Catholic faith and yoga - Two views in the news

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Bennie_P

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I don’t know if this is the right forum, but here goes, I was doing a search on another issue and came across this incident in Florida about a Bishop banning Yoga classes in a Parish. The stories are about the same incident, but the views of it would think you were hearing about two different incidents and issues.

Bishop’s yoga ban is a stretch, parishioners say
Complaints end classes at south Fort Myers parish

Ft Myers bishop bans classes at parish,
Voice of the Faithful objects. Sunday, May 20, 2007

🤷 ?🤷
 
Wow, you really can see the agenda in the second article. The first one was a lot more balanced.

One of my CRHP sisters teaches yoga which I think is great for Catholics who want a class where they can be assured of not getting meditations, etc thrust upon them that are not Christian.

I can see the bishop’s point that nothing should be scheduled right next to an actual religious service at the parish, but so long as the class did not disturb the service I wonder why it was not left to the actual pastor to decide. My parish is huge so we probably have 10 or more things going on on week days that could be considered a “conflict” when it is not a day of obligation or parish mission when everything else is cancelled.
 
Yoga may certainly seem innocent enough, but remember that eating a piece of fruit sure seemed innocent to Adam and Eve. The devil is very clever and doesn’t come in all his true colors. We need to be very circumspect with regard to anything that the Church warns us about. The Church, has after all, been around a lot longer than we have, and has the special grace of revealing God’s truth to us. What does it mean to be Catholic if we ignore the Church’s counsel?
 
I agree. While it is possible to practice the yoga positions as exercise, many people then delve deeper into yoga and go down the path of “enlightenment” including chanting in ancient Sanskrit.

We just watched a “travel show” with a hollywood actor who did just that. He is Jewish, but his yoga practice led him to make a pilgrimage to India where he “deepened his spirituality” with meditation and meeting with a swami who gave him counsel and his own mantra.

I can understand why people would be bothered by a yoga class in a Catholic Church.
Ruthmary said:
Yoga may certainly seem innocent enough, but remember that eating a piece of fruit sure seemed innocent to Adam and Eve. The devil is very clever and doesn’t come in all his true colors. We need to be very circumspect with regard to anything that the Church warns us about. The Church, has after all, been around a lot longer than we have, and has the special grace of revealing God’s truth to us. What does it mean to be Catholic if we ignore the Church’s counsel?
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Bennie_P said:
Amen !
Bishop Dewane stand strong ! 👍
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and Amen! Why has no one raised the issue of the profanation of a “sacred space”? I am not sure what the term “chapel” meant. Did it mean the same area where the Blessed Sacrament is reposed? Even if it was a different room where the Blessed Sacrament is not reposed, the fact that it is a chapel, to me, says that it is a “consecrated” sacred space. To me this appears to be theologically justified by one of the pitfalls of a modernist, revolutionary and in my opinion, darn near apostate interpretation of Vatican II’s wonderful teaching, that definitions and teachings are stretched to the point of having no meaning. This was a “consecrated” sacred space for heaven’s sake!..why was it being used for a gym or community room? If the Blessed Sacrament were resposed there, in the same room, the situation becomes worse! The fact that this could happen shows me that the level of understanding/and/or obedience to the matters of our holy Faith is very low. May the Father in Heaven send us prophets like this Bishop…
 
Bishop Dewane seems to have walked into a diocese that is a Hot Spot for CTA and VOTF and they don’t like Him very much. I’ve got a feeling we will hear alot more groaning coming Diocese of Venice, FL.

Newspaper ad from the groaners

The Theologeon Bishop Dawane would not allow to speak is
Anthony T. Padovano

This didn’t seem to make the secular news as did the yoga incident.
 
Hmm, I did my yoga exercise this morning. It wasn’t much different than doing push ups and sit-ups, only it is a more complete work out. It enhanced my sense of balance and breathing along with building physical strength and flexibility. There was nothing spiritual about it.

Once I was done and showered, I prayed the Liturgy of the Hours, morning prayer, followed by 20 minutes of mediation.

If some one is going to tell me that what I did today is spiritually dangerous, I have to question how shallow their own spiritual life must be.

Jim
 
JimR-OCDS said:
If some one is going to tell me that what I did today is spiritually dangerous, I have to question** how shallow their own spiritual life must be.**

Jim
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Not very nice Jim. My spiritual life is fine, thank you.

