1 John 4:1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but try the spirits to see if they are of God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
"Mindful" of the commands of Christ and the warnings of Scripture to test all the spirits, we will attempt to take on the "Mindfulness" movement in this post, understanding that Christians in general are ignorant of the forces arrayed against them. By this post we are making an attempt to wake up the Church, deliberately reminding one another in Christ that to be "mindful" in a biblical sense is to be aware of good and evil, truth and error, correct and incorrect, black and white, true teachers and false teachers, the real gospel and false gospels, angels and demons, saved and unsaved, knowledge and ignorance, conscious and unconscious, true prophets and false prophets, independent thinking and brainwashed thinking, etc. The alternative as shown herein is unthinkable!
First, we will introduce you to the main players:
A previous post explored how Tim Ryan, Congressman from Ohio,
was introduced to the mystical practice of "centering prayer" by a Catholic priest and is a major proponent of the harmless sounding "mindfulness", has subsequently opened for us another "can of worms" that we have spent a lot of time and effort researching as documented below.
Just when we and you thought that this was a minor and widely scattered phenomenon we were proved wrong by the mountain of evidence that for the most part has travelled like worms do, under the radar. This infestation is soon coming to a church, school, "Bible study", retreat, camp, YMCA or other organization that you thought was Christian or at least ethical.
First, we must state clearly that any practice or belief which has its roots in the mysticism, false gospel, anti-Biblical, anti-Reformation theology, and idolatry of the Roman Catholic Church is corrupt, dangerous, and devilish, and should be avoided like the plague by Bible believing, Reformation adhering Christians. Nevertheless, the Catholic Church has influenced Ryan who is a conscious or unconscious puppet of the RCC, as the amount of time he spends on this is excessive for someone who is supposed to represent the interests of the Ohio constituency for which he was elected, not to be an apologist or proselyte for a dubious and pagan set of Buddhist practices. The reasons he has attached himself to this cause are manifold but evident by the types of associations he has cultivated.
Therefore, the questions must be asked:
1) "Why is Ryan spending so much of his time on this, wasting taxpayer monies in the process, instead of concentrating on other more pressing matters, like bringing back industry and jobs to an economically depressed Ohio?"
2) "Isn't Ryan satisfied with the Judeo-Christian foundation of the United States?
3) "How will Mr. Ryan and our country benefit by changing our culture founded on Christian principles into a culture brainwashed by Buddhist practices, starting with our schoolchildren being turned into robotic zombies?"
4) "What does Mr. Ryan think about the Protestant work ethic that built this country?" Should it be replaced, and by what?" "Mysticism?" "Non-Judgmentalism?"
An article here at the National Catholic Reporter shows that the RCC is behind "mindfulness", albeit from a Catholic perspective:
http://ncronline.org/blogs/road-peace/mindfulness-walk-peace.
Ryan has talked on Interfaith Radio in Washington, DC about mindfulness: http://interfaithradio.org/Archive/2012-August/Mindfulness_on_Capitol_Hill_and_Gay_Rights_in_the_Episcopal_Church, and these are the audio downloads:
http://interfaithradio.org/admin/Showsfiles/downloadmp3.php?file=501af852be440Show_1232.mp3, and
http://interfaithradio.org/admin/Storiesfiles/downloadmp3.php?file=501af8870efa6LEAD_1232_Tim_Ryan_on_Mindfulness.mp3.
Congressman Tim Ryan, influenced early on in his youth by Catholic mysticism and a certain unknown priest himself enthralled with the Hindu/Buddhist/Communist and mystical Catholic Trappist monk Thomas Merton http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Merton,
the latter being a student of Zen Buddhism, Taoism, Hinduism, Jainism and Sufism, and other eastern mystical practices, Ryan was also a student under Jon Kabat-Zinn, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon_Kabat-Zinn,
which points out that:
"Jon Kabat-Zinn (né Kabat) (born June 5, 1944) is Professor of Medicine Emeritus and founding director of the Stress Reduction Clinic and the Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care, and Society at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, http://www.umassmed.edu/Content.aspx?id=41252 and http://www.umassmed.edu/Content.aspx?id=43102, and http://www.umassmed.edu/cfm/oasis/index.aspx. An example of the influence on other medical schools can be seen here:
http://www.pennmedicine.org/stress/offerings/pub-stress-mgmt/.
http://www.jeffersonhospital.org/departments-and-services/mindfulness.
Kabat-Zinn was a student of Zen Master Seung Sahn and a founding member of Cambridge Zen Center. His practice of yoga and studies with Buddhist teachers led him to integrate their teachings with those of Western science. He teaches mindfulness meditation as a technique to help people cope with stress, anxiety, pain and illness. A stress reduction program created by Kabat-Zinn is offered at medical centers, hospitals, and health maintenance organizations."
