Is yoga demonic or no?

[Chantal25]

No, Chantal15, I wish I were more consistent with it though. At this point I do a few simple stretches for my legs and back, a few twists for my spine and posture, a few deep breaths before prayer.

When I feel as though I need it I will do a more thorough routine (about 30 minutes). The older I get the more important flexibility, balance and strength become. In older adults lack of flexibility, balance and strength are causes of many injuries.

And because I am not consistent I do not do any of the more challenging stretches or postures.

Thanks for your interst and sharing.

lol… We have been posting back and forth and all along you were truly separating the exercise from the yoga,

Ah, nothing is best then a face to face conversation, lol…My friend uses the exercise the same way to help him for his back. He does the exercise but doesn’t participate in any class

Glad that this is helping you.

All the best!

 

[Michael_Mayo]

I took a few classes over the years but never really enjoyed them. It was good to have someone straighten my alignments though. In Chicago I had an elderly lady intruct me and I was the only student. That was pretty cool. Back in the 70’s, in college, I think I was more intersted in the girls.

What is Angel Reading?

 

[cheezey]

lol… We have been posting back and forth and all along you were truly separating the exercise from the yoga,

Ah, nothing is best then a face to face conversation, lol…My friend uses the exercise the same way to help him for his back. He does the exercise but doesn’t participate in any class

Glad that this is helping you.

All the best!

Chantal,
this has been stated since very early on in this thread!!!
In the end, Is yoga demonic or no??

NO!!! Very very good for physical pain…

Have a great day with many blessings and no yoga for you!!

lol

 

[MtnDwellar]

Let me remind everyone that the concept of a soul that lives on independently from the body comes from Plato, a pagan. It is a pagan philosophy the Church has accepted. Aristotle was also a pagan. That did not stop St Thomas from drawing upon his philosophy, his pagan philosophy.

I always thought that we got the concept of a soul from the book of Genesis. God breathed into man and He gave us a soul. Genesis predates Plato.

Do they teach this in Yoga class???

 

[Michael_Mayo]

I always thought that we got the concept of a soul from the book of Genesis. God breathed into man and He gave us a soul. Genesis predates Plato.

Do they teach this in Yoga class???

The concept of soul in Genesis is different than the concept of soul as we know it in Christian tradition.

There is a long and complex development of the concept involving pagan philosophy.

You should research it.

 

[Chantal25]

For the one that consider to take a class: I must insist that Yoga must be separated completely from the exercise and the breathing. Catholic church also warmed not to mix the spiritual aspect of it and the exercise. EWTN also advise to get inform and to read their recommended article and books.

If you partake to a class and this teacher teach as yoga is supposed to be done (not to count that many yoga teacher are involved with new age), then she or he is mixing the spiritual aspect of it.

The goal: Yoga is used to unite kundalini with Shiva (is a Hindu deity). You can google and research what Kundalini is and Shiva.

The exercise used in Yoga and the breathing are tool and can be used for health purpose but just be careful not to mix the spiritual aspect. You are mixing it if you partake to a class if the teacher has trained as a yoga teacher. Some people, will only teach the exercise but typically it isn’t the case.

Being a formal new age teacher, i can assure you that prayer and allowing Jesus to come in my heart has brought far more peace (in all ways) and well being in me. Jesus is everything, he is all that we need to be happy. I also once injured my back, i couldn’t get in my car without being in agony. I went to walk/hiking around a lake in my area, when i went to sit in my car, i had no more pain and never experience that problem again. That walk that i took was priceless.

Anyway, the yoga itself is new age but yes you can separate the exercise and deep breath.

Blessings and love!

 

[cheezey]

I am 58 years old and heve been doing yoga (on and off) since I was 20.
If anything it brought me back into the Church and closer to Christ.
Since then I have been a faithful Catholic.

As I already posted form the CDF the Church teaches that it can be “a suitable means of helping the person who prays to come before God with an interior peace.”

And Nostra Aetate
(2) The Catholic Church rejects nothing that is true and holy in these religions. She regards with sincere reverence those ways of conduct and of life, those precepts and teachings which, though differing in many aspects from the ones she holds and sets forth, nonetheless often reflect a ray of that Truth which enlightens all men.

vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_decl_19651028_nostra-aetate_en.html

If someone associates Yoga with anything they cannot reconcile with the faith then don’t do it. But do not judge others who do not make the same negative associations. Yoga is a tool for stress relief and relaxation. It does not require any other belief. What one does when relaxed can be prayer.

After a little yoga the mind is clearer and more alert. The Rosary and Chaplet of Divine Mercy or any prayer at all can be prayed with less distraction. In fact, yoga is incarnational. It can be a way to honor God with our body. It is all in our intention. We genuflect, prostrate, lift our hands in the house of God. With yoga we can take it further.

