Posted on 10/08/2019 3:38:23 PM PDT by CondoleezzaProtege
Did you know that our beloved country has a history of repurposing and repackaging things that we didn’t necessarily discover? Take our beloved Christmas tree for example. Did you know that decorating trees and giving money was a part of worship to various gods during Egyptian times? It is also part of the Germanic pagan solstice tradition.
The exchange of wedding rings did not originate in the church, and various religions worship and practice meditation, prayer, and fasting just like Christians. So should I take my ring off based on the original intent, or stop purchasing Christmas trees and decorations because the Egyptians utilized the tree first? No, I don’t, because I serve a God who can redeem anything, as He is the Creator of all.
The Bible speaks specifically about key elements used in most forms of yoga: meditation, breathing, and movement. For me, Acts 17:18 sums it up: “For in Him we live and move and exist.” So I will put truth up against philosophy any day, as philosophy is simply man’s attempt to understand God, His creations, and purpose. Joshua 1:8 reminds me to meditate on His Word day and night; Genesis 2:7 defines the source of my life: “He breathed the breath of life into the man’s nostrils, and the man became a living person”; and numerous Scriptures speak of our bodily posture toward God. King David had a keen understanding that our outward posture is reflective of what’s going on inside, because God, the originator of the mind-body connection, knows that the way we move can positively or negatively affect the heart and mind...
(Excerpt) Read more at urbanfaith.com ...
And their opinions matter because?
I've tried yoga (Kundalini), and done Tai Chi, and a few other forms of mediation. Guess what? didn't see anyone with a pointy tail and horns popping up.
I guess there are nutjobs all around.
I like your expression “80 candles”.
Had not heard that expression for someone’s age before.
I am trying to find the origins of that phrase, or maybe its you own original expression LOL.
That's going to far! People need to realize that spandex is a privilege and not a right.
“You, as with most of our messed up society, seem to be in the same boat”
What’s messed up is someone claiming to be Christian while insulting those that are trying to educate them.
Practicing Yoga is about athletics, not religion. Of course, those that are arrogantly holier-than-thou will claim otherwise to try to make themselves seem religiously superior to others.
Biblical Pride is a sin.
All things are allowable, but not necessarily profitable.
There is a risk in practicing yoga or Eastern Religion Meditation of opening a door or inviting demonic influence into one’s life and soul.
Fallen angels and evil spirits are still bound by laws enforced in the spiritual domain. In a nutshell, if they are invited into a human’s life, it appears some of those conditions are either relaxed or they don’t believe they are accountable for interface with those humans.
Practicing yoga or meditation to the spiritual domain is similar to walking outside near a wilderness area at dusk with a bowl of warm milk and catnip where mountain lions are known to prowl.
Anything wrong with it? If there is no other reason than to invite a wild animal into your house, then it is a foolish thing to do.
BTW, you don’t have to KNOW you are opening the door to invite these persons into your life. This is how occultic brotherhoods bring in their initiates.
Guess you are fortunate for now.
What they said was not based on “opinion,” but based on experience. Just want to warn people.
LOL candles sound better than “years” haha and I love blowing them out from the birthday cake.
Actually if I knew I was going to feel this good nearing 80, I would have taken better care of myself hahahahaha
I owe all my good fortune of good health to becoming a golf addict at age 58 after retiring at 57. Playing 4 or 5 rounds of 18 every week weather permitting was better than any medicine or health foods or even a shrink.
LOL
Post of the thread
Abu’l-Fath Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar, aka Akbar the Great?
However, the post independence civil war was a horrible thing.
Why should Christians not allow themselves to be exposed to Hindu spirituality? Really? It seems that any of the numerous Bible verses warning Christians to avoid idolatry would provide sufficient support for the idea of avoiding Hindu spirituality.
India is Secular country and does not engage in religious wars. Like I said, there are more Muslims living in India than any other country except perhaps Indonesia. Yet very few terrorist attacking Western countries have originated from India. Learn by actual experience (as I did in my engineering career) and ignore opinions and theory. From having lived in India for 20 years, it is because modern Indians assimilate well. There are people of every religion in huge numbers living in India. Yet there are very few religion based skirmishes.
