Albert Mohler's opinion on yoga is getting a lot of attention today:
http://www.albertmohler.com/2010/09/20/the...-practice-yoga/
When Christians practice yoga, they must either deny the reality of what yoga represents or fail to see the contradictions between their Christian commitments and their embrace of yoga. The contradictions are not few, nor are they peripheral. The bare fact is that yoga is a spiritual discipline by which the adherent is trained to use the body as a vehicle for achieving consciousness of the divine. Christians are called to look to Christ for all that we need and to obey Christ through obeying his Word. We are not called to escape the consciousness of this world by achieving an elevated state of consciousness, but to follow Christ in the way of faithfulness.
Albert Mohler's opinion on yoga is getting a lot of attention today:
http://www.albertmohler.com/2010/09/20/the...-practice-yoga/
The embrace of yoga is a symptom of our postmodern spiritual confusion, and, to our shame, this confusion reaches into the church. Stefanie Syman is telling us something important when she writes that yoga “has augured a truly post-Christian, spiritually polyglot country.” Christians who practice yoga are embracing, or at minimum flirting with, a spiritual practice that threatens to transform their own spiritual lives into a “post-Christian, spiritually polyglot” reality. Should any Christian willingly risk that?
Well what have you got to lose anyway? Better practice yoga than chow down at the church bar-b-q.
This is what I wrote to the author:
Read your article on yoga. What you miss in my opinion is the difference between esoteric and exoteric religion. There is a considerable history of esoteric Christianity that results in internal spiritual experience in the hear and now, as opposed to Sunday church, helping the poor, praying for material things, and church barbecues. There is a soul to Christianity. Those who know this aspect of Christianity do not find yoga techniques a contradiction. Christian yogic-contemplative life has a future in the world. It unites rather than divides. Reading what you write is not like hearing from someone who has experienced the beatific vision. Christian mystics and saints represent a more yogic Christianity and they will do more to inspire others to pursue the heart of the Gospel than articles like yours fear mongering about yoga. What Christians like you are really afraid of is letting go of material desires and ambitions that have nothing to do with loving God. You do not understand the implications of the fact that one does not profit from gaining the world at the cost of the soul.
What does "follow Christ in the way of faithfulness" even mean? I don't think the author could answer that.
He is apparently overwhelmed by the response he has received:
http://www.albertmohler.com/2010/10/07/yah...nd-yours-truly/
Bravo, Guru Maharaja! And quoting the bible!
Kinda related to this...
I was reading the (Lutheran) Church Magazine here in Finland and there was an article about a recent synoptic meeting of the clergy (a meeting to discuss the official teachings of the church) and one of the key points of the meeting was to discuss various "new age" spiritualities, and yoga was also discussed.
The pastor leading the discussion on yoga said that because of the popularity of yoga, the church should consider developing "Christian Yoga" to meet the need of the people, and that pastors should even consider talking about Jesus Christ as an 'enlightened master' or even refer to him as a 'guru' to get people interested in Christianity and show them that Christianity could also offer them the depth and the 'experimental spirituality' that people now seek elsewhere.
What I find ironic is that Christianity really does not have - or hast lost - a concept of sadhana, a practice that offers people a spiritual experience and now they have to 'borrow' it elsewhere in order to make Christianity seem attractive to people hungry for some real spiritual connection/experience.
Kinda related to this...
I was reading the (Lutheran) Church Magazine here in Finland and there was an article about a recent synoptic meeting of the clergy (a meeting to discuss the official teachings of the church) and one of the key points of the meeting was to discuss various "new age" spiritualities, and yoga was also discussed.
The pastor leading the discussion on yoga said that because of the popularity of yoga, the church should consider developing "Christian Yoga" to meet the need of the people, and that pastors should even consider talking about Jesus Christ as an 'enlightened master' or even refer to him as a 'guru' to get people interested in Christianity and show them that Christianity could also offer them the depth and the 'experimental spirituality' that people now seek elsewhere.
What I find ironic is that Christianity really does not have - or hast lost - a concept of sadhana, a practice that offers people a spiritual experience and now they have to 'borrow' it elsewhere in order to make Christianity seem attractive to people hungry for some real spiritual connection/experience.
Sounds like a good basis for an article!
What I find ironic is that Christianity really does not have - or hast lost - a concept of sadhana, a practice that offers people a spiritual experience and now they have to 'borrow' it elsewhere in order to make Christianity seem attractive to people hungry for some real spiritual connection/experience.
Well, not exactly. Both Ortodox and Catholic Church monastics practice some sadhana for sure. And there are also some practices for common pious people. Most Christians nowadays are probably not that much interested in them but at least in theory they exist. Maybe it`s more truth with regards to Protestants
Well, not exactly. Both Ortodox and Catholic Church monastics practice some sadhana for sure. And there are also some practices for common pious people. Most Christians nowadays are probably not that much interested in them but at least in theory they exist. Maybe it`s more truth with regards to Protestants
My wife, who attended Duke Divinity School, explained to me that most Christians who study there become disillusioned with Protestantism and being to become interested in Catholicism or Anglicanism. She says that they become attracted to the rituals and disgusted with the emotional/experiential "me and Jesus" approach of mainstream Protestantism.
Well, not exactly. Both Ortodox and Catholic Church monastics practice some sadhana for sure. And there are also some practices for common pious people. Most Christians nowadays are probably not that much interested in them but at least in theory they exist. Maybe it`s more truth with regards to Protestants
Yes, that's true - I was speaking more from a protestant, especially lutheran, viewpoint. But I think the key word in your reply is monastics; yes they have something that could be called a sadhana. And I did say "or has lost", meaning that even if there are such practices within Christianity, not many people know of them or use them consciously in their daily lives. I think it's fair to say that most "lay" Catholic or Ortodox Christians don't really have a daily sadhana. And if they do, it's not as systematic or as well thought out as in yoga, vedanta , buddhism etc.
Yes, that's true - I was speaking more from a protestant, especially lutheran, viewpoint. But I think the key word in your reply is monastics; yes they have something that could be called a sadhana. And I did say "or has lost", meaning that even if there are such practices within Christianity, not many people know of them or use them consciously in their daily lives. I think it's fair to say that most "lay" Catholic or Ortodox Christians don't really have a daily sadhana. And if they do, it's not as systematic or as well thought out as in yoga, vedanta , buddhism etc.
I think the Catholics monastics have some form of sadhana, but it is also lacking to the point that serious contemplatives like Merton, for example, imported techniques from the East.
My wife, who attended Duke Divinity School, explained to me that most Christians who study there become disillusioned with Protestantism and being to become interested in Catholicism or Anglicanism. She says that they become attracted to the rituals and disgusted with the emotional/experiential "me and Jesus" approach of mainstream Protestantism.
I guess though huge abuse has happened in Catholic Church, people like Aquinas (philosophically sound) and Francis (experientially sound) people have come along who could fill the role of a Guru. Protestant Christianity protested against the idea of any mediation required between God and individual, but didn't help either! In fact more fanaticism followed.
Yes, that's true - I was speaking more from a protestant, especially lutheran, viewpoint. But I think the key word in your reply is monastics; yes they have something that could be called a sadhana. And I did say "or has lost", meaning that even if there are such practices within Christianity, not many people know of them or use them consciously in their daily lives. I think it's fair to say that most "lay" Catholic or Ortodox Christians don't really have a daily sadhana. And if they do, it's not as systematic or as well thought out as in yoga, vedanta , buddhism etc.
As Swami has said this would be a very interesting topic for an article for Harmonist. I know many devotees who have read about Christian mysticism. So it might be an interesting parallel between Christian mysticism and yoga practices.