Zinn explains what "Mindfulness" is:
and
Zinn says the arrival of a baby into your family is like "having a 'live-in' Zen master parachute into your home":
Zinn markets his CDs and DVDs at: http://www.mindfulnesscds.com/, at which is posted a biography of Zinn with his associations: http://www.mindfulnesscds.com/author.html, such as with Dr. Ludwig of Children's Hospital who co-authored in JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association) the article "Mindfulness in Medicine" at: http://www.mindfulnesscds.com/Mindfulness_in_Medicine_JAMA_9-16-08.pdf, and the Omega Institute for Holistic Studies www.eomega.org (where Ryan posted his article: http://eomega.org/learning-paths/body-mind-amp-spirit-mindfulness-leadership-amp-work-education/bringing-mindfulness), and the Min and Life Institute http://www.mindandlife.org/.
And included therein are Zinn's articles in pdf: http://www.mindfulnesscds.com/sun_mar10_kabatzinn.pdf, and http://www.mindfulnesscds.com/jkz_foreword_%20teaching_mindfulness.pdf, and http://www.mindfulnesscds.com/meditate_daily.pdf, (with Oprah.com at bottom), and http://www.mindfulnesscds.com/meditate_cultivate.pdf (also with Oprah.com at bottom).
Zinn also offers Yoga at this site, called Mindful Yoga: http://www.shareguide.com/Zinn.html.
Ryan, Merton, Zinn and many others have a living idol and model for the practice of mindfulness coupled with yoga in the person of "Thay" (master/teacher)
Thich Nhat Hanh, a Vietnamese Buddhist monk
documented here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thich_Nhat_Hanh. A leader in the "Engaged Buddhism" movement, his approach is a synthesis of Buddhism and Western psychology, as shown in this video, where "applied ethics is applied with the cooperation of school teachers", and at his website: http://mindfuledu.org/.
Oprah Winfrey interviewed Thich Nhat Hanh here:
http://www.oprah.com/spirit/Oprah-Talks-to-Thich-Nhat-Hanh.
http://eomega.org/learning-paths/body-mind-amp-spirit-mindfulness-leadership-amp-work-education/bringing-mindfulness.
Zinn, Ryan and others are interviewed in this PBS (Public Broadcasting System) article along with a very revealing video of Ryan talking to schoolchildren with a type of missionary zeal about mindfulness on the steps of the U.S. Capitol Building:
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/episodes/july-20-2012/mindfulness-goes-mainstream/11881/.
Mindful Schools video:
From Mindfulschools.org: http://www.mindfulschools.org/, Testimonials from Teachers:
Goldie Hawn:
Actress Goldie Hawn of Scholastic school media, is of "like mind" when it comes to indoctrinating vulnerable and gullible schoolchildren and their equally gullible parents into "mindfulness" as here in her version called the "MindUp" program, which together with Ryan's youthful and undiscerning ignorance makes for a formidable thrust into your children's "mind, body and spirit", using a secular/humanist indoctrination, which ignores and discounts any and all traditional Christianity. It is 180 degrees from anything Christian. The Hawn Foundation is at: http://thehawnfoundation.org/.
"MindUp" video promo here:
Christian Answers for the New Age (CANA) has several excellent articles about how Buddhism disguised as "mindfulness" and "MindUp" is influencing schoolchildren and adults for the worse:
http://www.christiananswersforthenewage.org/Articles_MindfulnessForChildren.html.
http://www.christiananswersforthenewage.org/Articles_MoreOnMindfulness.html.
Also linked to Sola Sisters is: http://solasisters.blogspot.com/2012/01/mindfulness-for-children-buddhism-for.html, which addresses Hawn's influence in particular.
Other sources of Mindfulness techniques, programs and meetings:
http://www.mindfullivingprograms.com/.
http://emindful.com/, (courses for doctors, individuals, employers, brokers). The owner Kelley Ruff explains:
Jennifer Davis, psychotherapist with Emindful explains how the courses help you "release judgment about good or bad", and a "hyper-critical" attitude":
Lisa Dale Miller on the EMindful YouTube channel draws the connections between "Christian" contemplative practices and the Buddhist mindfulness meditation:
Other important sources are:
Mindfulness Bell or I Am Home: http://mindfulnessbell.org/ or http://www.iamhome.org/. This has a worldwide directory of meeting places or sanghas at: http://www.iamhome.org/directory/index.cgi.
http://www.awakeningheart.org/.
http://circleyoga.com/mindfulness/monday-night-mindfulnes.
http://tarabrach.com/, and her extensive reading and resource list: http://tarabrach.com/recommended-reading.html.
Some Sanghas:
http://www.wabisabisangha.org/.
http://communityofmindfulnessnewyorkmetro.blogspot.com/.
http://www.rockblossom.org/.
http://www.willowbranch.org/.
http://www.plumvillage.org/.
http://deerparkmonastery.org/.
http://bluecliffmonastery.org/.
http://magnoliagrovemonastery.org/.
Churches doing Mindfulness:
http://oldstpats.org/mindfulness-based-stress-reduction-mbsr/.
Delaware Valley Zen Center: http://www.dvzc.org/.
Without doubt, to be continued.
