October 25, 2001 (David W. Cloud, Fundamental Baptist Information Service, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061, 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org) - Since the 1960s, a sanitized form of Hinduism has spread through North America and Europe, largely borrowing the Hindu philosophy that the concept of god is relative and takes many forms and that even man himself is god, and isolating this Hindu philosophy from the gross Hindu rituals that have historically accompanied it. The New Age and meditation movements are Hindu in their origin and philosophy.

But Hinduism in any form is gross idolatry. This is evident by observing Hinduism in its native abode such as in India and Nepal. During the largest Hindu festival, Deshain, which began October 17 and runs through the 27th, the most pagan practices imaginable are performed. Hindus heap elaborate worship upon lifeless gods made of stone and wood; they bow before them, pray to them, light candles to them, give offerings to them, carry them around in processions; family members are worshipped; animal sacrifices are made to automobiles; and many other like things.

While living for many years in Kathmandu, Nepal, I often observed the sacrifices made to the god Vishwakarma, the supposed god of creativity, on the ninth day of Deshain. They cut the jugular vein of a goat and pour the blood out upon private automobiles, taxis, tourist buses, and other things used to make a living, believing that the goddess Durga will protect them from accidents in the coming year. Every aspect of the Hindu's life is controlled by his religious rituals and the movement of the stars. Even something as seemingly innocent as the large swings that are erected in Nepalese villages during Deshain, have a religious intent, being based upon the idea that if a person leaves the earth once a year, he will go to heaven when he dies.

The Beatles and other rock and rollers were in direct communion with demons when they popularized Hinduism to the hippy generation in the 1960s. In the summer of 1967, the four Beatles and other rock stars, including Brian Jones and Mike Jagger of the Rolling Stones, visited Guru Maharishi Mahesh Yogi during his trip to North Wales and listened to the teachings that he called the "Spiritual Regeneration Movement." This false teacher claimed to have a path of regeneration other than that of being born again through faith in Jesus Christ. Later the Beatles, along with Donovan, Mia Farrow, Beach Boy Mike Love, and others, visited the Maharishi's ashram on the banks of the River Ganges in India to study Transcendental Meditation. The Beatles soon split with the Maharishi. One reason was his suggestion that they turn over 25 percent of their income to his work. Another reason was they caught the Guru eating meat, which was not allowed to his disciples, and engaging in acts of immorality with female disciples. Lennon later composed a song about the Maharishi titled "Sexy Sadie."

Though he rejected the Maharishi, Lennon continued to believe in yoga till the end of this life. "If John's energy level and ambition were running high, a half hour or more of yoga was next on the agenda. . . . Outside of walking, yoga was the only exercise he ever did. But spiritual rather than physical reasons motivated him to continue meditating. . . . [He believed yoga could help him achieve his greatest ambition, which was] a state of spiritual perfection by following The Way of The Masters: Jesus, Buddha, Mohammed, Krishna and Gandhi. . . . John believed that if he meditated long and hard enough, he'd merge with God and acquire psychic powers, like clairvoyance and the ability to fly through the air. And he wanted those powers as badly as he wanted anything" (Robert Rosen, Nowhere Man, p. 18).

George Harrison has continued to follow Hinduism. Harrison admitted to Rolling Stone magazine that the drug LSD opened his mind to this pagan religion. "Although up until LSD, I never realized that there was anything beyond this state of consciousness. &Mac183; I think for me it was definitely LSD. The first time I took it, it just blew everything away. I had such an overwhelming feeling of well-being, that there was a God, and I could see him in every blade of grass" (Rolling Stone, Nov. 5 - Dec. 10, 1987, p. 48). The creator of LSD, Dr. Albert Hofman, also acknowledged that the hallucinogenic drug led him into Hindu meditation (Mark Spaulding, The Heartbeat of the Dragon, p. 75). He eventually purchased the Krishna Temple in London and financed the publication of the Krishna magazine. Harrison's song "My Sweet Lord" (1971), which he published the year following the breakup of the Beatles, is a song of praise to the Hindu god Krishna. It refers to the long process of achieving Nirvana through meditation and mysticism. It ends with the Hare Krishna chant. Harrison also sang about Krishna in his albums Living in the Material World (1973) and Dark Horse (1974). Living in the Material World had the lyrics: "I hope to get out of this place/ By the Lord Sri Krishna's grace/ My salvation from the material world." During his 1974 concerts in America, Harrison led audiences in the Hare Krishna mantra. In 1987, Harrison testified that Hinduism was still a part of his life. "I still believe the purpose of our life is to get God-realization. There's a science that goes with that, the science of self-realization. It's still very much a part of my life, but it's sort of very personal, very private" (People, Oct. 19, 1987, p. 64).

Yoko Ono believed the Hindu myth that a son born on his father's birthday inherits his soul when the father dies. Thus, they arranged to have their son, Sean, delivered by cesarean on Lennon's 35th birthday, October 9, 1975 (Gary Patterson, Hellhounds on Their Trail, p. 183). She "was convinced the baby would be a messiah who would one day change the world" (Geoffrey Giuliano, Lennon in America, p. 101).

The Beatles immensely aided in the promotion of one-world, Hindu-inspired, New Age thought. In 1967, for example, their song "All You Need Is Love" (referring not to the love of God through Jesus Christ or to love defined biblically, but to a vague humanistic "love") was broadcast to more than 150 million people via a television program called Our World.

After his wife Linda's death in 1999, Paul McCartney told the press that he was committed to "fate." He said: "The Beatles had an expression: something will happen. That's about as far as I get with philosophy. There's no point mapping out next year. Fate is much more magical" (Paul McCartney, USA Today, Oct. 15, 1999, p. 8E). This is a Hindu concept.

"What say I then? that the idol is any thing, or that which is offered in sacrifice to idols is any thing? But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God: and I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils. Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord's table, and of the table of devils" (1 Cor. 10:19-21).

"Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen" (1 John 5:21).