Can WCCM act as an international association ? - read yourself ...

Letter to the Vatican about The World Community for Christian Meditation (WCCM)

Cardinal Prefect

His Excellency William Joseph Levada

CONGREGATION FOR THE DOCTRINE OF THE FAITH

Palace of the Holy Office

Vatican City

London, 28 April 2011

His Excellence William Joseph Levada

We are writing to you with a question regarding the alarming spread of so called “Christian Meditation” promoted by The World Community for Christian Meditation (WCCM) and its director Fr Laurence Freeman, OSB.

We encountered the WCCM for the first time during the Lenten Talk at the Our Lady of Victories, London Parish in March 2011. During the series of talks run by Fr Freeman, Stefan Reynolds and Kim Nataraja introduced parishioners to the style of prayer closer to the Centering Prayer than Christian meditation itself.

In fact, Kim Nataraja when questioned how different it was from the centering prayer, admitted that quote “they are like brothers, very similar”. When we expressed our concern to the Parish priest, Monsignor James Curry, by letter – his response was very vague, suggesting we should attend more of those talks for a better understanding. He did invite us for a clarification talk but never responded to our proposal to meet. Hence, left in limbo, we raise our serious concerns.

The WCCM is very active in spreading the so-called “Christian Meditation” (please see attached the copy of Retreat Booklet for 2011) and enters now the domain of mental health. Quote “A seminar on meditation and mental health, drawing together speakers from different religious traditions and contemporary psychology will take place in London on 4 - 5 May 2011. This seminar will look at how the spiritual dimension and meditation in particular, can offer a new and stimulating perspective on this topic. There will be a range of presentations – talks, discussions and interactive workshops. Speakers and workshop leaders include: Fr Laurence Freeman OSB, Director of The World Community for Christian Meditation; Revd Christopher MacKenna, Director of St Marylebone Healing and Counselling Centre; Revd Carol Morrison, Curate with a special interest in mental health and Christian spirituality; Lama Yeshe Losal Rinpoche, Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism and Abbot of Samye Ling Monastery; Dr Norman Rosenthal, Psychiatrist, researcher, author and discoverer of seasonal affective disorder (SAD) syndrome; Don Boyle, Social Inclusion and Employment Co-ordinator of NHS Foundation Trust and others.”[1]

Fr Freeman has recently started a new initiative called Meditatio. Quote: “This is the outreach and sharing of the fruits of meditation with the wider world and with the problems and crises of our times. The three-year programme includes a series of seminars and workshops on the themes of Education, Business and Finance, Mental Health, the Environment, Inter-Religious Dialogue and Citizenship.”

All that is very alarming and confusing to many devout Catholics that are in search of God’s presence in daily life.

“The Letter to the Bishops of the Catholic Church on some aspects of Christian Meditation” says: Christian prayer is not an exercise in (…) stillness and self-emptying, but a dialogue of love, one which “implies an attitude of conversion, a flight from 'self' to the 'You' of God”. It leads to an increasingly complete surrender to God's will, whereby we are invited to a deep, genuine solidarity with our brothers and sisters.”

While Fr Freeman (WCCM) tells us in his introduction that “Meditation is the way of self knowledge, prayer in silence, letting go. Prayer is not about getting benefits from God but becoming like god. Capacity of letting go everything, receiving, humbly and simply. Not to acquire but to let go. All forms of prayer converge in the hub of a wheel of prayer. In the center of prayer we enter into the prayer of Jesus (Christ prays in you).[2]
His constantly refers to John Cassian and Desert Fathers and Mothers as well as to the mysterious book “The Cloud of Unknowing” (the base for the Centering Prayer as thought by Father William Meninger, Thomas Keating and Basil Pennington). He constantly repeats “let go” and quotes Jesus saying “Be still know that I am God”). He proposes to meditate on the world “Maranatha” which is another wonder why specifically that word (even though it means “Lord Come”, why specifically that one should be used ?).

