why western Youth attracted to Hindu teachings?

Raj · #1 (**permalink**) 05-13-2007, 10:23 AM

Hello friends

After seeing so many Western youths in India and Nepal in the Hindu pilgrimage and Ashrams, a question came to my mind, why these youths are attracted towards these gurus, asharams, meditations, and Yoga centeres?

Don't they have parents/Pastors or some one who care for them and teach them that this is not the way to life?

Pls share your thoughts...

Mayflower · #2 (**permalink**) 05-13-2007, 10:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Raj

Hello friends

After seeing so many Western youths in India and Nepal in the Hindu pilgrimage and Ashrams, a question came to my mind, why these youths are attracted towards these gurus, asharams, meditations, and Yoga centeres?

Don't they have parents/Pastors or some one who care for them and teach them that this is not the way to life?

Pls share your thoughts...

Before 10 years ago, when the Lord God by His grace opened my eyes for the Gospel and showed me my deep sinfulness, to flee to the Cross of the Lord Jesus Christ, i was like 4 years involved in the hare krsna movement (ISCKON). I grew up Roman Catholic, but i hath no knowledege at all concerning His Word (it was more tradition), and at that time i hath a lot of question concerning life, but the answers of the priest did not satisfied me at all. When i started to read the bhagavatic gita and the veda's, i was so impressed that this was a religion which was so old, and the deep devotion of these hare krsna devotees really impressed me, so i started to jion them for 4 years (did not live in the temple yet). The other thing was that bhata yoga was the highest and pure spiritual devotion that one could get for the redemption of his soul, to come out of the circle of reincarnation. But 11 years ago, by the mercy and grace of of Lord, He openend the total depravity, pridefullness and darkness of my soul, that i was one my way for eternal hell, and that there was no way at all to escape this or that i could redeem myself though a religious way (like bhayta yoga),and so the Lord made me as blind man see, and as a deaf person te heard the Gospel of free grace for a sinner like me. All boasting was taking away, and sinds that time (by God's grace) i became a new creation reconciled by the prescious blood of the Lamb, all the Glory for the Truine God!!!!!!!!

AV1611 · #3 (**permalink**) 05-13-2007, 11:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mayflower

i became a new creation reconciled by the prescious blood of the Lamb, all the Glory for the Truine God!!!!!!!!

Praise the Lord for that!!

Dagmire · #4 (**permalink**) 05-13-2007, 02:13 PM

Those teachings give the illusion of truth without actually containing any truth. Lies will always be more appealing to carnal man.

Puritan Sailor · #5 (**permalink**) 05-13-2007, 04:58 PM

I would also add that another ingredient to the attraction of eastern religions is that it attempts to fill in the spiritual void left in the wake of modernism. Modernism argues a completely material universe with all its ethical implications. Western folks raised in that instinctivley know there's more to the world than molecules, so they go for eastern spirituality, especially a spirituality which caters to their personal felt needs yet give them a sense of the transcendant.

Larry Hughes · #6 (**permalink**) 05-13-2007, 05:22 PM

Raj,

I would echo much of what Trevor and my other brothers have said here. I became a staunch atheist even to the point of getting the degree I received to this day (geologist). Although I never went over into the mystical side of things, I certainly would have/could have. My reasons were several and why I think youth are led this way today based upon my own journey:

