By Marcia Montenegro, Christian Answers for the New Age
This is an updated post on some New Age doctors that CANA has warned about in the past (see the many resources listed at the end). What I and others have observed over the years is that health care has become infected with New Age and occult practices that initially were seen as alien but have now mainstreamed. Some practices are outright energy healing, like Reiki, while others are based on belief in these energies but appear more conventional. Shamanism has come to the health field, both in the culture and in the church, and the doctors examined here are part of that influence.
The Doctors
One of these doctors is Dr. Mehmet Oz who admits he is a follower of Emmanuel Swedenborg, grandfather of the New Thought movement, which was foundational to the New Age as well as propping up much of the pseudo-scientific healing practices today.
Another doctor is Dr. Daniel Amen who promotes and teaches an esoteric Hindu mediation technique and what is known in Hinduism as tantric sex.
A third doctor is Mark Hyman who works with Deepak Chopra and embraced a form of non-medicine called Functional Medicine based on spiritual beliefs and pseudo-science.
There is also Dr. Mercola, promoter of New Age practices and his own supplements, follower of conspiracy theories, and slavish fan of a spirit that comes via a psychic-channeler.
The last one is Dr. Andrew Weil, a New Age enthusiast of psychotropic plants.
These doctors are New Agers or embrace and promote New Age concepts. There are many more, not to mention the non-medical practitioners such as chiropractors, the naturopaths, and “natural healers” who are rooted in New Age thinking.
From Dr. Amen to Hinduism
Dr. Amen, a professing Christian, recommends in his book, “Making a Good Brain Great,” a Hindu meditation called Kirtan Kriya. A New Age blog at https://tinyurl.com/bddk435f discusses this favorably, and in this short video at https://shorturl.at/hnmr9 a woman thanks Dr. Amen for Kirtan Kriya and she demonstrates it.
The Kirtan Kriya meditation is based on the five alleged “primal” sounds, sa-ta-na-ma-aa which are repeated over and over again in a sort of chant, at first aloud, then whispered and, finally, silently:
SA is birth, the beginning, infinity, the totality of everything that ever was, is, or will be.
TA is life, existence, and creativity which manifests from infinity.
NA is death, change, and the transformation of consciousness.
MA is rebirth, regeneration, and resurrection which allows us to consciously experience the joy of the infinite. (From blog at https://tinyurl.com/bddk435f).
This video provides evidence of the nature of this meditation; I do not recommend watching this beyond 4 minutes or so:
Such meditations are designed to induce altered states, making the mind more suggestible. The man in the video is a Sikh but is teaching Hindu beliefs.
Occult beliefs and purposes also undergird this meditation, with four fingers allegedly arousing within the meditator energies represented by the sun and the planets Jupiter, Saturn, and Mercury (astrology) correlating with those fingers.
Moreover, Dr. Amen partnered with “advanced certified Tantra educator” and trantric sex expert, T. J. Bartel, to produce a CD series, “Create More Passion Tonight.” Tantric sex is the use of kundalini energy in sexual relations. Tantric sex is a part of Hindu spiritual practice, it is not just physical. To engage in this is not only to pervert the use of the gift of sex, but it brings in a spiritual element alien to God. These ideas are also in Amen’s book, “The Brain In Love.”
There are numerous self-help books by Dr. Amen such as “Memory Rescue,” “Making Your Brain Great,” “You, Happier,” “The End of Mental Illness,” and even “Stone of Remembrance: Healing Scriptures for Your Mind, Body, and Soul.” The latter would certainly give Christians the impression that Amen bases his views and life on Scripture, which has been demonstrated to not be true.
The spate of self-help books (there are many more) is a sign of someone responding the self-help pulse of the nation. Self-help books are popular because people tend to want quick solutions and believe these authors, most of whom are New Thought, New Age, or have the Human Potential/psychological angle.
Enter Dr. Mercola
And now a warning on a New Age purveyor of pseudo-science and conspiracy theories and slavish follower of a psychic-channeler, Dr Mercola.
The Daniel Plan website has a video of Dr. Joseph Mercola, an osteopath who promotes his products on a huge website, talking about a breathing technique, which he got from New Age Dr. Andrew Weil (much more on Weil below). Due to his legal problems, Mercola closed down his website so that it is only accessible to paying subscribers.
