Why Christians Cannot Practice Transcendental Meditation

Before you think that this article is another stereotypical condemnation of Transcendental Meditation and other forms of East Asian meditation practices, I ask you to think again. Christians are not able to practice Transcendental Meditation not because it is immoral or because it opens you to the demonic, but rather due to the nature of what it means to be a Christian. Due to Baptism, Christians are brought into a relationship with the triune God, and this relationship is opened up through the gift of God's grace. 

style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica;">RALEIGH, NC - Through the sacraments, Christians enter into a new way of living because we are inserted into the on-going relationship between the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. This insertion is the foundation for Christian prayer. The trajectory of Christian maturation is bringing to our awareness the reality we have received in the sacraments. Thus, although a Christian may adopt certain techniques from Transcendental Meditation, the reality is that when a Christian adopts these techniques, they are doing something different than those who have not yet come to know the Lord. The essence of Christian prayer is our relationship with the Lord, and this relationship is always present to those who live in a state of grace.

That being said, we should also recognize the possibility that a baptized Christian is engaging in Transcendental Meditation as an explicit rejection of Christ. In that case, they are denying their identity in Christ, and such a practice would be the essence of personal sin, namely the rejection of God's love made possible in Jesus Christ. In certain sense, such a person would be working against the activity of the Holy Spirit, and this can be a gateway to more serious conditions such as demonic possession.

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