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Spirituality
There is no Christian Yoga
by
Tom Beal
 It was quite astonishing to see on the flyer "Christian Yoga! This
Thursday night.." I could feel the wheels spinning in my brain.
"Christian Yoga", I thought. Now while Christians can practice yoga, I
am not aware of any Christian teachings about yoga. Yoga is not a
Judeo/Christian word! It is not a part of the Roman Catholic teachings
and certainly not a part of protestant teachings. It is not found within
the King James Version of the bible. It is a Hindu word, or more
correctly a Sanskrit word from the Vedic civilization. So how did we get
"Christian Yoga"?
From this I could conclude that "Christian
Yoga" could only indicate one of two possibilities:
-
Christianity is threatened by yoga and is attempting to take over this
system that "invaded their turf" pertaining to spiritual teachings and
techniques.
-
Christianity is subconsciously attempting to return to the spiritual
roots of civilization-the Vedic civilization.
I thought to myself, "why would they want to take over yoga?" Could it
be due to the decline of members within the Christian church within the
last 60 years? Is this an extensive marketing plan cooked up in some New
York marketing guru's head? Is it an attempt to water down the teachings
of yoga and import their own teachings into the system? Or is it that
they cannot stand not to own everything spiritual?
I think the
best reason might be that yoga, and eastern spirituality, offered
answers to the spiritual questions that the spiritually hungry masses
had. It offered a practical, rational, logical, and ruthful approach to
spirituality. It did not contain any form of self-righteous
condemnation, but offered love and acceptance to all. It did not prey
upon victims with terms such as "Sin" and "eternal damnation". But most
importantly, it had answers! It offered a practical approach to
cultivating a relationship with divinity. It offered a systematic
approach and an abstract approach to meet the varying temperaments of
the spirituality hungry.
The second possibility was that
Christianity was itself looking for answers. A small book filled with
judgment, inflexibility, and condemnation was no longer fulfilling the
needs of the masses or the leaders of the church. Offering yoga classes
allowed the Christian to secretly practice Hinduism without having to
renounce their Christian tradition.
Possibly by embracing the
technology of yoga and meditation, the Christian church could finally
return to the idea of love and acceptance that it believed it was
founded upon. It is ironic that one religion would need to look to
another religion to teach them about love, peace, harmony, and
forgiveness. If successful, it could embrace these ancient teachings and
save itself from the fate it planted over the last few thousand years.
But possibly in their wisdom, the current fathers of the church
realized that their time was coming to a close. So within America they
must absorb yoga before they are absorbed by it. This is a common
religious view that has appeared numerous times within world history.
Then they would immediately move their resources to India. Taking over
the country would allow them to own all the spirituality, and then 'pick
and chose' which tasty spiritual treats they would share. After all they
have 2000 years practice with this.
Indian being a loving,
peaceful people, openly embraced their brothers from the west. They
looked the other way as their temples were torn down. They accepted it
as karma as their families were torn apart over differing religious
beliefs. The Indians thought it was thoughtful of the missionaries to
dress up just like swami's, to be "just like them" and to share in their
kindred spirit.
Modern day scholars from India frequently
present the attitude of "let them have yoga, I am interested in
protecting Hinduism." I have heard this sentiment on numerous occasions,
but the reality is that yoga is a part of Hinduism. Allowing one part to
be taken from Hinduism opens a door for the distortion of the teachings.
We must remember that the roots to modern day yoga comes from Vedic
Yoga. The same Vedic Yoga that is the authority of Hinduism. Allowing
one branch to be severed from the tree of knowledge will not necessarily
kill that tree, but it can produce strain and have an unbalancing effect
upon the tree.
Hinduism should reclaim its full heritage and not
allow other groups to rename its sacred teachings under their banner,
especially when they have no history of those teaching within their own
system. If they wish to 'borrow' and say this comes from our brothers
and sisters in Hinduism, then that is another thing. But frequently
groups attempt to privatize the information and present themselves as
the original authority. Hinduism should guard against its sacred
traditions becoming distorted and taken away.
Scholars at
universities should take the stand that yoga is part of Hinduism, though
one is one required to be a Hindu to practice yoga. It is important to
acknowledge the roots of the tradition; after all we are expected to
give credit to the orginial sources within books and research papers,
but yet Hindu scholars have ignored this fundamental western view when
it comes to their own heritage.
September 27, 2009
Image under license with Gettyimages.com
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