I think there are some people on this thread that are purposefully twisting what comecome is saying, and then basing their attack off of the spin version.
At no point did he state that the people themselves are demonic or that all Hindus are possessed. He clearly is condemning the practice. It would be false to suggest that simply because someone is a “good person” that therefore they are not capable of sin (as all sin is demonic) or of being deceived. I used to know many “good” people who were deceived into thinking that witchcraft is harmless. Does that mean that since they are “nice people”, that they are somehow immune from demonic influences?
I think it’s telling that there are many people who are not addressing the references which comecome has provided, and have instead based their arguments on posting memes, and quick biting comments. Will someone, anyone, please address his points? Thanks! Just an observation…
Peace!
You mean like the refernce to
apologeticsindex.org/y01.html
Let’s look at it. (My comments in red)
John Ankerberg and John Weldon write:
The basic premise of yoga theory is the fundamental unity of all existence: God, man, and all of creation are ultimately one divine reality. An editorial in the “Yoga Journal” declares this basic premise:
We are all aware that yoga means "union"and that the practice of yoga unites body, breath, and mind, lower and higher energy centers and, ultimately, self and God, or higher Self. But more broadly, yoga directs our attention to the unity or oneness that underlies our fragmented experiences and equally fragmented word. Family, friends, the Druze guerrilla in Lebanon, the great whale migrating north - all share the same essential [divine] nature (594:4) .
Well, oneness and unity are pretty slippery words. Are they not. Don’t we Catholic Christians also speak of being in the Body of Christ? Unity in Christ? “Ut Unum Sint”? We also aspire to be Christlike. St Teresa spoke of Prayer of Union. Yes, the East has a stronger monist or pantheist emphasis but we do not have to buy into that.
This is why physical yoga and Eastern philosophy are mutually interdependent; ultimately, you cannot have one without the other. David Fetcho, a researcher with an extensive background in yoga theory and practice, states:
Physical yoga, according to its classical definitions, is inheritably and functionally incapable of being separated from Eastern religious metaphysics. The Western practitioner who attempts to do so is operating in ignorance and danger, from the yogi’s viewpoint, as well as from the Christian’s (725:2) .
That does not follow at all. Why does a monistic world view have to be inseprable from a physical exercise?
One of the leading contemporary authorities on kundalini yoga is Gopi Krishna. In his article “The True Aim of Yoga,” he says: “The aim of yoga, then, is to achieve the state of unity or oneness with God, Brahman, [and] spiritual beings…” (592:14) .
Yoga authorities Feuerstein and Miller comment that the postures (asana) of yoga and its breathing techniques (pranayama) are much more than just physical exercises:
Again, we see that the control of the vital energy (prana) by way of breathing, like also asana, is not merely a physical exercise, but is accompanied by certain psychomental phenomena. In other words, all techniques falling under the heading of asana and pranayama as, for example, the mudras and bandhas [physical] positions or symbolic bodily gestures utilizing pranayama and concentration for physical or spiritual purposes] of Hathayoga, are psychosomatic exercises. This point, unfortunately, is little understood by Western practitioners… (593:27-28)
All exercises are psychosomatic. All exercises involve breathing and focus. Again, Namaste mudra or hands together in prayer has been a Christian gesture since the beginning.
Actually, yoga practice is intended to validate occult yoga theory. And as noted, yoga theory teaches that everything is, in its true inner nature, divine - not only divine but ultimately equal to everything else - everything from God and the devil to the athlete and the AIDS virus. That may be yoga theory but I doubt it. In any case it need not be accepted.
Yoga theory also teaches that in their outer nature, everything is maya, or illusion. For example, only in his inner spirit is man divine; his “outer nature,” of body and personality, are ultimately a delusion that separates him from awareness of his real inner divinity. Thus, another purpose of yoga must be to slowly dismantle the outer personality - man’s illusory part - so the supposed impersonal divinity can progressively “emerge” from within his hidden divine consciousness (…) Again, this need not be accepted.
This is why people who practice yoga only for physical or mental health reasons are ultimately the victims of a confidence game. They are promised better health; little do they suspect the end goal of yoga is to destroy them as individuals. As yoga authorities Feuerstein and Miller comment, yoga results in “a progressive dismantling of human personality ending in a complete abolition. With every step (anga) of Yoga, what we call ‘man’ is demolished a little more” (593:8) . That is just misleading. “Dismantling the personality”? As in psychosis? No. More like a letting go of attachments, addictions, anything obscuring the light of Christ within.
The fear mongers can have their fear and whatever dainty, ineffective exercise programs they try to come up with. I’ll keep the yoga and Pilates.