More importantly, as the Letter to the Bishops of the Catholic Church on some aspects of Christian Meditation from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith states in paragraph 23: “Genuine Christian mysticism has nothing to do with technique: it is always a gift of God, and the one who benefits from it knows himself to be unworthy (cf St. Teresa of Jesus, Castillo Interior IV)”. St Teresa of Avila also tells us in The Interior Castle that more harm than good can from trying to stop the mind, but we should rather without any effort or noise, strive to cut down the rambling of the intellect – but not suspend either it or the mind; it is good to be aware that one is in God’s presence and of who God is when in prayer. Also, one can't use technique as a substitute for spiritual growth to suddenly arrive at "contemplation" or Unitio. One may "blank" one’s mind or use a mantra to somehow hypnotize oneself, but this will bring an empty calmness more akin to transcendental meditation than any true contemplation. Let us not forget what the Great Pope John Paul II reminded us that St Teresa opposed the books of her day which presented  contemplation as thinking about nothing or an assimilation into some vague divinity.

We would be so grateful for your reflection and guidance regarding the mentioned community and the type of prayer they are proposing.

With our prayers

Que le Dieu vous benisse

Cc:

Ø  Vincent Gerard Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster, president of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales

Archbishop’s House, Ambrosden Avenue, London SW1P 1QJ

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[1] For full details: http://www.wccmmeditatio.org/Events.html

[2] The talk was recorded, this is a transcript from the video recording that can be sent if requested.

Swami Vivekananda - first yoga ambassador in the West

Swami Vivekananda was the disciple of Ramakrishna Paramahansa. He founded the Ramakrishna mission to spread the teachings of his Guru throughout the world. One of the most famous and influential spiritual leaders of India, he sought to promote the philosophies of Vedanta and Yoga. Swami Vivekananda was the first spiritual leader of India who introduced Hinduism, Yoga and Vedanta at the World's Parliament of Religions. Swami Vivekananda's Speeches

The World Parliament of Religions, Chicago

CONCLUDING ADDRESS - Chicago, Sept 27, 1893

The World's Parliament of Religions has become an accomplished fact, and the merciful Father has helped those who laboured to bring it into existence, and crowned with success their most unselfish labour. My thanks to those noble souls whose large hearts and love of truth first dreamed this wonderful dream and then realized it. My thanks to the shower of liberal sentiments that has overflowed this platform. My thanks to this enlightened audience for their uniform kindness to me and for their appreciation of every thought that tends to smooth the friction of religions. A few jarring notes were heard from time to time in this harmony. My special thanks to them, for they have, by their striking contrast, made general harmony the sweeter.
Much has been said of the common ground of religious unity. I am not going just now to venture my own theory. But if any one here hopes that this unity will come by the triumph of any one of the religions and the destruction of the others, to him I say, "Brother, yours is an impossible hope." Do I wish that the Christian would become Hindu? God forbid. Do I wish that the Hindu or Buddhist would become Christian? God forbid.
The seed is put in the ground, and earth and air and water are placed around it. Does the seed become the earth, or the air, or the water? No. It becomes a plant. It develops after the law of its own growth, assimilates the air, the earth, and the water, converts them into plant substance, and grows into a plant.
Similar is the case with religion. The Christian is not to become a Hindu or a Buddhist, nor a Hindu or a Buddhist to become a Christian. But each must assimilate the spirit of the others and yet preserve his individuality and grow according to his own law of growth.
If the Parliament of Religions has shown anything to the world, it is this: It has proved to the world that holiness, purity and charity are not the exclusive possessions of any church in the world, and that every system has produced men and women of the most exalted character. In the face of this evidence, if anybody dreams of the exclusive survival of his own religion and the destruction of the others, I pity him from the bottom of my heart, and point out to him that upon the banner of every religion will soon be written in spite of resistance: "Help and not fight," "Assimilation and not Destruction," "Harmony and Peace and not Dissension."

New Age in Christianity

Ray Yunger in his very enlightening yet succinct book about the New Age entitled “For Many Shall Come in My Name” in one of its chapters explains how New Age is entering the mainstream religions. He says that “one of the main reasons many Christian pastors fail to take the New Age movement seriously is because they are not adept at effectively measuring its real strength. They are accustomed to assessing the prestige and influence of a spiritual movement by its number of churches, attendance records, or TV and radio programmes. Since they do not see New Age churches on every corner, they tend to discount any cause for alarm.”

