What is the danger of mindfulness? Because mindfulness sounds so wonderful and seems promising; a happy, peaceful, healthy, and energetic life with no stress, burnout, and exhaustion. No depression, māharahara, mataku, ohoroa, addiction(s), māharahara, or insecurities, but a joyful and carefree life with confidence and having control over your life and experience increasing creativity. Who doesn’t want that? All these wonderful promises are used as bait by the devil to lure the fish into his waters and to let them swim in his waters. And it works! Because many people, tae atu ki ngā Karaitiana, have embraced mindfulness and practice mindfulness. But what is mindfulness? What does the Bible say about mindfulness? Should Christians practice mindfulness? Is mindfulness good for you or is mindfulness dangerous? What is the spiritual danger of mindfulness that many people are not aware of?
Mindfulness has become part of Western society
Mindfulness has become part of Western society. He maha nga kamupene, (sports) whakahaere, institutions, and even the government provide mindfulness training and have implemented mindfulness practices in the workplace.
Even in prisons, hospitals, schools, and churches mindfulness has been implemented. But do they know what mindfulness does to you?
What is mindfulness?
Mindfulness means becoming aware of the present moment. Mindfulness is an awareness of feelings, whakaaro, senses, surroundings, experiences, etc. without judging them. You accept all these things, just the way they are. There is no right or wrong.
Mindfulness is a behavioral therapy and attention training, whereby an attitude of alertness of the soul and the body is trained.
Mindfulness teaches you to embrace your feelings and emotions and brings you closer to your core being.
By applying mindfulness in your daily life, you’ll become conscious of yourself (soul and body) and the things that happen around you. You shall get to know and understand yourself better and learn to deal with yourself; your thoughts, kare-a-roto, experiences, and everyday matters and to accept yourself.
Haunga tera, by applying mindfulness techniques and mindfulness exercises you’ll learn to relax and prevent stress and burnout.
Mindfulness training
There are various mindfulness training that teach different mindfulness techniques and methods that cause you to become aware of your body and soul; karekau, whakaaro, sensory perceptions, and surroundings and cause relaxation for the soul and body.
Some mindfulness methods and exercises are mindfulness meditation (sit-meditation, body scan meditation, moving meditation (dance, Qigong, Tai Chi)), mindful breathing exercises (focus on breathing), ioka, stillness retreat, mindful seeing, mindful listening, etc.
What is body scan meditation? When you do a body scan meditation for stress relief, you will sit in a comfortable position or lay down and slowly scan your whole body, including your organs, and become aware of every feeling that you experience at that moment.
The purpose of a body scan is to become aware of your body and reconnect with your body. Bodyscan meditation is also used in yoga (Panuitia hoki: He aha te kino o te yoga?).
Another mindfulness method or exercise is mindful breathing exercises. During this breathing exercise, you will sit in a certain position and focus on your breathing, so that you will become aware of your breathing. If during this exercise your mind starts to wander, you should bring your focus back to your breathing.
What is the purpose of mindfulness?
Mindfulness is a way of life with the purpose of finding yourself by becoming aware of yourself and your surroundings and accepting these instead of judging. Mindfulness should also cause relaxation, since you live in the moment and not think about your past or your future.
Mindfulness focuses on the flesh and the feeling. Mindfulness teaches you to cope with situations and accept the situations as they are.
Clinical psychology and psychiatry have adopted mindfulness in their therapies and use mindfulness for depression, hau, burnout, addictions, and other mental disorders.
What is the origin of mindfulness?
Although mindfulness has taken a large place in modern Western society, mindfulness has its roots in Eastern religions and philosophies. Mindfulness derives from Buddhism; from Sati, which means mindfulness, and is based on Zen, Vipassaña (insight meditation), and Tibetan meditation technics.
Mindfulness is considered a power that contributes to the attainment of nirvana; the state of enlightenment.
Mindfulness is the first factor of the seven awakening factors of enlightenment and mindfulness is the seventh element of the eightfold path of Buddhism.
