Yoga is natural

[LilyM]

So is fungus.

Real mature.

It’s all a matter of learning the difference between the nutritious edible mushrooms and the poisonous types when it comes to fungi. :yup:

 

[thistle]

I testify that Hinduism is TRUE, but others could be true too but are defficient.

Animal gods!! Sure. That’s true!

 

[ralphinal]

I testify that Hinduism is TRUE, but others could be true too but are defficient.

Interesting claim.

Now, please present support

 

[LDNCatholic]

Animal gods!! Sure. That’s true!

Thistle, please show a little respect. While s/he seemingly hasn’t come here in the spirit of charity there is no need to add fuel to the fire.

 

[Contarini]

Animal gods!! Sure. That’s true!

Suppose you show, purely from reason, why it is absurd to picture the divine using animal as well as human forms.

Edwin

 

[PaulDupre]

Real mature.

It’s all a matter of learning the difference between the nutritious edible mushrooms and the poisonous types when it comes to fungi. :yup:

My point was that just because something is natural, that does not make it good or beneficial. Mnay natural things are dangerous and harmful.

Paul

 

[Scottgun]

I note that our OP went from Yoga as a perfectly neutral thing devoid of any religious signifcance to testifying that Hinduism is true. In other words, we got the old switcheroo. And fabricdragon’s comment rings all the clearer:

yoga… the exercises themselves may be fine. but you rarely run into them as just the exercises…

To which I would add that they certainly may not be fine because if you only remember one thing from Catholic moral reasoning, remember that things mean something independent of what we think of them or intend. I don’t think this is a case where inconvenient truths can be doused in a freezing antiseptic bucket of good-natured neutrality.

 

[priyasharan]

Interesting claim.

Now, please present support

man-manā bhava mad-bhakto
mad-yājī māḿ namaskuru
mām evaiṣyasi satyaḿ te
pratijāne priyo 'si me

Always think of Me, become My devotee, worship Me and offer your homage unto Me. Thus you will come to Me without fail. I promise you this because you are My very dear friend.

sarva-dharmān parityajya
mām ekaḿ śaraṇaḿ vraja
ahaḿ tvāḿ sarva-pāpebhyo
mokṣayiṣyāmi mā śucaḥ

Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reactions. Do not fear.

Srimad Bhagavad Gita 18:65-66

 

[LDNCatholic]

Hardly proof Priya.

Oh by the way welcome to the forums!

 

[priyasharan]

Hardly proof Priya.

Oh by the way welcome to the forums!

Thank you!

What kind of proof do you want? When Christians are asked for proof of their religion, they quote their texts. So when a Hindu is asked for proof of their religion, why not accept their texts?

 

[LDNCatholic]

Thank you!

What kind of proof do you want? When Christians are asked for proof of their religion, they quote their texts. So when a Hindu is asked for proof of their religion, why not accept their texts?

I think you will find it was not me who asked for proof

 

[priyasharan]

cintāmaṇi-prakara-sadmasu kalpa-vṛkṣa-
lakṣāvṛteṣu surabhir abhipālayantam
lakṣmī-sahasra-śata-sambhrama-sevyamānaḿ
govindam ādi-puruṣaḿ tam ahaḿ bhajāmi

I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, the first progenitor who is tending the cows, yielding all desire, in abodes built with spiritual gems, surrounded by millions of purpose trees, always served with great reverence and affection by hundreds of thousands of lakṣmīs or gopīs.

veṇuḿ kvaṇantam aravinda-dalāyatākṣam-
barhāvataḿsam asitāmbuda-sundarāńgam
kandarpa-koṭi-kamanīya-viśeṣa-śobhaḿ
govindam ādi-puruṣaḿ tam ahaḿ bhajāmi

I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, who is adept in playing on His flute, with blooming eyes like lotus petals with head decked with peacock’s feather, with the figure of beauty tinged with the hue of blue clouds, and His unique loveliness charming millions of Cupids.

Sri Brahma Samhita 5:29-30

 

[priyasharan]

I think you will find it was not me who asked for proof

Yes…but was it not you who said my quote was hardly proof?

