Contemplative Spirituality = New Age Movement

Before writing my book,
A Time of Departing, I
made sure I could prove,
beyond a doubt, that
contemplative prayer had not
only slipped into the
Christian faith, but also
prove it is an integral part
of the New Age movement. In
fact, New Agers see
contemplative prayer as one
of their own practices. Why
would both New Agers and
Christians claim
contemplative prayer as
their own? Certainly you
will not find the New Age
movement promoting someone
like Francis Schaeffer or
Charles Spurgeon, but you
will find many instances
such as this in which New
Age therapist Jacquelyn
Small cites contemplative
prayer as a gateway to the
spirituality to which she
belongs. She explains it as:

“A form of Christian
meditation, its
practitioners are
trained to focus on an
inner symbol that quiets
the mind … When
practitioners become
skilled at this method
of meditation, they
undergo a deep trance
state similar to
auto-hypnosis.”1

The editors of the magazine
New Age Journal have
put together a book titled
As Above, So Below—which
they promote as a handbook
on “Paths to Spiritual
Renewal,” according to their
worldview. Along with
chapters on shamanism,
goddess worship, and
holistic health, there is a
chapter devoted to
contemplative prayer. In it
they openly declare:

“Those who have
practiced Transcendental
Meditation may be
surprised to learn that
Christianity has its own
time-honored form of
mantra meditation …
Reliance on a mantric
centering device had a
long history in the
mystical canon of
Christianity.”2

New Age author Tav Sparks
lays out an array of
doorways in one chapter of
his book, The Wide Open
Door. Again, along with
a variety of occult and
Eastern practices we find
what Sparks calls Spiritual
Christianity. He says, “The
good news is that there are
some forms of Christianity
today that are alive with
spiritual power.”3 He then
uses a few contemplative
prayer advocates as
examples.

Perhaps the most compelling
example of all is one by a
prominent figure in the
contemplative prayer
movement itself, Tilden
Edwards. Edwards is the
founder of the prestigious
Shalem Institute in
Washington D.C.—a center
which turns out spiritual
directors from its training
programs. In his book, Spiritual Friend,
Edwards suggests those who
practice contemplative
prayer and have begun
experiencing “spiritual
unfolding” and other
“unusual experiences,”
should turn to a book titled
Psychosynthesis in order to
understand the “dynamics” at
“certain stages.”4 For the
Christian, there is a major
problem with this advice.
The book Edwards recommends
is a book written by a world
famous occultist, Roberto
Assagioli.

These dynamics for certain
stages of “spiritual
unfolding” may be desirable
by those in tune with
occultism, but remember,
Edwards is seeking to draw
Christians into this form of
prayer. Edwards himself puts
to rest any pretense that
this is truly Christian when
he openly admits, “This
mystical stream
[contemplative prayer] is
the Western bridge to Far
Eastern spirituality.”5

In answer to the
well-meaning but folly-laden
attempts of the Desert
Fathers and their spiritual
descendants, I must refer to
the deep observations of
Charles Spurgeon who penned:

“Human wisdom delights
to trim and arrange the
doctrine of the cross
into a system more
artificial and more
congenial with the
depraved tastes of
fallen nature; instead,
however, of improving
the gospel carnal wisdom
pollutes it, until it
becomes another gospel,
and not the truth of God
at all. All alterations
and amendments of the
Lord’s own Word are
defilements and
pollutions.”6

(from
A Time of Departing,
2nd ed. by Ray Yungen, pp.
44-46)

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Notes:
1. Jacquelyn Small,
Awakening in Time (New York,
NY: Bantam   Books, 1991),
p. 261.
2. Ronald S. Miller, Editor
of New Age Journal, As Above
So Below    (Los Angeles,
CA: Tarcher/Putnam, 1992),
p. 52.
3. Tav Sparks,
The Wide Open
Door (Center City, MN:  Hazelden      Educational
Material, 1993), p. 89.
4. Tilden Edwards,
Spiritual
Friend (New York, NY: Paulist Press,1980),   pp.
162-163.
5. Ibid., p. 18.
6. Charles Spurgeon,
Morning
and Evening  (Hendrickson
Publishers,   1991), p. 392.