Catholic-safe yoga practices?

[PRmerger]

Someone becomes more of an authority on something by virtue of being immersed and culturally invested in it.

I think you may be confusing “knowledgeable” with “authority”.

One does not become an authority on yoga by being born in India. That’s just gaga, lala nonsense.

No one is the Spokesperson for yoga. You know that. I know that. Let’s stop pretending.

 

[JimR-OCDS]

Well, time to back away from CAF once again.

Not conducive for my spirituality.

Centered in Christ
Jim

 

[PRmerger]

Well, he’s dead so I guess not. But he is ne of the most highly respected Indian philosophers.

So still waiting for the name of the official authority on yoga.

Who speaks for yoga to say: yes you are actually practicing yoga. No, you are just doing some really weird positions and get off that floor right now!

 

[PRmerger]

Or praying the Rosary?

Am I an authority on praying the rosary?



Am I knowledgeable about praying the rosary?

 

[Michael_Mayo]

So still waiting for the name of the official authority on yoga.

Who speaks for yoga to say: yes you are actually practicing yoga. No, you are just doing some really weird positions and get off that floor right now!

Iyengar is dead also. How about the editors of Yoga Journal/

 

[friardchips]

LOL.

The internet is an unknown. You don’t know by whom it originated from, Al Gore notwithstanding.

So…again, you should be afraid. Very, very afraid.

That’s a different context.

 

[Michael_Mayo]

Am I an authority on praying the rosary?

http://media.tumblr.com/c0569ea4b1d95d1133a9d9c861572681/tumblr_inline_mhf45fEQkh1qz4rgp.gif

Am I knowledgeable about praying the rosary?

http://media.tumblr.com/9ee8a1d1656cf9b802849bd4f23338d2/tumblr_inline_ngt9wzuV1X1r79k32.gif

Nice hair. WHy cover it with a hat?

 

[PRmerger]

Knowledge is a form of authority, especially when there is no hierarchy. I would suggest that you increase your knowledge.

Sure, it’s “a form” of authority.

But I’m talking about Authority. Capital A.

So if you asked “Who is the Authority of the Catholic Church?” all…er,…knowledgeable…people would say: this guy.

Now, if you ask me if I have authority on Catholicism over a JW, well, sure.

But that’s a bit of a bait and switch because our original discussion was about who gets to tell me that I’m not practicing yoga, when I got to a yoga class that’s advertised as a yoga class, and I pay for yoga classes, and the instructor thinks she’s teaching yoga, and we have what’s called yoga mats, and…

There’s no Designated Spokesman of True Yoga who could tell me that I’m not practicing yoga, and I’d have to submit to his/her authority on this.

 

[PRmerger]

That’s a different context.

And that’s why yoga is perfectly licit. It’s in a different context.

Not sure why you keep having a different standard for your “things which are perfectly harmless that some people think are satanic but I can do it because it’s absurd to call it satanic” and yoga, which is perfectly harmless and it’s absurd to call it satanic.

 

[PRmerger]

Knowledge is a form of authority, especially when there is no hierarchy. I would suggest that you increase your knowledge.

Incidentally, I’m quite sure you don’t believe I’m the authority on Catholicism, for if I told you, “You are not practicing Catholicism, please remove it from your profile”, you wouldn’t do it, would you?

 

[friardchips]

And that’s why yoga is perfectly licit. It’s in a different context.

Not sure why you keep having a different standard for your “things which are perfectly harmless that some people think are satanic but I can do it because it’s absurd to call it satanic” and yoga, which is perfectly harmless and it’s absurd to call it satanic.

While I enjoy our back-and-forth - :whacky: - you do sometimes miss the point.

Yoga IS the context we are talking about - subject specific.

 

[PRmerger]

I would consult with my priest first, but I would value your opinion over the opinion of someone with minimal exposure to Catholicism.

Ok. Then you should remove “Catholic” from your profile here, and I say this as an authority on Catholicism.

I have more authority than your priest because he’s not on CAFs.

#100%certainofthat

In fact, since your priest has little, er…knowledge…of how things work here on CAF, I have the authority to tell you to remove “Catholic” from your profile.

So please remove it.

 

[PRmerger]

While I enjoy our back-and-forth - :whacky: - you do sometimes miss the point.