All I said is that doing yoga can lead some to dig deeper into the spirituality behind it. Therefore, it is good to look at yoga cautiously. There is no danger to the practice of yoga moves, if you can separate the exercise from the spirtuality attached to it. Obviously, you are able to do that.

BTW…the same can be said regarding some martial arts. That’s how I started studying Tibetan Buddhism when I was younger - through Kung Fu and being taught how to focus my chi.

I think it is okay to question whether some things which are attached to pagan, occult, etc. are proper to offer in a Catholic Church and/or on Church grounds. I am not saying that the individual Catholic should be prohibited from doing them. Just that there should be caution, that you don’t delve into rituals/practices that may lead you away from the Church.
 
Bennie_P said:
I don’t know if this is the right forum, but here goes, I was doing a search on another issue and came across this incident in Florida about a Bishop banning Yoga classes in a Parish. The stories are about the same incident, but the views of it would think you were hearing about two different incidents and issues.

Bishop’s yoga ban is a stretch, parishioners say
Complaints end classes at south Fort Myers parish

Ft Myers bishop bans classes at parish,
Voice of the Faithful objects. Sunday, May 20, 2007

🤷 ?🤷
Click to expand...
Clare Merkel has done some shows on Catholic Answers on this stuff. The spirituality behind yoga is very foreign to Christianity and it’s beliefs. It’s best to stay away from it.
 
I’m with Jim. I’ve done yoga strictly as exercise and all the classes I’ve ever taken in it, approach it as exercise - period. If I was ever in one that got into chanting and chakras, I’d leave.
 
rlg94086 said:
Okay…accepted. So, how do you feel about yoga being taught at a Catholic Church?

Pax,
Robert
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Yoga as a form of exercise, in a parish hall, I don’t have a problem with. No different than teaching line dancing in a parish hall, which I know they do.

Jim
 
JimR-OCDS said:
Yoga as a form of exercise, in a parish hall, I don’t have a problem with. No different than teaching line dancing in a parish hall, which I know they do.

Jim
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So, not in a chapel, as in this case, but a parish hall may be okay. I could probably accept that. 🙂
 
Perhaps if there was a way to disassociate the good exercises of yoga from its spiritual/occult side, that would be a good thing. Unfortunately the two are deeply entwined. For people who are not strong in their faith, yoga can easily lead them away from the One True Church into Eastern spirituality. On its surface, yoga appears benign, and even good for one’s health. In reality, it is sinister and undermines true Catholic spirituality.

In the Vatican document, Jesus Christ the Bearer of the Water of Life - A Christian reflection
on the “New Age”, in sections 2.1 and 2.3.4.1, yoga is called out specifically as being a New Age practice, something not compatible with Catholicism.

Some of the traditions which flow into New Age are: ancient Egyptian occult practices, Cabbalism, early Christian gnosticism, Sufism, the lore of the Druids, Celtic Christianity, mediaeval alchemy, Renaissance hermeticism, Zen Buddhism, Yoga and so on.
…
Yoga, zen, transcendental meditation and tantric exercises lead to an experience of self-fulfilment or enlightenment.

'thann
 
thann said:
Perhaps if there was a way to disassociate the good exercises of yoga from its spiritual/occult side, that would be a good thing. Unfortunately the two are deeply entwined. For people who are not strong in their faith, yoga can easily lead them away from the One True Church into Eastern spirituality. On its surface, yoga appears benign, and even good for one’s health. In reality, it is sinister and undermines true Catholic spirituality.

In the Vatican document, Jesus Christ the Bearer of the Water of Life - A Christian reflection
on the “New Age”, in sections 2.1 and 2.3.4.1, yoga is called out specifically as being a New Age practice, something not compatible with Catholicism.

Some of the traditions which flow into New Age are: ancient Egyptian occult practices, Cabbalism, early Christian gnosticism, Sufism, the lore of the Druids, Celtic Christianity, mediaeval alchemy, Renaissance hermeticism, Zen Buddhism, Yoga and so on.
…
Yoga, zen, transcendental meditation and tantric exercises lead to an experience of self-fulfilment or enlightenment.

'thann
Click to expand...
It does none of the above unless you go into those areas.

Yoga being called out as New Age, is specific to New Age.
New Agers also use the Catholic Mass in their practice. Fundamentalist Christians point out this aspect, as proof of how evil it is.

I see the same sort of thing going on in this forum. The puritanical view of anything outside of Catholicism, is rejected and we all must also reject it.

If you do exercise at all, guess what:? It origins are from the Greek pagans. So don’t exercise. 😃

Jim
 
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