However mantras and breathing techniques, identical to those of the New Age are entering Catholic and Protestant churches. For example centering prayers are flourishing in mainstream religions today. Being simply called as ‘ancient prayers’ they employ mantra (called the prayer word) that allows one to empty the mind by chanting Jesus. God, love rather than Krishna or om. Many are being taught that centering prayer is the most direct route to God. 

What is happening to mainstream denominations to be so open to meditative and holistic practices? They are trying to fill the void, the spiritual vacuum. Marcus Borg, professor and author of many widely read books (“The God we never knew”, “The heart of Christianity”) represents the mainstream for millions of people in liberal churches. But his spiritual platform is pure New Age as he makes it clear when he expounds: “The sacred is not “somewhere else” spatially distant from us. Rather, we live within God … God has always been in relationship to us, journeying with us, and yearning to be known by us.” (e.i. God is everything and each person is a receptacle of the Divine, which is accessed through meditation). 

What is happening to mainstream Christianity is the same thing that is happening to business, health, education, counselling and other areas of society? It ultimately leads point sot a global religion based on meditation and mystical experience.  New Age writer David Spangler explains it in the following way:

“There will be several religions and spiritual disciplines as there are today, each serving different sensibilities and affinities, each enriched by and enriching the particular cultural soil in which it is rooted. However, there will be a planetary spirituality that will celebrate the sacredness of the whole humanity in appropriate festivals, rituals, and sacraments. There will be a more widespread understanding and experience of the holistic nature of reality, resulting in a shared outlook that today would be called mystical. Mysticism has always overflowed the bounds of particular religious traditions, and in the new word this would be even truer.”

Episcopal priest and New Age leader Matthew Fox explains what he calls “deep ecumenism”:

“Without mysticism there will be no “deep ecumenism”, no unleashing of the power of wisdom from all the world’s religious traditions. Without this I am convinced there will never be global peace or justice since the human race needs spiritual depths and disciplines, celebrations and rituals, to awaken its better selves. The promise of ecumenism, the coming together of religions, has been thwarted because world religions have not been relating at the level of mysticism.” Fox believes that all world religions will eventually be bound together by the “Cosmic Christ” principle, which is another terms for higher self. 

New Age insider Marilyn Ferguson has written a book chronicling the movement's goals and activities. The title The Aquarian Conspiracy may suggest to a casual observer that New Agers are highly organized in their efforts to dominate culture and replace both secularism and traditional religion. But Ferguson and others would deny that the whole movement is being controlled by a few human leaders. In fact, a few New Age writers like Alice Bailey and Benjamin Creme refer to a hierarchy of spirit beings--not humans--who are coordinating all the activities on earth, and who will one day manifest themselves in bodily form to the world. 
Robert Muller, Former Assistant Secretary General to the UN, has been on a specific and premeditated course to unite the world's religions. In his 1982 book, New Genesis: Shaping a Global Spirituality, Muller did not hide his agenda. Muller is hopeful that his vision of one religion bringing "world peace," will be the next step in human evolution - it's what he calls "Paradise Earth" but this is a humanist, God-denying 'paradise,' with a 'religion' which allows people to tap into the 'spirituality within themselves' - since most of these people do not believe in a literal Satan, they have no idea what a warm invitation they are effectively extending to him! Muller writes:  "Human history so far has been the history of a primitive race," he says. "Only now, with planet-wide knowledge and consciousness, have we entered the real challenge to our species: the good management of our earth. The real history of the world is only beginning." Muller also states: "Within 15 years we will have a proper government and administration of planet earth and of humanity. Why? Because the current troubles, injustices, wastes and colossal duplications of national expenditures - especially on armaments and the military - will force us to. It is inevitable. The salvation of this planet and survival of the human species depend on it. No one can for long go against evolution. Nation-states must adapt or they will disintegrate, even the biggest ones."

Madonna Black Mass performance in her TOUR 2012

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Heythrop College - New Age incubator

Today I won't name a long list of Heythrop College (ex Maria Assumpta Centre) connections to the New Age. I will just concentrate on the latest one: the forthcoming "Sacred Foundations and Cosmograms" conference that will take place on 3-4 December 2011, organized as  "Gatekeeper Conference 2011".

