Because they do not want to be up front with who and what they are. If someone said to you come with me and lets follow Hinduism, people would be like, No thank-you.
So they hide it in the beginning and say lets exercise, stretch, etc. meanwhile they continue to play their music, and eventually try to get you into their beliefs.
Just a simple trick of the trade.
People will deny it, and say its just Yoga man, what are you talking about.
But the CC has quite a bit of teachings now on this. And we are told to stay away.
Hi Rinnie, I would like to offer the correction if I may in pointing out that there is no such thing as a Hindu religion. That is a term made up by westerners, although we accept the term because that is how you relate to us. The point is that it is not something we came up with. The thing you refer to as Hinduism is more of a cultural label than what you would classify as a religion. There is no formal hierarchy or structure to anything called Hinduism. You could go off and build a temple on your own and it’s just as valid as the next in our view. There is no one there to confer validity on what you say or believe, or label you a heretic. Sanatana Dharma is our path, and we have no collective name for ourselves. There are a lot of westerners running around teaching yoga, and if someone tries to convert you to “Hinduism,” it’s likely a westerner who hasn’t really read the scriptures or an Indian con artist. Why? **Because our scriptures explicitly prohibit trying to convert anyone. ** You can certainly go off and do some stretches without becoming a Hindu, because those stretches, or asanas, are but one component of yoga, and in no way make you a yogi or a “Hindu.” What you are referring to is Hatha Yoga, which is stretching and really has no religious implications in the way that the other branches of yoga such as Bhakti Yoga, Jnana Yoga, Raja Yoga, Karma Yoga and Tantra Yoga have.
Now, it is interesting that in their own rite, Christians by and large practice Bhakti Yoga and Jnana Yoga because these are just devotion and study of scripture, and there is nothing in what you call Hinduism that prescribes what you should be devoted to other than whatever it is you happen to call God, and in that regard, Jesus would do just fine. Jnana Yoga is just study of scripture, and again, this can apply to the New Testament as easily as it does to the Upnishads or Bhagavad Gita. It is not narrowly defined. Raja Yoga, Tantra Yoga and Karma Yoga are a bit more difficult, but I don’t see much evidence of Christians practicing these, with the notable exception of perhaps Christ and some of your saints.
I have a hard time understanding why anyone would trouble themselves to worry or even think about “Hinduism.” Calling yourself one thing and another person another thing is just labeling, and this causes barriers in the same way that flags, nationalities, sports teams and the like do. The problem with such things is that they help us define who we think we are, and in the same stroke, defines in our minds those who are considered not to be us. This has a dehumanizing effect in the mind on those we consider not to be “us.” This is how wars, fights after sporting events, hate crimes and other things are brought into the world. Everyone you meet, without regard to what you call them is a product of God. You can see Him in everyone. This is what we should spend our time on. If we focus on loving God (call Him what you will), and then start seeing Him in others, then we are getting somewhere. Labels are a grave impediment to this sort of growth. How can we love the Lord our God with all of our hearts, and our neighbors as ourselves if we are busy labeling our neighbors and ourselves as anything other than what we are, and we are not Catholics, Jews, Hindus and the like. Do you think God looks at Himself and says “Catholic,” “Jew,” “American,” “Celtics fan” and sees everyone else as something else? More likely he sees Himself in all of them as well as the rest of them, and loves each without regard to any of that. If we learn to love God properly, then we can start to look for Him in what He has created. He created us and the world around us, and in being part of the world around us we find that there is no “your life” or “my life.” There is just life, and each of us is a part of it. We are inextricably enmeshed with, and interdependent with one another and the world around us. God is the source of (and present in) all things. This is why we are to love God with all our hearts and our neighbors as ourselves. This is the meaning of the commandment that supercedes and overrides all others, because it is the sole enabler to fully expressing the other commandments in one’s life. Otherwise we are just following a set of rules, and not fully living. Do you understand what I am saying?
Anyway, Insofar as Sanatana Dharma (what you’re referring to as Hinduism) is concerned, there is nothing to convert you to, because we accept that all belief traditions are valid approaches to the same thing. You could easily believe in Jesus and call yourself a “Hindu.” It is an entirely different thought structure that cannot be compared to traditional Christian or western thought. Conversely, I married a Catholic woman and practiced all aspects of the Catholic faith for over 20 years. Throughout this, I considered myself to be a Hindu who practiced Catholicism. Once one has learned that God is manifest in all things, it becomes clear that He can be approached from any direction, as all directions emanate from, and terminate at the same point or singularity, which in itself is merely a creation of something that is beyond all points, directions and forms that exist therein. And this is what we truly are. For one who knows this, all points are home, and all directions lead there.
Your friend,
Sufjon