And the fact is that yoga has nothing to do with any gods.

In the oldest references to yoga it is a method in pantheistic metaphysics. Classical yoga uses it in a mind (Purusa)/body (Prakriti) dualism. Then again in later yoga of Vedanta it is used again in a pantheistics view. It is a method, a tool, a technique for relaxation that can be used in any religion or philosophy or none at all.

Again, if you have a problem with it, don’t do it.

But it is not demonic.

I have been doing it for 38 years, still close to Christ, still Catholic, still do other forms of Catholic prayer including Rosary and Liturgy of the Hours. When I am relaxed I can focus on the Lord better. That is a defenite benefit of Yoga.

Don’t try to lay guilt on others. (Not you Warriormonk. I have appreciated your comments)

 

[MtnDwellar]

The concept of soul in Genesis is different than the concept of soul as we know it in Christian tradition.

There is a long and complex development of the concept involving pagan philosophy.

You should research it.

Thank you for the suggestion.

I am pretty sure that I already know the answer. It was the same soul in the Old and the New Testaments and we didn’t need any pagan’s philosophy to understand it. As far as I recall Mr. Plato had the idea of a soul pretty mixed up. He taught different parts to the soul which included emotion and mixed in rational thought and all related to social classes.

Let’s not give pagans undue credit for our beliefs. God did a good job without them.

 

[Michael_Mayo]

Thank you for the suggestion.

I am pretty sure that I already know the answer. It was the same soul in the Old and the New Testaments and we didn’t need any pagan’s philosophy to understand it. As far as I recall Mr. Plato had the idea of a soul pretty mixed up. He taught different parts to the soul which included emotion and mixed in rational thought and all related to social classes.

Let’s not give pagans undue credit for our beliefs. God did a good job without them.

“Pretty sure”?

Are you saying that the Catholic understanding of the soul had nothing to do with Aquinas and Augustine or that Aquinas and Augustine had nothing to do with Aristotle and Plato?

aquinasonline.com/Topics/soul.html

newadvent.org/cathen/14153a.htm

 

[BluesPicker]

“Pretty sure”?

Are you saying that the Catholic understanding of the soul had nothing to do with Aquinas and Augustine or that Aquinas and Augustine had nothing to do with Aristotle and Plato?

aquinasonline.com/Topics/soul.html

newadvent.org/cathen/14153a.htm

 It is St. Augustus not Augustine.  I had a female dog named Augustine.

Back to your weak definition of Church documents

So the writings of Catholic theologians who are priests are not Church documents? I think you can’t respond to those Church documents i.e. can’t refute their arguments. But since you insist:

PONTIFICAL COUNCIL FOR CULTURE
PONTIFICAL COUNCIL FOR INTERRELIGIOUS DIALOGUE

JESUS CHRIST
THE BEARER OF THE WATER OF LIFE

A Christian reflection
on the “New Age”

Link provided here:

The Link for the Above Title

I attached Cardinal Ratzinger’s document on “Occult Yoga.”

  The Cardinal addresses his concerns in this interview  the alleged ability to seperate the physical from the spiritual in Yoga.

  Oh,  Chantel25 defines Yoga very well.

  The writings of  Saints Aquinas & Augustus  are far below those of  Holy Scripture.

They contain error whereas the Bible, Teachings of the Magisterium, & Holy Tradition don’t.

Again,  the topic of this thread is whether "Yoga is demonic or Not?"

  And where does Yoga come from?  A pagan religion called Hinduism.

  And who are the pagan gods?  They are demons, fallen angels.

This is very elementary.

BP

 

[Evania]

Some people say yoga is okay because they will ignore the pagan/demonic aspect of it. I kind of see it as playing near a wild dog chained to a tree. Yea, it may not affect you, but it probably would be a better idea to play elsewhere. Yoga may not be a big deal to some, but personally I’m not interested or comfortable engaging in a practice that has it’s roots in worshipping other gods. To each their own…That’s just me.

 

[Michael_Mayo]

It is St. Augustus not Augustine. I had a female dog named Augustine.

Better send a note to the Vatican

After the interruption for the Spiritual Exercises last week, today we return to the important figure of St Augustine, about whom I have repeatedly spoken at the Wednesday Catecheses

vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/audiences/2008/documents/hf_ben-xvi_aud_20080220_en.html

I already responded to and quoted from:

JESUS CHRIST
THE BEARER OF THE WATER OF LIFE

Your claims are over stated.

"I attached Cardinal Ratzinger’s document on “Occult Yoga.”

Please do so a gain because I cannot find it.

 

[Michael_Mayo]

Yoga may not be a big deal to some, but personally I’m not interested or comfortable engaging in a practice that has it’s roots in worshipping other gods. To each their own…That’s just me.

And that is fine.

