I am very concerned about Christians being involved in yoga,
even a “Christianized” version. I have
some personal experience with yoga and I’ve looked into the issue and addressed
it on several occasions—so my concerns are not based on knee-jerk reactions.
In the 70’s, our high school P.E. teachers had finally come
up with something interesting. Though I
was a devoted Christian, the mystique of a yoga class in the “safe environment”
of our school gym sponged me in. My
mother had repeatedly warned me that it was “eastern religion” but I waved her
off, “Don’t worry, it’s just exercise.”
The first class was cool.
A bearded guy in a white robe & turban instructed all us girls to
lie down on the gym floor and breathe in particular ways while he played his
flute. We experienced something
fascinatingly new—we were so “relaxed” that we were “plastered” to the
floor. Nearly paralyzed, we truly could
not move without great difficulty. Other
students who peered through the window later said, “Y’all looked like you’d
been mown down by a machine gun!”
Though my mother still warned, I was eager to return to the
class the next week. The bearded guy
“hit the replay button” but this time when were “paralyzed”—read open and
vulnerable, the be-turbaned yoga instructor interspersed his flute playing with
chanting in another language. While I
couldn’t understand the words, my spirit knew it was wrong and that I didn’t
belong there. I wanted to run, to flee
but I couldn’t move. At the end of the
class when he brought us back to ourselves (my term), it was clear that I
wasn’t alone in my concern about the chanting.
I knew I wouldn’t be going back! I told my mother she was right. There was no third class.
You’re probably thinking, so that was in the 70’s and it
wasn’t “Christian Yoga”—this is different.
In the 1990’s there was a major marketing move to get yoga more widely
accepted in the West. “Exercise and
breathing techniques” were emphasized but the yoga remained the same.
An Indian missionary to America and former Hindu that I’m
acquainted with said he was shocked and horrified when he came to America, to
see so many Christians involved in yoga since, he told us plainly, yoga was a
Hindu practice solely for the purpose of
lining up the body for demon possession. The origins of “Christian Yoga”
are not in Christianity but of course in Hindu Yoga. Yoga is passed from guru to guru and the
“gurus” of “Christian Yoga” learned their trade from Hindu Yoga gurus. What gave
the originators of “Christian Yoga” the ability and authority to make the
transition from Hindu practice of ”lining up the human body for demon
possession” to benign stretching exercise and relaxation breathing techniques
with a Christian bent? Some of these founders of “Christian Yoga” were "inclusive"
Episcopal and Catholic priests who taught that spirituality could be found in
all religions. Here are some of the founders of “Christian Yoga” and some of
what they have to say:
“I cannot speak to you about Yoga and Christianity without
mentioning my gratitude to this French Catholic priest (Jean Dechanet) who,
some 40 years ago gave not only me but many Christians a memorable introduction
to Yoga. Up to today, his name is still known, his books are still in their
libraries, in many a Catholic monastery and convent because of his rendering
accessible the exercises and philosophy of Yoga to Christian contemplative
minds…
“Jean Dechanet said in the beginning of his book that he
came across Yoga because for 20 years he searched ardently to create in himself
a harmony between what he calls, the anima, (body) the animus (mind) and
spiritus (soul). For him, it’s through the harmony of these three aspects of
oneself that the Grace of Redemption flows
“Fr Bede Griffiths, a catholic priest who lived in India and
who was co-founder of an Ashram called Shanti-vanam (Forest of peace). Fr Bede
was well known for his work in Inter-faith dialogue and he wrote several books
and among them a commentary of the Bhagavad Gita.
“Fr. Bede thought of himself as a Christian Yogi and wrote
about Yoga particularly in the first decades of his life in India. He defined
Yoga as Union: a realization of nonduality in which the three worlds of God,
human, self and universe are experienced as one.”
Rev. Nancy Roth
an Episcopal priest author of An
Invitation to Christian Yoga
Susan Bordenkircher, author of Yoga for Christians: A Christ-Centered Approach to Physical
and Spiritual Health through Yoga was reportedly influenced by Rev. Nancy Roth,
but “fell in love with yoga after
attending a national yoga workshop” and still builds her skills by though
ongoing yoga training.