The India-Pakistan wars were due to territorial disputes, not exactly a Jihad. India also had battles with China over the same territorial issue. And India helped Bangladesh break away from Pakistan (both Muslim countries).
Yes it was horrible. I was only 7 years old then so do not remember much about it, except our city had lots of Hindu refugees who had fled Pakistan.
What many ignore is how many millions of Muslims chose to stay in India, while almost all Hindu’s living in what became Pakistan fled. Check out the cast of Bollywood movies. You will find lots of actors of every religion. Yeah I would conclude India has assimilated all religions well. Of course in a country 4 times bigger than United States (by population) there always will be some hot heads.
I wish I had started golf years ago.
My dad played it for many years, and one of my brother plays at least once a week, and some annual fun events he plays with one of his sons.
My primary appreciation of golf is watching the PGA events on TV. My brother who plays golf, rarely watches any of it on TV.
I do bike, and easily some great distance and sometimes daily instead of driving on the day’s errands.
Though I never think I am active enough.
“You need to read the whole article, the writer is a Yoga practitioner and a Christian”
Didn’t we used to call this stretching? Sometimes it was called flexibility exercises.
I guess that was before all this TM and chants and all the other junk was imported from countries which practiced yoga.
Words get confusing, a case in point is a herbalist that I know who insists that the word shaman means a practitioner of healing. I know several African friends who are from several different African countries and they know what a shaman is and it’s more aligned with evil than healing.
I have very little flexibility, that is physically speaking – with age and some acquired wisdom in some areas I’m a bit more flexible, a bit more spontaneous and a more live and let live in attitude and in some ways more prone to stand my ground. But I digress.
Even when younger and as a teenager while I was not exactly skinny, a bit on the curvy side especially after puberty, but not at all fat either, not too busty and absolutely no belly fat (I wish I had those 17-year-old abs now) – and I walked everywhere and I mean everywhere, walked probably 10+ miles a day, yet still I had trouble touching my toes. When we did gymnastics in middle school, it was horrible for me. I just couldn’t do the forward and backward rolls like the other girls. I had a gym teacher literally put his foot on my butt and forced me over while I was attempting a forward roll, and that was the first time I felt a soreness, a twinge of nerve pain in my back which of course made me hate gymnastics even more.
It wasn’t until I really jacked up my back when I was in in my early 40’s and had to see an orthopedist and then a physical therapist that I learned that my pelvis was tilted sideways and tilted up to one side and that my ham strings and calf muscles were way over developed and extremely tight. The PT was shocked how tight my hamstrings and calves were and given that I wasn’t sedentary, how it got that way. While I have some compression of L5 and L6, the main cause of my back problem is the muscle tightness.
The PT taught me a routine of stretches and core stability exercises that frankly I’m more comfortable doing at home, some of them were basic Yoga poses too, downward dog and cat and cow back stretches. I’ve also since then developed plantar fasciitis and was in PT for that and given a whole new set of stretches. If I did all the stretching I’m supposed to do the 3-4 times a day, it would take up about 3+ hours of my day each and every day. I try but often fall short of the goal.
But after PT, I took a couple of beginners Yoga classes at my gym. I didn’t experience anything of a religious nature, no chanting or meditation type stuff, no prayers to Hindu gods, no “emptying” myself and Kundalini the serpent spirit never did shown up, just some deep breathing and relaxation technics to help with the poses and stretching. The biggest problem for me in the Yoga class was trying to do the some of the poses without looking like a wounded water buffalo or falling over flat on my face.
I’ve also since developed HBP and have a very stressful job.
Recently I’ve thought of trying Yoga again if I can find the right class, one that caters to 58 year olds with bad backs and flexibility issues. I’ve also been told to try Tai Chi as it can aid in relaxation and flexibility. But I’m guessing some “thumpers” will tell me that Tai Chi will also cause demonic possession or turn me into a Chi-Communist ; )
As for what is called “mindfulness” or “meditation” sometimes associated with Yoga and other disciplines of Eastern origin, it is not about completely emptying the mind of all thought but about striving to being completely present in the moment, shutting out all outside distractions and attempting to turn off the constant stream of consciousness inside our own heads for just a while.
