This Priest is teaching Transcendental Meditation to homeless kids

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Has anyone on CAF seen this video or read any articles about this? Father Gabriel Mejia teaches Transcendental Meditation technique to street children of Columbia. He says it helps them become more at peace and capable of changing their lives.
What does the Catholic Church say about this?
Why doesn’t Father Gabriel Mejia teach the Rosary instead of TM?
Are there any priests, on CAF, who can comment on this?

This is the video trailer on Youtube
Saving the Disposable Ones - A David Lynch Foundation Documentary


This is an article
The Remarkable Story of Father Gabriel Mejia, the Transcendental Meditation Technique and the Street Children of Columbia
(http://lindaegenes.com/saving-the-d...-new-life-to-the-street-children-of-colombia/)http://lindaegenes.com/saving-the-d...-new-life-to-the-street-children-of-colombia/

I have my own observations about Father Gabriel’s work. What are your thoughts?
Any negative or positive comments on this?
 
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I do not know enough about Transcendental Meditation Technique or what Fr. is doing here. Sounds like it is an Eastern Religion technique. It doesnt look Catholic. Im guessing Father teaches the kids to meditate/contemplate on Jesus?

Why not teach mental prayer and contemplation as the Carmelites do.
 
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I remember reading about mental prayer and contemplation of the Carmelites, but, I don’t recall the details. I would have to review that.

I did take the Transcendental Meditation that Fr. Gabriel teaches. It is unique from the Rosary or other techniques that are used.

It is very simple and involves one word that you use as a mantra. You use this word for the rest of your life and it is secret, and chosen for each individual who practices the technique.

I still love the Rosary better than any eastern technique.
 
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This doesnt seem Catholic? are they even using a word that pertains to our faith?

The only Word I want to meditate on the rest of my life is “Jesus.”
 
Actually, the word they give, I think, is a sanskrit word and I have no idea what it means. I think my instructor accidentally gave away the meaning of my word. I believe it means flower. They said that the meaning of the word is not important and that it is the phonic (sound) of the word that is the key to the exercise. If you use the word Jesus or something that you are more familiar with then there would be too much analytical activity in the mind. The object of the technique is to get you to free yourself from the habit of the mental grip that we have on our thoughts.
The entire effect is impersonal or detached. A few good effects of the technique is that it lowers blood pressure, clears the mind, helps with peace, increases creativity, and helps to reach the subconscious mind. It is good for accessing the quantum field. “Quantum field”, is the old way of looking at this field of information that is eternal. The TM instructors call it something else. I, personally, call it the Holy Spirit.
 
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I too learned the TM technique and practiced a few years. I quit when they were trying to push levitation. They should have left well enough alone.
 
This group is world wide and they don’t try things like levitation. They are strict about how you use the technique. I have never heard them say anything outside of “keep the technique simple.” They say that is why the original technique, of the ancients, get lost. Everyone tries to improve upon the technique. They say don’t tamper with the technique they teach.
 
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These are not mutually exclusive. TM is not a substitute for prayer.
 
No one said it does. It was developed by an Indian physicist.
 
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In the article in the OP, there is not a single mention of Jesus, or even God.

One of the Pontifical Councils in Rome noted the following:
Many people are convinced that there is no harm in ‘borrowing’ from the wisdom of the East, but the example of Transcendental Meditation ™ should make Christians cautious about the prospect of committing themselves unknowingly to another religion (in this case, Hinduism), despite what TM’s promoters claim about its religious neutrality. There is no problem with learning how to meditate, but the object or content of the exercise clearly determines whether it relates to the God revealed by Jesus Christ, to some other revelation, or simply to the hidden depths of the self.
Click to expand...
http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/p...s/rc_pc_interelg_doc_20030203_new-age_en.html
 
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He is giving them education, clothes, and food. The priest says the meditation helps him with a gratitude for the eucharist. I have never seen the full video so, I am assuming that he teaches the foundations of the faith to the children.
 
I never got the impression that it was New Age. It gives a person a pathway in the mind similar to any other discipline of the mind like, mathematics, language, or art. You must agree we don’t know that much about the human brain and mind.
 
Genesis315 said:
One of the Pontifical Councils in Rome noted the following:
Click to expand...
I agree that it can be dangerous to follow some meditation from another religion. You have to be very careful and be well established in your Catholic faith. Pray for the gift of discernment and always be connected to Jesus and Mary in an intimate union. Always run back to mother church. If Fr. Gabriel is teaching the technique in some way that is embedded in the Catholic faith it may be a quick way to help the children stabilize their lives. Living on the street can be traumatic. Most people don’t have any idea what that is like as a child.

Is there a psychotherapist in CAF that can comment on that?
 
The way they teach TM is not a religion. They teach anyone. It would be, metaphorically, similar to having several ways to get to the same location on a city map, then someone comes along and shows you the fastest easiest route.
 
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