We were taught we are god , god is living in us, when we kind to other that’s a god to other.
only one god but with different faces so whatever our religion , yoga will be with us , when doing meditation , we may meditate any god we beleive in : Jesus , Alah , Shiva , Buddha …
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Hi all
I would love to hear more comments on this. I am a devout Christian but also believe in the benefits of many philosophies. I am particularly interested in yoga for the stress relief and for having a quiet moment for myself just to reflect.
I certainly do not want to pay homage to any other gods in doing so. Are there any yoga practicing Christians that can comment on this? Also do you have to use specific mantras? Are there ones you can use specifically to honor God?
Thank you,
[QUOTE=E-RPM SOFT COM;21952]Hi all
I would love to hear more comments on this. I am a devout Christian but also believe in the benefits of many philosophies. I am particularly interested in yoga for the stress relief and for having a quiet moment for myself just to reflect.
I certainly do not want to pay homage to any other gods in doing so. Are there any yoga practicing Christians that can comment on this? Also do you have to use specific mantras? Are there ones you can use specifically to honor God?
Thank you,[/QUOTE]
This topic has been extensively discussed in the thread Yoga and Christianity.
yoga and christianity have nothing to do with one another. is there a god? yes i am sure, while really none of us here on earth know the truth. as far as i’m concerned religion is a money-sucking business formed in the dawn of time to create followers and social structure and separation. when i practice yoga, i bow to myself for being the one to do the practice. i use yoga as a time of meditation-- meaning relaxation, excircise, and an education time. each class or subject researched has so much to offer and exploration is endless-- leave religion out of it.
It is a vehicle and a yoga and as such can carry a person towards God. The separation when scrutinized is there, almost always, due to economic/socio-political reasons and the religions are circumstantial. A good person never hates in the name of religion, a bad person does anyway. It has a dark side as you mention but everything has. The word ’ governments’, can be substituted for religion above and will still be true. Yet there are good and necessary things about it. Some of the best people I know are religious and if they are sheep they are lambs of God. I personally have never been organized about religion prefering anarchy but I can see it’s beauty in the radiance of the religious, the good done for others and the power, too often misused it’s true, to effect positive change. Some birds fly in flocks, some alone.
Thank you Tamer, I did not mean to bash religion only give MY personal view. Much of a family, espcially my grandmother is a born again christian and there are no people i love more. so while i seemed to come across harsh, i do see the necessity and positive influence it has on many and it is what a lot of people need in their lives.
[QUOTE=E-RPM SOFT COM;21952]Hi all
I am particularly interested in yoga for the stress relief and for having a quiet moment for myself just to reflect.
I certainly do not want to pay homage to any other gods in doing so. [/QUOTE]
A little peace and reflection, can be much beneficial. My advice would be to go with it, find a good teacher and take your time to explore your body, and your mind. The whole process also leaves you refreshed, and full of vigour.
At least this is what I get out of my yoga practice.
your other statement, "I certainly do not want to pay homage to any other gods in doing so. " just confuses me, and I will leave it alone.
I have been on both sides of the fence, Christianity and Yoga, and I find that both can complement each other, but justification of one with the other is something that really can’t be understood except through personal experience. It is not something that can be explained on an intellectual level.
The practice of mind-body disciplines puts one in a fundamentally different state of being than the practice of thought-based religious practices that are founded on church dogma. It is from the connection of the body and breath and mind that the connection is forged between conscious and subconscious aspects of our awareness.
I think that much of the perceived problems from the Christian standpoint is the reliance on dogma and moralistic thought processes, which implies a basic distrust of deeper human nature and an expanded awareness which can be developed through yogic practices. This type of awareness cannot be explained scripturally or “justified” in a Western Christianity perspective. It is a mystical experience that cannot be reduced to fit within that model, but the experience, if one is a Christian, can produced a deeper understanding of some of the meaning of scriptural writing and dogma.
hmmm, wonder if they’ll start christian resturants next.
I once asked my Guru (now ex-guru) Swami Maheshwarananda if it was ok to go to Church, because I really felt the need at that time to go and sit in a church again. And I wanted to know how people could have him as a Guru and also have Jesus and the Church in their lifes. He replied: Jesus had disciples. They called him (Jesus) master.
From that I was to understand that Jesus was only one of many masters, and that Swami Maheshwarananda was another ‘Jesus’.
Swami Maheshwarananda always points out that Yoga is not a religion, he attends multi religious meetings, he promotes religious tolerance…but…here is the big but: The songs at his weekly Satsangs are almost always in Sanskrit, the folding of the hands, the bowing, his concerts, are always Hindu based. The language, the beliefs, the music, the dancing, it’s all based in his own Indian culture.
And Jesus, according to him, has been and now is gone. But he, is alive now, he is a master in the NOW. And only a live master can teach and help you achieve ‘liberation’.
Food for thought. Google ‘false guru swamiji’ and read about my experience with Swamiji if you like. Thanks, Elisabeth
[QUOTE=elisabeth111;29244]
.but…here is the big but: The songs at his weekly Satsangs are almost always in Sanskrit, the folding of the hands, the bowing, his concerts, are always Hindu based. The language, the beliefs, the music, the dancing, it’s all based in his own Indian culture.
