Young Turks: Who Says Yoga Is Anti-Christian & Anti-Islam?!

[CherylK]

Run time: 02:57 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsYYP7Bt5v0   Posted on YouTube: October 09, 2010 By YouTube Member: TheYoungTurks Views on YouTube: 13584   Posted on DU: October 11, 2010 By DU Member: CherylK Views on DU: 775

 
:wtf:

[Drale]

1. Techniquely speaking

shaving is anti-christan, but I hardly see any "christians" with beards. "Do not cut the hair at the sides of your head or clip off the edges of your beard." (Leviticus 19:27) That Leviticus guy was a real downer, bet he got left out of alot of parties lol

[elias7]

2. Also technically speaking,

There is a profound difference in the yogic based religions and the Near Eastern traditions (Judeo-Christian and Islamic). It is a difference over "Identification" with the divine versus a "Relationship" with the divine.

The aim of Yoga is to "yoke" one's consciousness to universal consciousness, to identify with cosmic consciousness rather than individual consciousness. In this view, God is both transcendent (beyond our imagining or comprehending), yet also immanent, or within us. The duality of man and God does not exist here.

In the Near Eastern tradition, God is a separate entity, a creator, and one must align themselves in a relationship with the concept. Does God love me? Is God just? Is God male or female? Will God grant my prayers? This is parochial thinking in the Hindu tradition, where dualities are transcended: good and evil, male and female, creator and created...

In Yoga, the individual identifies with the divine, and that is technically sacrilegious to Islam and Christianity, where the individual has a relationship to the divine.

[HuckleB]

3. All very true.

And yet it seems that most people who do yoga are focusing on physical improvement, basic self awareness, relaxation, etc... In many ways, for many people, there is a form of yoga that is basically one I'd call secular. I'm not trying to be completely accurate here, but most Christians are not threatened by yoga, in my experience. Some are, yes. A few years ago I worked with kids with eating disorders, and, for some reason, we saw more than a few from a rather devout local Christian sect. Part of the treatment was group physical therapy, which sometimes included yoga. The PT was not religious, and was not focusing on anything but body awareness, but the parents from this sect held their kids from that part of treatment.

I guess the world will always find another way to surprise us!

[elias7]

5. Agreed...

Though my wife does Kundalini yoga, she was raised Catholic and goes to the Unitarian Church currently. I am ethnically Jewish but more of a practicing Taoist, though I consider hiking, sailing and playing music among my additional "yogas" (with a small "y"), which I loosely define as an activity that gets my mind and body in the zone, in the groove, at One, etc... for at least short, blissful periods of time.

[sulphurdunn]

4. I do Yoga.

I even meditate. Yoga makes me feel good. Meditation calms my mind before church on Sunday and work on Monday. Neither Jesus nor my employer have as yet objected to either.