I recently visted my cousin and her husband and they told me that they believe doing yoga is evil and that it welcomes a bad spirit? They are Catholics and I have never heard of such of thing. Have you?
Glow
Glow
Is yoga considered bad in the eyes of God
Yoga is associated with the Hindu religion. That said, I think you can probably judge what is ok and what is not, and that it is better for you to make that personal choice.
There are many levels of Yoga. I would suggest that understanding the philosophy behind it is not harmful, but if you are careless in what activities you engage, you might find yourself involved in a form of worship that is not appropriate for you.
Being aware of the background would make you conscious of possible problems, and you will find many physical exercises and maybe even some meditations that you can engage in without concern.
There are many levels of Yoga. I would suggest that understanding the philosophy behind it is not harmful, but if you are careless in what activities you engage, you might find yourself involved in a form of worship that is not appropriate for you.
Being aware of the background would make you conscious of possible problems, and you will find many physical exercises and maybe even some meditations that you can engage in without concern.
Yoga is a one of the oldest technic of medical treatment in Hinduism.
Its actual aim is to make man aware about what powers he has within himself and how to make use of these powers for good purpose.
Yoga consist of many things which really helps a man to stand strongly in his life.It does not differentiates with any religon or racism.I strongly oppose your query about yoga.I agree that Yoga consist high level meditation tricks.But the thing is that Yoga should be carried out professionally,under the guidence of proper channel.If yoga carried out improperly it can have bad effects on the body.So if you are doing Yoga
do it properly ,it will help you lot.
Its actual aim is to make man aware about what powers he has within himself and how to make use of these powers for good purpose.
Yoga consist of many things which really helps a man to stand strongly in his life.It does not differentiates with any religon or racism.I strongly oppose your query about yoga.I agree that Yoga consist high level meditation tricks.But the thing is that Yoga should be carried out professionally,under the guidence of proper channel.If yoga carried out improperly it can have bad effects on the body.So if you are doing Yoga
do it properly ,it will help you lot.
Yoga means union. It's aim is to achieve union with God.
Your relatives are not following official Catholic doctrine, there is no prohibition in the Catholic church against members practicing yoga, nor any negative advice at all on the subject from the RCC.
Father Thomas Merton wrote dozens of books on Zen and Hinduism, so if this was a problem then his books should have been declared anathema, but they have not, you can still find them in large Catholic book stores.
Your relatives are not following official Catholic doctrine, there is no prohibition in the Catholic church against members practicing yoga, nor any negative advice at all on the subject from the RCC.
Father Thomas Merton wrote dozens of books on Zen and Hinduism, so if this was a problem then his books should have been declared anathema, but they have not, you can still find them in large Catholic book stores.
| CCovers wrote: |
| I recently visted my cousin and her husband and they told me that they believe doing yoga is evil and that it welcomes a bad spirit? They are Catholics and I have never heard of such of thing. Have you?
Glow |
Listening to most followers of organized religions speak about other people and their beliefs is usually very entertaining...it would be funny if it wasn't so filled with violence...it's amazing how many people just follow like sheep and never question...
you can see how evil yoga is by all the horrible people on the planet running around...all the evil ones have been doing yoga for years and they don't even realize it...
I bet if we raided all the yoga classes going on around the world and put them all in jail the world would be a better place...
trying to make any sense out of this with people who believe in heaven and hell is a lost cause...the depth of the illusion is so great there's just no hope there...
I wonder if god has eyes?...
M
Most people turn to others for the answer to such a question and nine times out of ten, the person they ask, doesn't know the real answer either. As a priest myself I often come across people of different religions who ask my advice (okay, it's usually, "Can you cast a love spell for me?") and I try to focus on how religions are the same.
Yoga doesn't have anything to do with any given religion and its techniques can be used in any religion you believe in. It is used only as a matter of focus and simply by putting the focus on your beliefs and not on the beliefs of Hinduism. Thereby coming a tool to bring oneself closer to your version of God.
Then again this is coming from a guy that firmly belives that there may be only one God but God is such a hugely complex enigma that we mere mortals all miss the mark in some way or the other relating to God through religion. That's why I tend to be comfortable borrowing bits and pieces from diverse sources into my spirituality.
Yoga doesn't have anything to do with any given religion and its techniques can be used in any religion you believe in. It is used only as a matter of focus and simply by putting the focus on your beliefs and not on the beliefs of Hinduism. Thereby coming a tool to bring oneself closer to your version of God.
Then again this is coming from a guy that firmly belives that there may be only one God but God is such a hugely complex enigma that we mere mortals all miss the mark in some way or the other relating to God through religion. That's why I tend to be comfortable borrowing bits and pieces from diverse sources into my spirituality.
I'd like to have a chance to correct most of you. Many of you said that yoga is a method to become closer to God.
