Yoga - not just a benign exercise!

[benedictus2]

This may be a little off the topic, but a couple of years ago, I took a Mindful Meditation course at the University I work at just to learn how to relax for an hour at lunch time. In the beginning it didn’t seem like there was any thing wrong with it. To note, the people that taught this were from a Yoga Center here in Baltimore. However, I think the Holy Spirit started working on me because I started feeling uncomfortable. I would try to keep Jesus in my mind while they were relating some kind of a story to put yourself in in order to relax. Anyway, when each session ended, she would read something from a guru, or whatever you call these people, and I really felt uncomfortable with this. There was just something that was nagging me inside that something really didn’t seem right with this. Hard to explain this. When it came around to signing up for the next session, something within me strongly urged me not to do so. I took the advice and didn’t go back. I tend to leave any of these eastern practices out of my Catholic practices.

Very wise.

 

[Lost_Wanderer]

Well of course, they have to give some code for their god. Civilizations when they develop have to have a symbol for their god becaue it is part of their vocabulary. But Runes were not developed specifically just to make a symbol for Thor or Aesir.

Ah but why give a particular symbol to represent a god? Oh and I should have posted this earlier but having various uses for something is an argument that could also be applied to yoga.

 

[Pitcharan]

Oh OK, so you didn’t criticise me, but you criticised other people who are similar to me in one respect instead. And don’t pretend you were just critical of yoga, you were slandering the people who started it (as a group) as being exploitative of others (doing literally no work, but expecting to be fed by others anyway) among other things. With no proof or evidence offered at all that this was actually true. I accept the distinction you’ve made, however, though and thank you for affirming that there actually isn’t anything about me personally that you were criticising. The distinction doesn’t make your criticism of these others acceptable, of course, vicious and baseless as it is.

How silly of you Lily to demand proof about things that happened thousands of years ago and are now getting exposed. If you are so blind and can’t read the writing on the wall, who can help you? Truth is coming out so beautifully on this thread and the evil that masquerades in the name of yoga and deceiving many, is getting exposed so well.You are unqualified to accept or reject my criticism and you too stand exposed alongwith your yoga.

I am a lawyer by profession - it’s part of my job to speak up on behalf of people who often can’t defend themselves properly. Since the people you have criticised aren’t and can’t possibly be here to defend themselves, I’ve every right to take on that role, and shouldn’t be presumed to be doing so out of guilt. If you saw me in court defending someone accused of murder, would you presume that I was doing so out of guilt because I myself was a murderer? Even if I were similar to the person I was defending in the fact that we did the same form of exercise? Of course not, you would understand that I was simply doing my job and upholding the right of every accused person, no matter what they are accused of, to have someone speak on their behalf unless they have admitted guilt or had proven guilt against them. Neither of which applies in this case.

A decent lawyer would take up the defence of an accused, only after learning minimum facts and NOT voluntarily spring to the defence of a known proclaimed offender who did not even seek his/her legal aid

 

[Pitcharan]

… That is why good Catholics like Sue Brinkmann share the truths of the faith concerning these practices that souls may be delivered and others saved from becoming involved in these pagan practices in the first place.

Just like Brinkmann, I too tried doing it on CAF and LilyM started pouncing on me as well as Layman

Rejecting the truth is so common to those who have used these poses of false worship and called them exercise. Once you participate, even ignorantly, you are opened up to and bombarded by the demons with lies and misleading people to keep you in the dark and further lead you into darkness. Satan comes only to Kill, Steal and Destroy our soul! That’s his only work! You continuing to assume poses of worship to his demons and to Satan himself only pleases him because he can further draw you away from the truth as you are slowly indoctrinated with the lies that cause you difficulty in hearing, beleiving and understanding truth when someone does present it to you! Remember these are poses of worship of demons, false gods, NOT exercises! …The actual practice of deliberatly assuming the different poses is a deliberate act of the will to use these pagan god worship poses as exercise. …

Excellently put! We are grateful to ‘Grateful Soul’. Would LilyM like to respond to this?

 

[roveau]

You might consider this nitpicking but this statement seems to imply that Yoga was designed for the purpose of strengthening the different muscles. I don’t think this is quite true.

As many have pointed out, the poses were meant to honor pagan gods not as exercises for limbering up.

