Yoga

Today's lifestyle for health

It has been said to steady the mind, calm the emotions, and tone the body. It claims that it is a way to Promote fitness, flexibility, and relaxation and It can be practised in groups or by oneself at home. Hatha yoga exercises are taught as part of YMCA physical education programs, as health spa exercises on TV programs, and are incorporated into institutional churches on the assumption that these techniques are nothing more than benign physical exercises which condition the mind and body.

It has come in under the guise of stress reduction. Touted as scientifically proven is more an assumption, that is really at worst, presumption. We have probably all seen Lilias on her PBS TV series introduce people to the benefits of this physical exercise. She has become an American icon for yoga, promising amazing affects from vitality ,tranquillity to greater concentration. Newsweek magazine reported that "yoga classes are in demand at urban health clubs across the country, and longstanding yoga studios in New York, Chicago, and California report sharp rises in attendance in the past years. It is estimated that there are 10,000 yoga teachers in the United States, who teach between 4 and 5 million students a week. Newsweek also noted that "such high-profile practitioners of the 6,000-year-old art as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Raquel Welch (whose exercise videos are promoting yoga) Because Hollywood is involved it has brought it more attention." Time magazine

Also reported that the Berkeley-based Yoga Journal has nearly doubled its circulation over the past five years. The widespread teaching of yoga in America today, is probably, due more to a tolerant attitude toward the religions of other cultures than it is to an open mindedness about whatever wisdom may be extracted from it. It seems to the secular population that is being targeted to accept only that selected aspect of yoga which fits their naive notion. That what yoga is supposed to do, is to relieve stress and make a fit and beautiful body. Many participants merely presume that the exercises are neutral, harmless if they are not practised with any spiritual intent. After all it only bodily exercise! But the fact remains that even physical yoga is inextricably united in the whole of Eastern metaphysics. I personally had practised yoga and meditation and at times was quite dedicated.

It was something I believed in as I tried to work my way to be in tune with the universe as well as my body. From the philosophy I learned to be a vegetarian, thinking I was cleansing the temple for the energy to flow unobstructed. This practice is ancient but can be traditionally traced to approximately the 200 B.C., To a man named Patanjali. Who is credited with being the originator of the yoga system. His work is a collection of many short terse sentences which convey the barest minimum of teaching about yoga. The rest was learned from his teacher personally. Little is known about him ; he was supposedly a physician, Sanskrit scholar, a yoga practitioner (yogi), a teacher who lived in India. Some authorities believe that he was more of a cataloguer than an author, and that he did not originate this practice, but collected and edited the teachings from traditions. At any rate he is credited for its revival.

There are many types of Yoga. Besides the Ashtanga Yoga of Patanjali, - the most famous forms of yoga are those described in the Bhavagad Gita, The Hindus sacred scriptures. The best-known part of the epic Mahabharata, The Gita mentions Karma, Jnana, and Bhakti Yoga. These are not different types of yoga but are different applications of yoga to daily life. Since yoga means to unite they are all part of the whole. In addition to these , Hatha, Raja, Tantra, and Integral Yoga. The concept presented is the body contains a network of channels for divine and cosmic energy. Where these channels cross, they create pulse points of psychic and spiritual energy in the body known as chakras. There are said to be as much as 88,000 chakras throughout the human body, but ... of these, only seven are considered to be of supreme importance, Each has its own corresponding colour, musical sound, psychological function, stone and gems, symbols, endocrine gland, internal organ, illnesses and ailments.

Tantra, sometimes called Kundalini Yoga, is the worship of God as the Divine Mother;(for those who are femininely inclined) it stresses the union of the male and female aspects of the individual, To Wake the Snake. Tantra's most important and unique characteristic is its use of sexual imagery to portray enlightenment, the return to Oneness beyond duality of life. When Kundalini has been awakened, as a result of secret yogic techniques, she, rises through the chakras of the spine like a snake toward reunion with Shiva at the crown of the head. When god and goddess unite in sexual embrace, enlightenment occurs, -illusion vanishes, and there is only One. This rising Kundalini flow also causes one to go into an altered state of consciousness, as the heart chakra opens. This can be one of the most dangerous practices in yoga and is not to be underestimated in its ability to harm. Connected with the Kundalini practice is an elaborate occult system that sees the human body as integrated to within and without. The occultists world view is summed up by the statement as "within so without." The Beatles sang a song influenced by the Maharishi "life flows within you an without you." Without going into all the different aspects and functions of each yoga, I'd like commit for us to understand the one most commonly practised, Hatha yoga.