1. Going “mystical” is the natural reaction to pure atheism. After a while atheism becomes dry due to its own logical conclusion. When you begin to contemplate your own mortality, you naturally say, “what’s the point” and then go looking elsewhere. Few atheist are true atheist like F. Nietzsche for very long. Mysticism is a natural ‘next step’ when the logical conclusion of atheism is realized.
2. The church in America has TOO long ignored her children and failed to raise them up in the faith. They, like me, in there youth were brought up only on trappings, what I call ‘cookies and kool aid’ teachings, mere vain moralism stories distilled from Holy writ and such. Over time this provides NO answers, so much like me, by the time you hit jr. high you begin to search out for truth. And secular teaching provides it and its not ‘cookies and cool aid’. By the time you hit college you are either a full blown atheist or a transitional agnostic.
3. The somewhat “tangible” mystical experience is also a natural replacement for no Word and Sacrament “to the person”. All of us want to know “where is God” for us and how do we know He is there for us. Thus, we either get THE God through Word and Sacrament and are fed or we begin to invent experiences inside and outside of the church. The link between eastern mysticism outside the church and experiential charismatic church inside the church is not incidental.
4. Some of it is dependant highly upon one’s own personality. Some are given over more easily to emotional experience and fall into it easily, I wasn’t. HOWEVER, that doesn’t leave people like myself (less emotional) immune. NOT AT ALL. IN fact our danger is trying to get away from ourselves, that very logicalness if you will and seeking an experience because we think that our “anti-experience or emotional ceneredness” is our problem. That leads us into all kinds of mystical movements thinking there lay the cure. I recall as a Christian, after 32 years of atheism, to so distance myself of my former self deception trying to “experience” much of the mystical deceptions found within the “church bucket”. But I could never “get past” my logical mind to have the experience. RC Sproul even talks of one time attempting to “get the gift of tongues”. It’s a danger any of us can fall into when we attempt to find God FOR US outside of the Word and Sacraments, that’s why its crucial to get Word and Sacrament right, for there is where God has given Himself, His name for us, Word and Sacrament. In lowly Word, water, bread and wine. IT looks like nothing but is where God’s name and promise is FOR US. That’s our sureness here and know while we await by faith alone. That is our manna and living water for us in this desert journey in the church among the desert of nations until the second coming of our Lord. IF we get that back in the church, then the youth will stop “seeking God”, which is to “not seek for God” in reality in other mystical things inside or outside the church doors…that is deceptions of the devil created both in and outside of the church. When the church no longer gives Christ, that is God, for you where He has promised himself to be given by proper teaching, then it is natural to seek after god, that is not seek God, that is invent an idol to run after thinking it God in something else.

I hope that helps some.

Blesssings,

Ldh

Semper Fidelis · #7 (**permalink**) 05-13-2007, 08:09 PM

I don't really think this is an "American modernist" attraction per se. Read Colossians and you'll see a historical attraction to mystical religion. It's in the nature of fallen men to be attracted to idolatry. I believe Calvin was correct to call men idol factories.

I was actually teaching on Ephesians and Colossians yesterday for Sunday School. I started talking in my quiet, soothing mock "spiritual voice" and uttering inane aphorisms that cause foolish people to think you're really deep. My wife started laughing and reminded me of the Sphinx in the movie Mystery Men.

All the super heroes in the movie have questionable powers (until the end). At one point, however, the Sphinx comes and rescues them from certain death (because the Disco brothers "cheat" and use guns). All the superheroes are overawed by the Sphinx because he's "...so mysterious..." and speaks in aphorisms that seem really deep. At one point, Captain Furious (Ben Stiller) has had enough:

(Everyone is sitting around sewing. Sphinx is supervising.)
Spleen: Who was looking for the pinking shears?
Invisible Boy: Oh, that was me.
Sphinx: Ah, yes. Work well on your new costumes, my friends.
For when you care for what is outside, what is inside cares for you!
Furious: You know, the clock is ticking here. Are we gonna sew
dresses all day or are we gonna rescue Amazing?..I need a thimble,
does anybody--
Sphinx: Patience, my son. To summon your power for the conflict
to come, you must first have power over that which conflicts you.
Furious: Okay, am I the only one who finds these sayings just a
little bit formulaic? "If you want to push something down, you have
to pull it up." "If you want to go left, you have to go right." It's--
Sphinx: Your temper is very quick, my friend. But until you learn to
master your rage--
Furious: Your rage will become your master? That's what you were
gonna say, right? Right?
Sphinx: ...Not necessarily.

Jerusalem Blade · #8 (**permalink**) 05-14-2007, 01:36 AM

The psychedelic drug culture (including the use of marijuana), which is still active in the West, propels souls into the psychic realms, and often leaves them hungering for more of this experience, which the Eastern religions seem to promise.