Yoga IS the context we are talking about - subject specific.

And in the context of stretching and meditation, it’s perfectly licit.

It has zero worship of hindu-deities potential.

 

[PRmerger]

I will give your request due consideration.

Em…no. I have authority. You just said it.

If I don’t have authority, then when you “consider” my "request, it’s simply as if we’re friends, and I’m making a suggestion to you.

Nope.

I am an authority, as you just a few minutes ago deemed me.

 

[friardchips]

And in the context of stretching and meditation, it’s perfectly licit.

It has zero worship of hindu-deities potential.

The point is here, that you can’t say that, definitively, because you don’t know.

 

[PRmerger]

The point is here, that you can’t say that, definitively, because you don’t know.

Of course I know. It’s the height of absurdity to tell me that I’m worshipping a hindu deity but I don’t know it.

YOU CAN’T WORSHIP SOMETHING BY MISTAKE.

Just like you can’t be worshipping a statue even if you don’t intend to.

 

[Michael_Mayo]

Of course I know. It’s the height of absurdity to tell me that I’m worshipping a hindu deity but I don’t know it.

YOU CAN’T WORSHIP SOMETHING BY MISTAKE.

Just like you can’t be worshipping a statue even if you don’t intend to.

I can see how it can scandalize someone. But people can be scandalized by almost anything. It may look to someone like you are worshipping because your position looks like it could be worshiping a snake god or something. But that is just pushing it too far. Like, as you say, protestants scandalized because it looks like we are worshipping statues. We know better.

Rather than worrying that some stretches are yoga and imbedded in Hinduism, I would like to turn it all around and say that all quest for truth and light is yoga, including Christianity and Hinduism. Yoga is the search for God and the disciplines of a righteous life. Yoga is the quest to walk with God and integrate God in all aspects of one’s life. THAT is yoga.

Hinduism, like others religions, is an expression of that quest. Yoga is not part of Hinduism. Hinduism is part of yoga.

Hatha yoga involves the body. It’s stretches bring health and may or may not be part of that quest. So perhaps I will say that what one learns in a yoga class may not be True Yoga at all if it does not contain the aspiration to know and walk with God.

 

[Michael_Mayo]

*'1 Corinthians 6:19:

“Your body, you know, is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you since you received Him from God. You are not your own property; you have been bought and paid for. That is why you should use your body for the glory of God.”*

Are you also concerned about Tai Chi Chuan and Chi Kung?

I think they as well as hatha yoga are ways to bring reverence to the body and glorify God in the body. They honor God because they take care of the body and treat it as a valuable gift rather than a spiritual obstacle.

I prefer to look at my life as surrounded by God, infused with God’s gifts and love. Whether kneeling, standing, sitting, stretching, moving my arms in circular rhythms, it all can be prayer.

 

[friardchips]

And in the context of stretching and meditation, it’s perfectly licit.

It has zero worship of hindu-deities potential.

The point is here, that you can’t say that, definitively, because you don’t know.

Of course I know. It’s the height of absurdity to tell me that I’m worshipping a hindu deity but I don’t know it.

YOU CAN’T WORSHIP SOMETHING BY MISTAKE.

Just like you can’t be worshipping a statue even if you don’t intend to.

What have you deduced here, is that your intention - which excludes wishing to worship false idols - automatically rids the practice of any danger.

All people in religions are just trying to reach God. This is true.

Using the same line of reasoning then, do you suppose the Hindus, Buddhists and all members of other religions, are fully aware that they are not worshipping the real identity of God (that they have incomplete knowledge)?

Or…are you saying that, specifically, Christians cannot worship something by mistake?

If so, would it be okay, to go into a Hindu or a Buddhist Temple and practice their rituals, even though you are not intending to worship their idea of who or what God is?

 

[friardchips]

Are you also concerned about Tai Chi Chuan and Chi Kung?

I think they as well as hatha yoga are ways to bring reverence to the body and glorify God in the body. They honor God because they take care of the body and treat it as a valuable gift rather than a spiritual obstacle.

I prefer to look at my life as surrounded by God, infused with God’s gifts and love. Whether kneeling, standing, sitting, stretching, moving my arms in circular rhythms, it all can be prayer.

To take a well-known saying and to change it in order to fit the context:

Do you do Yoga when you pray or pray when you do Yoga?