The goal of advanced yoga students is to attain their highest possible degree of physical, mental, and spiritual integration. Ultimately to reach union with Brahma, the Hindu concept of the cosmic God. Although many in our country engage in yoga classes simply for exercise, it is a fact that yoga migrated to the west first as a spiritual discipline. At the time Vegetarianism and non-violence were promoted quite successfully as key elements of yogic philosophy. It actually helped change the culture and promote the hippie lifestyle which later transformed and matured into the new age movement we have today. The typical American taking yoga classes has little or no idea of the how's and way's of yoga's seeming effectiveness. Yoga is a series of exercises and postures (asanas) which are advertised as a way to tone up, reduce stress and experience tranquillity. In the traditional understanding, physical yoga has a great deal more to do with the practitioner's invisible, "subtle" body, than it does with the flesh and bones and muscles that encase it. While yoga does purport to first of all work on the muscular, glandular, and physical nervous systems, its real import, as Danielou says, is as "a process of control of the gross body which aims at freeing the subtle body."'( Danielou, p. 18.) This subtle body is extremely complex, but can be superficially described as consisting of 72,000 invisible psychic channels called nadis, which constitute an other-dimensional body that directly corresponds to the physical, or gross body. she subtle body is connected to the gross body at several points, which are the seven chakra points.

Almost all those who practice new age therapies would be familiar with energy points called chakras. There is no Hinduism without its practice, so it is essential and spiritual. There is no yoga that is strictly aimed for the physical body, it is essentially spiritual because of its purpose. The word yoga is Sanskrit; it derives from a verbal root, yuj, meaning "to yoke or join or fasten or harness, as in horses to a chariot; to concentrate the mind in order to obtain union with the Universal Spirit; to be absorbed in meditation."' Its meaning in plain language is union or yoking with the God consciousness. Yoga being an intrinsic part of Hinduism. Swami Vishnudevananda, well known authority of Yoga, in his book "The Complete Illustrated Book of Yoga" explains the purpose of Yoga, "It is the duty of each developed man to train his body to the highest degree of perfection so that it may be used to pursue spiritual purposes... the aim of all yoga practice is to achieve truth wherein the individual soul identifies itself with the supreme soul of God." In the Hindu philosophy is taught that the ultimate reality is consciousness or energy (God-Brahman). Each individual soul (Atman) has seven energy centres known as chakras in his body that run along the spinal column. By opening up these energy centres aligning these chakras, for the energy to merge with the ultimate cosmic energy and to experience "Atman who is Brahman.". Focusing on a series of stretching exercises, breathing practices, and meditation to reach a state of peace and harmony, this physical discipline is merely a means to an end.

The yoga positions are designed to reach the state of Samadhi, or a state of union with self as God. Physical yoga is an expression when its postures bring the subtle body into a specific alignment with the physical which will alter the consciousness of the participant. In other words one is practising Hinduism when doing their Hatha Yoga exercises. "Hatha Yoga plays an important part in the development of the human being... the body working in harmony with the mind, to bring the seeker into closer contact with the Higher Self," (Bhagavad Gita)" states…Having mastered the body by means of the Yogic teachings, so that it becomes a fit habitation for the soul; having the senses, emotions, and mind under control, the wise person discards the worn out sheaths of desire, fear, and confusion and passes into the state of enlightenment and freedom.' For those who practice Hatha for purely physical ends, outside of a total context of spiritual discipline, most of the classic yoga commentaries issue very strong warnings. Ananda Marga Yoga Society's manual for teachers sums them up well: "Indeed, from the practice of Hatha Yoga, without a proper effort to discipline the mind ... mental and spiritual degeneration may ultimately, occur."'('Anon., Teaching Asanas., An Ananda Marga Manual for Teachers, 2nd ed. (Los Altos Hills, CA: Ananda Marga Publications, 1973), pp. 43, 44.) Notice it does not just say physical, but mental and spiritual, showing the activity of this exercise. In case anyone is confused about whether Hatha Yoga is religious, in the book Hatha Yoga by Swami Sivananda Radha, writes, "When most people in the West think of yoga, they think of yoga as a form of exercise.