The seven factors of awakening*
- Mindfulness – to maintain awareness of reality (dharma)
- Investigation – of the nature of reality (dhamma vicaya)
- Energy – also determination, effort (viriya)
- Joy or rapture (pīti)
- Relaxation or tranquillity of body and mind (passaddhi)
- Concentration – a calm, one-pointed state of mind or clear awareness (samādhi)
- Equanimity – to accept reality as it is without craving or aversion (upekkha)
The noble eightfold path
- Right insight
- Right resolve
- Right speech
- Right action
- Right livelihood
- Right effort
- Right mindfulness
- Right concentration
Mindfulness has entered Western culture mainly through scientists and psychologists, who learned from Buddhists their traditions, principles, and methods, including mindfulness, and applied them in Western (clinical and cognitive) psychology and psychiatry (Panuitia hoki: ‘Does Christian psychology exist?').
What is the danger of mindfulness?
When you practice mindfulness, you don’t need God, but you do everything by yourself by applying human knowledge, tikanga, and techniques that derive from Buddhism. Because mindfulness derives from Buddhism and is part of the Buddhist path, wich leads to enlightenment.
Mindfulness is a method, whereby you focus and become aware of every part of your flesh, meaning everything that takes place in your soul and body.
The spiritual danger of mindfulness is that through the awareness of your body and soul, you don’t connect them with yourself, but you connect them with the powers of darkness and give yourself to them. Because according to Buddhism, every awareness is considered a power that is unleashed in your flesh.
This power, which they feel and experience is, in reality, a demonic power with whom they have connected themselves through awareness,and this demonic power manifests in the flesh (body, and soul).
Through awareness, every part of your soul and body will be given to demonic powers, and eventually, you shall live under the reign and power of the kingdom of darkness.
When you decide to enter the path of Buddhism by adopting doctrines, traditions, tikanga, and methods from Buddhism, you leave the way of God and engage with evil spirits.
Does Christian mindfulness exist?
Kāore!
What does the Bible say about mindfulness and should a Christian practice mindfulness?
Why do people, e kii ana he Karaitiana ratou, ask this question? Why are Christians so eager to participate in the trends of this world, which lead people into spiritual bondage in the spiritual realm? Why do they want to submit to the poor spirits of this world and be part of the kingdom of darkness?
Many Christians don’t want to be told what to do in the church and exalt themselves above every commandment of God and the commandments of Jesus and reject them, but they do want to submit to the commandments of Buddha and follow Buddha and Buddha’s way in order to find themselves and experience peace, joy, relief, deliverance, etc.
A born-again Christian has everything (s)he needs, namely Jesus and the Kingdom of God.
A born-again Christian is transferred from the kingdom of darkness by laying down the flesh in Christ, to the Kingdom of God, by the resurrection of the spirit from the dead, and has an experiential relationship with Jesus Christ; te Word, and lives after the Spirit from the Kingdom of God and no longer lives after the flesh from the kingdom of darkness.
The person, who has become a new creation in Jesus Christ has received the inheritance of the Kingdom of God.
Why should the person desire to return to the poor beggerly spirits of this world, who keep the old man in bondage?
The born-again Christian loves God and lives after the will of God and acts from the knowledge of God’s Word and the Spirit and doesn’t love the world and doesn’t act from the carnal wisdom, tikanga, and methods of the world, which derive from a.o. Buddhism.
Because what does light have in common with darkness? What harmony has Christ with Buddha?
The spirit of the world works in the children of disobedience, who belong to the world. They practice mindfulness.
But the children of God don’t belong to the world and are not conformed to this world but are transformed by the renewing of their mind. And because they know the will of God and are obedient to Him, they keep themselves from this Eastern doctrine and its practices ( Panuitia hoki: Ka taea e koe te wehe i te wairua me nga tikanga me nga tikanga o te Rawhiti?)
What is chrisfulness? Is christfulness allowed to do?
Christfulness sounds so pious. But christfulness is nothing more than mindfulness that is Christianized by carnal people, who don’t have the Spirit of God, but still have the spirit of the world and love the world and belong to the world.
In order to participate in this worldly trend, they have found a way to practice mindfulness. They have adopted this worldly doctrine and poured out a pious Christian sauce over it, by changing the name from mindfulness to christfulness.
With some tweaks and by adding Bible verses that are taken out of context, they have Christianized mindfulness and made mindfulness acceptable and introduced mindfulness in the church and the lives of people, e kii ana he Karaitiana ratou (Panuitia hoki: 'Ko te ranu Karaitiana').
Instead of the people, who are inspired by the wisdom and knowledge of Buddha and want to follow the way of Buddha, going ahead with their Eastern occult practiceds and leave the church and join Buddhism and go to a buddhist temple, they bring Buddhist doctrines, principles, traditions, and techniques into the church and defile the church and the lives of believers (Panuitia hoki: ‘Ko te whare karakia').
What are christfulness technics?
Christfulness doesn’t put off the old man, but christfullness learns to cope with the flesh and ensures, that the flesh stays alive and reigns in the lives of people and the people present themselves in the world without prejudice. By applying christfulness technics, like meditation and prayer mantras, they try to experience and feel the grace and fullness of Jesus and God’s love in their flesh.
Take for example the ‘Jesus prayer meditation’. During the Jesus prayer meditation, they use breathing technics and mantras. While they breathe in they think or softly say the words “Lord Jesus Christ Son of God” and while they breathe out “Have mercy on me a sinner“.
These last words already prove that the person is not saved through regeneration, but is still the hanga tawhito and therefore a sinner.
Because a son of God (e pa ana tenei ki nga tane me nga wahine) is no longer a sinner! A son of God has but has been made righteous and holy by the blood of Jesus Christ and has become a saint (Panuitia hoki: ‘Once a sinner, always a sinner?').
It proves that the person has not experienced a personal encounter with Jesus Christ. If the person had a true encounter with Jesus Christ and had an personal relationship with Jesus, then the person shouldn’t get involved with these Buddhist doctrines, which are an abomination and an insult to God. Since they put and worship the creation (Buddha) and his doctrine above the Creator and His Word.
By applying breathing technics and repeating the same words and the same sounds over and over again, they eventually enter a certain state of mind or trance.
The ‘self’ is the center of mindfulness
Everything in mindfulness revolves around self-awareness. Therefore the ‘self’ is the center of mindfulness. Mindfulness is full of pride and full of ‘self’. This applies also to christfulness.
People can use the name of Christ and add Scriptures from the Bible, when they practice mindfulness and meditation, but they still practice christfulness because of themselves (the flesh) and therefore the ‘self’ is the center of christfulness.
Mindfulness is focused on the awareness of the flesh, sensory perceptions, circumstances, acts, and the surroundings of a person.
The mindfulness methods are carnal techniques and methods, which people use to find themselves, experience certain feelings and emotions in the flesh, release energies into the flesh, and achieve a certain state in the flesh.
An awareness of the flesh or dying to the flesh?
In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ: Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead (Kolosa 2:11-12)
But the life of a son of God doesn’t revolve around ‘self’ and the flesh, but it revolves around Jesus Christ, the will of God, and His Kingdom.
The Bible speaks nowhere about finding yourself and self-awareness, but about dying to ‘self’ (the old man).
The Bible doesn’t speak about becoming aware of your flesh, but about laying down your flesh and commands to walk after the Spirit instead of the flesh (Panuitia hoki: ‘Life is not about finding yourself, but about finding Jesus).
The Word doesn’t speak about submitting to the flesh, but reigning over the flesh and putting off the works of the flesh. Since the flesh has been crucified in Christ (Panuitia hoki: Let sin no longer reign as king in your life).
If the flesh is crucified and has died in Jesus Christ and therefore no longer lives, how can you live after the flesh?
The devil tries to tempt people with the words of God
The devil tried to tempt Jesus with the words of God, by using the words of God for His flesh. But Jesus knew Who He was and walked after the Spirit and knew His Father and His will. Therefore the devil was not able to tempt Jesus with his lies (Panuitia hoki: Ka hoatu e ahau ki a koe nga taonga o te ao).
The same applies to the sons of God, who know who they are in Christ and walk after the Spirit. They know the will of the Father through the Word and have a relationship with Him and are not tempted by the lies of the devil.
Heoi ano, the old man, who lives after the flesh and belongs to the world and is led by his senses, karekau, and emotions, believes the words of the world, and needs carnal knowledge, tikanga, tikanga, and natural means to experience certain feelings and emotions and/or achieve the desired result in the flesh (Panuitia hoki: He whakapono hangarau)
But faith is not a feeling. Faith doesn’t revolve around feelings and emotions. Faith and the presence of God and Jesus by the Holy Spirit can’t be measured by feelings.
To think, that you can put Christ in your heart through means of mindfulness or christfulness, whakaaroaro, and prayer mantras and become aware of Christ’s presence in you, proves that those, who believe and practice this are not born again, but are unspiritual and have no knowledge of God’s Word and His Way.
Jesus is not a spirit, who you can evoke when it suits you, and when you have time.
You can’t place Christ in your heart through means of mindfulness or christfulness, whakaaroaro, and prayer mantras so that you become aware of Christ’s presence in you. Because how do you know if Christ is in you? Through your feelings? Do you feel His presence? (Panuitia hoki: ‘How do you know if Christ is in you?')
As soon as you think you feel Jesus, in reality, a demonic power has entered your life, who manifests himself in your flesh and gives you exactly what you want, namely pleasant, peaceful, and joyful carnal feelings.
What are the negative effects of mindfulness?
When you get involved with Nga whakaaro o te rawhiti and apply the carnal techniques and methods of mindfulness or christfulness in your life, you will open the door for evil spirits to enter your life.
Maybe at first, you feel peaceful, calm, relaxed, and happy, but that will change.
Since you have entered the path of Buddha, by obeying Buddha’ words and by applying Buddha’s techniques and methods, which should lead you to a state of enlightenment, demonic powers have entered and shall manifest in your life, and shall steal, kill, and eventually destroy you (Hone 10:10).
Maybe you shall experience a change in conduct and become quickly irritated, annoyed, impatient, hateful, and an uncontrollable anger.
Maybe you’ll experience poor concentration, exhaustion, ohoroa, māharahara, mataku, feelings of depression, self-pity or sexual perversion.
Maybe you’ll start hearing voices in your head. Maybe you constantly argue with your spouse and experience marital problems or maybe you become (terminally) ill.
Don’t let anyone spoil you through the dangerous wisdom of man
As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in Him: Rooted and built up in Him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. For in Him dwells all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in Him, which is the Head of all principality and power (Kolosa 2:6-10)
A son of God is not led by his flesh and circumstances and doesn’t submit to the will, whakaaro, impulses, hiahia, and desires of the soul and the body. But a son of God is led by the Word and the Spirit and brings through the Word and the Spirit a change in the circumstances.
Only through submitting to God’s Word and through obedience and applying God’s Word in your life, you shall walk in faith and call those things which are not as though they were and represent and establish the Kingdom of God on earth.
The only way, that Jesus Christ comes into your life and abides in you, is through regeneration; the baptism in Jesus Christ, and the baptism with the Holy Spirit.
The prayer between the Father and His sons
Prayer is the communication between the Father and His sons (e pa ana tenei ki nga tane me nga wahine). When you are reconciled with God through regeneration in Christ and you have become a son of God, you are able to communicate through the Spirit with God.
You may come boldly before the throne of the Father because you have been made righteous and holy by the blood of Jesus Christ. You can’t become more holy or more righteous and obtain a higher state.
In Eastern religions, rapunga whakaaro, and traditions you first have to gain a certain amount of knowledge and apply certain techniques and methods and go through all kinds of steps to achieve a higher spiritual level and eventually reach the state of enlightenment; nirvana state.
But in Christianity, it is impossible for a person to become righteous and holy and enter a higher level or state through means of carnal knowledge, tikanga, tikanga, and steps since, because through the redemptive work of Jesus Christ and regeneration in Him, you have obtained the highest state in life, which is the state of son of God.
Jesus has finished the work! He has done it! And through the grace of God, everyone has been given the ability through His work and His blood to be reconciled with God and become a son of God (Panuitia hoki: ‘The true meaning of the cross’)
Jesus has restored what was broken and restored the position of (fallen) man. While in other religions and philosophies, people are still looking to restore what is broken.