[/QUOTE]
not sure where the confusion or big BUT lies. he tolerates others and does it the way he chooses. I apprecate how people have different tastes in music, does it mean I play their style of music? I can apprecate and tolerate how people drink slim fast for breafast, dont mean ill drink it nor serve it to you.
brother Neil
[QUOTE=InnerAthlete;19131]“Beware the man of only one book.”[/QUOTE]
This idea has resonated with me since childhood. I am also wary of anyone who calls himself ‘master’.
It is more than possible to follow thoughts and ideas from men and women long dead. Thoughts and ideas live forever. Anyone who discredits this and puts their own thoughts and ideas above all else is self-serving.
I am, and always have, felt a strong impulse to challenge self-servers. But, I am getting better as I begin to learn that that too is self-serving.
The question is not who is right.
The question is: would we have a better world if yoga did not exist ? Would we have a better world if christianity did not exist ?
Whenever we question the right to exist of something, we actually question the purpose behind it, and usually we fail to realize that purpose.
Basicly, that means that we put our human judgement above a higher judgement, our human reason above a higher reason. Of course, we have the right to do that, but than we instantly lost the right to call ourself spiritual, because we betray our inability to imagine anything higher, better than we are. Those who judge (anything !) can’t call themselves religious, or spiritual disciples. Wheter we are are vegan and have a yogamat, or we pray at the Sunday church, until we judge, we are hypocrits.
Just read the post again. The lady, Laurette Willis called the Hindu God a false God. To me, that’s a bit self-righteous and narrow minded. I do like Yoga, the stretching, the Pranayama, the mantra chanting, my only problem really is my bad experience with a false Guru. I do like to warn people about those fake Gurus, but I would never say Yoga is no good, or the Hindu God is a false God. That’s just plain stupid. It’s that kind of fanatic reasoning that starts wars. Elisabeth
[QUOTE=elisabeth111;29277]Just read the post again. The lady, Laurette Willis called the Hindu God a false God. To me, that’s a bit self-righteous and narrow minded. I do like Yoga, the stretching, the Pranayama, the mantra chanting, my only problem really is my bad experience with a false Guru. I do like to warn people about those fake Gurus, but I would never say Yoga is no good, or the Hindu God is a false God. That’s just plain stupid. It’s that kind of fanatic reasoning that starts wars. Elisabeth[/QUOTE]
If I only look at the above post, in this post you say her calling a hindu god a false god is self righteous and yet you call a guru a false guru. I fail to see the difference in what you are accusing someone of doing and your own words. I would have to ask laurette what she means or read more on what she said, in order to have a better understanding of her reasoning. Maybe she believes in only one God, maybe she believes God is all that is and cannot separate itself from itself.
Yoga is a philosophical system. In India, philosophical systems are known as “darshanas” or “views”. It is understood that no philosophical system captures the Absolute Reality in all its grandeur. It is said that “Sabdah bandah” - word-associations are like chains. Any philosophical system or religion is a path that points towards the Absolute. It cannot capture the Absolute. And the Absolute can be viewed in millions of ways. Some of these ways require God (Isvara) and some don’t even need it.
In India, there are 6 such classical “views” and the Yoga system is just one of them. “Hinduism” is a word with a very wide meaning and encompasses all these 6 systems. Please note that the 6 systems indeed contradict each other !
Then we have 3 non-classical “views” (Buddhism, Jainism and Charvaka) which are even more radical, ranging from agnosticism to strong atheism. All of these are acknowledged as possible paths to the Absolute. Compared with this diversity, the differences between Christianity and Yoga and Christianity and Vedanta (another popular “view” in Hinduism) are very minor.
It is not only okay, but also highly recommended for any person to try multiple paths. After all, the beauty of a mountain is only accentuated when viewed from multiple angles.
here is citation:
“Yoga is not a religion or a church. It requires no belief in a doctrine, no credo.All yoga philosophy is concerned with the experience of meditation and nothing else. It does not require anyone to adhere to a belief system.”
Swami Veda Bharati (Pandit Usharbudh Arya), God, Himalayan Intl. Inst. of Yoga Science, Honesdale, PA, 1979If you truly have faith in your religion and truly believe in your spirituality there is little that can change that and if Christianity is what you trust and have faith in doing Yoga should not matter at all to that faith
Elisabeth111,
Following a different religion is like learning a foreign language. It is obviously a more difficult process to understand concepts. But sometimes, learning foreign languages is fun. Scientists say that multi-lingual people are usually more articulate in their own language. And it is not uncommon to find people penning brilliant prose or verse in languages not native to them.
I don’t think anybody should be kidding themselves that Yoga is not a religion. It is a complete system by itself ! It needs no other religious or mythological imagery to get to the end. And it is only “one” of the many many religions that exist in the fold of the so-called “Hinduism”.
But Yoga doesn’t demand absolute loyalty from its followers. It even encourages people to try out other religions. In this way, Yoga can be thought of as “compatible” with people actively following other religions. I think you can easily follow Yoga and believe in Jesus, and offer your prayers in church. Actually, Yoga is more about doing than about believing. Believing hardly gets you anywhere, even in Christianity.
Think about it. If you are learning a foreign language, you expect the teacher to speak in that language in the classroom. So obviously, Yoga classes would be based on the culture where Yoga was developed - ancient India. But I agree some Gurus can be better than others. It all depends on your luck as a student to find a good Guru 