Too often... there are yoga teachers who teach asanas without an understanding of their real nature and purpose. Asanas are a devotional practice which like all spiritual practices, bring us to an understanding of the truth.... Beyond this there also lies a mystical or spiritual meaning. Each asana (position)creates a certain meditative state of mind," What we hear today from practitioners of Hatha yoga , that the technique is simply another aid to physical fitness. in reality Hatha enthusiasts cannot cover the fact that Hatha is classically understood in much the same way as raja yoga. In fact, the classic esoteric handbook of Hatha, the Hatha Yoga pradipika by Yogi Swami Svatmarama states emphatically in the second and third slokas: "Having thus solemnly saluted his master, Yogi Svatmarama now presents Hatha vidya {vidya means wisdom } solely and exclusively for the attainment of raja yoga. For those who wander in the darkness of conflicting creeds, unable to reach to the heights of raja yoga, the merciful Yogi Svatmarama has lit the torch of Hatha wisdom. (Hans-Ulrich Rieker, trans. from Sanskrit, and Elsy Becherer, trans. from German, The Yoga of Light-Hatha Yoga Pradipika (NY: Seabury Press, Inc. ' 1971), French scholar in the study of yoga Alain Danielou, , stated, "The sole purpose of the physical practices of Hatha Yoga is to suppress physical obstacles on the Spiritual or Royal path of Raja yoga; and Hatha yoga is therefore called "the ladder to Raja yoga."( Alain Danielou, Yoga: The Method of Re-Integration, p. 17.)(Quoted in spiritual counterfeits newsletter)

In relation to Raja yoga, the effects of the practice of asana (the physical positions) are seen as going far beyond the merely physical and psychological results of Western types of exercise under the guise for relaxation, they are spiritual and can be unsafe for many experimenting for good health. Is there scientific validity? Some claim through the use of relaxation techniques it unclogs arteries ,control high blood pressure. Well, there are many ways to control high blood pressure. Merely losing as little as ten pounds is reported to lower the diastolic pressure in an average person by ten millimetres of mercury. By one adding a regular aerobic exercise program, and blood pressure certainly can be reduced. Or a person can cut down on the salt or fat in his diet. Obviously if one learns to relax their blood pressure will go down. Other studies from medical colleges in India claim yoga helped in such cases as asthma and blood coagulation. By calling itself science, Yoga has within the last 30 years become an integral part of Western society, where it is taught in nearly every YMCA or YWCA, in clubs, in public schools, in industry, and in of all places churches. Dressed in Western clothes, Yoga has gained acceptance in medicine, psychology, education, and religion under new labels such as 'centring,' 'relaxation therapy, stress and weight reduction. The fact that yoga on the surface produces some isolated physiological effects for the better gives it general acceptability, Without any scientific verification. I don't think one would find any difference in affect between stretching exercises to produce better blood flow and the practice of yoga positions.

The fact remains the positions are worshipful poses, it is Hinduism which makes it Religion. Anyone, especially a professing Christian entering into this practice of yoga should not do it with his eyes closed to the Hindu philosophy that underlies the practice. And if they are practising it they should renounce it immediately. Heres some examples why , Shiva one of Hinduism's three most powerful gods, was known as "The Destroyer"-he's called Yogi Swara or the "Lord of Yoga." Consider the following portion of an article from a secular newspaper … Yoga instructors say they have received a handful of complaints from those who believe yoga is intertwined with mysticism and the occult. We acknowledge that yoga does indeed come from a portion of India's Hindu religion, but our classes deal mainly with the physical aspects of Yoga. and do not in any way coerce People to become involved in Eastern religion. (Source: The Bloomington Herald-Times, 199I.) No its not coercion, but to keep silent on its source and goals is just the same as coercion since they have someone participate without knowing, and end up believing the Hindu worldview .

Dave Hunt, an occult and new age expert writes in his book Peace, Prosperity, and the Coming Holocaust, p. 147 " Sadly, even professing Christians have bought into this lie. Every Yoga teacher is, in effect, a Hindu or Buddhist missionary, even though "he or she may wear a cross, insist that Jesus was a great Yogi, and protest that Yoga is not a religion but science. This is the most blatant of lies. Yet it has been so widely proclaimed and believed that in America's public schools, beginning in kindergarten, and in almost every other area of society today, Yoga and other forms of Hindu-Buddhist occultism are taught and accepted as science. In contrast, Christianity has been thrown out of the schools and is being crowded out of every other area of life in the 'broad-minded' move to replace religion with the New Age 'science'!" The practice of Yoga is pagan at best, and occult at worse. Its teachings emanate from the Eastern religions, all of which teach that self is God, only we just don't realise it until we do the techniques. 'The goal of Yoga is 'self-realisation-to look deeply within to what ought to be the temple of the one true God and to discover the alleged 'true Self' or 'higher Self to be God. Nothing could be more religious than that, yet with straight faces, all of the Yogis insist that practising Yoga does not change anyone's religious beliefs. Johanna Michaelson, who herself was involved in new age practices correctly discerns: "There is a common misconception in the West that Hatha-yoga, one of about ten forms of Yoga that supposedly leads to self realisation, is merely a neutral form of exercise, a soothing and effective alternative for those who abhor jogging and callisthenics ...