“Founder of Holy
Yoga, Brooke Boon is an expert yoga practitioner and certified
master teacher, facilitating Holy Yoga ministries worldwide. A yoga
practitioner since 1998, Brooke has
achieved 2500 hours of yoga training under the teaching of masters
like Baron Baptiste and John Friend.
(In 2006 Yoga
Journal Magazine said: "If there were a royal family of American yoga, Baron
Baptiste would certainly be a prince." It's clear that Baron has
exactly what it takes to continually transform the face of yoga in America and build powerful bridges from the wisdom of
the east into the spiritually starved west. http://www.baronbaptiste.com/pages/baron.htm)
(John Friend) was
first introduced to yoga in 1967 at the age of 8 by his mother, Ann Friend,
when she read him stories of yogis who had
supernatural powers and hidden knowledge of the mysteries of life.
(emphasis added)
With this
information in mind, is it really
possible to receive that much training from other spiritual sources, to keep
going back to that same well and not be affected by those sources?
While I keep hearing
that it’s only exercise and breathing and nothing spiritual—the things I read
from both Hindu yoga and “Christian yoga” sources say that it is all deeply spiritual and cannot be divorced
from spirituality.
In the wake of a Christian yoga movement, Brooke [Boon,
author of Holy Yoga: Exercise. for the Christian Body
and Soul] maintains that Holy Yoga is not just stretching to Christian
music. "Holy Yoga is absolutely yoga
and absolutely Christ," says Brooke.
But just what is this “Christian
spirituality” that is being taught?
“We believe that
when God spoke the world into existence, His creative essence or ‘vibration’
permeated all of creation. It has been documented that there is a vibrational
frequency common to all of creation and that this vibration has the sound of ‘Aum’.
That frequency is often vocalized in classical yoga as ‘OM’, or in Christian
circles as ‘Shalom’. Holy Yoga chooses not to use the practice of chant or ‘OM’
invocations in classes in order to dissipate fear concerning their usage in
relation to worship.”
The author of this document believes there is much common ground
between the various aspects of yoga spirituality and Christianity and
concludes:
“although
Westerners may think of yoga as exercise, it is so much more. The postures
simply provide a means of becoming more deeply connected to our true nature and
accepting ourselves as we are.”
“Imagine what it
would feel like to pray with your whole body--how powerful your prayer could
become! For centuries, yoga has been used
to prepare the body for meditation and communion with the divine. Now, with
Yoga Prayer, Thomas Ryan offers an embodied practice to renew and invigorate
your connection to God.” http://www.tomryancsp.org/books.htm
“Christian Yoga may
help you to renew your methods of prayer in opening doors to the Living God in
a Jesus meditation state of mind. You’ll
gain a deeper perception in recognizing the freedom of God’s Divine Will and
the Divine Person of God. The goal is through the yoga exercises or non
movement in performing the yoga poses and breathing techniques to form a union
between your physical and mental forces so they work in harmony by recognizing God as an outside force, a
center of grace apart from you, a force
that you are able to tap into, through stillness…
“When practicing Christian Yoga in sunlight
you fortify your inner force. As a result of paying attention to the sounds
of your spirit, and by giving heed to the Spirit of God that is around you, you make your search for God simpler, and more
intense.” http://hubpages.com/hub/Christian-Yoga
In all my studies of
the Bible, I’ve never seen anything
that indicates that:
1. we need to
vibrate with the universe to get closer to God
2. we are to accept
ourselves as we are—on the contrary we are told that our old self is to die and
we are to be ever maturing new creatures in Jesus
3. that the position
of our bodies makes prayer more effective
4. that God is a
force
The above quotes are
all “Christian yoga” sources saying these things—not other sources complaining
about “Christian yoga”. (one source that eludes me at the moment referred to
“Christian yoga” as “a way to God” when the Bible says that Jesus is the Only
way to God.)
Here are some sites
that discuss the ramifications of these teachings:
