Is meditation good for you or is there a dark side to it? This is what we are going to look at in this article. Today all you hear is you need to meditate for your health or to relax and even to clear your mind. Well, if this is true then what kind of meditation should one do? There are so many ways to meditate. So what is meditating? Meditating is engaging in contemplation or reflection. It’s really what you put your thoughts on. If you put your thoughts on things that make you sad, well, then, you will become depressed. If you put your thoughts on things that make you happy, then you will be happy. Yes, this is a simple explanation, but it’s true, we are what we think about. Our eyes process what we see and then our thoughts give us the explanation of it all. But what if we can make the explanation to say what we want it to say? What if we can change the way we think? Through meditation we can alter our thoughts. Here are a few thoughts to think about. Meditation can help individuals gain a more detached perspective on their thoughts, allowing them to see them as fleeting mental events rather than absolute truths. We can reduce stress and anxiety by calming the mind and reducing reactivity to thoughts, meditation can lower stress levels and anxiety. Regular meditation practice can improve focus and concentration, leading to greater awareness and a stronger ability to manage thoughts. The goal of meditation is not to stop thinking altogether, but rather to change the relationship with thoughts, observing them without becoming entangled in their content. Like any skill, meditation requires consistent practice to develop the ability to observe thoughts more effectively and to reshape thought patterns. Changing ingrained thought patterns may take time and consistent effort, but the long-term benefits of meditation can be significant.
Mindfulness meditation: is a practice that involves focusing on the present moment, observing thoughts and sensations without judgment, and cultivating a sense of calm and awareness. It’s often practiced by focusing on the breath, but can also involve other techniques like body scans or guided imagery. The goal is to train the mind to be more present and less reactive to thoughts and emotions.
Concentration meditation: This technique involves focusing on a single point of attention, such as a candle flame or a sound, to cultivate focus and concentration.
.Spiritual Meditation: This practice is often associated with religious or spiritual traditions and aims to connect with a higher power or spiritual realm. Let’s look at a few more.
YOGA Meditation: Most people will tell you that they do Yoga. So what is Yoga? First of all Yoga is part of a religious practice. It is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines that originated with its own philosophy in ancient India, aimed at controlling body and mind to attain various salvation goals, as practiced in the Hindu, Jain, and Buddhist traditions. Many people do not realize that when they do their Yoga that they are actually participating in this religious practice even if they think or believe that they are just doing it for their health or exercise or relaxation. The word yoga is derived from the root yuj, “to yoke”, probably because the early practice concentrated on restraining or “yoking in” the senses. Later the name was also seen as a metaphor for “linking” or “yoking to” the divine.”
If you are a Christians then this is an obstacle to your faith. 2 Corinthians 6:14-16 tells us this, “Don’t be unequally yoked with unbelievers, for what fellowship do righteousness and iniquity have? Or what fellowship does light have with darkness? What agreement does Christ have with Belial? Or what portion does a believer have with an unbeliever? What agreement does a temple of God have with idols? For you are a temple of the living God. Even as God said, “I will dwell in them and walk in them. I will be their God and they will be My people.”’ Even if you do not chant, the poses, along with the meditation can drag you into this cult. Yes, it is a cult because it is self centered instead of God centered. If you are not a Christians then you may not care but you must realize that you are still participating in a religious practice.
Transcendental Meditation was very popular in the 50’s even through the 70’s but this too, was a form of Yoga. The TM technique involves the silent repetition of a mantra or sound, and is practiced for 15–20 minutes twice per day.
Transcendental Meditation (TM) was developed by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. The TM movement has been characterized in a variety of ways and has been called a spiritual movement, a new religious movement, a millenarian movement, a world affirming movement, a new social movement, a guru-centered movement, a personal growth movement, a religion, and a cult. This too, is an obstacle to Christians. This meditation is based on humanism. Humanism says that you are a god and that means that you are in control and not the One True God. In the 1800’s Transcendentalism was popular. Transcendentalism is not like the Transcendental Meditation today. They would meditate on having a deeper spiritual understanding of the universe and one’s place within it. Key tenets included the inherent goodness of humanity, the importance of nature, and the value of self-reliance. This sounds much like the Climate Change Movement of today. They not only valued the individual’s capacity for self-reliance but independence from societal constraints and expectations. They felt people were at their best when they were self-reliant and independent. Again, this was just another form of humanism. We do not need self-reliance, we need self awareness. You may think that all of this is OK, but is it really? The power of our thoughts can be for good or for bad. Being mindful of our thoughts is crucial for understanding how they impact our lives and for making conscious choices to change them. We can start by paying attention to the types of thoughts we have, identifying negative patterns, and consciously replacing them with more positive ones. Our thoughts possess a significant power, capable of influencing our emotions, actions, and ultimately, our reality. Our thoughts are directly linked to our emotions, which then influence our behavior and decisions. For example, if we are constantly dwelling on negative past experiences, we may struggle to move forward and make positive choices. Meditation does have a dark side to it. While generally beneficial, meditation can have adverse effects, particularly for individuals with pre-existing mental health conditions or when practiced in extreme or intensive settings. These negative outcomes can include panic attacks, anxiety, depression, dissociation, psychosis, and even physical complications like digestive issues.
Exacerbation of mental health conditions: Intense meditation, especially without proper guidance, can trigger or worsen existing mental health issues like anxiety, depression, and psychotic symptoms.
Dissociation and depersonalization: Some individuals may experience detachment from their own body or surroundings, feeling disoriented or unreal during meditation.
Social isolation: Intense meditation practices, especially in secluded settings, can lead to social withdrawal and difficulty reintegrating into daily life. When we engage in meditation we can find ourselves entering into uncharted territory.
Here is one story from the website Medium. It tells this story and I suggest everyone get on this website: “I heard a story about a mom who downloaded Headspace, a popular meditation app, and started to meditate daily for 15 minutes a day. Her stress went down and she was finding it useful amidst a full-time job and taking care of the family. But after a few weeks, as she sat in meditation she felt parts of her body disappear. At times it would feel like floating. Other times her sense of self would completely merge with everything around her, and she would completely lose a sense of a “doer” doing something. Things were just happening and she felt like she had no control over them. It’s as if there was no driver in the driver’s seat. She contacted Headspace customer support to ask what was going. They responded promptly and let her know “Oh, that’s normal. That’s just called “No-Self” in meditation and it is a common part of progressing.” She responded by pointing out that nobody had mentioned this in any of the guided meditations, and it wasn’t in the FAQ. Maybe the dissolution of the body as a side effect might have been a good thing to mention. They responded with something along the lines of “Don’t worry, you’ll be okay.”Finding this unhelpful she freaked out and stopped meditating. But even though she stopped, something inside of her had shifted. She began to feel less grounded in day to day life, found her motivation decreasing for even the smallest tasks, and even found it harder to focus on her children without spacing out. This impacted her work, too, and she started to lose interest in her career. However, none of her friends meditated and she was afraid to tell others about her experience in fear of thinking she was going crazy…
You see, dabbling in the unknown, the occult, or in humanism, which is wanting to be your own god, or any other kind of meditations that are from pagan religions, places our thoughts not only on ourselves, which alone can cause us to be depressed or anxious or even having feelings of loneliness, but as we read, even having feelings beyond being scared. Entering into the spiritual realm which most people do not understand can cause us to be vulnerable and this could open a door for demonic activity in our lives. We want to be our own gods, but we do not have the ability to change the world, and sometimes even the situations we find ourselves in we can not change. So we must be careful where we tread because it can lead us into a dark place. We need someone bigger than ourselves, someone who is not just a human being but a supreme being. This is why God’s Word, the Bible, is important for us to meditate on. But God’s Word has many things to say about our thoughts. God’s Word, the Bible, has been around longer than any of these other practices. God’s Word tells us this in Philippians 4:6-9 says “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer (meditation) and pleading with thanksgiving (examining one’s heart and intentions) let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, think about these things. As for the things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.” Also in Colossians 3: 2, “Put your thoughts on things above, not on things on the earth.” Proverbs 23:7, “For as a person thinks within themselves, so they are.” Is that not the reason why we meditate, because we are looking for peace in our hearts and in our lives? The thought of our daily lives, and even thinking about what is going on in the world, can depress us, but God’s Word invites us to rise above the daily struggles and distractions of the world and connect with something greater, someone other than yourself, the One who is truly the Creator of peace. John 14:27 says, “Jesus said to His followers, ‘Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”’ Isaiah 26:3 says, “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You (meditation), because he trusts in You.”
So don’t follow the crowd because they don’t have the answers either. And don’t let your thoughts wander away with you. We need to be rooted and grounded in something, so why not in God’s Word? God is light, there is no darkness in Him.
So who are you? The answer is in what you meditate on.