(However], Hatha-yoga is 'one of the six recognised systems of orthodox Hinduism' and is at its roots religious and mystical. It is also one of the most difficult and potentially dangerous forms of Yoga." "You cannot separate the exercises from the philosophy. ... 'The movements themselves become a form of meditation.' The continued practice of the exercises will, whether you ... intend it or not, eventually influence you toward an Eastern/mystical perspective. That is what it is meant to do! ... There is, by definition. no such thing as-'neutral' Yoga (Like Lambs to the Slaughter, pp. 93-95). Even the physical positions in Yoga come right out of the Hindu scriptures, and are designed to put one into this state of consciousness where you imagine that you're God. Therefore, Christians who think they're getting relaxation and or exercise, are really getting Hinduism! They think they're getting science, but they're getting religion. It's mislabelled and it's dangerous! John Weldon and Clifford Wilson wrote in Occult Shock and Psychic Forces that Yoga is really pure occultism. Hans-Urich Rieker, in his book The Yoga of Light, also warns that misunderstanding the true nature of Yoga can mean "death or insanity." Also a little known fact is that virtually every major guru in India has issued warnings similar to these; i.e., deep breathing techniques such as the ones taught in Yoga are a time-honoured method for entering altered states of consciousness and for developing so-called psychic power." Yoga is one of the basic means of reaching this altered state of consciousness.

And the altered state is the doorway to the occult. Sir John Eccles, Nobel Prize Winner for his research on the brain, said the brain is "a machine that a ghost can operate.' In a normal state of consciousness one's own spirit ticks off the neurones in his brain and operates his body. We are spirits connected with a body. But in an altered state, reached under drugs, Yoga, hypnosis, visualisation., this passive but alert state, the connection between the spirit and the brain, is loosened. That allows another spirit to interpose itself, to begin to tick off the neurones in the brain, and create an entire universe of illusion. You've then opened yourself up to the spiritual realm which God forbids for us to enter. It's called sorcery. Those encouraged to use meditation, yoga, visualisation, chakra energising, Spirit guides could certainly take advantage of these open areas. People are literally teaching themselves how to be demonised, asking guiding spirits to help teach and relieve them of their stress .All in the name of stress reduction and developing one's full potential. The fact is that one practising yoga the asanas is to be able to release themselves from the trappings of reincarnation by working off their karma. The poses that they so diligently practice in their stretching are named after Hindu Gods, and what one is actually doing, is calling on them. In that worshipful pose, they are bowing and for all intents and purposes worshipping that God. Our God says "You shall have no other Gods before me.

You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, As Christians who are in relationship with the God who created the universe, we should not be among those who exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worship and serve created things rather than the Creator-. (Romans 1:25,) Yoga is an idolatrous practice which leads one away from the one true God and into the spiritual realm of false gods and demonic spirits, there are consequences? If we sin ignorantly God understands, is merciful, giving us grace on the one hand. On the other he cares of our sin , not willing to leave us to our deception. "My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge" in Hosea's time people had a lack of knowledge concerning God, As a result, they turned to other gods, and their idolatrous practices became a snare to them and a delusion. they became the prey of false gods-even while thinking that their lifestyle was pleasing to God. Essentially one cannot practice a portion of Hinduism and continue to walk with the true Christ who is not a Hindu Guru.

I AM THE WAY, THE TRUTH, AND THE LIFE.

NO MAN COMES TO THE FATHER EXCEPT BY ME.

The way is a person, he never taught anyone to twist themselves into a pretzel and breathe correctly and meditate. Neither did he say to go into an altered state of consciousness. It is through his work that one goes through to have a relationship with the father the source of all life.

THE WAY IS A PERSON not a technique. That person is God himself. And with him being personal we have that care and love that a personal God gives.