[QUOTE=Pious Yoga;20231]I think yoga is for everyone irrespective of his/her religious leaning.
Regards,
Gagandeep Kaur[/QUOTE]
That’s for sure. Yoga is about direct contact with God, beyond religious dogmas.
Simultaneously, if you participate in a tradition that embraces a form of ‘right belief’, when yoga asserts something (for instance, cosmology) that doesn’t agree with yours that can distract you from your tradition or discourage you from yoga. In which case its up to you to decide what to do with that.
(Of course, I’m using “you” as a verbal convention here. I don’t have anyone in particular in mind. Except me, maybe.)
Jesus in India
Lots of theories, and a few facts. The report below is quite an interesting reading:
Nag Hammady Library
There were posts about it before, on this thread.
What I want to say new is that these old manuscripts are now shown publicly in the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, Canada, until January 2010.
[QUOTE=acorn;18776]Sorry if this is on a slightly different tangent.
I practise yoga with my mother. She is Christian Methodist.
She is perfectly happy practising yoga, in fact some of her friends from church also attend class with us.
If it wasn?t for yoga my mums health would be in a much worse state.
However she isn?t comfortable practising meditation.
Apparently this can be frowned upon as some Christians believe relaxing and opening the mind too much can allow in evil thoughts/suggestions.
.[/QUOTE]
First.
Christians practice meditation. See below:
http://www.wccm.org/faqslist.asp?pagestyle=faqlist
Second.
In meditation you should emphasize CONCENTRATION, not relaxation.
Now I recognize that there are many schools of meditation, maybe some
emphasizing relaxation. You have to be able to control your mind and thoughts. This is a stated goal of yoga.
Such authorities like Yogananda give special instructions about it. You can find this eg in Dhammapada-Lord Buddha…and probably in many other places.
Follow your heart
[QUOTE=ebbe07;20676]Follow your heart[/QUOTE]
You are probably right. However, one should know how to truly follow one’s heart.
"
I was raised very strict {Christian Tradition} … and my parents do not approve.
How long are to listen and take as law the predjucies of anyone else - and that includes your parents - you see they may have raised you but they did so within the confines of their belief system. If you feel different then be different.
Do not let the narrow views of anyone kill your dreams, especially your parents’ narrow vision
Great that you have this confusion. At least this validates the fact that you have love for your religion and for your family too.
Lets think broader. Is religion important? What is spirituality then?
As per Sri Sri Ravi Shankar (my guru) religion is the banana peel and spirituality is the real banana.
We are here on earth as human beings first and then secondly we belong to a religion. Yoga is just an exercise that has been given to us by Hindu saints. That doesn’t mean that Yoga is just for Hindus.
You can do an Art of Living course to learn Yoga and a great breathing exercise called Sudarshan Kriya. This organisation was founded by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. He also founded International Association for Human Values
in 1997 along with Dalai Lama and other people. The main aim of the organization is to enhance the quality of life of people, by creating an awareness of inner silence and wellbeing.
In fact Dalai Lama appreciates the Sri Sri’s work very much and has said many positive messages about him. Now its upto you to take this forward and make sure that you take the right decision.
You may be interested to know that Paramhansa Yogananda, the author of Autobiography of a Yogi, lived most of his life here in the US and took American citizenship. He said that he had been sent by Christ to restore the truths of “original Christianity.” If you’re interested, I would [I]highly[/I] recommend the book, Revelations of Christ - Proclaimed by Paramhansa Yogananda, presented by his disciple, Swami Kriyananda. You can find it at crystalclarity.com.
It’s an unfortunate fact that mainline Christian groups are entirely opposed to any discussion of yoga philosophy, the oneness of all religions, the need for East and West to find common ground, etc.
[QUOTE=runbei;21090]You may be interested to know that Paramhansa Yogananda, the author of Autobiography of a Yogi, lived most of his life here in the US and took American citizenship. He said that he had been sent by Christ to restore the truths of “original Christianity.” If you’re interested, I would [I]highly[/I] recommend the book, Revelations of Christ - Proclaimed by Paramhansa Yogananda, presented by his disciple, Swami Kriyananda. You can find it at crystalclarity.com.
It’s an unfortunate fact that mainline Christian groups are entirely opposed to any discussion of yoga philosophy, the oneness of all religions, the need for East and West to find common ground, etc.[/QUOTE]
I am still reading the book “The Second Coming of Christ” by Yogananda. It has cca 1,600 pages, in two volumes.
It is probably the best explanation of Christianity I could find. It is a monumental opera. Every page should be thorougly read and understood.
Moreover, it shows the similarity-maybe unity-between Christianity and Yoga.