First question: is Heythrop College Catholic ?
- Founded 1614 in Louvain (Belgium) for the education of English Jesuits.

- In 1926 the two faculties were reunited in a single campus at Heythrop in Oxfordshire.

- In the mid-1960s began admitting non-Jesuit staff and students.

It says on their website: Since 1970, it has been a College of the University of London, while retaining a modern Catholic ethos, and offers an educational experience that respects all faiths and perspectives.

Well. I guess the key word here is 'modern Catholic' ...

Second question is: how New Age is the conference

The answer is: VERY much!

To start with, its organized by the Gatekeeper Trust.

The Gatekeeper Trust was established, among others by Sir George Lowthian Trevelyan – who was also involved in the establishment of the Fildhorn Foundation and is called a father of the New Age Movement. 

He said:
"We are talking about the emergence of a different world view in our time. This is a phenomenon that is happening during your generation. It's the most curious, the most extraordinary thing. This is not somebody's thought out idea; this is not an intellectually conceived hope of improving society or anything like that. Something extraordinary is actually happening inside our thinking. There has really been a turn-about in the centre of human consciousness."

"We are co-creators of that which truly is the Body of Christ. This is the New Jerusalem. And the change of consciousness could come ‘in the twinkling of an eye’.

Right: different world view, co-creators, change of consciousness ...
doesn't that that not sound New Age enough ?

The speaker - Peter Dawkins - is also a founder member of Gatekeepers Trust as well as English founder of the Francis Bacon Research Trust. Since 1978 he has written on the Baconian-Rosicrucian philosophies and "Ancient Wisdom" teaching (Rosicrucianism is a philosophical secret society, said to have been founded in late medieval Germany by Christian Rosenkreuz. It holds a doctrine or theology "built on esoteric truths of the ancient past", which, "concealed from the average man, provide insight into nature, the physical universe and the spiritual realm). 

He is the Founder-Director of the Zoence Academy which runs a training course in Zoence (a Western equivalent of the Chinese feng shui).

I don't really know what there is that is Catholic in his biography. New Age full power. 

Then we have a list of speakers:

- Anthony Thorley (landscape zodiacs as sacred spaces)

- Marko Pogacnik (Earth healing work by 'Lithopuncture')

- Helen Raphael Sands (a journey through the elements)

- Louise Coe (feng shui consultant and inner alignment practitioner)
- Lucy Wyatt (trustee of Gatekeepers)

I am sorry, but I think I missed God in any of the speakers' descriptions ... I mean Jesus Christ, not the universe....

And all that under the umbrella of 2012 and Olympic Games ... One more thing - for New Agers the date 2012 is significant, they expect some planetary illumination and get so excited with the Olympics and they don't take it as a coincidence ...

So, back to the Catholic Heythrop College - still educating priests, nuns and catechists .... don't be surprise to see what you see afterwards in your parishes and communities ...
Back to the Gatekeeper conference, I wonder why they use the name of Maria Assumpta centre even though the building was sold to to current Heytrhrop College and has nothing to do witj Maria Assumpta ? I am sure they love it, it add nice Catholic credentials to those who dont know much about New Age Movement.


Please write to the College asking them to stop inviting those people or to change the name to New Age College ...

Oath Against Modernism

On September 1, 1910 St. Pope Pius X issued Motu Proprio a document called Sacrorum Antistitum in which he provided the Church with an 'Oath Against Modernism'. Previously Pius X had defined Modernism as a heresy in his encyclicals Pascendi Dominici gregis of 1907, and Lamentabili Sane. The oath continued to be taken until July 1967 when the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith rescinded it.
It is, however, still taken before priestly ordination by some clergy voluntarily and by certain confraternities
He explains what he is about in the first paragraph:

It seems to Us that it has not been ignored by none of the holy Bishops [Sacrorum Antistitum] that the class of men, the modernists, whose personality was described in the encyclical letter Pascendi dominici gregis, have not refrained from working in order to disturb the peace of the Church. They have not ceased to attract followers, either, by forming a clandestine group; by these means, they inject in the very veins of the Christian Republic the virus of their doctrine, by editing books and publishing articles in anonymity or with pseudonyms. By reading anew Our aforementioned letter, and considering it carefully, it is clearly seen that this deliberate movement is the work of the men that we described in it, enemies that are the more dangerous the closer they are; that abuse their ministry by offering poisoned nourishment and by surprising the less cautious; by handing a false doctrine in which the sum of all errors is enclosed. …

THE OATH AGAINST MODERNISM

Given by His Holiness St. Pius X September 1, 1910.

