Anonymous writes: “A friend sent me [information about sun gazing meditation] and right away I thought it sounded too much like a New Age practice. Is my discernment correct?”
Yes, your discernment is correct. And even worse for Christians, this style of meditation requires a belief in the spiritual powers of the sun, at least on some level, which puts the soul in danger of violating the First Commandment.
For those who never heard sun gazing meditation, this is a form of meditation that involves gazing at the sun, usually at sunset or sunrise, in order to “connect with and soak in its powerful energy.”
According to color therapist Momtaz Begum-Hossain, “The sun is the primary source of energy to the earth, and the solar energy it gives us has been revered since the earliest civilizations. Sun gazing is a form of meditation that allows us to reconnect with this natural life force. In its most basic form, it involves looking at the sun and being charged by its energy, which we can then take away and harness in our day.”
Science has long known about the physical benefits of exposure to the sun, such as how it increases Vitamin D levels in the body, regulates hormones, improves sleep quality, decreases the risk for certain cancers, and even improve eye sight and mental health.
However, there is no research to suggest sun gazing meditation has any added benefits aside from what naturally occurs while being outside.
Practitioners insist that it does, however, and attribute spiritual powers to the practice such as how it can help one to “connect with a higher power or your spiritual self,” and “attract positive energy.”
“When we’re in the meditative state of sun gazing, we can focus on our inner desires,” says Begum-Hossain. “Being able to do this can help us manifest and attract the right energies that we need in our life at that time.”
Some believe sun gazing activates the third eye chakra and enhances psychic abilities, concentration, imagination, intuition, and spiritual perception, while creating a “universal connection”. The third eye is believed to serve as a gateway to realms of higher consciousness and spiritual abilities such as clairvoyance, visions, precognition, even out-of-body experiences.
Others believe that sun gazing meditation encourages the pineal and pituitary glands to “vibrate in unison” which creates a magnetic field that interacts with that of the earth.
“The solar wind at dawn, charging the earth’s magnetic field, stimulates the pineal gland. This is why the period between 4 and 6 am is the best time to meditate and why sunrise is the best time to sun gaze,” this article states. “Also at dawn, the negatively charged pineal and the positively charged pituitary combine their essences to create a ‘light in the head’ while meditating.”
These claims are dubious because there is no scientifically proven link between the pineal gland and spiritual experience of any kind.
It’s perfectly okay to meditate out-of-doors, but doing so for the purpose of connecting with the spiritual powers of the sun is taking it a step too far.
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