That’s quite a legitimate comment you made. In fact no-one knows how Yoga actually originated. There are quite a few different and very ancient strands of Yoga all with different emphases and origins. How they developed their different trends and exactly when no-one knows.

The Yoga practised commonly here in fitness clubs (Australia) is a form of Yoga devoid of mantras, meditation and eastern philosophy. I’d have no problem attending such fitness classes… though I am more into weights, cable and cardio myself… perhaps as I get older I might take up this type of Yoga when I need something more gentle to keep me fit.

I’ve not heard of one person in Australia who has been ‘possessed’ or anything like it after doing Yoga… but if it is so common in America… maybe there is some other cause over there.

I find some of the statements above ascribing the worship of other gods by merely performing of a movement bounds on the irrational and superstitious. Endowing ‘strange gods’ with such immense power that they can infect/possess people by those people making certain physical Yoga movements just doesn’t accord with Catholic Church and the Gospels that I grew up with.

Again I emphasise that I am not talking about the authentic Buddhist, Hindu and other eastern forms of Yoga that is tied to their philosphy, religious systems, meditation etc. Our Church would not approve of those.

 

[Pitcharan]

…In fact no-one knows how Yoga actually originated. There are quite a few different and very ancient strands of Yoga all with different emphases and origins. How they developed their different trends and exactly when no-one knows.

Hear something about the origin of yoga from a person who belongs to the land of yoga:

• It was born out of a dire need by people whose only function was to eat and fatten themselves in God’s name
• These people had made it a law to be fed on all occasions including birth, marriage and death* They literally did no work but managed to rule and exploit in God’s name
• They successfully developed this ingenious method of exercising mind and body in a few minutes through postures
• They did not stop at that and went on to extend this technique for enhanced carnal pleasure (kamasutra)
• They gave it a ‘spiritual halo’ to silence their own spirit (conscience)

 

[LilyM]

How silly of you Lily to demand proof about things that happened thousands of years ago and are now getting exposed. If you are so blind and can’t read the writing on the wall, who can help you? Truth is coming out so beautifully on this thread and the evil that masquerades in the name of yoga and deceiving many, is getting exposed so well.You are unqualified to accept or reject my criticism and you too stand exposed alongwith your yoga.

So you admit that you have absolutely no proof of what you are saying? Thank you for honestly admitting that, at least. I’d ask you to prayerfully read and reflect on the two following passages of the Gospel of John.

St John taught many people well and truly about Christ during his life, yes. But he didn’t expect people to simply believe any old person’s word for it that what he said was true. Instead, he made very clear at the end of his gospel two points:

a) His written evidence (proof, in your words), in the form of the Gospel, was “written so that you may believe” (John 20:31). In other words he knew people would rightly ask for more than empty assertion in regards Christ, and provided a written account of the abundant evidence for Christ’s existence, teachings and divinity.

b) John secondly realised that people couldn’t rightly be expected to just believe because he wrote, even though he wrote truth. So he also makes the point that he was an eyewitness to what he wrote about!

Hence the following passage - ‘This [the disciple Jesus loved, who was there during Jesus’ ministry, at the Cross and the tomb and after the resurrection] is the disciple who testifies to these things and who wrote them down. We know his testimony is true’ - John 21:24.

Since St John didn’t expect his own generation or future generations to believe in Jesus without eyewitness testimony, and so provided it for them, then it isn’t unreasonable to ask for the same in regard the origins of yoga. The events of Christ’s life were, after all, thousands of years ago also. And yet we have been given proof of them nonetheless, in the form of the Gospels, not to mention the rest of the New Testament, also written (or at least dictated) by eyewitnesses (or earwitnesses in the case of St Paul )

It’s not at all asking too much to ask for contemporary eyewitness testimony as proof of your claims about the origins of yoga. It’s only asking for what we’ve been given in regards Christianity.

A decent lawyer would take up the defence of an accused, only after learning minimum facts and NOT voluntarily spring to the defence of a known proclaimed offender who did not even seek his/her legal aid

If they were self-proclaimed offenders and capable of asking for legal aid, then you’d have a point.

But these people aren’t self-proclaimed offenders - if they were you’d quote their own sayings against them to prove it. Of course you can’t, since you don’t even know who they were. That’s the whole point - you’re making completely unfounded assertions about a group of people you don’t even know.

And considering that they’re not around to either defend themselves or ask for legal help, it’s silly to say that I can’t or shouldn’t defend them.

