(I was compelled to write this article in keeping with the
urgency of the situation and the sham response of the hierarchy in India and
Mumbai to the issue that is eating into the church like cancer)
The world will celebrate world
yoga day. While the Muslims have raised
their voice against the imposition of yoga, the voices in the government have
managed to appease them by removing the suryanamskar from the routine.
The Catholics seem to have
welcomed the World Yoga day minus the day chosen, which is a Sunday; a sacred
day for Christian. Otherwise they don’t
seem to have any objection to the practice of yoga.
Why would the Catholic Church in
India not object to Yoga and the world yoga day?
It is solely because the
hierarchy themselves, in search of the concealed “ray of that truth” and in
seeking to separate the good elements from the bad are indulging in yogic
spirituality. Unfortunately it is part
of the formation in many of the seminaries in India too.
Could it be true that even the
Catholic Church at the UN voted in favor of the world yoga day without
assessing the deceptive claims? (Some of these false claims have been answered
in this article without highlighting them)
Besides the practice of it, many from the hierarchy seem convinced and have either written introductions to
books on the subject, written or
commented positively on the subject, conducted sessions and classes or invited
others to do the same and some of them are even exporting it to other
countries, earning for their lavish lifestyles. Some have either started
ashrams or are even heading institutions which promote and claim that they use
yoga to reach out in healing for the people; which percentage of claim stands
in need of verification because deception is always a fruit thereof.
How compatible is yoga, even the so called exercise form (Hatha Yoga) with
Christian spirituality? We need to especially look into what seems to be the
most innocuous part of it: The so called physical exercises.(In reality yoga is not mere exercises but always referred to as postures (asanas).
Unlike Hinduism which is free to
adapt to a dual or even a multifaceted spiritual lifestyle, a Christian is
supposed to be singular in his focus and cannot be dual in his ways, thinking
and action. The word of God is supposed to be the primary focus and a basis for
discerning and accepting every thought or action and these thought and actions
are to ultimately be subjected to Christ through the Church's tradition and
magisterium. It is so because we are
capable of self-deception, no matter how intelligent and hence the historical action
of the Holy Spirit manifested through the rich Catholic Tradition and
Magisterium needs to be respected in all humility
There are well defined moral
standards too for a Christian, whether he puts it into practice or not. One is
supposed to do so without any duality.
All this, for a striving
Christian, is made possible on account of the Salvation which Christ Jesus has
accomplished on the cross. Jesus offers one the hope, the healing, the health,
consolation and courage and above all the eternal salvation.
Therefore, Yoga in any form is
unacceptable to a Christian who believes in Christ Jesus, whether it is the
meditations or the postures thereof because Christ Jesus offers us the
fullness of salvation and not a partial one.
Critical Analysis of the claims
of Yogic exercises from a Christian point of view:
Yogic postures are incompatible
with Christianity because it is incompatible with truth. In other words, it
doesn’t have a basis in truth. For
Christians truth is the guiding factor. Unfortunately many may have been
deceived into falsity in search of that 'ray of truth' when they either through
deception or wickedness of heart missed the fullness of it in Christ Jesus.
The reason why yogic exercises
have a growing popularity is on account of its many positive claims; some of
which could be true but many are deceptively false, especially from a Christian
world view.
Yoga, it is claimed has nothing
to do with religion: While many of
promoters of yoga claim that it has nothing to do with religion there are some
yogi’s who have clearly affirmed that it has everything to do with Hindu
religion. Some even accuse and condemn
the Christians of trying to separate yogic exercises from the Hindu system and
then condemn the Hindu’s as damned. Even though they may be disputes as to its
religious leanings but no one seem to dispute as to its origin, which is
Hinduism. It should be noted that even
if a Christian tries to Christianize the system, it cannot be accepted since it is rooted in Hinduism.
Hence from a purely Christian
point of view it has everything to do with religion, if one finds it difficult to
understand that then let me put it differently: “Yoga and the postures thereof along
with its goals and aims opposes the Christian understanding of Man created in the
image and likeness of God.” And hence any such opposition to the Christian faith is a new
religion or cult.
Secondly, for a Christian it is
important to identify the source for further and right action. In the
scripture, in the temptation narratives of Matthew and Luke when Satan comes to
Jesus with the pure written word from the Bible, Jesus could have adopted the
new principles of modern man in search of the 'ray of truth' in other religions
and separated the written word of God from him and observed it diligently but
instead rejects it because the source and the application of it is not in God’s
interest and thus in the interest of humanity.
