The Atma Jyoti Blog

Q: I have read a lot of information on Christian websites about meditation and its ability to attract “demons” to you. How would you counter the Christian point of view?

First, this is not just a Christian viewpoint, it is the propoganda of ignorant bigots–including some sects in India, by the way. “The moment you sit for meditation you are opening yourself to evil entities,” said one adherent of an Indian sect to me in my beginning days of meditation. East and West has people who will try to tell meditators that they are in danger of either going insane or coming under the power of (or possessed) by evil spirits. It is simply not true. I do not bother to counter it–I meditate and prove it false.

However I will give you some examples: Many times the intoning of Om or other mantras that are used in meditation have exorcised evil spirits from people. Yogananda recommended intoning Om for this purpose, and Swami (Papa) Ramdas in his autobiography, In the Vision of God, tells of a woman being freed from an evil spirit simply by hearing singing of the Ram Mantra.

The most haunted house I ever encountered was the home of a young man who was attending one of my meditation classes. The place was filled with them, and the entire building emanated negative energies. I said nothing, but waited. Two weeks later I went back and the house was free of all negative entities and energies–and only because he was meditating thirty minutes twice a day. I told him my impressions and he replied that for nearly his entire lifetime he and his sister had been plagued by spirits in that house. But now all was peaceful and positive.

Related articles:

• Who or What is Satan?
• Avoid Becoming a “Humanimal”