Yoga, Tai Chi, Reiki are now familiar terms
to most Australians. While these practices and the accompanying philosophies have
been introduced to Australia in relatively recent times, they have been
accepted quite readily by many people. Indeed, they have become very popular. Almost
every suburb or country town would provide access to these relaxation techniques.
Many people have not only made use of the practices, but have gone on to learn
how to teach the techniques. Many have submitted themselves to a more detailed
exploration of the spiritual background to the practices. Many have oriented
their lives around the philosophies that underpin these techniques. The
experiences associated with the use of the techniques have opened up doors into
a new spiritual world, the world of Eastern religions.
As techniques they have been marketed as
good for relaxation, fitness and general health. They are now widely used for
this purpose. Most would view them as being beneficial at the physical and emotional
levels. These techniques are seen as a source of personal wellbeing. Few would
question whether there are any dangerous aspects to these practices.
Devotees of these techniques would claim
that they do not have a religious dimension. They would claim that anyone can
keep their own beliefs and utilise these practices for the good they offer. They
are viewed as useful techniques that anyone of any or no religious background
can utilise.
On the understanding that they are not
religious but are merely techniques they have been successfully integrated into
mainstream Australian life. Sports people use them. Business people turn to
them. Many Christians have been drawn to them, seeing them as supplementing
Christian spiritual practices.
This book, “Yoga, Tai Chi & Reiki: A Guide
for Christians” by Max Sculley, provides an invaluable insight into the
background to these practices. His research reveals the underlying
“philosophies” or world views that have given rise to these techniques. He
shows clearly that using the techniques leads many into a new spiritual world.
This world is inimical to Christian faith.
While they may offer practices that can be helpful at a superficial level they
are a Trojan horse for dangerous spiritual infiltration. In their desire to
know more of the technique which they have found beneficial a person can
unwittingly be exposed to demonic powers. They have ventured into a mysterious
world lacking the sound guidance that Christianity offers. When one encounters
preternatural powers the question does need to be posed: what is the origin and
nature of these powers? If they are not from the God revealed by Jesus Christ,
then where do they come from? Venturing further into this exotic world can lead
a person to embracing a belief in and a personal subjection to powers that do
not come from the true God. Indeed, a person who follows these religious
philosophies to their full extent can find themselves worshipping a false God.
There are a number of common elements to
Yoga, Tai Chi and Reiki. They all offer a physical practice that is readily
accessible. They claim to offer methods that achieve relaxation and offer paths
to greater wellbeing and healing. Many people find this to be the case. At the
superficial level these systems there may be no more than providing a source of
simple benefit for the person – being able to de-stress, being able to relax
and experiencing some personal healing. However, these experiences can be
seductive.
When advocates of these practices declare
that the practices are not religious they are trying to re-assure people that
they are not being duped into another religion. Yet, each of these practices
has a strong “theological” basis. They carry a vision of the human person and
clear understanding of the nature of the divine. Each of them, in fact, has a
spiritual origin and can easily draw practitioners into these religious
philosophies. They all offer an alternative understanding of the make-up human
person and they invite people to discover their view of divine reality.
By their nature they do not stop with the
simple physical exercises – their advocates know the deeper spiritual meaning
of what they are doing. They can’t help but promote this deeper reality. They
want to lead people to the truth as they see it. Thus people are drawn into
this new and exotic spiritual realm. This worldview is at odds with Christian
faith and belief.
The divine, as they see it, is an
impersonal force – and not the personal God revealed in Christianity. The
practitioner, fascinated with the discovery of new powers, is drawn to
surrender to this divine force. Simple exercises of relaxation have led to
idolatry!
On two particular occasions the Catholic
Church has addressed questions associated with the use of techniques taken from
Eastern religions. In 1989 the then Cardinal Ratzinger as Prefect of the
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith published “Some Aspects of Christian
Meditation” and in 2002 the Pontifical
Council for Culture and the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue
combined to produce a reflection on the New Age, entitled “Jesus Christ, the
Bearer of the Water of Life”.
In the first of these documents the methods
of meditation used by Eastern religions were compared with the Catholic
tradition of meditation. The document warns of dangers associated with
embracing Eastern forms of meditation which may threaten the integrity of
Christian prayer.
The second document contrasts New Age
religiosity with Christian faith. It points to the difference between the
Christian’s faith in a personal God revealed in Jesus Christ with impersonal
energies proposed in various New Age spiritualities. It asks the question: “Is
God a being with whom we have a relationship or something to be used or a force
to be harnessed?”
Br Max Sculley in this book addresses these questions by revealing
clearly that what underpins these techniques is quite foreign to Christianity
and damaging to the faith and possibly the life of the practitioner.
Having said this, it is important to state
that it is not an inevitable process for everyone who uses Yoga or Tai Chi or
seeks some healing through Reiki. These practices can be used simply as
physical exercises that are helpful. If a person is wary of getting caught up
in the spiritual philosophies, then they can be used with no detrimental effect
at the moral or spiritual level. Indeed, it may be possible for the development
of similar techniques grounded in a healthy Christian spirituality. As the
Church has done in past times it is possible to find ways in which they can be
“baptised” and integrated into the Christian faith.
However, an understanding of the spiritual
roots to these practices is necessary to ensure that prudence accompanies their
use. These practices can be dangerous at the spiritual level.
This book is timely. The research into the
background to these techniques raises many questions. With the widespread use
of these practices and with many Catholics attracted to their use this book
provides a very valuable service in warning of the dangers associated with
embracing the underlying philosophies to these practices.
The book recounts many examples of people
who have found themselves seriously threatened by powerful and destructive
spiritual forces as a result of embracing these techniques.
For the Christian the spiritual life is an
engagement with the Holy Spirit. This Spirit offers the pure water of saving
grace. The Catholic tradition is rich in experience and teaching in the ways of
the spiritual life. We have the example of the great mystics and a library of
spiritual writings that offer wisdom, insight and sure guidance for anyone
wishing to enter more deeply into the divine life offered through faith in
Jesus Christ, who is the “bearer of the water of life”.
Julian Porteous
Auxiliary Bishop of Sydney
9 April 2011