I’ve tried doing it and it is very hard. Try sitting still, closing your eyes and only taking in the sounds of your own breath, the ambient sounds around you, without letting your mind wander and re-live what happened at work today, or yesterday or last week, or what you’re going to do later today, or tomorrow or next week, what bills are due, how much laundry needs to be done, who pissed off and why…. it’s hard. But if you can achieve it for even a few minutes, it is very relaxing and helps you refocus on what is really important.
Some people who are trying to lose weight also use a form of mindfulness to some good effect when eating. Instead of mindlessly eating, especially eating while watching TV or other distractions like surfing on the net or on your smart phone or even in conversation or reading, instead being fully aware of each and every bite, what it tastes like, the smell, the texture, even the color, savoring each and every bite, chewing slowly, taking some deep breaths between bites, focusing only on the meal and the meal alone - I’ve done this and feel more satisfied and satiated with less food.
Likewise, it can also be hard to be and stay deep in prayer, yes, even Christian prayer without one’s mind occasionally drifting off to more temporal thoughts and distractions.
The monastic tradition, that of Christian cloistered monks and nuns, some even took a vow of silence in order to not be distracted from the outside world or of their own words and thoughts, or the words and intrusions of others in order to devote themselves to near constant prayer and yes, meditation, yes a form of mindfulness.
But here at FR we are entering what I call the silly season. It happens at Easter too but at this time of year, even more so.
We will be subjected to numerous posts about the horrors and all the “evils” that is Halloween and Christmas (both being pagan doncha know) and even that of Thanksgiving. You know that Thanksgiving should be about fasting and prayer and spent on one’s knees in Church and not about feasting on turkey and all the trimmings and pumpkin pie and football and the Macy’s Parade /s. You’ll also have a few who may tell you that Thanksgiving is a holiday of Northern Oppression over the South or some other such nonsense.
So I say, if you want to try Yoga as a form of exercise and to increase flexibility and perhaps for stress reduction, go for it. If you go to a Yoga class that incorporates any religion that you do not want to adhere to or some form of cultism or politics, stay clear or better yet, just find another Yoga class. There are so many and of all types and most are about achieving fitness rather than Hinduism or ….
And after your Yoga class, now that we are in Autumn, go shopping for some Halloween candy to give out to those adorable little kids in your neighborhood in their cute costumes and don’t be a cheapskate on the candy or one of those people who hand out Jack Chick tracks or boxes of raisins or dental floss (and you know who you are – SHAME!), and plan your Thanksgiving feast and what football team you will root for, and then plan on Christmas, what cookies are to be baked or other treats to be made and shared, what decorations to put out, what presents you can give to or make for others that, while they don’t need expensive, will bring the recipient some joy because you gave it some thought.
Next Sunday I’m going to the National Apple Harvest Festival. It’s great country fair but I guess if you are of a certain mind set, probably “pagan” what with the apple bobbing and square dancing and native American dancing. : )
any yoga I have taken (hot, hatha etc) all told me to draw my energy from the earth (satan currently has some authority of the earth)
I have taken Christian yoga as well and usually christian music is played, and scripture spoken for us to concentrate on during class, no mention of drawing energy from the earth but to keep focused on Jesus.
I kind of feel bad for people who say they can attend traditional (namaste, blah blah blah) type yoga because to me it comes across as same as school kids being told to recite muslim prayer as learn about muslim culture “experience” - in school - to me it’s all part of numbing people before incdoctrinating them.
Yes here I am and my rib knows to wake me at 630
I’ll get five solid.....good enough
” Hey friend guess what you are a Pagan and you didn’t even know it.”
I am a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ. I am not a practitioner of Yoga, or a Roman Catholic. The person in in the video I posted is not me.
I am now, and have been for some years, a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of the Creator God, who covered my sins with His shed Blood, and granted me salvation through His finished work on the cross as the perfect sacrifice for sin. He saved me through His grace, and no works I - or anyone else does - can save anyone.
For the non-Christian, yoga is simply one more religion. They are not any more or less lost by practicing it.
Perhaps I originally did not clarify myself sufficiently. For that, I do apologise.
Norski
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.