I suspected Mercola for years as New Age because of his promotion of New Age practices and his embrace of conspiracy theories. He is deceptive and New Age (this goes for others such as Gregg Braden, Josh Axe, and Joe Dispenza, all of whom dispense New Age pseudo-science and all of whom CANA has warned about; please see links to CANA posts at the end). Mercola has promoted the occult healing practice, EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique), also called Tapping, on his website as well as the New Age fad of Grounding/Earthing.
Mercola’s description of this breathing exercise is on the Daniel Plan site: https://tinyurl.com/yyqvmwjd. Mercola’s reference to putting the tongue behind the teeth reminded me of what I learned as a New Ager on Hindu meditation. And sure enough, this technique does indicate Hindu origin and belief in manipulating an internal energy force. He got this from New Age doctor Dr. Andrew Weil.
Information has come out about Dr. Mercola’s long time consultations with a channeler-psychic who claims to channel a spirit called Bahlon. Mercola is captivated by what Bahlon tells him and wants his advice. The video reveals a very dark side of Mercola (which does not surprise me): https://tinyurl.com/r8zv4wnz
Also see these articles about Mercola and the psychic at https://tinyurl.com/5hzwpbc9 and https://tinyurl.com/5hzwpbc9.
First Let’s Talk Prana
On the website of the New Age publisher Sounds True, we find this information about Dr. Weil:
“To learn the art of healthy breathing, Dr. Weil turned to Eastern traditions, including yoga, which view the breath as a vital link to the prana, or energy of the universe. In easy-to-follow language, he explains the secret of breathwork’s power over your health, and its remarkable ability to influence —and even reprogram — the nervous system.” From https://tinyurl.com/y4ul3bpz
I have known ever since I was in the New Age that Dr. Weil is New Age. So let’s talk about prana.
>>Prana: The Divine Breath
The breathing techniques and exercises called Pranayama, Yoga Nidra, and other forms of it are not a physical practice like breathing exercises done by singers or swimmers. Breathing exercises based on Hindu beliefs in prana, the “divine breath of the universe” – a type of life force — are done to manipulate prana and invisible forces in the body which are a part of Hindu views of the non-physical “spiritual body,” concepts also found in the New Age and alternative “healing.”
These concepts are found in Yoga, Hindu meditation, Hindu and New Age breathing techniques, and other esoteric practices.
As yoga scholar George Feuerstein puts it:
“Prana is like a knife which he [the student of yoga] carefully employs to operate on his own mind, to cut out the malicious thoughts and feelings in order to pierce through to higher levels of consciousness.” (George Feuerstein and Jeanine Miller, The Essence of Yoga, [Rochester, VT: First Inner Traditions, 1998], 111).
Prana is “the cosmic breath” and “man has moved away from this original rhythm of the universe,” but pranayama “endeavors to restore the primal rhythm and cosmic harmony as manifested in man, the microcosm,” (Feuerstein, 26).
Iyengar, a revered Yoga teacher in India who helped to initiate the spread of Yoga in the U.S., advises that “if you can control the breath, you can control the mind,” but he also cautions that pranayama must be practiced cautiously because
“…it can make you or mar you. If your heart beat is uneven, fear sets in and death may be near at hand.” (B. K.S. Iyengar, The Tree of Yoga,[Boston: Shambhala, 1988], 128).
According to Iyengar, inhalation allows contact with the “cosmic breath” while exhalation expels toxins and is “the expulsion of ego,” the goal being to “reach a single mind” so that you are ready for meditation (Iyengar, 130). (This inhale-exhale that was adopted by the New Age seeped into the church in the form of breath prayers).
Why does this breathing “achieve high levels of health?” No basis is offered for that view, and that is because there is none! It is based on the spiritual principles of prana. Prana-based breathing exercises are common among followers of Hindu, New Age and occult practices.
Not only does Weil buy into prana, but he is a proponent of the use of psychoactive substances.
Dr. Andrew Weil and Psychedelics
Dr. Andrew Weil, known as an integrative physician (which means the use of pagan spirituality in medicine), explored the use of plants with psychedelic properties in the 1970s and has been a strong proponent of this. He terms this “natural.” As pointed out before in CANA posts, “natural” almost always means the use of New Age or pagan spiritual beliefs and rejection of researched fact-based treatments.