Thus the
Catholic Church in its document in 2003 makes this element of argument clear: “It is difficult to separate the individual elements of New
Age religiosity – innocent though they may appear – from the
overarching framework which permeates the whole thought-world on the New
Age movement. The gnostic nature of this movement calls us to judge it in its entirety. From the
point of view of Christian faith, it is not possible to isolate some elements
of New Age religiosity as acceptable to Christians, while
rejecting others.” (Chp. 4:1; Jesus Christ the bearer of the water of life)
Hence anyone claiming that the
church has not taken a stand is only abusing his office to deceive the ignorant
laity. Similarly those suggesting that
it can be safely practiced apart from its philosophy are already walking in
deception and if they are shepherds then they should humbly step down for
leading the flock astray for long and for acting to be wise in the ways of God.
Let’s arrive at the truth about the
exercises from the existential point first:
The west, steeped in secular,
scientific education and materialism, had failed to understand the Christian
doctrine and many of them were left empty in their spiritual or psychological
quest for God, peace, happiness, solace and relationships. They had the money to buy everything but
didn’t realize that the fruit of the gospel was freely available to those who
seek it in humility in Christ.
Many entered into the deception
of yoga because it claimed that it has nothing to do with religion. Their
rejection of religion mired in the pride of education made it difficult for
them to see the truth. They may be right
in their thinking from their perspective but specifically from a Christian
viewpoint it has everything to with religion as you will see from the
explanations below.
The Church, in such
circumstances, too failed to communicate the gospel of hope to them.
Hence their materialistic pride
thought them that they could buy everything, including truth and in return they
got the deception they wanted. (cfr. Rom. 1;17 ff)
No
human being can attain God on his own wisdom, knowledge or efforts unless they
humbly seek it, with perseverance: “You will seek me
and find me; when you seek me with all your heart.” Jer 29:13 (Bible)
In the same vein yoga is
considered scientific too. Though there are some verifiable facts about yoga
and certain things about yoga can be verifiably affirmed but some the
psycho-social benefits can be disputed about. What is apparent or may be
initial benefits or a deceptive feeling of well being on account of partial
difference may be claimed as achievements.
For example: India should have
been a sporting giant on account of its roots in yoga and practice of yoga in
sports but it is definitely a great giant in corruption and creating an index
of unhappiness. We still need foreign
coaches and trainers to train our sports personals.
The following are the practical reasons why one
gets into yogic exercises and how
compatible is it with the truth and with the
Christian world view:
1. To
fight stress or for de-stressing: Most of the stress we experience is due to
hurts, un-forgiveness, guilt, every day conflicts and trials of life or taking
decisions which are incompatible with one’s abilities. If a Christian can
handle these through prayer, confession and sound counseling then does one need
to practice yogic exercise to de-stress? I have seen countless number of people being
healed of the symptoms of stress through the right approach to prayer and
through the Sacramental ministry of the church.
2. To
attain peace of mind: Yoga doesn’t offer anyone Peace of mind and those who
claim that have not really experienced the real peace which Jesus offers to his
followers. In fact what yoga definitely offers is a state of calmness and this
is often or even deceptively referred to as peace. It is like a deceptive baker
selling his bread as a cake because the natives have never seen a cake.
Since one may
imagine that I am only disputing about words; let me explain: If one is
disturbed on account of a public insult then yoga deals with it through its
method of either breathing or mantra or physical exercises, either by ignoring
it, rationalizing it or suppressing it. On the other hand the Christian deals
with such disturbances in prayer, either through surrender, forgiveness,
letting go of what one has held back. Further, to help the weak do it we have
the wisdom of the cross and the grace thereof to attain the peace that
surpasses all understanding. (Phil 4:6)
3. For
good health: Exercises do give us good health but do they deal with the problem
at its root? What is the main reason for most of our ill-health? The few
reasons for ill-health:
- Our not being reconciled to the one true God is
the primary reason for the ill-health we face in life and this ill-health working
in us can ultimately lead us to eternal destruction, even though we may live
long on account of our disciplined life of right eating, right sleeping, and
right exercises.
