I remember asking an elder once, "What do you think about meditation?" He responded that we should not relax and open our minds, as opening our minds can let demons in. I thought that seemed like a odd response, and looked it up in the Watchtower, and sure enough he gave the societies views on meditation. Yet, there was always the struggle of using the world meditation in other forms. Elders would speak from the platform and say, "We should meditate on God's word, and thoughts from the Faithful Slave, " to always be prefaced with what was proper and improper meditation. Such a scary word for most Witnesses, as they really felt it might let the demons in. When I left the Witnesses, I wanted to explore the world of meditation and see it's benefits for myself. I wanted to see if it truly let in negative spirits and thinking, or if it was even really a connection to the spirit world.
My first stop in meditation, was through marital arts. As this is normally a common example of people who meditate. My instructor taught us some basic elements and soon I found books on the subject that taught even more. I found myself enjoying the quite time, the exploration of my thoughts and dreams. I studied deeply, the connection between brain wave activity and meditation, as it seemed interesting to unlocking the mind. Soon I even found a connection with meditation and the spirit world, whether it was a spirit world of beings or just a higher level of existence, is for others to decide. In any sense, I did and do feel a spirit world connection to meditation. At the same time, did I feel vulnerable to demons?
Demons were never something real to me. Evil is something you need to be open to seeing with your eyes, listen for with your ears and feel with your heart. Evil is reality, the physical, the harm man does to man, and the control man does to man to there own downfall. Looking for something invisible like demons, just means you ignore the real demons in man that is front of your face. So to say demons might get in, is not real to me. Meditation on life, hopes and desires. That is making sure you clean the demons out, you clean the evil of man out and focus on the positive of your own being. Demons are just another word for fear and negative control, not a spirit of the mythical Satan. With that said, meditation is not the opening of doors to demons. Fear, faults information and control to ones own detriment, is.
People will ask me at times, "How do you meditate?", "Is it all Buddhist like, and mystical?" Meditation has many forms, and some we do naturally and do not think of it. Most people see the Yoga master deep in meditation and think that is it. Yet for most people who practice it, it is often just a quite moment alone, a deep relaxation or even a moment of clarity before you fall in to deep sleep at the end of the day. Meditative states can become easier to achieve, with practice and can help in many ways. Perhaps you want to overcome depression, to become stronger as a person mentally, or you want to find your true desires and path in life. Mediation can help with this. Just don't fear demons, spirits and things your were told would harm you in this state. It will prevent you from achieving any positive outcomes.
So meditation, that evil evil word that the Witnesses used and danced around so many times. It was fun to see what they truly thought it was, and journey to its reality along my exit and see its true self. I pass on to people, all the time, the value of meditation and hope to release some of the fears that Witnesses have. Pick up a book on it, or better yet, a CD or tape you can listen too that will talk you through meditation. Light a candle, burn some incense and have a relaxing moment of clarity. Don't worry about those demons, there still in the Kingdom hall control their followers. The world is a far more interesting place, when you realize you have not even come close to opening all the right doors yet.