Terri Schiavo, an American woman who was cruelly taken off life support and allowed to die a few years ago, certainly didn’t ask for anyone’s help. She couldn’t. People stepped forward voluntarily to help her and fight for her to be kept alive nonetheless.

And rightly so. It’s an act of mercy to help the helpless, whether they ask for it or not.

 

[LilyM]

Excellently put! We are grateful to ‘Grateful Soul’. Would LilyM like to respond to this?

I have, many times already. I’ll happily do so again.

Mere physical posture, devoid of intent to worship, is not worship. Physical posture is a morally neutral act.

If it were not, then everyone who knelt in front of the Queen of England would be worshipping her.

Everyone who burns incense in their home would be worshipping some deity or other instead of (as is often the case) just wanting a nice smell in the air.

And every baby who innocently assumes a cat pose would be guilty of demon worship.

 

[cjforJesus]

For if a man see him that hath knowledge sit at meat in the idol’s temple, shall not his conscience, being weak, be emboldened to eat those things which are sacrificed to idols?

 

[Grateful_Soul]

Mere physical posture, devoid of intent to worship, is not worship. Physical posture is a morally neutral act.

If it were not, then everyone who knelt in front of the Queen of England would be worshipping her.

Everyone who burns incense in their home would be worshipping some deity or other instead of (as is often the case) just wanting a nice smell in the air.

And every baby who innocently assumes a cat pose would be guilty of demon worship.

This is the type of logic that my children use when I tell them no.

I would agree if yoga were only ever mere physical exercise. The poses have always been, no matter what they are being called now (i.e. exercise), poses of worship to false gods. This is a very good example of “twisting the truth”. Satan is not so stupid as to let his work be obvious. He works covertly and can and will use things that “seem” innocent.

In this whole discussion there is an obvious desire to keep practicing yoga on the part of many who have written in. In all honesty, it seems more logical to abandon anything that might give the appearance of accepting or participating in false worship.

Kneeling has always been a sign of respect and is not exclusively a pose or posture used for worship.

Incense also was never exclusively used in worship, it is a combination of herbs, flowers, oils that people used even in ancient times to improve the smell of themselves, their home or in a morgue where dead bodies were rotting to protect from becoming contaminated with disease.

And no one would ever beleive that God would see a baby as offending Him when they are crawling and make a body move that is similar or even exactly that as any yoga pose. That is being scrupulous.

What the only point has been is that these were never exercises for the health of one’s body. But, they were and still are poses of false worship.

We are in a battle for our souls. Why risk it, even if right now your mind says it is only exercise, why risk the possibility that yoga is dangerous to your immortal soul for the sake of exercise for your mortal body?

It is quite likely that the influence that Satan intends by his tireless work to take souls to Hell with him has and is already working. He doesn’t need your permission to do his work, he just needs your cooperation in doing the yoga that he portrays as seemingly innocent. That’s all he needs. The work has begun and is continuing as he fills the life of anyone who leaves themselves open to him. This openess can come in the books we read, the movies we watch, the company we keep, the music we listen to, the places that we frequent, the organizations we are a part of, the way we choose to eat (gluttonous, self pleasing), the pictures we look at, the thoughts we think or our demand to have things our way and not take good counsel.

Why risk the loss of one’s immortal soul on the use of something that you want to believe is only exercise (and it isn’t) when you have so many, many other choices to keep your mortal body physically fit? It’s the “health” of one’s immortal soul that is more important.

If not doing yoga you feel will cause you some physical discomfort, then it might actually be a point of sacrifice, an offering up of your suffering in cooperation with Christ’s suffering not only for the good of your soul but for many others also. And what a witness that could be, even an opportunity for God to heal you through your willingness to suffer with Him. That is very humble and does more for souls than doing yoga!

No one on this discussion has intended to offend, only inform, and I intend nothing different either.

May God be Praised! May Jesus be Lifted Up! and May the power of the Holy Spirit reveal all Truth!
Jesus, Mary, Joseph, save souls!
Grateful Soul

 

[Lost_Wanderer]

Kneeling has always been a sign of respect and is not exclusively a pose or posture used for worship.

Incense also was never exclusively used in worship, it is a combination of herbs, flowers, oils that people used even in ancient times to improve the smell of themselves, their home or in a morgue where dead bodies were rotting to protect from becoming contaminated with disease.

