The dangers of yoga

Akita Suggagaki

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I've been to some yoga classes and they had the Buddha idol in the room.

That doesn't mean they are Buddhist, does it?

Some statues can just be a reminder to be more calm and compassionate. The point of Buddhism is to have no idols, including the Buddha. Have you ever heard the phrase, "If you see the Buddha on the road, kill him"?
 
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FaithLife1

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That doesn't mean they are Buddhist, does it?

Some statues can just be a reminder to be more calm and compassionate. The point of Buddhism is to have no idols, including the Buddha. Have you ever heard the phrase, "If you see the Buddha on the road, kill him"?

God considers Buddha an idol, the bible says thou shall have no other gods before me. One of the positions in yoga is kind of a bowing position so you're bowing to an idol.
 
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I learned how to do yoga from watching youtube video's. I can pretty much make up my own routines at this point for any parts of my body that are sore

Its helped me alot through the years usually when someone has back problems they tend to get worse. Overall i feel alot better physically then i did 10 years ago

I do try to stay away from the instructors that are half naked and sound like narcissists. To be honest i always just ignored it when i came across anything spiritual with an attitude like yeah im not interested in your false beliefs im only here for the stretching

It never effected me personally but i can understand why some would want to avoid it because of the spirituality and self love
 
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Akita Suggagaki

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God considers Buddha an idol, the bible says thou shall have no other gods before me. One of the positions in yoga is kind of a bowing position so you're bowing to an idol.

You know the mind of God regarding the man know as the Buddha?

What if you do not believe the idol exists and have no intention to honor it and simply want to stretch.

Is it possible to honor something without intention? What kind of honor would that be? But i will admit that it is quite possible even fr Christians to place something before God, like status, self, ideology, etc. Slippry slope, I guess.

Now perhaps there are people doin yoga who have a pretty flakey theology or understanding of God, nature and themselves. So like enything, including incense or any kind of ritual, there is opportunity for idol worship but it needs an intention to misplace honor and worship.
 
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FireDragon76

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Yoga stems from Hindu and Buddhist beliefs. It has become a common practice in today's society, even among Christians as a form of stretching and exercise.

However, yoga also practices a type of meditation, such as clearing the mind and deep concentration and the power in the body. This is a very dangerous practice.

The actual scientific evidence seems to suggest otherwise. Meditation potentially benefits a host of mental health and psychosomatic problems. Mindfulness techniques have also been extensively used in psychotherapy to help people with trauma and anxiety.


As a Christian, we should never clear our mind. Instead, we should always fill out mind with scripture , the worship of God and prayer to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Early Christian monastics and Eastern Orthodox hesychasts practice something similar to what you call "clearing the mind".

I have a Christian friend who attends all types of yoga classes. She recommended that I try it because my balance is way off because of a car accident years ago when I broke my femor bone. One leg is shorter than the other. Anyway, I decided, by her advice to attend a yoga stretching class to help my balance. It was not at all what I expected. It turns out that each stretching pose stood for something mystical in their belief system. I also was not expecting the meditation after the exercises. It felt very dark . I prayed the whole entire meditation time to God and scripture in the Bible instead of what the instructor wanted us to do.

It felt dark because that is what your expectation was.

Personally, I try to not let irrational fears run my life.
 
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FireDragon76

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Most yoga instructors are Buddhist so opt for just a regular stretch instructor because stretching itself is okay. What's not okay is the slow movements, the creepy music and the incense.

Buddhism and hatha yoga don't have anything to do with one another.

Believe it or not, not everybody is Christian. It's a free country, and many people into holistic living and health are not necessarily Christian. Christians often don't understand the first thing about being genuinely happy or healthy. Christianity doesn't have a monopoly on truth.

Because we're supposed to cram it with all sorts of more important things, such as political ideologies and nationalism (America first!), capitalism, consumerism, building walls, making money, producing bootstraps, yelling at our neighbors to stay off our lawns both locally and nationally, and of course all the possible arguments here on CF that are crucial to our salvation, such as what color yoga mat to get. :)

Meditation scares people who are alienated from themselves. Religions that want to tell you what to think also want you to be alienated from yourself, so that they can manipulate you. Knowing yourself gives you the power over your own life.

Could you give some examples?

I think there has always been a valid interest in the interior life. Embracing cultures can be a welcoming of brothers ans sisters in Christ around the world.

I think its a necessary development, especially give the level of alienation in our civilization, especially given the dire consequences of runaway consumption and consumerism, which as the Ven. Thich Nhat Hanh pointed out some time ago, is merely the result of people trying to fill a void created by despair and sadness due to alienation. Mindfulness is nothing but bringing loving attention to ourselves and to our world. There is absolutely nothing evil about it.
 
