No it isn’t. In some cultures, standing is the sign of reverence and respect. Kneeling would be seen as being rude.
This was particularly true in the Middle East.
It is also “offensive” to protestants, but it’s the occasion and fellow subjects they frown upon, it’s not a disagreement of the humbling meaning. Both of them would kneel before God. “Every knee will bend before me” (Rom.14), be it muslim or not.
Us westerners also have great difficulty in believeing we are so priviledged that those people in other religions were not blessed as much as us, or won’t be admitted in the presence of Jesus “just” because they weren’t baptised. But that seems to be the “pusillus grex” reality. I believe one should deal with this lest this tampers the conception one has of the Church, the inclination to think all religions are equally good.
Recently I’ve been reading books by/about exorcists (Malachi Martin, Amorth, Fortrea), since while many priests live in theological speculation that often confuses more than help, they actually get things done and get first hand on that invisible reality. Gabriele Amorth (Varican’s official exorcist, lest someone despises his opinion) was quoted: “yoga is satanic because it leads to practice of Hinduism”, “all eastern religions are based on a false belief in reincarnation”. This is to put a halt in the oversimplistic thinking and certainty of some (the “you can do it, it’s just an exercise”), and if memory doesn’t fail me somebody brought up yoga here as well. I want to add also that the very symbol of taoism is dualist, showcases a manicheist principle.
Also came across this: “In 1999, six years before he succeeded John Paul II as Pope, [Ratzinger] issued a document which warned Roman Catholics of the dangers of yoga, Zen, transcendental meditation and other 'eastern’ practises. They could ‘degenerate into a cult of the body’ that debases Christian prayer, the document said. Yoga poses could create a feeling of well-being in the body but it was erroneous to confuse that with ‘the authentic consolations of the Holy Spirit,’ the document said.” [full document here:
http://www.ewtn.com/library/curia/cdfmed.htm , it seems to refer mostly to the likes of zen and yoga, but may contribute to this question] Some interesting quotations from this document below:
Christian prayer is always determined by the structure of the Christian faith, in which the very truth of God and creature shines forth (…) These and similar proposals to harmonize Christian meditation with eastern techniques need to have their contents and methods ever subjected to a thorough-going examination so as to avoid the danger of falling into syncretism. (…) Human experience shows that the “position and demeanor of the body” also have their influence on the recollection and dispositions of the spirit. This is a fact to which some eastern and western Christian spiritual writers have directed their attention. Their reflections, while presenting points in common with eastern non-Christian methods of meditation, avoid the exaggerations and partiality of the latter, which, however, are often recommended to people today who are not sufficiently prepared. The spiritual authors have adopted those elements which make recollection in prayer easier, at the same time recognizing their relative value: they are useful if reformulated in accordance with the aim of Christian prayer.30 For example, the Christian fast signifies, above all, an exercise of penitence and sacrifice; but, already for the Fathers, it also had the aim of rendering man more open to the encounter with God and making a Christian more capable of self-dominion and at the same time more attentive to those in need. (…) That does not mean that genuine practices of meditation which come from the Christian East and from the great non-Christian religions, which prove attractive to the man of today who is divided and disoriented, cannot constitute a suitable means of helping the person who prays to come before God with an interior peace, even in the midst of external pressures.
You see he stated the objections but made a conclusion that didn’t exclude it totally, making some of them like an open case. It is a western modernist atitude to strip things of their original ties in one’s own head and adopt it thinking it will also happen in reality. It’s not enough always because “the road to hell is paved with good intentions” and in the spiritual journey, some of it is one’s will and intention, other is God’s grace, other is ritual (we do have to go to mass).
I think it is key in this discussion the presentation of stories, if one knows, please share. But on a probably closing note, I don’t know if my posts summing things up were read but the main points haven’t been confuted I believe:
[1]taichi has shamanic origins, in which the moves have [1]preternatural origins and [2]incantational effects; and the whole thing seems like tangling with unknown spirits, who [1]may very well have been its moves’ authors. It is known [3]taichi began as esoteric [in secret within some families and noble circles in China], and it looks ritualistic enough. [4]Since the practice is based on and reflects some philosophical assumptions, it’s more than possible you end up believing/incorporating it on some level, specially after repetition. [5, changed]There are other kinds of spiritually harmless exercises for the body (like common sports), and in Catholic literature there’s plenty other advices for the soul, since peace of mind (apatheia, hesychia) is a christian goal, so I’m not sure there’s an excuse for the persistence in this option.