To be sworn to by all clergy, pastors, confessors, preachers, religious superiors, and professors in philosophical-theological seminaries.

I . . . . firmly embrace and accept each and every definition that has been set forth and declared by the unerring teaching authority of the Church, especially those principal truths which are directly opposed to the errors of this day. And first of all, I profess that God, the origin and end of all things, can be known with certainty by the natural light of reason from the created world (see Rom. 1:90), that is, from the visible works of creation, as a cause from its effects, and that, therefore, his existence can also be demonstrated: Secondly, I accept and acknowledge the external proofs of revelation, that is, divine acts and especially miracles and prophecies as the surest signs of the divine origin of the Christian religion and I hold that these same proofs are well adapted to the understanding of all eras and all men, even of this time. Thirdly, I believe with equally firm faith that the Church, the guardian and teacher of the revealed word, was personally instituted by the real and historical Christ when he lived among us, and that the Church was built upon Peter, the prince of the apostolic hierarchy, and his successors for the duration of time. Fourthly, I sincerely hold that the doctrine of faith was handed down to us from the apostles through the orthodox Fathers in exactly the same meaning and always in the same purport. Therefore, I entirely reject the heretical' misrepresentation that dogmas evolve and change from one meaning to another different from the one which the Church held previously. I also condemn every error according to which, in place of the divine deposit which has been given to the spouse of Christ to be carefully guarded by her, there is put a philosophical figment or product of a human conscience that has gradually been developed by human effort and will continue to develop indefinitely. Fifthly, I hold with certainty and sincerely confess that faith is not a blind sentiment of religion welling up from the depths of the subconscious under the impulse of the heart and the motion of a will trained to morality; but faith is a genuine assent of the intellect to truth received by hearing from an external source. By this assent, because of the authority of the supremely truthful God, we believe to be true that which has been revealed and attested to by a personal God, our creator and lord.

Furthermore, with due reverence, I submit and adhere with my whole heart to the condemnations, declarations, and all the prescripts contained in the encyclical Pascendi and in the decree Lamentabili, especially those concerning what is known as the history of dogmas. I also reject the error of those who say that the faith held by the Church can contradict history, and that Catholic dogmas, in the sense in which they are now understood, are irreconcilable with a more realistic view of the origins of the Christian religion. I also condemn and reject the opinion of those who say that a well-educated Christian assumes a dual personality-that of a believer and at the same time of a historian, as if it were permissible for a historian to hold things that contradict the faith of the believer, or to establish premises which, provided there be no direct denial of dogmas, would lead to the conclusion that dogmas are either false or doubtful. Likewise, I reject that method of judging and interpreting Sacred Scripture which, departing from the tradition of the Church, the analogy of faith, and the norms of the Apostolic See, embraces the misrepresentations of the rationalists and with no prudence or restraint adopts textual criticism as the one and supreme norm. Furthermore, I reject the opinion of those who hold that a professor lecturing or writing on a historico-theological subject should first put aside any preconceived opinion about the supernatural origin of Catholic tradition or about the divine promise of help to preserve all revealed truth forever; and that they should then interpret the writings of each of the Fathers solely by scientific principles, excluding all sacred authority, and with the same liberty of judgment that is common in the investigation of all ordinary historical documents.

Finally, I declare that I am completely opposed to the error of the modernists who hold that there is nothing divine in sacred tradition; or what is far worse, say that there is, but in a pantheistic sense, with the result that there would remain nothing but this plain simple fact-one to be put on a par with the ordinary facts of history-the fact, namely, that a group of men by their own labor, skill, and talent have continued through subsequent ages a school begun by Christ and his apostles. I firmly hold, then, and shall hold to my dying breath the belief of the Fathers in the charism of truth, which certainly is, was, and always will be in the succession of the episcopacy from the apostles. The purpose of this is, then, not that dogma may be tailored according to what seems better and more suited to the culture of each age; rather, that the absolute and immutable truth preached by the apostles from the beginning may never be believed to be different, may never be understood in any other way.