Actually this is the exact type of logic that has been used here in defense of yoga. Who are you to say something is exclusive? Because of its origins? I read in Wiki that circumcision began as a religious rite of passage in Ancient Egypt. However, we still practice it no? (Not for religious reasons but for health reasons, which in of itself is quite a contemporary justification compared to ones in the past.)

The work has begun and is continuing as he fills the life of anyone who leaves themselves open to him. This openess can come in the books we read, the movies we watch, the company we keep, the music we listen to, the places that we frequent, the organizations we are a part of, the way we choose to eat (gluttonous, self pleasing), the pictures we look at, the thoughts we think or our demand to have things our way and not take good counsel.

I find what you say here interpretable in two ways. First, you are saying that our choices in entertainment, food, music, film, and literature can affect us morally and lead us to sinful lives. That can be true in a sense but I fail to see how contorting your body like a pretzel (sorry Yoga practitioners, that’s just what I see in Yoga ) can influence someone to steal, kill, rape etc. Just how can you justify such a leap in logic? :ehh:

The second way is seeing that our lifestyles will open us up for demonic possession/oppression. Now here is the reasoning you anti-Yoga folks have really been using. However, to say that other things such music, books, TV shows, games, or films can lead to such a supernatural phenomenon is demonstrating the logic only used by nuts such as Bill Schnoebelen.

Frankly, you’ll find more good ground on the second (not that it means you’re really right though). Just be careful not to lump other things or else you might derail the thread. (Or worse, you might prompt me to make another thread to branch it off.

 

[Pitcharan]

So you admit that you have absolutely no proof of what you are saying? Thank you for honestly admitting that, at least. I’d ask you to prayerfully read and reflect on the two following passages of the Gospel of John.

St John taught many people well and truly about Christ during his life, yes. But he didn’t expect people to simply believe any old person’s word for it that what he said was true. Instead, he made very clear at the end of his gospel two points:

a) His written evidence (proof, in your words), in the form of the Gospel, was “written so that you may believe” (John 20:31). In other words he knew people would rightly ask for more than empty assertion in regards Christ, and provided a written account of the abundant evidence for Christ’s existence, teachings and divinity.

b) John secondly realised that people couldn’t rightly be expected to just believe because he wrote, even though he wrote truth. So he also makes the point that he was an eyewitness to what he wrote about!

Hence the following passage - ‘This [the disciple Jesus loved, who was there during Jesus’ ministry, at the Cross and the tomb and after the resurrection] is the disciple who testifies to these things and who wrote them down. We know his testimony is true’ - John 21:24.

Since St John didn’t expect his own generation or future generations to believe in Jesus without eyewitness testimony, and so provided it for them, then it isn’t unreasonable to ask for the same in regard the origins of yoga. The events of Christ’s life were, after all, thousands of years ago also. And yet we have been given proof of them nonetheless, in the form of the Gospels, not to mention the rest of the New Testament, also written (or at least dictated) by eyewitnesses (or earwitnesses in the case of St Paul )

It’s not at all asking too much to ask for contemporary eyewitness testimony as proof of your claims about the origins of yoga. It’s only asking for what we’ve been given in regards Christianity.

If they were self-proclaimed offenders and capable of asking for legal aid, then you’d have a point.

But these people aren’t self-proclaimed offenders - if they were you’d quote their own sayings against them to prove it. Of course you can’t, since you don’t even know who they were. That’s the whole point - you’re making completely unfounded assertions about a group of people you don’t even know.

And considering that they’re not around to either defend themselves or ask for legal help, it’s silly to say that I can’t or shouldn’t defend them.

Terri Schiavo, an American woman who was cruelly taken off life support and allowed to die a few years ago, certainly didn’t ask for anyone’s help. She couldn’t. People stepped forward voluntarily to help her and fight for her to be kept alive nonetheless.

You are hell bent on stretching this debate in any direction and are drawing parallels with unrelated, unconnected and irrelevant things. All your lengthy arguments mean nothing. If you are deeply in love with yoga that is your own choice. If others are wise enough to know about this camouflaged evil, you have no right to attack them. Whatever you may do, as long as you are guilty, the guilt will torment you and you are free to seek relief from your yoga.

And rightly so. It’s an act of mercy to help the helpless, whether they ask for it or not

How noble of you to show mercy on yoga!

 

[cjforJesus]

lol