Catholic faith and yoga: incompatible

Re: Yoga Birds - ...yoga can be separated from its non-christian roots.

I'm afraid you have been misinformed. According to a Hindu professor, yoga can no more be separated from its Hindu roots as Christianity can be separated from Jesus. Yoga was invented specifically for Hindu worship and each posture in yoga was designed to worship a Hindu god* (e.g., the serpent posture was designed to worship the serpent god). (Interestingly, St. Justin, Martyr, in his First Apology, states that the pagan gods are actually demons and these demons gave themselves names which are the names the pagans use for their gods. A free PDF copy of St. Justin Martyrs' writings can be found on the His Mercy Web site at www.hismercy.ca under eBooks.)

Below are some other quotes with their sources, although there are many, many more that could be added:

"The postures alone are designed to create altered levels of consciousness, plus they can trigger reactions just as the breathing and mind work do. It is
a direct door to the occult. Some people who get involved in New Age or occult practices need deliverance from evil spirits, according to Fr. Amorth, the Vatican exorcist." (Anne Feaster, 'Should Christians Do Yoga?, p. 3, http://www.swordoflightandtruth.org/)**

Moira Noonan, a former yoga teacher, says yoga cannot be Christianised. (Ibid, p. 3)

...“yoga” means “union with god or yoke with god”. The god they refer to is an impersonal energy force that they call
Braham. They believe that through the practice of yoga, they can free themselves from the bondage of karma. The purpose of yoga is not exercise, but to reach altered states of consciousness... (Sword of Light and Truth, Spring 2005 newsletter, p. 3)

Yoga is the “physical manipulation of one’s body to create an altered state of consciousness which occurs as a result of the effect of the exercise on the central nervous system.”(The New Age Counterfeit by Johnnette Benkovic, p.ll)

Also, the Vatican has identified yoga as a New Age practice and therefore incompatible - in any form - with Christianity. (See Jesus Christ Bearer of the Water of Life which can be accessed on the Vatican site, www.vatican.va.)

We can be assured that there was an investigation on all aspects of yoga before the Church spoke out against it, and that experts were consulted. We also need to be mindful that we are to be obedient to Jesus through His Church. (Something that the devil and his followers will not do!)

There are many legitimate forms of exercise that are not harmful to our soul that we can use.

Note: It is important to distinguish between a belief or practice and the person who holds that belief or practice. As Christians, we are called to always love the person, but we must stay away from any belief or practice that is not from the one and only true God.

*Sharon Lee Giganti, in one of her monthly talks on Catholic Answers Live.

Ms Giganti's site: www.newagedeception.com

Catholic Answers site: www.catholic.com

** Also see Ms Feaster's 'The Truth About Yoga,' which has extra information.

by M. Burns | Sunday, October 25, 2009  7:21:40 PM  |  Report

Actually, the practice of yoga can be separated from its non-christian roots. If a person is trying to help his or her own body heal and doing it the name of Jesus so that the person can act more virtuously in order to be unified with Jesus and the Trinity, then you can no more say yoga is incompatible with Catholicism than working out at a gym is. You can benefit from the poses and the stretches of yoga regarless of what you believe in.

Now if you put your own body before your soul, or your own body before the souls of other people, then that is not consistent with Catholicism or any teaching of Jesus. But that is not always the case.

by Yoga Birds | Tuesday, January 27, 2009  12:08:05 PM  |  Report

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by William Keevers | Monday, May 21, 2007  12:38:27 AM  |  Report