Catholics against yoga?

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Whatever be yoga’s plus points in terms of physical and mental health .It is a form of meditation practiced by the Shadu’s that is the “monks” in hinduism for their spiritual growth
for this very reason for its spiritual nature i am against it .
 
Whatever be yoga’s plus points in terms of physical and mental health .It is a form of meditation practiced by the Shadu’s that is the “monks” in hinduism for their spiritual growth
for this very reason for its spiritual nature i am against it .
Touching your toes (which is a posture employed in yoga) or standing on tiptoe (another such posture) are not forms of meditation at all. If they were, EVERY athlete and ballet dancer would be engaging in meditation when they go through their routine warmups.

Do sadhus not also burn incense when they pray/meditate? Use prayer beads? Use images of their gods? By your logic we should then shun the use of incense in our liturgies and toss our rosaries and prayer ropes, and also our icons, in the bin.
 
Yoga in the modern sense may be about stretching toes but its spiritual use cannot be ignored so the Vatican has warned against it not because it is a form of exercise but for its
spiritual usage as a meditation tool which can be abused .
 
Of course it’s not the board itself, Rudy; it’s what is done with it - the purpose for it - whether it’s used in “fun” or in all seriousness. There has been enough relating in other threads of personal experiences involving what was thought to be a fun evening with the ouija board to make only the most blasé want to “play” with one or the most skeptical diminish it.
Frances,
Code:
About 20 years now ago, some teenagers were playing together.  One girl had made a homemade Ouija board and used a drinking glass as a planchette or pointer.  The rest of the children were Catholics.  This particular girl's family were not religious.

     Now these children only participated in this "game," for a lack of better word, of  Ouija board  to be friendly to this girl who was new to the neighborhood.   One person just was watching, tacitly participating not even having their hand on the glass used as a pointer.   And something happened.  The glass ended up shattered.  Everyone was shocked.   At this point a demonic attachment was made.

   For  17 years this person who was just watching suffered with the presence of this thing coming at times.  They were suffering from some type of demonic influence.  Then at some point about 3 years ago they contacted a known exorcist priest.    The priest said a  prayer of  liberation and  it was gone.  Never came back, fini, over with.  This particular person is a nuclear physicist, married,  and is a normal person.

  We don't know why some people are targeted by Satan, or at least it is not well understood.   Personally,   I know of  a man whose mother used a Ouija board until most of the letters were worn off.    He  is an alcoholic.  He makes his living doing silk screens.   He likes to make  T-shirts that idolize  Aliester Crowley.  According to himself, he is tormented by this  "demon that comes out of him."   Regardless of his mental disposition, because people will say he is disturbed,   I have only heard of personal tragedies like this after using Ouija or witching boards.    I have never once heard of any positive experiences where  states of  genuine happiness and well being  have derived from these occult practices like Ouija boards.
 
Yoga in the modern sense may be about stretching toes but its spiritual use cannot be ignored so the Vatican has warned against it not because it is a form of exercise but for its
spiritual usage as a meditation tool which can be abused .
Incense, prayer beads and sacred art also have spiritual usage as meditation tools which can be abused by worshippers of false gods. Doesn’t stop us using them 🤷

So my question still stands - why are these other things OK to use, although every bit as prevalent in Hinduism, but not the physical postures of yoga?

For that matter wine is very widely abused by lots of people. We use it in our liturgy in spite of this fact. Why is that OK?
 
As a matter for fact anything can be abused and distorted to suit ones own advantage.
But the point is Yoga here is to be in peace with the indriya or the senses of human body
then they achieve a higher level as they say this is a purely spiritual matter .
I was not at all referring to some physical asanas but to the final aim of yoga that is siddhi
this is not the concept of Christianity , in Christianity the forms of christian meditation and prayer are to allow us in union with GOD,not a vague form of spirituality
which in some cases tends towards the demonic
 
LETTER TO THE BISHOPS OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH ON SOME ASPECTS OF CHRISTIAN MEDITATION
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
  1. The majority of the “great religions” which have sought union with God in prayer have also pointed out ways to achieve it. Just as "the Catholic Church rejects nothing of what is true and holy in these religions,"18 neither should these ways be rejected out of hand simply because they are not Christian. On the contrary, one can take from them what is useful so long as the Christian conception of prayer, its logic and requirements are never obscured.
When it comes to Yoga, we’re talking about exercise, not meditation.

During the exercises, the only focus is on your breathing, for the breath helps you get you into the various postures. However, the entire forms are flowing forms, so there is no meditation in them. Even the masters who teach Yoga Exercise, don’t incorporate meditation in the flowing forms, but meditation is used after exercise, just as Christians will do.

Jim
 
Frances,
Code:
About 20 years now ago, some teenagers were playing together.  One girl had made a homemade Ouija board and used a drinking glass as a planchette or pointer.  The rest of the children were Catholics.  This particular girl's family were not religious. . .
Thanks, Blues, for yet one more example of this “game’s” diabolical intent.
 
The Church has cautioned against yoga in its 2003 document ‘Jesus Christ the Bearer of the Water of Life’
 
Incense, prayer beads and sacred art also have spiritual usage as meditation tools which can be abused by worshippers of false gods. Doesn’t stop us using them 🤷

So my question still stands - why are these other things OK to use, although every bit as prevalent in Hinduism, but not the physical postures of yoga?

For that matter wine is very widely abused by lots of people. We use it in our liturgy in spite of this fact. Why is that OK?
Yoga is very specific, beads and incense are very generic.

Exercise is a byproduct of yoga, but does that mean all who exercise are doing yoga? No. Practicing yoga (mysticism) is doing yoga.
 
The Church has cautioned against yoga in its 2003 document ‘Jesus Christ the Bearer of the Water of Life’
In this document, the Church addresses aspects found in the New Age movement which used pseudo-spirituality that they took from Yoga and other non-Christian religions.

This isn’t the same as using Yoga exercise for physical and mental benefits.

Jim
 
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