Cedric Fisher: "earnestly contending for the faith."

Is Your Fitness Watch Inducing New Age Paganism?

Apparently, Fitbit/Pebble, a popular fitness watch company, has decided to promote Hinduism. Recently I received an email from the company announcing a new app for my Blaze watch. The Message was as follows:

“Find a Sense of Calm: Relax with personalized guided breathing sessions.”

I followed the link provided, which led to a section on Fitbit’s website entitled, HOW CAN GUIDED BREATHING HELP ME FEEL RELAXED? There were a links provided, so I clicked on them.

The first one led me to the American Institute of Stress, which in my opinion is a New Age Religious organization masquerading as a medical website. On their home page were quotes by Viktor E. Frankl and Friedrich Nietzsche. In their Stress Management section, the picture of a woman meditating in Yoga position greeted me (see picture on left). There were repeated references to Yoga and other New Age forms of meditation.

The other link led me to the American Heath Association’s website entitled, “Meditation and Heart Health.” Featured in the article was Richard A. Stein, professor of medicine and director of the exercise and nutrition program at New York University’s Center for Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease. Dr. Stein encourages his patients to find local classes on meditation to get started. He mentions Tai Chi and Yoga.

The article goes on to describe the “benefits” of Transcendental Meditation.

“Transcendental meditation is a technique that allows your mind to focus inward, maintaining alertness to other thoughts or sensations without allowing them to interfere. It’s done seated with your eyes closed for 20 minutes, twice a day.

Mindful mediation may use sound or touch, for example the ringing of a bell, chanting, beads or a simple object to help the mind to focus. Relaxation response meditation uses a single word to focus on.”

That does not describe the experience with TM before I was delivered. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, an Indian guru, developed TM in 1957. One transcends cognition of material existence during meditation by chanting a mantra. You come back to reality by opening your eyes. It is not much different than other Eastern meditation practices, such as Contemplative Prayer and Yoga. The danger is an open invite to demon possession.

I contacted Fitbit/Pebble via their customer support chat. When the support person typed “Hi” and asked what I needed, I typed the following question.

“Hi, since there is now a Hindu app for my Blaze, I was wondering if there were any plans for a Christian app.”

Here was no response, so I typed, “The meditation app promotes Yoga, which is exclusive to the Hindu religion.”

There was still no response, so I typed; “I’m talking about the app with the guided breathing sessions. I followed the link you provided and it is about Yoga. Yoga is the practice of Hinduism.”[1]

The customer support representative never responded. Evidently, the individual did not believe that it was in his or her best interests to answer me.

On the Fitbit/Pebble website, I perused the section listing corporate board members. Adam Pellegrini, VP, Digital Health, is responsible for leading Fitbit’s integration into healthcare systems around the world. Thus, paganism will be introduced via Fitbit’s watches to possibly millions of unsuspecting individuals. It is another indication that society has reached the point that genuine Christians must be on continuously alert to the encroaching New Age paganism.

It is not just an invasion in the secular realm, but New Age practices (contemplative prayer) and secularism have made significant advancements into Christianity through individuals such as, Rick Warren, Bill Hybels, and Bob Buford. These individuals were heavily influenced by Peter Drucker, famed innovator accredited with incorporating New Age practices into business and management.[2]

Although the secular and religious sectors insist that there are better ways to find peace than genuine Christianity, it is not genuine peace. Instead, it is false peace that stems from deception and delusion. Transcendental Meditation, Yoga, Tai Chia, and all other pagan practices are Satan’s inventions to lure people away from God and true peace.

Anyone who introduces pagan practices into Christianity has in effect rejected God’s word and truth. Such deception is possible because people demand a stress-free existence. Just as drugs that induce “peace” do not solve the problems that cause stress, pagan practices cannot solve one’s spiritual problems. Only full surrender to God can do that. His word and Holy Spirit provides us all that we need to be victorious even in a world entrapped by New Age paganism.

Sadly, professing Christians whose religious experience is with anemic, ritualistic, or heresy-compromised Christianity are at risk. They are at risk from deception in books and movies (Jesus Calling, The Shack) that appeals to and manipulates the emotional system. They are enticed by deception that appeals to and manipulates the intellect. Other deceptions appealing directly to and manipulating humanity’s desire for spiritual fulfillment lures them. Amazingly, nominal professing Christians accept these deceptions, but refuse to pray, accept truth, and have a genuine and continuous experience with God.

The Bible does not promise that a Christian’s life is free from stress. God does not always deliver us from experiencing negative emotions and situations. However, the Holy Spirit teaches and enables us to go through them. He gives us the power to rise above it all. As a result, we become stronger and more aware of His presence. The danger of pagan practices is that one not only becomes spiritual weak, but deceived and unwittingly attracted to Satan via his devices. One of those devices may be a fitness watch.

