Posted on 11/29/2010 9:15:55 AM PST by wmfights
In Sunday’s edition of The New York Times — the front page, no less — reporter Paul Vitello writes about “a surprisingly fierce debate in the gentle world of yoga.” Well, welcome to my world. My last few weeks have been heavy into “fierce debate” and light on “the gentle world” part. It all started when I was asked to answer a practical pastoral question: Should Christians Practice Yoga? My answer was the answer long offered by those committed to orthodox biblical Christianity — No.
There is nothing wrong with stretching exercises, and Christians are called to meditate upon the Word of God, but the practices of Yoga, both historic and current, are not about mere stretching. I will not repeat the argument here, but you can read my essay for yourself. After that, came the deluge. After a major story by the Associated Press and coverage in the mainstream media, I found myself (and my poor inbox) flooded with angry, vitriolic, confused, and even threatening emails. I did not seek to fuel the national debate, since I was trying to advise Christian believers, not attempting to launch a social crusade against Yoga.
Along the way, something really interesting happened. I started getting emails of a different sort, and many came from India. Central to my argument was the fact that Yoga is inseparable from Hinduism. I was nonetheless a bit startled to receive, for example, an email from a teenager in India thanking me for my “heroic” act of recognizing that Yoga is historically and essentially Hindu. After coverage in the Indian press, my exhausted inbox received many similar messages.
Stefanie Syman deserves credit for raising the issue of the American commercialization of Yoga in her book, The Subtle Body: The Story of Yoga in America. But now The New York Times reports on a movement called “Take Back Yoga” that seeks to reassert the Hindu roots of Yoga. As Paul Vitello reports, the group is “mounting a campaign to acquaint Westerners with the faith that it says underlies every single yoga style followed in gyms, ashrams and spas: Hinduism.”
Before diving into the terms of the debate within the world of Yoga, Vitello briefly juxtaposes me with New Age guru Deepak Chopra. Interestingly, Vitello cites Professor Loriliai Biernacki of the University of Colorado, who points to a range of spiritual practices and beliefs rooted in Hinduism but increasingly common in American today, including reincarnation, meditation, karma, and even cremation. “All these ideas are Hindu in origin, and they are spreading,” she told the paper. “But they are doing it in a way that leaves behind the proper name, the box that classifies them as ‘Hinduism.’”
I take that as a vindication of my argument from an unexpected source. I am not so deluded as to think it will end the debate. I just sent a warning to
http://www.albertmohler.com/2010/09/20/the-subtle-body-should-christians-practice-yoga/
A bit silly IMHO. Doing Yoga exerices, stretching, breathing and even meditation do not have to be the exclusive domain of Hinduism nor are such actions the practice of religion no matter what some folks in India think.
Not this sh$t again!
next he is going to say massage is anti-christian because the masseuse (sp?) has indian music on.
I pray the rosary while doing the many yoga poses.
These stretches are NOT the exclusive domain of the Hindu’s as many Hindu’s themselves have told me.
As I recall, a while back, a Roman Catholic priest, one Jean DeChanet, wrote a book entitled, “Christian Yoga.”
Yes. Plop this beside the “Harry Potter is Satan” group here on FR and we have a lot of fire and brimstone!
Yeah, and they grope you like sex-crazed TSA agents!!
Then I suppose the prayer, "Hail Mary Full of Grace, the Lord is with thee, Blessed art Thou among women and blessed is the fruit of Thy womb, Jesus..." is not exclusively Christian.
Christian yoga is an oxymoron.
But the point is that separating yoga from Hinduism is an insult to Hinduism. It’s no different than saying you can conduct a Passover Seder separate from Judaism or that you can have Communion separate from Christianity. Sure, you can do these things, but it dilutes the meaning of them and it removes the spirituality whose meaning is expressed in these rituals.
Atheist yogis should be warned.
“Hail Mary” is Christian, but other religions use prayer beads and repetition.
I think it’s like Christmas trees. They started out as a pagan thing but have been re-purposed with a Christian message and nobody thinks they are doing something pagan by putting up a tree, even if there are no Christmas trees in the Bible. People now either find some Christian meaning in the practice, or look upon it as seasonal decor.
I’d say go ahead and exercise, but if you are Christian, put Christian thoughts in your head instead of Hindu ones and repurpose the moves to Christian images and teachings.
MeganC: But the point is that separating yoga from Hinduism is an insult to Hinduism.
Not in my experience. My yoga masters were Hindi and didn't preach any of their religion nor make us chant in our meditation. Obviously, not ALL hindus feel this way.
