A
Hindu Yogi Speaks: "There is no Christian Yoga."
The
following article is written by Yogi Baba Prem, who is a Hindu
Yogi, a Vedavisharada trained in the traditional gurukural system.
We hope that Thomas Nelson, who publishes Yoga for Christians, American
Family Association, who sells Holy
Yoga, and emerging leader, Doug
Pagitt, who offers it at his church, will all read this article
by Yogi Baba Prem.
"There
is no Christian Yoga?" by Yogi Baba Prem
"It
was quite astonishing to see on the flyer 'Christian Yoga! This
Thursday night....' I could feel the wheels spinning in my brain.
'Christian Yoga,' I thought. Now while Christians can practice
yoga, I am not aware of any Christian teachings about yoga.
Yoga is not a Judeo/Christian word! It is not a part of the
Roman Catholic teachings and certainly not a part of protestant
teachings. It is not found within the King James Version of
the bible. It is a Hindu word, or more correctly a Sanskrit
word from the Vedic civilization. So how did we get 'Christian
Yoga'? "From this I could conclude that 'Christian Yoga' could
only indicate one of two possibilities:" Read
more ...
From
an email we received from the Classical
Yoga Hindu Academy:
"Is Yoga a religion that denies Jesus Christ? Yes.
Just as Christianity denies the Hindu MahaDevas such as
Siva, Vishnu, Durga and Krishna, to name a few, Hinduism
and its many Yogas have nothing to do with God and Jesus
(though we do respect that others believe in this way). As
Hindus who live the Yogic lifestyle, we appreciate when
others understand that all of Yoga is all about the Hindu
religion. Modern so-called 'yoga' is dishonest to Hindus
and to all non-Hindus such as the Christians."
Danda,
Dharma Yoga Ashram
(Classical Yoga Hindu Academy) |
East
and West, The Two Shall Never Meet
"Christianity
cannot be integrated with yoga and remain Christian. To think
otherwise imperils the Christian truth and faith. As the managing
editor of 'Hinduism Today,' Sannyasin Arumugaswami, remarks, 'Hinduism
is the soul of yoga 'based as it is on Hindu Scripture and developed
by Hindu sages. Yoga opens up new and more refined states of mind,
and to understand them one needs to believe in and understand
the Hindu way of looking at God. . . . A Christian trying to adapt
these practices will likely disrupt their own Christian beliefs'.'
East is east, and west is west, and if Christianity is to remain
Christian, 'the twain' should never be married. Can
yogic practices be integrated with the Christian faith? Pastor Larry De Bruyn
"The
practice of Yoga is pagan at best, and occult at worst. Its teachings
emanate from the Eastern religions, all of which teach that self
is God, only we just don't realize it until we do the techniques.
'The goal of Yoga is self-realization-to look deeply within
to what ought to be the temple of the one true God and to discover
the alleged true Self or higher Self to be God.
Nothing could be more religious than that, yet with straight faces,
all of the Yogis insist that practicing Yoga does not change anyone's
religious beliefs.'"— Mike Oppenheimer, Let Us Reason
Ministries, Read
More ...
"When
Westerners employ yoga techniques as a means to improve their
health, they should understand that they can also be producing
subtle changes within themselves which will have dramatic spiritual
consequences that will not be for the better. Regardless of the
school or spiritual tradition, yoga practice tends to alter a
person's consciousness in an occult direction."—John
Ankerberg, Innocent Yoga?
Gimmie
Yoga, a Burger and Fries
This
week I had yet another new shock to the system. While standing
in line to order a Number 3 meal at the local McDonalds®,
I noticed an interesting new promotion that is taking place.
They now have Adult Happy Meal. This is pretty cool because
the kids always got some pretty neat toys. The adult meal also
comes with a prize, but I was kind of shocked when I found out
what it is ... a DVD on Yoga.
Well on my
bag for my Big Mac®, I found a handy URL telling me more
about this and I checked it out.
Here is what
they say...
15 Minutes of Sane
Feeling stressed? Try
Yoga. It helps relax the mind and rejuvenate the body and spirit.
Plus, it's great for improving flexibility.
Your exclusive McDonald's®
Yourself!Fitness® Yoga DVD offers four different 15 minute
workouts to help improve your mood and your energy level. You
can customize your Yoga workout by choosing a language, difficulty
level and your
area of focus—flexibility, stress relief, balance or strength.
The eastern
thought of New Age mentality is not only entering the burger
joints of
America
, but it has made
a strong entrenchment in a place not as suspecting ... our churches
today. Read entire article
by Ray Gano of Prophezine.
| Yoga
- Helping to Unite the World's Religions |
"Jacobs
teaches meditation Judeo-Christian-style and minimizes the more
overtly Hindu aspects of yoga in his classes—not to accommodate
his Catholicism so much as to accent his universalism. 'I honor
the Hindu path, the Buddhist path, the Sufi path,' he states with
Midwestern matter-of-factness. 'I do not think that Christians
have a monopoly on paradise.'—A
Look at Yoga and Religious Belief By Alan Reder
Can
We Separate the Exercise From the Philosophy?
"There
is a common misconception in the West that hatha-yoga, one of
about ten forms of Yoga that supposedly leads to self-realization,
is merely a neutral form of exercise, a soothing and effective
alternative for those who abhor jogging and calisthenics ...
"[However],
Hatha-yoga is 'one of the six recognized systems of orthodox Hinduism'
and is at its roots religious and mystical. It is also one of
the most difficult and potentially dangerous [spiritually] forms
of Yoga. "The term hatha is derived from the verb hath, which
means 'to oppress.'... What the practice of hatha-yoga is designed
to do is suppress the flow of psychic energies through these channels
["symbolic, or psychic, passages on either side of the spinal
column"], thereby forcing the 'serpent power' or the kundalini
force to rise through the central psychic channel in the spine
(the sushumna) and up through the chakras, the supposed psychic
centers of human personality and power. Westerners mistakenly
believe that one can practice hatha-yoga apart from the philosophical
and religious beliefs that undergrid it. This is an absolutely
false belief. ...
"You
cannot separate the exercises from the philosophy. ... 'The movements
themselves become a form of meditation.' The continued practice
of the exercises will, whether you ... intend it or not, eventually
influence you toward an Eastern/mystical perspective. That is
what it is meant to do! ... There is, by definition, no such thing
as 'neutral' Yoga" —Johanna Michaelsen, Like Lambs to
the Slaughter, pp. 93-95). |
