New York City Mayor Eric Adams is requiring all public schools to offer two to five minutes of mindful breathing exercises to students every day. Because the popular practice of mindfulness is based in Buddhism, many parents are accusing the city of introducing religion into the classroom.
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PM writes: "
My children attend a Catholic Primary school in Australia. They tell me they do meditation at school and use the word 'Maranatha.' Is this in line with Catholic teaching? Should I exclude them from these sessions. I just read a blog of yours about centering prayer, (John Main). This seems to be exactly what they do, empty their minds and repeat the word 'Maranatha'. What do you think?"
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MB asks: "
I saw an advertisement for transcendental meditation in a church bulletin. What is it and is it acceptable by the Catholic Church?"
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Paramahansa Yogananda (1893-1952)
We recently received a very candid testimony from a former member of the Self-Realization Fellowship (SRF), which is supposedly about acquiring self-realization through yogic control of the mind and body, but members say it’s more like a cult. Thankfully, Our Lord rescued this member from the SRF through faith in the promises of the Miraculous Medal.
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(Photo courtesy of Wikicommons Images Sarah Rozenthuler and Gil Dekel CC BY-SA 3.0)
Some of today’s hottest selling New Age books were written by a middle-aged man who turned to God after four divorces, countless career changes and a car wreck that left him with a broken neck. In the middle of a February night in 1992, Neale Donald Walsch picked up a pen and wrote an anguished letter to God. “What does it take to make life work?”
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JD writes:
"I tuned into your program on the New Age movement and it suddenly brought a question to light for me. Last week I purchased a children's book entitled Journey to the Heart - Centering Prayer for Children by Frank X. Jelenek. I purchased this at a very conservative Catholic bookstore with the intention of reading it to my daughter's kindergarten class at a Catholic school. After your show, I pulled out the book and found no apparent "Catholic" connection within the book. The content is a little concerning in light of your program. Is it possible for you to comment on the legitmacy/intention of this book and if it is or is not recommended by you."
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We had a caller on a recent
Wacky Wednesday show who knew someone claiming to be a “blue domer.” She didn’t know much about it, and neither did we, until we did a little digging. Here’s what we discovered.
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DP writes: "
Recently on an episode of your show, I heard a priest speak negatively about a book titled, "The Cloud of Unknowing," saying that it was New Age. . .
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A friend of mine sent me an e-mail from a purveyor of crystal singing bowls who alleges that using the bowls with guided meditation will enable persons to do everything from attracting millions into their bank accounts to awakening their DNA (whatever that means).
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This article about a priest who dabbled in transcendental meditation for 18 years before coming back to the Faith, comes as a wake-up call to so many Christians who are casually introducing Eastern meditation techniques into their prayer lives. Many of these practices are not as innocent as they appear!
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