Now is it possible that some Hindu folks think that way? Sure, but fortunately, this is the USA where their opinion is valued but can also be safely ignored.
Tamar1973: Then I suppose the prayer, "Hail Mary Full of Grace, the Lord is with thee, Blessed art Thou among women and blessed is the fruit of Thy womb, Jesus..." is not exclusively Christian.
A Seder or a prayer is not the same as a physical activity widely adopted by many cultures. Both the Jewish Seder and Christian prayers are bad examples to compare to yoga. But as a Christian who was born Jewish, Hindus are welcome to either celebrate the Seder or recite a Hail Mary. I'll not be insulted at all because I'm not a bigoted a**hat.
Now if either one of you had done a little thinking, you'd realize that the highly beneficial Eastern methods of staying in shape and achieving mental/pysical balance have been very widely adopted around the world for hundreds of years. Kung Fu, Thai Chi, Tae Kwan Do and many other martial arts are parts of religion as well, once exclusively practiced by Buddhist monks of various sects. Like Yoga, these arts are part of a religion but you don't hear Buddhists crying foul.
Do you suggest we stop practicing those too?
By the by, there are several types of Yoga, including some developed by the Hindi for Westerners as pure exercise. Those which involve religious chanting as part of meditation are not usually offered to Westerners.
???
How would someone put Hindu thoughts in their head, if they weren’t a Hindu? What are Hindu thoughts?
As for Tae Kwan Do it was never part of any religious practice, ever! It has always been a true martial art. Also Kung Fu, although developed by Buddhist monks, were not meant for meditation but for self-defense since most Buddhist monastaries (in both China and Korea) are far in the mountains, far away from any kind of police or miltary aid.
The word Kung Fu literally means "martial/military skill" so the idea that it was ever meant primarily>/b> as a form of spiritual meditation is erroneous.
Yoga and Tai Chi, on the other hand, were developed primarlily as a form of meditation, it's only been recently that people have seen value in these practices and co-opted them for exercise.
Do you suggest we stop practicing those too?
If Jesus Christ is truly your Lord and Saviour and you truly love Him above all other beings that could be called "gods", then yes, you should refrain from practicing Yoga or any other practice that is used to worship other "gods". If you claim to be a Christian and can't give up Yoga (when there are many other exercises that give the same benefits without the religious baggage), you have to ask yourself why you've set up that idol in your heart to compete with the Lord Jesus Christ.
Once pagan, always pagan. "Christianizing" pagan practices is like putting a nose ring on a pig's snout, it doesn't fool anyone.
Yeesh! And if I read Harry Potter books, I'll go to hell too I suppose. Have you read Leviticus lately? Own any slaves? Eat catfish? Pork? Shrimp? You do know that Jesus kept Kosher, right and that Kosher laws are for Christians too? Do you keep kosher? Do you have a Christmas tree? Did you know it's a pagan tradition? Do you do Easter eggs, another pagan tradition? Wear a wedding ring? - that's a pagan tradition. If you really read the bible, you'd know there's no way Christ was born in December. You'd also know he wasn't martyred in March.
Prayer is prayer. Exercise is exercise. The stretching and breathing techniques used in Yoga are also used in many other exercises including the French savate. Think God cares how I stretch or breathe? I doubt it. It is not the action that counts; it's the thought behind it.
Our Messianic fellowship is studying it right now as a matter of fact.
Own any slaves?
No.
Eat catfish? Pork? Shrimp?
No, not since I learned what the Bible says about such things.
You do know that Jesus kept Kosher, right and that Kosher laws are for Christians too? Do you keep kosher?
Yes I do keep kosher
Do you have a Christmas tree?
No, never have.
Did you know it's a pagan tradition?
Yes, I did.
Do you do Easter eggs, another pagan tradition?
No, I don't celebrate Easter, either. I celebrate God's true holy days which are in the Tanak and were never abrogated by Jesus Christ who said that until all things pass away, not one jot or tittle will be removed from God's law.
Wear a wedding ring? - that's a pagan tradition. If you really read the bible, you'd know there's no way Christ was born in December.
You're right. Based on John Chapter 1, it's more likely that Yeshua was born during the Feast of Tabernacles, in the fall, when it would still be warm enough for the shepherds to be outside with the sheep.
I celebrate Yeshua/Jesus' ressurection during Passover, not Easter.
You'd also know he wasn't martyred in March.
The Bible is unequivocal that Yeshua/Jesus was executed and ressurected during Passover. Some years that's in March, some years that's in April because the Jewish calendar is lunar while the Gregorian calendar is solar.
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