But no. It has absolutely NOTHING to do with god. Yoga is nothing but an art of chanelling your energy, and cleansing the body. The ONLY thing it unifies is one's soul and one's physical form. Yoga has been there since the roots of Hinduism, and hence follows chanting in a language called Sanskrit. The words said might sound like a prayer, but translate into nothing related with God. For example, most of us would have heard of the Hindi word "Om". It actually has Sanskrit roots. It is a VERY common word used in Yoga. Many at first would think that while one is in a queer posture doing Yoga and chanting "OM'', the person is praying to God. But "Om" actually is considered the primal sound or vibration from which the entire universe constantly emanates. It is the sound of creative departure and return. It is thus the essence of all Mantra. The sounding of 'Om' is the beginning of a transformative process which delivers us to a state of awareness, with one's soul. So what the person is actually doing is getting into a posture which will channel his energy.
Another example of a form of channeling energy is Tai Chi.
Normally, however, if you see Yoga being performed by a Hindu, he will chant some line before he starts Yoga. Chances are, those lines pray to God. This is a custom Hindus PREFER (not HAVE to) to follow, as we believe that everything related to spirituality should start in a divine way. It is NOT a custom or a step in Yoga to chant a such line.
Dave
(15 yrs old! lol)
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Mike1Reynolds: "Yoga means union. It's aim is to achieve union with God." |
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Tex_arcana:"Thereby coming a tool to bring oneself closer to your version of God." |
But no. It has absolutely NOTHING to do with god. Yoga is nothing but an art of chanelling your energy, and cleansing the body. The ONLY thing it unifies is one's soul and one's physical form. Yoga has been there since the roots of Hinduism, and hence follows chanting in a language called Sanskrit. The words said might sound like a prayer, but translate into nothing related with God. For example, most of us would have heard of the Hindi word "Om". It actually has Sanskrit roots. It is a VERY common word used in Yoga. Many at first would think that while one is in a queer posture doing Yoga and chanting "OM'', the person is praying to God. But "Om" actually is considered the primal sound or vibration from which the entire universe constantly emanates. It is the sound of creative departure and return. It is thus the essence of all Mantra. The sounding of 'Om' is the beginning of a transformative process which delivers us to a state of awareness, with one's soul. So what the person is actually doing is getting into a posture which will channel his energy.
Another example of a form of channeling energy is Tai Chi.
Normally, however, if you see Yoga being performed by a Hindu, he will chant some line before he starts Yoga. Chances are, those lines pray to God. This is a custom Hindus PREFER (not HAVE to) to follow, as we believe that everything related to spirituality should start in a divine way. It is NOT a custom or a step in Yoga to chant a such line.
Dave
(15 yrs old! lol)
| dez_trukshun wrote: | ||||
I'd like to have a chance to correct most of you. Many of you said that yoga is a method to become closer to God.
But no. It has absolutely NOTHING to do with god. Yoga is nothing but an art of chanelling your energy, and cleansing the body. The ONLY thing it unifies is one's soul and one's physical form. |
Hey Dave, I bet that by using the quote above you can guess what the first thing I learned was when I started my religious training as a Neo-Pagan was.
In case you couldn't, it was to ground and center. To unify my body and spirit. It wasn't Yoga per se but it could have easily been Yoga. When judging religious practices it's a good thing to at least know a little bit about how other people besides the common practices of the three major middle eastern religions work. I stand behind my statement that Yoga can be used as a tool to enlightenment and bringing oneself closer to their version of God.
| dez_trukshun wrote: |
| Yoga has been there since the roots of Hinduism, and hence follows chanting in a language called Sanskrit. The words said might sound like a prayer, but translate into nothing related with God. For example, most of us would have heard of the Hindi word "Om". It actually has Sanskrit roots. It is a VERY common word used in Yoga. Many at first would think that while one is in a queer posture doing Yoga and chanting "OM'', the person is praying to God. But "Om" actually is considered the primal sound or vibration from which the entire universe constantly emanates. It is the sound of creative departure and return. It is thus the essence of all Mantra. The sounding of 'Om' is the beginning of a transformative process which delivers us to a state of awareness, with one's soul. So what the person is actually doing is getting into a posture which will channel his energy.
Another example of a form of channeling energy is Tai Chi. Normally, however, if you see Yoga being performed by a Hindu, he will chant some line before he starts Yoga. Chances are, those lines pray to God. This is a custom Hindus PREFER (not HAVE to) to follow, as we believe that everything related to spirituality should start in a divine way. It is NOT a custom or a step in Yoga to chant a such line. Dave (15 yrs old! lol) |
Yes, the part of my post you left out also said that one can do Yoga without the Hindu trappings. If say for example a Christian wanted to take advantage of the health benefits of practicing Yoga (hmmmm, Pat Robertson in full lotus) but felt uncomfortable using sanscrit or other words that might be a prayer to some pagan God then it is totally within reason to use Christian prayer.
My point was that there is no reason to throw the baby out with the bath water. You can just as easily twist yourself up in knots for Jesus as you could for Vishnu.
Absolutely agreed with most of you post, Tex. It can be used under any conditions of religion. You CAN say a christian prayer before meditating in yoga instead of a hindu prayer. BUT, what is followed in majority is the chanting of some Sanskrit words, and hence my reason for explaining that they have nothing to do with God. Whatever is said as a part of Yoga's custom, and not related to religion, holds to no Divinity. However, you do not have to follow those customs.
I wouldn't say it is against God - but this goes to show you how divided religion can be over certain subjects.
No one in this thread ever said it is against God as a justification to the first post. But it has nothing to do with God either.
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