Christian Ministry Leader Urges Prayer as Dalai Lama Visits Mayo Clinic
by Mary Rettig and Jenni Parker
April 7, 2006
(AgapePress) - - Olive Tree Ministries founder and director Jan Markell says the patients and staff at the famous Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, need a prayer of protection on April 17. She believes a guest who will soon be visiting the hospital may pose a greater danger to the patients than the illnesses that brought them there.Markell says she was informed by a supporter of her ministry that on that date in mid-April, the Tibetan spiritual icon, the Dalai Lama, will be visiting the clinic and speaking on "practices that encourage a peaceful mind and positive ways to live during difficult times."
Among Tibetan Buddhists, the Dalai Lama is revered as the supreme head of that religion, so much so that his title is sometimes prefaced with "His Holiness." The leaders of all four Buddhist schools consider him to be the highest spiritual leader and teacher or "lama" of the Tibetan traditions.
The Dalai Lama is revered by Buddhists in and beyond Tibet, as well as by many non-Buddhists around the world, most of them fascinated with the mythology and mystique surrounding the famous monk's life story. His history incorporates Buddhist beliefs about reincarnation and a divine lineage of great teachers supposedly going back to the 1300s with the realities of political intrigue and social change due to invasion, conquest, and cultural transformation.
For some star-struck Americans -- especially those dazzled by celebrity and the "novelty" of Eastern spiritual traditions -- the news of a visit by the Dalai Lama brings a certain excitement, as perhaps any somewhat famous person making a stop while "on tour" might. But Jan Markell anticipates the Tibetan guru's stop at the Mayo Clinic with a deep sense of foreboding.
False Religion Wrapped in Fashionable Fame & New Age Appeal?
From her own personal experience at the medical facility, the head of Olive Tree Ministries says she knows the Rochester clinic is a place where many people go as a last resort when they have exhausted all other hope for treatment of their diseases. Because of this, the Tibetan Buddhist leader's impending visit is "a disaster waiting to happen," she contends.
"You've got hundreds if not thousands of people like that, in that mental state," Markell observes, "and then along comes this false prophet, who probably is going to give them some kind of lie because he represents everything that has to do with the New Age movement."
The bottom line, the ministry leader says, is the need for people "to pray for this thing that's going to happen on April 17." At a time in the Church and in society when many people desire to experience God in a fresh new way, she contends, bringing the Dalai Lama before people who are already in a vulnerable state just paves the road for false doctrine and New Age spirituality to enter their lives.
But despite what Tibetan Buddhism teaches, Olive Tree Ministries' founder asserts, the Dalai Lama cannot offer anyone peace because there is no true peace apart from salvation in Jesus. "The intriguing thing," she says, "is the way people are flocking to want to hear this man. I guess I don't understand, other than that we're in such days of deception now, as the Bible predicted."
Markell suspects that the public's fascination with the Dalai Lama may be a mark of many people's desire to have a fresh encounter with God. "But this is a false god in a false religion, who has nothing to offer anybody," she emphasizes. "As a matter of fact, he's a Buddhist, and Buddhists don't even believe there's a God."
The people at the Mayo Clinic, particularly the patients that have come there seeking hope and healing, do not need to be exposed to false hope and false teaching, Markell insists. She urges Christians to be in prayer for the hospital's staff, its patients, and their families on April 17.