I promise that I shall keep all these articles faithfully, entirely, and sincerely, and guard them inviolate, in no way deviating from them in teaching or in any way in word or in writing. Thus I promise, this I swear, so help me God. . .

The following are the principal decrees or documents expressly directed against modernism.

• The pope's address on 17 April, 1907, to the newly-created cardinals. It is a résumé which anticipates the Encyclical "Pascendi".
• A letter from the Congregation of the Index of 29 April, 1907, to the Cardinal Archbishop of Milan with regard to the review "Il Rinnovamento". In it we find more concrete notions of the tendencies which the popes condemn. The letter even goes so far as to mention the names of Fogazzaro, Father Tyrrell, von Hügel and the Abbate Murri.
• Letters from Pius X, 6 May, 1907, to the archbishops and bishops and to the patrons of the Catholic Institute of Paris. It shows forth clearly the great and twofold care of Pius X for the restoration of sacred studies and Scholastic philosophy, and for the safeguarding of the clergy.
• The decree "Lamentabili" of the Holy Office, 3-4 July, 1907, condemning 65 distinct propositions.
• The injunction of the Holy Office, "Recentissimo", of 28 August, 1907, which with a view to remedying the evil, enjoins certain prescriptions upon bishops and superiors of religious orders.
• The Encyclical "Pascendi", of 8 September, 1907, of which we shall speak later on.
• Three letters of the Cardinal Secretary of State, of 2 and 10 October, and of 5 November, 1907, on the attendance of the clergy at secular universities, urging the execution of a general regulation of 1896 on this subject. The Encyclical had extended this regulation to the whole Church.
• The condemnation by the Cardinal-Vicar of Rome of the pamphlet "Il programma dei modernisti", and a decree of 29 October, 1907, declaring the excommunication of its authors, with special reservations.
• The decree Motu Proprio of 18 November, 1907, on the value of the decisions of the Biblical Commission, on the decree "Lamentabili", and on the Encyclical "Pascendi". These two documents are again confirmed and upheld by ecclesiastical penalties.
• The address at the (Consistory of 16 December, 1907.
• The decree of the Holy Office of 13 February, 1908, in condemnation of the two newspapers, "La Justice sociale" and "La Vie Catholique". Since then several condemnations of the books have appeared.
• The Encyclical "Editae" of 26 May, 1910, renewed the previous condemnations.
• Still stronger is the tone of the Motu Proprio "Sacrorum Antistitum", of 1 September, 1910, declared:
• by a decree of the Consistorial Congregations of 25 September, 1910. This Motu Proprio inveighs against modernist obstinacy and specious cunning. After having quoted the practical measures prescribed in the Encyclical "Pascendi", the pope urges their execution, and, at the same time, makes new directions concerning the formation of the clergy in the seminaries and religious houses. Candidates for higher orders, newly appointed confessors, preachers, parish priests, canons, the beneficed clergy, the bishop's staff, Lenten preachers, the officials of the Roman congregations, or tribunals, superiors and professors in religious congregations, all are obliged to swear according to a formula which reprobates the principal modernist tenets.
• The pope's letter to Prof. Decurtins on literary modernism.

The statue of Pope St. Pius X
in St. Peter's Basilica

Prayer to St. Joseph by Pope St. Pius X

Glorious St. Joseph, model of all who are devoted to labor, obtain for me the grace to work in the spirit of penance in expiation of my many sins; to work conscientiously by placing love of duty above my inclinations; to gratefully and joyously deem it an honor to employ and to develop by labor the gifts I have received from God, to work methodically, peacefully, and in moderation and patience, without ever shrinking from it through weariness or difficulty to work; above all, with purity of intention and unselfishness, having unceasingly before my eyes death and the account I have to render of time lost, talents unused, good not done, and vain complacency in success, so baneful to the work of God. All for Jesus, all for Mary, all to imitate thee, O patriarch St. Joseph! This shall be my motto for life and eternity.