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Archives Catholic author offers presentation at Immaculate Heart Central School
Speaker warns about New Age practices

June 8, 2016

By Kristina Dean
Staff writer

WATERTOWN - With humor and a sharp wit, Catholic author Susan Brinkmann addressed approximately 50 Brinkmanpeople at Immaculate High School May 13 regarding the dangers of New Age beliefs and practices.

According to Ms. Brinkmann, the bottom line is to beware of false prophets, to learn to discern and to protect oneself through prayer and acquisition of knowledge.

"New Age is nothing but false prophets,” she said. “They are wolves in sheep's clothing. Remember that by their fruits you will know them. Jesus is in a league all his own. Nobody can compare to him.”

Ms. Brinkmann’s discussion included information about yoga, Eastern meditation, reiki, acupuncture,mediums, the devil, the occult and many New Age "self-help" and motivational books.

The New Age movement doesn't recognize the presence of evil, she said, and often has the occult interwoven into many practices.

Self over divine
One of the main characteristics is the emphasis of the self over the divine. Other elements are pantheism, the belief everyone is divine, that we ourselves are the ultimate authority, that there is no good or evil, there is no need for grace, people can perfect themselves, and that Christ is another prophet and not the divine Son of God.

Other common beliefs of New Age are that plants and animals are equal to humans and that the universe has intelligence known only to the "enlightened," Ms. Brinkmann said.

"New Age is characterized by 'I decide what the truth is.' Grace is replaced by self-enlightenment," she said.
Calling it the human potential movement, she said there was a long list of self-help and motivational books and personalities that teach "you can make anything happen with your mind."

They use methods which are cult-like she said and likened some techniques to brainwashing. Some businesses and companies have built teamwork sessions in which can have eastern religious and world views.

"Is it bad to think positively, no, but when you say you are going to change reality with your mind, that's when you cross the line," she said.

Begin to question a program if it says the mind is God, if it claims to have secret knowledge, often through angels, guides or a channel, or if critical thinking is discouraged, she said.

Ms. Brinkmann also warned about anything that talks about achieving enlightenment, which uses eastern meditation to "enter into an altered state."

Altered states, including hypnosis, can open a person to the supernatural realm and contact with spirits who are really demons, she said.

Tactics to watch are a repeated mantra, certain body postures and movement, and blanking the mind, she said.
"The dangers cannot be overstated," she said. "Emptying the mind is not a dialogue with God. This is not prayer."

Controversial topic
The author also tackled the controversial topic of yoga which uses certain stretches and body postures based on Hindu gods.

Through yoga, Hindus aim to achieve total liberation from the human condition. The eight limbs or levels of yoga are how they ascend to enlightenment.

The religion encourages a chant sound to call forth pagan gods; it invites the gods in, she said. Some body positions are celebrations of the gods, and the poses reenact the stories of the Hindu deities and are a form of worship.

"The Hindus are very devoted to this,” she said. “They are a very peaceful people. Yoga is the center of their life."

Ms. Brinkmann stressed that yoga is not an exercise. "It's not just a motion,” she said. “It means something they believe in. They are very offended by what we've done. We've degraded it."

Hindus did not create yoga to stretch muscles and make people limber, she said.

Yoga often causes serious injuries as well, Ms. Brinkmann said, although this is not well publicized because it is a 27 billion dollar industry in the United States and is "too big to fail," she said.

Beware of reiki
Another practice to avoid is reiki, Ms. Brinkmann said. There are no medical standards for this practice, she said, and anyone can get a certificate to practice. It relies on a spirit guide who uses the practitioner as a channel.
Proponents for reiki claim that they heal with the Holy Spirit, Ms. Brinkmann said, but in reality "they could be calling anything down on you."

Ms. Brinkmann ended her discussion by warning about the devil and his powers of evil. He will use any means against us, she cautioned.

"He uses his incredible powers against us,” she said. “He has no power against God, so he goes after us. He is a liar, he uses deception and he hides behind everything.

“When a medium calls out, guess who answers? He is a diabolical entity who hates you. He doesn't care if you don't believe. This is why no one can dabble in the occult," she said.

God will never work through a medium, she said. He doesn't need a medium's help. So who is appearing? The demonic entities are behind it," she said.

After her presentation, Ms. Brinkmann answered audience questions.

She is the author of "Learn to Discern: Is it Christian or New Age?" (2008) and is the staff journalist for Women of Grace and  a frequent guest on EWTN's Women of Grace show with Johnette Benkovic.

Ms. Brinkmann is a member of the Third Order of Discalced Carmelites (secular) and also wrote The Kinsey Corruption (2004).

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