I watched with great interest this TV presentation of Tom Brown, the author of the book
Devil, Demons and Spiritual Warfare.
Tom Brown is really a daring man, who says what he knows and believes in. Enjoy it:
[quote=oak333;14200]
The terminology might be confusing. You can read in The Buddha or in yoga books about “Gods.” In actual fact, in my opinion, there is only one God, who
takes different aspects.
But who am I to judge God and his aspects ?
I might get to that later on, after searching the Bhagavad Gita .[/quote]
God does not take any aspects, meaning he cannot be known through anything but The Son, who takes all aspects both consciously and uncosciously, and gods are higher than human beings without the need for physical incarnation. Angels, archangels, archai, exusai, dynamis, kyritotetes, thrones, I probably missed one or two classes. These beings have their own roles and agendas in the world, some of them can be seen as having actions contrary to human development, these, if they belong to the category of angels, are called devils, if they belong to lower than human spiritual entities, they are called demons. The increasingly materialist world view has made the belief in these beings appear as silly, and indeed, if one pictures them with such a mind, one can only arrive to silliness.
These beings are all manifestations of God, through The Son (Word, Logos, Cosmic Self) but as I said, they are still prone to the illusion of their separate existence. Indeed, even devils or demons are created and sustained by The Son (Word, Logos, Cosmic Self) as necessary parts of the universal plan.
Example: Michael (arche), the name means That who is like God, That who resembles God. He is not a winged human being with a sword, although he is often pictured so. Rather we could say, that he is Cosmic Intelligence. I am not sure what god of the hindu pantheon can we relate him to, perhaps those more knowledgable in that field can help me out.
If we are in this topic, I would like to point a similarity between Krishna and Master Jesus, just compare the descriptions of the former from the Simrad Bhagavatam - thanks Asuri -with the Gospel of John. Mind you that this does not mean they are the same, similar or they have done the same - that would be a gross mistake to do, yet, this comparison might help people belonging to various religious factions to open their minds and hearts towards each other. One who says he knows Jesus but he rejects Krishna shows that he is a poser, and vice a versa. One might be honest well intentioned and still a poser, mind you.
Princedoms, Dominations, Cherubin and Seraphim, you’ve missed them. 
Yes, I missed them all …
What a great thought-provoking thread. He’s a couple more ideas to throw in there.
Religion, lasagna and children.
When we are raised practicing a particular religion, we tend to unconsciously make it part of our identity, like the way our parents cooked a particular dish. It may not be the “best lasagna”, but it has a familiarity triggering home, memories, etc. and thus becomes a part of our fabric so to speak.
If we have children, and they have a difficult personality trait or habit, we might confide with others how it affects, frustrates or displeases us, yet should that other follow suit and criticize our child, we can get defensive. It seems when we perceive our children as part of our own identity, our egos see it as threatening.
Without meaning to over simplify the issue, try linking these points to a religion in which we were raised. Maybe it is something like a familiar meal we no longer enjoy, but have strong memories and emotional ties to. And often it is like our child, which we might defend really because our ego’s align him or her with defining who we are. When that happens objectivity is obscured and conflict arises. I have done this with Christianity.
I agree with LiveYogaLife, I was raised Christian and converted to Catholicism as an adult. I still celebrate some of the rituals, though I can no longer call myself a “Christian”. Jesus is my savior inasmuch as he led a life that inspires me and many to do the same. He was and is love. I see him being born as human as I am, and therefore he is that much more of an inspiration.
My own children and I debate often as to how to raise children, since they are older and now question the beliefs their father and I originally taught/imposed on them. They no longer attend church, but they also ascribe to teaching a child “some faith”. So, even though they do not go to church, they said they will probably raised them Christian, since it is most familiar to them. They will decide, but I can see how they are already wrestling with the concept.
My lasagna recipe is pretty darned good, but I hope if any of my children ever decide it doesn’t “taste right” to them anymore, they have enough love and compassion for themselves to stop eating it.
Peace!
I love this forum, It’s thought-wrenching topics like these that keep me coming back!
I always like to say- there’s a difference between Christianity and Churchianity.
Checkout the Aramaic translations of Christ. He was so beyond dogma, so beyond the King James bible.
People take up yoga for health reasons and longevity. I have yet to meet someone who became a Hindu just for practicing yoga. If we have problems reciting a mantra, just replace it with something else, like a verse from the Bible.
Hi Madeline,
I read most of the thread, very interesting (except few posts, e.g. I’m tired of Hinduism treating Christianity as a dumb brother - and often this is what I feel people want to express). I was wondering, could you write how did this problem with parents developed? Did you find solution or a way of dealing with it in yourself and in relationship with parents?
Kind Regards,
Pawel