The description of Weil’s book, “The Marriage of the Sun and Moon,” states:
“Believing that the distinctions made between mind and body and self and non-self are unnatural separations, Weil explores the nature of the unconscious mind in its relation to ordinary consciousness.”
This book is about psychoactive “natural” substances, i.e., psychedelic plants. The “marriage” of the sun and moon is imagery from Hinduism as well as other non-Christian beliefs, often used to indicate a unity of opposites, which is a philosophy found in many pagan religions.
Weil is fully immersed in New Age beliefs, so to use breathing techniques recommended from Weil is foolish and to follow anyone who uses Weil as a source is foolish. The “natural” label also covers psychedelic drugs and Hindu breathing practices.
Dr. Oz, Mediums, and the Angels of Swedenborg
Dr. Oz has publicly acknowledged that he is a follower of Emmanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772), who is considered the grandfather of the New Thought Movement. Swedenborg, who outwardly adhered to Christianity, soon began to deny essentials of the faith after claiming messages from beings he considered to be good angels. This led him to found a “new Christianity,” and a church which still exists today. Helen Keller was a member of this church and Dr. Oz has stated his wife is a member (as well as being a Reiki master).
Dr. Oz has shown not only openness to but acceptance of mediums and psychics. He had medium Teresa Caputo on his show and commended her. On Jan. 17, 2014, psychic/medium and author Rebecca Rosen was a guest (<a>http://www.doctoroz.com/…/does-belief-angels-have-power…</a>). Rosen first gave Dr. Oz a reading, including information about a dead relative, with Dr. Oz verifying her information. She advised him to get in touch with his guides — his angels. The psychic/medium then went into the audience to give readings.
Dr. Oz asked Rosen how we get in touch with our angels and how do they help us. Rosen replied that you must trust your feelings: “If it feels like it’s divine, it probably is,” she told him and the audience.
The first step is prayer where you “ask the angels to come in.” Next is meditation where you quiet “the mind chatter” so that you can receive “divine guidance.” Lastly, “Trust yourself.” Trust divine guidance when something “pops into your head.” (Please note she used the ever-increasing popular Buddhist phrase for thinking, “mind chatter”). These are techniques psychics and New Agers use to receive information from beyond natural sources and to make the mind open for receiving it, or for contacting “guides.”
Dr. Oz has promoted energy healing on his TV program with a Reiki healer, and his wife is a Reiki master (see interview with Lisa Oz at https://tinyurl.com/y28xpc4t) . Dr. Oz recommends “energy medicine” and Reiki in this 1 min. 45 second clip at https://tinyurl.com/y3b46vz7.
Since Dr. Oz admits he is a follower of Emmanuel Swedenborg, the original angel whisperer, this is no surprise, but it is a danger signal that his advice should not be trusted. Sadly, he is in charge of a government health office.
Dr. Mark Hyman, Promoter of New Age
When we get to Dr. Mark Hyman, the news is no better. Dr. Hyman practices “Functional Medicine” which is just another, though more deceptive term, for “complementary, “integrative,” or other term for the use of spiritually based alternatives. The spirituality is usually disguised with big words that sound scienc-y and impressive. Most people are unaware of, or they don’t care about, the spiritual principles underlying the “alternatives.”
At a 2015 talk at the Univ. of MD School of Medicine Center for Integrative Medicine, Dr. Hyman referred to treating “mind, body, and spirit.” The spiritual aspect of this kind of “medicine” is very strong but it is not related to God. In the first 3 minutes of the talk, there were references to several Yoga practitioners being present and to a Qigong session which had just ended. Qigong is occultic, involving the manipulation of a life force, or life energy. (See CANA article on Chi).
More tellingly, Dr. Hyman speaks at New Age conferences like the Chopra Center, as well as others and often collaborates with Chopra. At one time, Hyman was highlighted on the Chopra Center website but now, as the founder of the UltraWellness Center has his own enterprise (Chopra’s is called the Center for Wellbeing; “wellness” is a New Age term). This is not something most doctors would be proud of, but for New Age doctors, it’s a win. Hyman’s willingness to be closely associated with Deepak Chopra should be warning enough just on its own.
The “functional” label is just another iteration of holistic-alternative-complementary-integrative, which means it includes concepts and treatments based on spiritual beliefs and traditions (Eastern, New Age, indigenous-shamanistic), with pseudoscience used to make it seem credible. I would not take my dog to a functional doctor (or vet, if they exist, and they probably do).
