Biblical Meditation vs. Eastern Meditation

I will meditate (H7878) on Your precepts and keep my eyes on Your ways. I will delight in Your statutes; I will not forget Your word.  Psalms 119:15-16

My soul will be satisfied as with marrow and fatness, and my mouth will praise You with joyful lips. When I remember You on my bed, and meditate (H1897) on You in the night watches, because You have been my help, therefore in the shadow of Your wings I will rejoice. Psalms 63:6-7

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation (H1902) of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer. Psalms 19:14

Are our meditations acceptable in the sight of the Lord?

The Hebrew words translated as ‘meditation’ are:

1/ (H7878 =sîyach), which means to speak, converse, mutter, ponder, pray.

2/(H1897=hâgâh) means to murmur, moan, speak, ponder.

3/(H1902=higgâyôn ) murmuring , sound, musical notation.

Biblical meditation is NOT about ‘silence’, nor about emptying our minds, but all the contrary! Biblical meditation is to ponder in the blessings of God, in His ways & His Word. See also Joshua 1:8, Psalms 1:2, etc

How does Eastern meditation or Kabbalistic Meditation, (practiced by New Agers, Satanists & others) differ from Biblical meditation?

1.–Eastern (& Kabbalistic) meditation relies on man & man made steps as the agent to bring peace & get closer to God.

-Biblical meditation doesn’t have steps or a technique to follow, but comes out naturally from our own relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ & our desire to please Him. We are very grateful  because He paid with His life for our sins (which separate all of us from God), so we through faith in His sacrifice can get closer to the True & Holy God.

“Therefore, if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things have passed away. Look, all things have become new.  All this is from God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ and has given to us the ministry of reconciliation” 2 Cor. 5:17-18

Jesus said: “Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid” John 14:23

“You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You” Isaiah 26:3

Sadly many ‘Christians’ are not trusting in God & His Word and are being seduced by pagan teachings, because they refuse to test the spirits (1 Jn. 4:1) when is needed the most in these times of apostasy. See a litmus test to try the spirits here.

2. Eastern (& Kabbalistic) meditation focuses on self: I, I, I & me, me, me. It centers in self, in our emotions, our breathing, our physical feelings, our selfish desires, etc.

-Biblical meditation takes our focus off our problems & off of ourselves, but places our focus on Jesus Christ & builds our faith by waiting on His promises, because we put our trust in Him.

3. Eastern (& Kabbalistic) Meditation tries to attain a higher spiritual level by achieving oneness with their god.

-Oneness with God or ‘Mystical union‘ is not taught in the Scriptures, but we can find its origins in Neo-Platonism, Kabbalah, & Gnosticism.

4. Eastern (& Kabbalistic) meditation empties the mind to bypass reasoning. In eastern-style meditation (and in contemplative prayer) thoughts are the enemy.

-Biblical meditation on the contrary fills our mind with God’s Word, we ponder, think in His ways & His Goodness, it builds our spirit with faith.

5. Eastern (& Kabbalistic) meditation practices the ‘Discipline of Silence“. But none of the Hebrew (or Greek G3191 ) words in the Bible for ‘Meditation‘ mean silence of sounds, words or mind, but all the contrary.

I have found several web pages that are trying to teach Christians “How to practice the Discipline of Silence” or have posts questioning if meditation is Biblical, etc., when in reality they are not genuine & are just trying to deceive them, using the same techniques as Eastern meditation but wrapped up in Christian terminology, endorsing authors & material that promotes unbiblical meditation. Most of the time these web sites will recommend Catholic mystics (& other mystics), their videos & books on meditation as a ‘Christian‘ alternative! But Catholic meditation is just a copy of Eastern Meditation or is Kabbalistic Meditation!

What is not understood by contemplatives is that:

1. Christian contemplative prayers and meditation are identical with Eastern mantras and Eastern meditation;

2. When Eastern meditation is practiced, and “silence” is achieved, it produces an altered state of mind;

3. Eastern meditative techniques, even if applied as “Christian” and called “contemplative prayer” etc., begin to change the meditators spiritual outlook. The practitioner’s altered state justifies any anti-biblical reasoning. . . .

Because demonic realms are entered during the contemplative silence, over time meditators lose their confidence in God’s Word. . . . Thus, this form of meditation has become one of Satan’s greatest tools of deception, leading people away from Christ and toward a lie.  – Caryl Matrisciana, Out of India, pp. 176-178.

-One Bible verse they often used to teach silence is :

“Be still (H7503), and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth“. Psalms 46:10

In English the word to be still means to be quiet or not to move, but the word used in the Hebrew & the Bible context is to let go of our fears, to rest in the understanding that ‘God is our  refuge’ in times of trouble. The chapter starts and ends with that affirmation, but it got nothing to do with meditation methods, contemplative prayer or to be silent!

The most dangerous part of Eastern meditation & Kabbalistic Meditation or any meditation that is not biblical, is that opens doors to the demonic realm. I know this may sound harsh to some of you, but I have heard this over & over from many people that used to practice meditation & came out of it. At one point they start hearing voices, etc. that with in a short time start harassing them.

Next video is from a former New Ager, ex-meditation teacher that came to the Lord about 3 years ago. At the beginning of this video he presents a well known secular meditation teacher, who is explaining in his own words, the not so good side of meditation, that many of us never hear about.

                                                                 Dangers of unbiblical Meditation

You can read more side effects of unbiblical meditation on Mystic Teresa de Avila, Pt.1- Pt.3.

Related Articles:

Big Noise God – Dispelling the Rumor that God Can Be Found “Only in the Silence”

LECTIO DIVINA – What it is, What it is not, and Should Christians Practice it?

R. Zacharias, What Part of Contemplative Prayer Don’t You Understand?

The Law of Attraction – Debunked  Bible verses at min 00:20 up (Taught by Word of Faith & New Apostolic Reformation movement).

The LAW OF ATTRACTION is taught in Kabbalah, to manifest personal desires, it places the human being in the center of the universe, pulling all the strings, creating their own FAKE reality. The law of attraction is also called ‘The Secret’, which talks about a universal intelligence or ‘Universe’ that responds to our desires and positive visualizations. But we Christians should not imitate unbelievers. See more here.