Posted on 09/22/2010 3:03:50 PM PDT by Willie Green
Warning to Christians: There may be churches that will bless your Blackberry, but your favorite morning workout may undermine your faith.
In a recent blog post, Dr. R. Albert Mohler, Jr. president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, examines the argument that practicing yoga may be in direct conflict with the values of Christianity. "Yoga begins and ends with an understanding of the body that is, to say the very least, at odds with the Christian understanding," Mohler writes.
(Excerpt) Read more at newsfeed.time.com ...
They mocked and laughed at his Lord, too.
I’m a devout Catholic and went to one Yoga exercise class. I happened to mention this to my neighbor in passing, and she excoriated me that I was going against my religion. I had no idea that this was the case, and looked upon it as only a mental and physical exercise for relaxation.
It was scary at first because the slightest moves (outside of yoga) were very painful. But within two weeks my pain was greatly reduced and at the end of the book (about six weeks) I was stronger and more flexible than I had ever been in my life and the muscle spasms were about 90% reduced.
I only continued doing yoga for a year or so but the benefits have lasted more than a decade. If I were a little more disciplined and kept it up there is no telling how much better shape I might be in now.
This Reverend obviously wouldn’t want a Christian husband and wife exploring anything beyond the missionary position.
No, that’s Catholic dogma...
Thanks for the laugh! Funny post.
I’m a little unusual in that I am able to read people’s(total strangers) memories and life experiences just by being around them since I went through the process. It is as much a curse as a blessing.
And Mohlers’ the loony one???
The number system we use in the west was invented by the Hindus and adopted by the Arabs. The West adopted it from the Arabs.
In Christian Europe, the first mention and representation of Hindu-Arabic numerals (from one to nine, without zero), is in the Codex Vigilanus, an illuminated compilation of various historical documents from the Visigothic period in Spain, written in the year 976 by three monks of the Riojan monastery of San Martín de Albelda....
Leonardo Fibonacci brought this system to Europe. His book Liber Abaci introduced Arabic numerals, the use of zero, and the decimal place system to the Latin world. The numeral system came to be called "Arabic" by the Europeans. It was used in European mathematics from the 12th century, and entered common use from the 15th century...You can read more at Hindu–Arabic numeral system at Wikipedia.
Well, after all, he appeared in 14 World Series.
Actually, the original purpose of hatha yoga as taught in the Vedas is to calm and strengthen the body and mind to make them a more fit vehicle to render service to God.
Much of the “yoga literature” is tainted with Mayavada philosophy, or impersonalism, (You are God-ism, God is a formless void, etc) which was not the original intent, nor was it the view point of the ancients.
A person can practice hatha yoga for general good exercise that not only strengthens the body but helps the glands, circulation and is also very relaxing and calming to the mind.
It is not evil and not contradictory in any way to the teachings of Jesus.
Stretching is not anti-Christian. The spiritual side of yoga is not Christian.
Our number system was invented by the Hindus: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. Do you use those evil Hindu numbers?
Apples and oranges.
I had some extreme problems with back and neck pain beginning when I was thirty years old. Chiropractors, doctors and massage therapists barely helped at all. After about four years of pain, driving me out of my carpentry career, I found a book on yoga in the library. No chanting of mantras or meditation involved as others seem to think is part of it.
It was scary at first because the slightest moves (outside of yoga) were very painful. But within two weeks my pain was greatly reduced and at the end of the book (about six weeks) I was stronger and more flexible than I had ever been in my life and the muscle spasms were about 90% reduced.
I only continued doing yoga for a year or so but the benefits have lasted more than a decade. If I were a little more disciplined and kept it up there is no telling how much better shape I might be in now.
Stretching is fine, its the emptying of the mind that poses a spiritual risk.
Stripes is correct. The so-called Arabic numerals as well as geometry and algebra originated in India. Why this is not more widely known I have no idea.
That shouldn't be a concern since that is not possible. Entirely unrelated to doing yoga I became a Tibetan Buddhist and have practiced Vajrayana tantric meditation for over twelve years now. I was told to begin with that trying to "empty the mind" isn't possible and should not be attempted. I now know for myself that it isn't possible and is not part of Buddhist meditation. I am fairly certain it isn't practiced by Hindus either. The idea is a fantasy concocted by westerners.
I should have also said that practicing hatha yoga (the physical stretching exercises) has no meditation practice to it at all. It is a concentration exercise in and of itself which is similar to some meditation practices.
Then I don't believe there would be any Christian conflict. I do have patients that perform yoga as such and I encourage it.
Our number system was invented by the Hindus: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. Do you use those evil Hindu numbers?
Apples and oranges.
So, in other works, it doesn't matter that our numbers were invented by the Hindus, especially that great convenience, the number zero. Those Hindu numbers are simply very useful for calculating.
In the same way is yoga. It doesn't matter that it was invented by Hindus. It is a good discipline to keep the body supple even in old age.
Thank you for that explanation, and it gives more interpretation to the experience of fasting.
On a more simple level, I would say that fasting teaches patience - one has to dwell in time differently - and also makes us aware how much our shifting moods rely upon our bodily experiences.
Yoga is OK as long as you do it on a train. Right Willie?
After the 28 days it splits up all of the postures you have just learned into three separate routines that you rotate from day to day. Takes about thirty minutes to do with very little room needed and no equipment although a mat is nice especially if you're going to do it where the floor/ground isn't particularly clean.
With all the pain I felt when I started I was amazed to be doing full head stands for over five minutes in less than 30 days. Not that anyone has to do them but I just followed the instructions and tried not make excuses to get out of the difficult postures.
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