From Doctors to Shamans to Deception
Doctors like Dr. Amen, who endorses and practices an esoteric Hindu mediation, and Dr. Mercola, who promotes and teaches a New Age view of the body and “energy” via the sham New Age EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique, also called Tapping) and lately admits to consulting a channeler-psychic, pull people into dangerous waters. Rather than guiding people to health, this draws people to spiritual and health deception.
Since I first wrote on this, the practice of Tapping has mainstreamed, even being done and defended by Christians; new age views of energy, vibrations, and frequencies have become more accepted, and New Age concepts of the body are no longer viewed suspiciously. It is alarming to me to have watched the speed at which New Age deception has invaded the culture and the church. Getting the New Age in via the avenue of health, usually under the code term “Wellness,” has been a clever strategy on the part of the enemy because it worked.
Shamanism has arrived as a “holistic” and “natural” health practice. In actuality, shamanism is demonic sorcery. Sorcery is all about natural.
Christians can be deceived, as the New Testament warnings to early Christians and to Christians today attest. The New Age is fluid and subtle, using familiar terms but redefining their meanings, thus drawing people into a spiritually, as well as possibly a physically, dangerous realm. Remember that deception works because it appears helpful and beneficial.
“But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray.”
2 Corinthians 11:3
RESOURCES
*CANA Articles/Posts
Tapping
Gregg Braden
Joe Dispenza and Quantum Quackery
Josh Axe
Anthony William and His Angels
Put chi, breath, healing in search box at https://www.christiananswersnewage.com/ to see CANA articles on those topics
- Other Sources
Conference talk on The Daniel Plan from Janice Lyons of CINAM (Current Issues In Alternative Medicine) at 2015 EMNR Conference
“The Daniel Plan” by Marsha West
“Dr. Mercola: Visionary or Quack?” in The Chicago Magazine
*Critiques of Daniel Amen
Dr. Amen’s gimmicky controversial brain scan programs have no credible support. See https://tinyurl.com/yyguzykq
“Dr. Amen charges patients thousands of dollars to inject them with radioactive compounds and show them pretty colored pictures of their brains without any credible evidence that it adds to the diagnostic or treatment processes,” wrote Dr. Harriet Hall, a former Air Force flight surgeon and a prominent blogger on medical questions.” From https://tinyurl.com/tzfheq7
“SPECT imaging uses an injected radioisotope to measure blood flow in different areas of the brain. Amen is exposing patients to radiation and charging them big bucks because his personal experience has convinced him SPECT is useful. So far, he has failed to convince the rest of the scientific medical community.” See
Women of Grace on Dr. Amen
*Critiques of Dr. Oz (The following are just a few of numerous critiques)
“The Operator,” an in-depth perceptive look at Dr. Oz in The New Yorker
“Dr. Oz tried to make it seem as though doctors are afraid of the controversy, because it will result in professional criticism. He accused me (he spent a lot of time arguing against straw men of his own creation) of not wanting to discuss so-called alternative medicine, either professionally or with my patients.
Here is where being a skeptic who deals with a wide range of issues comes in handy. We get the same exact nonsense from believers in alien visitation, psychic phenomena, ghosts, or whatever – they naively and self-servingly assume that anyone who disagrees with them must be afraid of something. The reality is we are just interested in the truth. With respect to medicine, we want to do our professional due diligence to make sure that the treatments we recommend to our patients are based upon the best scientific evidence available.” From https://tinyurl.com/yyq3aal9
*Critiques of Mark Hyman and Andrew Weil
Dr. Mark Hyman and the New Age in Health Care
Evaluations/Critiques of Andrew Weil
“Andrew Weil, Shaman, M.D.”
Surprise, Surprise! Dr. Andrew Weil Doesn’t Like Evidence-Based
Medicine
Christian articles on Swedenborg
From CARM
From Watchman Fellowship
“Once you see Jesus as a teacher of enlightenment, faith changes its focus. You don’t need to have faith in the Messiah or his mission. Instead, you have faith in the vision of higher consciousness.” From “The Third Jesus” by Deepak Chopra (See CANA article on this book at https://tinyurl.com/3ww5dwsw
This post at https://tinyurl.com/2jzf5seu
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