Larry Hughes · #9 (**permalink**) 05-15-2007, 09:57 AM

Raj,

On the most fundamental level we know that man does not seek after God. Now what that means is that man in no way seeks after THE God that is, though man may subjectively be seeking what he calls the God, even with a Christian name or idea in front of the name. The point is man does not seek after God in reality, either God finds us or we have NO God. The entire essence of the incarnation proves this as God became man. Something often missed in Romans 3 declaration that no man seeks after God is that CAN BE within the realm of church or Christian ideas, the “no man seeks after God”, is not limited to those outside of the “Christian bucket” per se (Paul’s entire point of including the Jews the OT church). God seeks us and as such we are merely on the receiving end of the kind of God that HE IS. We don’t seek Him even though we say we “seek God”. In a very real sense you cannot say “you seek God”, if you say that you are manifestly NOT seeking for God but an idol you call God. You cannot even seek God by reading Scripture, rather you receive Who He is. This is how close a man can come and yet NOT be seeking after God, from the very Scriptures themselves. As Jesus warns, “You search the scriptures and think that by them you have life, but it are these that continually testify of Me.” Seeking God, ironically we never find Him because in doing so we are actually seeking an idol and at the root of all idols is the self. Seeking God presupposes that you know enough of Who He is, but man cannot bridge that infinite gap. Thus, again to ask the question, “Do we seek God” is to ask the wrong question for that answer is always, “NO”, inside or outside of the church. The question is, “Does God seek after us?” And if so then we, again, are merely at the receiving end of the kind of God that He is. And He is revealed to us in Jesus to which NUMEROUS passages out of the lips of Jesus say He is the revelation of God that you may know. E.g. “Don’t you know Me Phillip, I and the Father are one, if you have seen Me you have seen the Father.”

It’s crucial to understand what “no one seeks after God” REALLY means because too often it is thought of as only applying to those outside of the church or before “conversion”. Make no mistake about it, you can “not seek after God” post conversion. We receive God, we don’t seek after him.

Now that having been said this thing with Western youths is not all that surprising. If you boil down ALL the ways man thinks he seeks after God they can be reduced to three, ALL of them. By way of mysticism, morality or wisdom. All of which are our working our way to heaven to “seek God” which is really NOT seeking after God but an idol. All or some mingled together are some effort on our part to “reach up” to heaven. But in doing so we are actually seeking the very opposite of God, self and even Satan, but we will call it with GREAT emotion and zeal, “I’m seeking after God”. The total full fallenness of man is SO radical that in trying to seek God by these ways, we actually are stupefied and refuse to recognize that when we do we are seeking self and Satan. We are so sure we are seeking after God. Yet, God is revealed or not had at all. This is why all men fundamentally deny Jesus Christ, and not just the name Jesus like outside of the church, but by preaching other Jesus’ within the church. Jesus the example (Muslims affirm this false Jesus as do Mormons) for example is another Jesus which is no Jesus at all and as such NO God at all.

So western youth seeking mystical pathways is not at all unusual. It’s just one of the three prime ways we seek after false gods, self and Satan thinking we are ‘seeking after the God’. Like Cain thinking he sought God he did not, even when God spoke to him, Cain didn’t get it.

Blessings,

Larry

Raj · #10 (**permalink**) 05-16-2007, 01:23 AM

Hello friends

The question was raised with "Why" and many of you came with good 'reasons'. Our discussion reveals that We know the reasons, why the youths are going to those gurus, ashrams, and yoga centers.

If we know:
-They are on the wrong way. And they can not redeem themselves from religious way like bhakti Yoga.
-God's word is not taught properly/aptly
- Our youth are searching for truth
-The Churh is not doing her duty to teach
- These gurus teaching are mere illusion and contain no solid truth in them.
- That spiritual void is appealing
-The Church is ignoring the children and not raising them in the faith.
- The Word and sacrament should be administred to represent God and his presence
-that they teach the deceptions of devil
- It is in the nature of fallen men to be attracted to idolatory.
-they go there to have marijuana and other drugs taste
-The youth get attracted to the dress and appreance of Sadhoos (Hindu pundits)
-
Then as good believers, parents, Pastors, and counsellors what is our duty and responsibilty?