But know that yoga is not about worshipping other gods and never really has been. It has always been about bringing physical health and mental stability. That is the definition of “Yoga”: Mental stability.

Now burning incense does have its roots in worshipping other gods.
Do you have a problem with that?

Blessings and Peace

 

[Evania]

And that is fine.

But know that yoga is not about worshipping other gods and never really has been. It has always been about bringing physical health and mental stability. That is the definition of “Yoga”: Mental stability.

Now burning incense does have its roots in worshipping other gods.
Do you have a problem with that?

Blessings and Peace

I didn’t say that when you do yoga, that you are worshipping other gods. It has basis in another religion that has it’s roots in THEIR gods. My analogy stands…

 

[Michael_Mayo]

I didn’t say that when you do yoga, that you are worshipping other gods. It has basis in another religion that has it’s roots in THEIR gods. My analogy stands…

But so also:
Long before Catholics burned incense, Hindu devotees were doing it in worship of Ganesh.
Long before Catholics ring bells, Buddhists were doing it praying to Buddha.
Long before Catholics played music and sang in liturgy, pagans were doing it in their religions.
Long before Catholics made vows of poverty & chastity, Sunyasins & Yogis were doing it in India.

Your analogy also stands in these cases, No?

 

[Michael_Mayo]

I attached Cardinal Ratzinger’s document on “Occult Yoga.”

The Cardinal addresses his concerns in this interview the alleged ability to seperate the physical from the spiritual in Yoga.

My apologies. Is this brief interview what you mean:

The answers of Cardinal J. Ratzinger (the present Pope Benedict XVI)

Can “Christian yoga” exist?

“The risk is the fact that yoga will become an independent method of ‘salvation’ which lacks a true encounter of God and a human being. And in this case we already find ourselves in transcendence. The truth is that even in Christian prayer and contemplation the posture of body is important and renders the inward state, which is likewise expressed in the Liturgy. In yoga, however, the movements of body render a different inner content.”

What if yoga is not used as “an independent method of ‘salvation’”? No doubt for many people it is and you share his “concern”. Is that motive necessary for all who do yoga? Is there some superstitious intrinsic meaning of the movements and postures or do “…the movements of body render a different inner content” because of the intention of the individual.

 

[Evania]

But so also:
Long before Catholics burned incense, Hindu devotees were doing it in worship of Ganesh.
Long before Catholics ring bells, Buddhists were doing it praying to Buddha.
Long before Catholics played music and sang in liturgy, pagans were doing it in their religions.
Long before Catholics made vows of poverty & chastity, Sunyasins & Yogis were doing it in India.

Your analogy also stands in these cases, No?

Does Catholicism involve stretches that imitate other gods and talk about the “Inner Divine”?

 

[Evania]

Yoga means to unite or yoke with the Absolute. Their “Absolute” is not Jesus Christ. I’m sure that the stretches feel good, but it’s kind of strange when you combine a practice that by it’s nature strives to achieve that goal and then reconcile that with Jesus’ command to, “Take My Yoke upon you and learn from me…” Just sayin’…

 

[Michael_Mayo]

Yoga means to unite or yoke with the Absolute. Their “Absolute” is not Jesus Christ. I’m sure that the stretches feel good, but it’s kind of strange when you combine a practice that by it’s nature strives to achieve that goal and then reconcile that with Jesus’ command to, “Take My Yoke upon you and learn from me…” Just sayin’…

Not strange but appropriate, to yoke ourselves to Jesus who is our “absolute”.

What other gods are imitated?

 

[Evania]

I would stay away from yoga.

Yoga aims to establish a relationship with the pagan god Vishnu. Yoga is not compatible with Christianity, no matter how much one tries to “sugar-coat” it. Yoga has a pagan background and is a form of Hindu worship. To practice the religion of yoga spiritually, is to deny Jesus Christ. Their “poses” and stretching “positions” imitate pagan gods. To practice the so-called “modern” yoga is harmful as this can push you into a “new age” style of thinking (and I know people this has happened to) which is contrary to the teachings of the Catholic Church. “Yoga” means “to control,” and it promises salvation via pagan gods. It manipulates the body, mind and spirit, via physical postures, breathing control and chanting of these false beliefs. A real Christian will reject paganism, and all the heresies accosiated with them.

Your question has been adequately answered already. If it’s stretching that will help you, why not try any of the ones that aren’t linked to eastern mysticism? In my humble opinion, I don’t think it is wise to engage in an activity that’s created to yoke or unite to to the Absolute…their Absolute. Especially when Jesus wants us to take His Yoke upon us and learn from HIM. Like I said before, I see it as playing too close to a wild dog chained to a tree. (St. Padre Pio once used this analogy to describe sin and Satan). It probably would be wise to play elsewhere. A lot of kids believe that playing Tarot cards are okay…as long as they don’t take it seriously.