 

[LDNCatholic]

Yes…but was it not you who said my quote was hardly proof?

Fair point I will have to get back to you on that however as I was not prepared for this at all.

May I ask you what your views on Yoga are by the way? Just so that this thread can remain on topic.

 

[priyasharan]

oḿ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya
janmādy asya yato 'nvayād itarataś cārtheṣv abhijñaḥ svarāṭ
tene brahma hṛdā ya ādi-kavaye muhyanti yat sūrayaḥ
tejo-vāri-mṛdāḿ yathā vinimayo yatra tri-sargo 'mṛṣā
dhāmnā svena sadā nirasta-kuhakaḿ satyaḿ paraḿ dhīmahi

O my Lord, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, son of Vasudeva, O all-pervading Personality of Godhead, I offer my respectful obeisances unto You. I meditate upon Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa because He is the Absolute Truth and the primeval cause of all causes of the creation, sustenance and destruction of the manifested universes. He is directly and indirectly conscious of all manifestations, and He is independent because there is no other cause beyond Him. It is He only who first imparted the Vedic knowledge unto the heart of Brahmājī, the original living being. By Him even the great sages and demigods are placed into illusion, as one is bewildered by the illusory representations of water seen in fire, or land seen on water. Only because of Him do the material universes, temporarily manifested by the reactions of the three modes of nature, appear factual, although they are unreal. I therefore meditate upon Him, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, who is eternally existent in the transcendental abode, which is forever free from the illusory representations of the material world. I meditate upon Him, for He is the Absolute Truth

Srimad Bhagavat Mahapurana 1:1:1



Ok…I KNOW I am cutting and pasting from religious texts. The reason why I am is to show that Hindu texts speak of God in a different way than the Bible does. This does not mean they are false.

But I’m sure you’ll disagree with me…but that’s ok…

Jai Sri Radhe!!!

 

[priyasharan]

Fair point I will have to get back to you on that however as I was not prepared for this at all.

May I ask you what your views on Yoga are by the way? Just so that this thread can remain on topic.

My understanding of the sanskrit word “yoga” is that it means to “unite” or “join together.” This term is usually used to mean to unite with God.

There are many types of yoga, but they can be broken down into three main paths:

jnana yoga: the way of knowledge
karma yoga: the way of work
and bhakti yoga: the way of devotion

The physical exercises (usually called hatha yoga) are a means of purifying the body to make it able to engage in meditation/devotion on God.

Bhakti yoga involves many things: hearing about God, thinking about God, reading scripture, chanting God’s name, singing songs about God, always engaging all one’s sences and life in God.

In the Bhakti traditions, one does not seek to “merge” with God, but rather maintain one’s eternal relationship with God.

I think that Catholicism and Hinduism actually have much in common…but again I doubt people here will see it…but again, that’s ok


Jai Sri Radhe!!!

 

[LDNCatholic]

Do you see any possibility for using yoga purely for exercise, without any religious usage?

I see some similarities but they may not be the ones you are thinking of.

 

[LDNCatholic]

Ok…I KNOW I am cutting and pasting from religious texts. The reason why I am is to show that Hindu texts speak of God in a different way than the Bible does. This does not mean they are false.

But I’m sure you’ll disagree with me…but that’s ok…

Jai Sri Radhe!!!

We believe religions all have ‘‘seeds’’ of Truth, there is some Truth in Hinduism, just not as much as in Catholicism. Thats my belief anyway.

 

[priyasharan]

Do you see any possibility for using yoga purely for exercise, without any religious usage?

I see some similarities but they may not be the ones you are thinking of.

Well…“yoga” by its definition is “uniting with God”…but if one wants to just do the physical exersices without a spiritual way, one could…but it wouldn’t be “yoga.”

If one is afraid of the spiritual aspect of the exercises, one should probably not do them…even though some people are trying to show that they are not spiritual, they are and that is what they were designed for.

But I am not an expert…LOL!!!

What similarities do you see? I would be interested in hearing about them…

 

[priyasharan]

Catholics are correct in saying that “yoga” can’t be divorced from Hinduism…“Yoga” is a sanskrit word/concept…