References:

[1] “But using it [yoga] for physical practice is no good, of no use – just a lot of sweating, pushing, and heavy breathing for nothing. The spiritual aspect, which is beyond the physical is the purpose of yoga. When the nervous system is purified, when your mind rests in the atman [the Self], then you can experience the true greatness of yoga.” – Yoga Master Jois, Namarapa magazine, Fall 2014 issue, quoted on the Hindu American Foundation website.

[2] A Catalyst that Fostered a Movement: Thoughts on Bob Buford and Leadership Network.” – Ed Stetzer, Christianity Today, April 2014, online

 

7 Comments

  1. Ron DeMitchell

    Alass! We will have to separate from any and all churches that promote this. “Come out of her, My people, so that you will not participate in her sins and receive of her plagues; for her sins have piled up as high as heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities.” (Rev. 18:4,5). Let’s all pray that we will have the good sense to separate from all evil, no matter what guise it takes.

  2. Lydia

    Good post!

    Some added points:

    1. Only Jesus gives us true peace because He made peace with God for us through His work on the cross. When we receive that, we are filled with a peace that transcends understanding. We then have union with God; through the cross, reconciliation, fellowship, and the Holy Spirit indwelling us. Quite a contrast.

    2. These eastern ways are warned against in the Bible. Yoga is just one more flavor of them. It is hinduism and they believe that there are many gods and people can become god, are gods, or simply need to realize that they are ‘divine.’ (They also worship natural things like cows and let their dung fall in the streets and leave it there, breeding illness, not to mention cruel caste systems. Not good.) One way they claim to attain this is through yoga, the goal being to ‘self realize’ that they are ‘god.’ They are basically worshipping themselves. That phrase ‘namaste’ which they recite actually translates into ‘the god in me bows to the god in you.’ How much more pagan can it get for Christians to realize something is wrong?! Only the Lord is God. Like Elijah said, “if baal is god, then serve him, but if the Lord is God, then serve Him!” You cannot serve two masters.

    3. Any supposed ‘peace’ or other ‘benefits’ they receive are purely superficial. It is like the false peace the devil gives you; ‘don’t worry, peace, peace, all is well, just keep on sinning and don’t worry…!’ “Relax!” etc.

    4. I have seen people who practice these things and they start to take on a creepy appearance. That it can invite demon possession I totally believe and they open themselves up to these demonic influences. They get this retaliatory scowl that flashes across their face for example. There is a change in behavior too and it’s not good.

    5. As for an ‘aura’ of peace, they have anything but. They are short-fused, snappy, hostile, and anger easily when they don’t get their way. It is sort of an outburst of ego ‘how dare you be in my way!’ sort of attitude, or if someone cuts them off in traffic they come totally unglued. In contrast, I know the difference, when you have the Holy Spirit you have a true river of peace flowing out from within and nothing can quench it.

    6. There are physical dangers to it too, people have actually gotten injured doing those poses and stretches.

    So it’s not good for you spiritually or physically.
    Stay away from it.
    ( :

  3. Alec

    Very telling that the person on the chat line chose not to respond. No doubt you went far beyond what was written in their marketing script book.

    What is your opinion of more benign practices like progressive relaxation that are sometimes grouped under the large heading of “mindfulness”? As a Christian who suffers at times from panic attacks and anxiety, sometimes consciously relaxing myself is the only thing that will help.

    I share your concerns about TM, yoga, and creeping Hinduism (Buddhism).

    Alec

    • C.H. Fisher

      They contacted me via email and invited me to share my thoughts about a Christian app. However, they did not mention the other issues I raised in the chat support. I’ll give them some ideas for a Christian app and see how it goes.

  4. Ron DeMitchell

    Progressive relaxation sounds quite suspicious to me. Its association with mindfulness meditation is a red flag. Keep away from that too. If you keep having anxiety attacks, first bring that issue to the Lord and get into His Word. Read the book of James too. Find some other way to relax without the addition of mindfulness meditation. That’s the best advice I can give you.

    • Friend

      Very good advise, given in Christian love! Amen!

  5. Steve Unger

    I never really understood the danger of all this until I almost lost my son to suicide because of all the deception, mysticism and such masked as Christianity. It’s been about a 10 year battle; thank God my son is still reaching for his bible and he is still with us. We are still trying to unravel the web of lies. My wife and I no longer think this to be trivial, fringe or some thing that cannot touch us. Give the devil a crack, and he will kick the door down.

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