“But God shows his love for us in that while we were yet
sinners Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we are now justified by his blood, much
more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if
while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much
more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. Not only so,
but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have
now received our reconciliation.” Rom 5:8-11 (Bible)
-
The bitterness of un-forgiveness can be also a big reason for
ill-health and most of our sickness. What would be better: to eliminate the
problem or to ignore or rationalize or suppress it or may be just rise above
it?
-
The guilt of wrongdoing could affect us and lead to some deep
emotional problems too. But yoga will seek to ignore guilt as bad and thus
suppress or ignore it rather than deal with it as catholic would do through the confessional.
-
The pain of deep hurt and rejection can leave deep emotional scars
which again could be suppressed through physical exercises.
-
The deep rooted fears could be calmed too by yogic exercises with
seeking to eliminate the root reason for it.
-
Likewise, many other emotional issues are not dealt with in the
true human spirit and thus yoga rejects the truth of man.
Yoga through its
exercises seeks the physical and spiritual bliss by ignoring the reality of the
above mentioned problem.
4. To
lose weight/ slim down: On the one hand it is claimed that yoga brings about harmony
between man and nature and deal with climate change and on the other hand it
does encourage the reduction of weight through exercises; which means indulge
yourself and then exercise to lose weight. Compare this with the ascetic
spirituality of being frugal with our eating and drinking and thus donating and
support the poor and orphans. Which would be more environmentally
friendly? Most of these yogi’s are such
vegetarian fanatics that they would want to preserve the bovines in order to
increase the green house gases in the universe but will not give up on their
milk.
5. To
remain young and youthful: The new self is self-confident, seeks to achieve,
believes in oneself and adopts a spirituality that helps them in their selfish
ambition to be achievers at any cost. There is very little of the moral
principle at work. What is forgotten is
that one could remain perennially young and youthful but lost forever into
eternal damnation. Because scripture reminds us that God had reduced Man’s
lifespan so that he may, reflecting on death would think of his creator and pay
him homage (cfr. Gen 6:3; Ps. 39). Whereas yogic exercise has to lead you the
other way: long life and youthfulness but eternal damnation.
6. For
better performance: Indeed yoga could help one perform better in rote learning
and may be alertness and in concentration minus the moral principles and
emotional control! Unless one has brought their sense of morality along on
account of their family or school background one is lost in the maze of a
deceptively glorified idea. Much of the sound discerning wisdom is in the
morality of life’s principles. In India
a cow may be of more value and may be worshiped than a human being. I have seen how concern for human life is
poor and the karma principle justifies the indifference.
The immense evil in Yoga
vis-à-vis the human being is remarkable: Though yoga may offer some of the
benefits which I have acknowledged and described above but in keeping with its
tall claim it ignores the moral principle in human nature and even the
emotional nature of man. The claim of
peace, de-stressing, equanimity, etc is at the cost of ignoring of the human
conscience. What sets human beings apart from the animal world is their
conscience which at times even needs to be formed so that he may respect the
other, not cheat or give false hopes and promises and make lofty statements of
assurances and not fulfill them and give different value or meaning to the same
word of assurance given.
All that unity and harmony that
it claims to achieve in man is done minus/without reference to the conscience
of man which is either ignored or suppressed or harmonized in oneself in order
to create a new situation of health, harmony, goodwill, etc. But what appears
apparently to be good is nothing but a creation of an intolerable world view
that will not tolerate opposition to its ideological claims once it attains
full power.
Finally, a hint of the evil in certain physical exercise
revealed in Scripture: “In those days lawless men came forth from Israel, and
misled many, saying, "Let us go and make a covenant with the Gentiles
round about us, for since we separated from them many evils have come upon
us." This proposal pleased them, and some of the people eagerly went to the king. He authorized
them to observe the ordinances of the Gentiles. So they built a gymnasium
in Jerusalem, according to Gentile custom, and removed the marks of circumcision, and abandoned the holy
covenant. They joined with the Gentiles and sold themselves to do evil.” 1 Macc 1:11-15 (Bible)
Choose: “I call
heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that I have set before you
life and death, blessing and curse; therefore choose life, that you and your
descendants may live, loving the Lord
your God, obeying his voice, and cleaving to him; for that means life to you and length of days,” Deut 30:19-20
For a still more detailed
write-up on the subject I plan to write a book. Those interested could kindly
write to me at frconrad@rediffmail.com
with name, address and the number of copies.
