, worldviews, and practices, in order to remain relevant and "cool" in the eyes of the world, while abandoning their own principles in the process. This no doubt, has played some role in the influence of Eastern mysticism that we have been experiencing in the West for the last forty to fifty years. We can clearly see this pattern emerging in the, “…course of Western thought…[where theism led to deism,] Naturalism led to nihilism… and Atheistic existentialism… [leads us to] …simply say that reason is not to be trusted” (Sire 144-145). Unfortunately, at every point in this journey from sound Scriptural doctrine, to the slippery slope of skepticism and irrational syncretism (the amalgamation of different religions, cultures, or schools of thought); mainline denominations of the church have been complicit in the erosion of our Western values and our Christian heritage, by not standing firm on the truth of God’s word. 

The church does not immediately accept these strange teachings; there may be a decade or so of lag time before the new ideas begin to affect the Body of Christ, but eventually the new philosophies and doctrines of demons creep insidiously into the Bible colleges and seminaries, and as a result, they find their way into the pulpits, publications, and ultimately the pews. By the 1960’s, after poisoning the wells of living water for over a hundred years with liberal theology, hyper-fundamentalism, strict legalism, and stuffy traditionalism, Christianity had little to offer the emerging generation, and young people found no rest for their troubled souls and no answers to their questions, causing them to seek solace elsewhere. Renewals and revivals have taken place since, but the damage was done. As a result, we have and we will continue, to reap the whirlwind of that short-sightedness, in the form of an invasion of Eastern Pantheistic Monism, which is now pervasive in our Western culture. From the Yoga classes in our local libraries and churches, to the mystical hyper-spritualization of our religious practices, even within the church; this metaphysical new-age nonsense all stems from our embracing of Eastern thought and practice in the 1960’s. 

For instance, there was a time in our churches that we would sing songs about the cleansing blood of Christ washing away our sins, about holiness, righteousness, and the amazing grace and steadfast love of God. The lyrics have changed, however, and some of the songs we sing in church now sound eerily similar to the Beatles at the height of their psychedelic venture into the world of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, the founder of the Transcendental Meditation movement. Consider these lyrics from a very contemporary and popular Christian label: “Jesus, be the centre, be my source, be my light… be my vision, be my path, be my guide…” (Frye 1999). Now, while it is true that these lyrics do not violate Scripture in any substantive way, they are still borrowing terms and concepts that align more with New Age and Eastern ideologies than they do with Christian. 

Many churches today have invested a great deal of time and resources into constructing decorative “prayer walks” on their campuses, which superficially exist to encourage their congregations to spend more time in seeking the Lord through prayer. However, these “labyrinths”, as they are known in contemplative meditation circles, are billed as a path for personal, psychological and spiritual transformation, and are in actuality just another gateway to encourage Christians to perform “contemplative or centering prayer”, which is not a Scriptural concept at all. The labyrinth’s themselves are elaborate mazes that symbolize the Eastern philosophy that, “All paths lead to the One”. 

This persistent teaching in the East, that all paths lead to God has completely overtaken the mindset of much of the religious world, and even some within the church have begun to accept it as well. Those who espoused liberal theology in the 60’s and 70’s, have spawned a whole new generation of churches that reject all of the traditionally held doctrines of the church, including the exclusive claims of Christ for salvation, choosing rather to have no doctrines at all, and they prefer to just preach the social gospel of secular humanism, than defend the truths of Scripture.    

Where are they now? The “hippies” and “flower children” of the era known as the “Dawning of the Age of Aquarius” (Rado 1969), have now grown up, and they are running the country. They are now the educators, legislators, preachers and presidents of our nation, and they have brought their ideologies and philosophies to bear on the policies of our society. With the massive push to legalize marijuana and other illicit drugs, and the resurgence of the "free love" mindset and hyper-sexualization of our society, it isn't difficult to see that our nation has gone much further down the road of the, "Bohemian lifestyle", than many of us could have ever imagined, even ten to twenty years ago. Being a "hippie" is more popular now than it has ever been. Of course, now we are much more sophisticated about it, than in the 60's perhaps, but the underlying philosophies are still the same. As a result, Christianity has become politically incorrect, and spirituality has replaced it with ritualistic mediation, the, “… pursuit of self-betterment… enlightenment… ” (Sire 146), and ultimately the Satanic promise that you also can become god one day, if you chant “OM” and “…turn [your] soul to the harmony of the cosmos... to the one solid, nonharmonic, nondual, ultimate vibration…” (Sire 152). Sounds easy enough, right?

In the final analysis, this all may sound completely nonsensical, and even a bit ridiculous to the Western mind, but for the adherents of Eastern mysticism, and the millions of spiritual seekers around the world; the more irrational and illogical the better. In the fast-food world of pop-culture religion and “flavor of the month” faith, the phrase, “That's so crazy, it just might work!" has found a new home. Because, everything goes, anything goes, and, “All rivers flow, to the ocean. Flow and let others flow too!” (Sire 151), is the new mantra from the East. Doctrine and truth have no meaning and no one is on the right path or on the wrong path. In fact, “No doctrine can be true. Perhaps some can be more useful than others… [but] a lie or a myth might even be more useful” (Sire 155). Given the popularity and overwhelming acceptance of this paradoxical and contradictory worldview of, “…doctrines that disagree, evil that is good, knowledge that is ignorance, time that is eternal, reality that is unreal…” (Sire 163), it is only reasonable that the spiritual health of the West is in the condition that it now finds itself. Brace for shock! It’s only going to get worse, unless of course, we repent as a nation and return to a steadfast faith in our Lord Jesus Christ! Otherwise it may be said of the Western world, "They sow the wind, and reap the whirlwind.” (Hosea 8:7).
       

Works Cited:

Frye, Michael. Be The Centre. Hungry: Live From London. Vineyard Songs (UK/Eire). 1999.

NKJV New King James Version. Holy Bible. Thomas Nelson. Nashville, TN: 2000. Print.

Rado, James. Let The Sun Shine In. Age of Aquarius. Soul City Records. LA, CA: 1969. 

Sire, James. The Universe Next Door. InterVarsity Press. Downers Grove, IL: 2009 (5th Ed.). Print.