Heoi ano, they don’t know exactly what has been broken and how to restore it.
They don’t know that through sin man fell from his position and became separated from God and that Jesus became their Substitute and took the sin of the world upon Him and accomplished the work of redemption for the old man and reconciled man back to God.
Jesus has gone the way, so that He could become the Way
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, me te ora: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me (Hone 14:6)
Jesus has gone the way, which was impossible for the old man to go. Since the old man is a sinner and is not holy and righteous. Therefore the old man was not able to be delivered from the power of the kingdom of darkness and the reign of the death, through his own works.
No religion, philosophy, or way of life can redeem man from the dead by applying carnal knowledge, tikanga, tikanga, prayers, nga tikanga, sacrifices, and so on.
Only by faith in Jesus Christ and through whakahounga in Him, a person can be saved and be delivered from the power of death.
Jesus has gone the way for us, so that He could become the Way for us.
The devil knows exactly how to tempt people, e haere nei i runga i ta te kikokiko, namely by promising the things, they are looking for.
All these wonderful promises, that supposedly become reality by practicing mindfulness are nothing more than lies, which eventually will lead to the destruction of people. The devil shall give you temporary success, rangimarie, okiokinga, pain relief, pleasant feelings, etc.. in return for your soul.
Mindfulness is an occult doctrine from the kingdom of darkness
Mindfulness is an occult doctrine. Christian mindfulness or christfulness is also an occult doctrine and should be rejected from the church as so many false doctrines that are adopted from new age, Buddhism, and Hinduism and are Christianized, but in reality, are doctrines of devils that derive from the kingdom of darkness and belong to the devil and his kingdom (Panuitia hoki: Tau hou i roto i te hahi?).
Because people still love themselves and are not willing to submit to the requirements and commandments of God and His Word and are not willing to obey them, but instead change and adjust the commandments of God to the lusts, hiahia, experiences and lives of people and the wisdom and knowledge of the world, the gospel has become powerless and the old man stays alive and kicking.
Ihu Karaiti, the hope of glory, doesn’t abide in you, so that He can serve you in your flesh and provide pleasant feelings and carnal prosperity in the world and material blessings.
But Jesus Christ, the hope of glory, abides in you because of the Kingdom of God, so that you can live the same life as Jesus Christ and are able to represent and preach the Kingdom of God and redeem people from the power of the kingdom of darkness.
Jesus is your Redeemer and your Lord. That means, that you should submit to Jesus Christ and His words and not the other way around (Panuitia hoki: How do you know if Jesus lives in you?).
Peace and joy are fruits of the Spirit
When you don’t experience peace and joy in your life, you should find out how you spend your time. Do you walk after the flesh and do you spend your time on the things of the world and fill your mind with the things of this world? Or do you walk after the Spirit and do you spend your time in the Word and on the things of the Kingdom of God and fill your mind with the things of the Kingdom of God?
If the latter is the case, then you should experience the peace and joy of God in your life, since this is the fruit of the Spirit (Panuitia hoki: ‘The fruit of the Spirit’)
You can say you believe in God and that you are a Christian, but if you adopt teachings, tikanga, and methods that derive from Eastern occult religions and philosophies, you open your life for demonic power to enter. The devil doesn’t care what you say, he only cares what you do. If you submit to his words through obedience and apply his technics and methods in your life, you shall submit to him.
Jesus doesn’t speak about mindfulness, whakaaroaro, and breathing exercises nor about other Eastern knowledge, tikanga, and methods that are part of the way of Buddha and lead to enlightenment (awakening) and are preached and promoted in many churches.
There is only one Way and that is Jesus Christ. Only by the blood of Jesus Christ and through the death of the old man in Christ and the resurrection of the new man in Him, a person is redeemed from the power of darkness and transferred into the Kingdom of God.
If you have become the new man in Christ, you shall live in true freedom and you shall constantly experience the peace and joy of the Lord in your life.
'Kia tote mo te whenua’
*wikipedia
