The Catholic Church has never made any compromise when it comes to the occult. The Church has never said it was okay to participate in such things as yoga with centered meditation. I think you have been misinformed as to what the Church actually says about “new age” occults and the like.
Absolutely. And I would never budge from what I believe.
Again, all I’m DOING in class is stretching. Other people are the ones talking about Hindu beliefs, but not me. I’m firm in my belief that hearing someone talk about another religion will not change my faith, so we’ll have to agree to disagree here.
Apologies. I conflated your statement with PatienceAndLove’s and replied to both, assuming you meant the same thing she was saying. You can disregard as it doesn’t apply to you.
I’m not saying that it will change your faith. I’m saying that it can possibly have an effect on you without your knowledge. For instance, you are saying it is okay to do yoga with only stretching or moving for the benefits of the physical excercise alone. That right there is the start of your desensitization process. It is slowly creeping in your soul and you think it’s okay. This is how the evil one works. Just your stretching movements can open your body for the evil one and you’re not even aware of it.
I dont want to hijack this thread.
I didn’t say that, Father said that in AAA
Okay, I have a question for you then. Do you think the poses themselves are inherently evil? For example if I were to do triangle pose on my own at my apartment as part of a workout, would that be problematic, or only attending a yoga class?
I am going to jump in here.
No, he is entitled to his opinion on the matter.
Bad analogy. This is someone who is drinking juice in your presence and then handing it to you and saying ‘take a sip, it’s good for you’ - someone you can look at and listen to and KNOW they’re not suffering any ill effects (mentally, physically or spiritually) so that you know (as far as anyone can) that there’s no poison in the juice.
I think you did the right thing too, I am not an expert, but Father Jeseph-Marie Verlinde is (he is probably one of the leading experts on New Age, what a pity most of his articles are onyl available in French on the net), and before he became a priest, he joined Hindu/Buddhist religion and spent a few years somewhere in the Himalaya mountains meditating and practicising yoga. He was a disciple of The Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, the same one that The Beatles used to follow. Anyway, he claims that his then guru once found the idea ridiculous that Westerners think yoga can be just an exercise - it is part of Hindu religion and philosophy, and practising it… well, here he gets quite technical, you have to know about chakrams (or “a third eye”) leads to opening those.
And we who are devout Catholics find it ridiculous that people can call themselves Catholic, go to Mass on Sundays and wear a crucifix around their neck, yet never confess to a priest, abort and contracept, dont’ belive in the Real Presence, and DO believe in gay rights, women’s ordination and a right to euthanasia
Please don’t bring Father into this. That is another issue which I’ll address in a bit. I’m saying that you are saying it is okay. You are the one doing it, therefore you are the one being desensitized by it. That’s exactly what the evil one wants.I didn’t say that, Father said that in AAA
I am saying that the poses, since they are from yoga, leave you open for the evil to creep in.
As far as Father V. Serpa, perhaps he is not aware of the nuances of Yoga and thinks that the stretches and exercises alone are innocent enough to engage in them. That is his “uneducated” opinion. That is not “doctrine” so just because a priest speaks on this matter does not make it true.
You don’t get it do you? Did you not read my comments? The supposed “poison” in the orange juice is a slow acting poison which will not kill you instantly. If I drank anything with “slow acting poison” in it, I would not be aware that it was doing anything to me until it’s possibly too late. So of course I would feel free to give it to someone else. Hey, it’s not doing anything bad to me so you can take it too. That’s what someone would say if they didn’t know they were being affected by something.
You don’t need Hindu teachings to do yoga. They are just exercises. Find another yoga teacher or do Pilates instead.
You’re changing the subject because you can’t think of anything else to say when it comes to yoga. There is nothing good about it. I don’t see the big deal in changing your form of exercise.
I have informed you, and others have informed you on this matter also, because we care. I would not want to pass information to anyone unless I’ve read or heard about it. Please, I just ask that you get yourself informed by experts in the field if you don’t trust what I have to say about it.
I’m afraid you’re wrong. It’s not just exercises. Bouligny has already said she might try Pilates.
YOU do poses that are ‘from yoga’, as you put it. Like I said, one of them involves simply touching your toes. Another involves simply standing on tiptoe with your arms over your head. You’ve done both of these poses, I’m sure, everybody has at some point. You’re not making sense, unless you’re suggesting that you’ve opened yourself up to the devil by doing so as well or soemthing?
You have no reason to assume that Fr Serpa has no experience with yoga - for all you know he’s possibly done it all his life, or knows lots of people who have. In any case, it’s incredibly insulting and uncalled-for of you to dare to suggest that he’s in any respect incapable of telling a good practice from an evil one!