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Pepper77

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The actual scientific evidence seems to suggest otherwise. Meditation potentially benefits a host of mental health and psychosomatic problems. Mindfulness techniques have also been extensively used in psychotherapy to help people with trauma and anxiety.




Early Christian monastics and Eastern Orthodox hesychasts practice something similar to what you call "clearing the mind".



It felt dark because that is what your expectation was.

Personally, I try to not let irrational fears run my life.
We are told to be discerning in the scriptures. Nowhere in scripture are we instructed to try and clear our minds of all thoughts. Because early monastics did it does not make it biblical. It makes it mystical, which can be intriguing because it promises a transcendence experience, becoming one with God and Christ. If Christ is our Savior we are Already joined to Him. It isn’t about a feeling or experience, it’s about what is true. In this period, we walk by faith. One day we will see Him face to face and I’m sure then it will be a transcendent experience. We are told to set our minds on things above, good things, Christ, God our Father and the Holy Spirit, not set our minds on nothing. And it’s not a legalistic thing. It’s just directing us to focus on Christ for our peace, joy. We can rest in the Lord because our life is hidden with Christ in God, and we can trust he has our lives in his hands.
 
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Akita Suggagaki

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Without believing and receiving Christ God’s love is impossible.

Do you then believe only Christians can love?

And you seem to hold to an "explicit" Christianity, as though unless Christi is explicitly mentioned, known and accepted one is in the realm of the demonic.

I don't buy that at all. Christ is risen and has gone far beyond Western culture. Wherever there is love there is Christ. Those who know how to love and how to care for others with compassion are closer to Christ than many nominal Christians.

It’s just directing us to focus on Christ for our peace, joy. We can rest in the Lord because our life is hidden with Christ in God, and we can trust he has our lives in his hands.

Yes, and we can sit in the Lord's presence with silence and an open heart waiting.
 
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Pepper77

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I didn’t say only Christians can love. There are many kinds of love. But the love of God, the God spoken of in the Bible, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, that love is only poured out into the hearts of those who come to His son, and it’s poured out through the Holy Spirit..Romans 5:5. There are many nominal Christians who are not truly born of the Spirit. There are many loving good works done by people of other faiths. But God sent His son to redeem us, bring us back to Him and join us to Christ in this present life and the life to come. There is only one way, which is what God has said through His Son. So either that’s true or it’s not. And the Christian faith is growing like crazy in other places far from the Western world. God so loved the world that he gave His Son.... he sent Christ to the whole world. But only through Him, not faith in other Gods or oneself.
 
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Pepper77

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Do you then believe only Christians can love?

And you seem to hold to an "explicit" Christianity, as though unless Christi is explicitly mentioned, known and accepted one is in the realm of the demonic.

I don't buy that at all. Christ is risen and has gone far beyond Western culture. Wherever there is love there is Christ. Those who know how to love and how to care for others with compassion are closer to Christ than many nominal Christians.



Yes, and we can sit in the Lord's presence with silence and an open heart waiting.
 
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FireDragon76

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I didn’t say only Christians can love. There are many kinds of love. But the love of God, the God spoken of in the Bible, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, that love is only poured out into the hearts of those who come to His son, and it’s poured out through the Holy Spirit..Romans 5:5. There are many nominal Christians who are not truly born of the Spirit. There are many loving good works done by people of other faiths. But God sent His son to redeem us, bring us back to Him and join us to Christ in this present life and the life to come. There is only one way, which is what God has said through His Son. So either that’s true or it’s not. And the Christian faith is growing like crazy in other places far from the Western world. God so loved the world that he gave His Son.... he sent Christ to the whole world. But only through Him, not faith in other Gods or oneself.

The Bible really doesn't circumscribe everything that is good and true. And you are trying to apply evangelical concepts of salvation to something it doesn't apply to. There is nothing incompatible between a person from practicing yoga and meditating to achieve inner peace and insight into themselves, and trusting in Jesus as their savior. Traditionally, salvation was going to heaven when you die, so the two aren't incompatible.
 
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Pepper77

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The Bible really doesn't circumscribe everything that is good and true. And you are trying to apply evangelical concepts of salvation to something it doesn't apply to. There is nothing incompatible between a person from practicing yoga and meditating to achieve inner peace and insight into themselves, and trusting in Jesus as their savior. Traditionally, salvation was going to heaven when you die, so the two aren't incompatible.
Evangelical concepts? Not sure what that means. I’m just applying truth from God’s word as a believer in Christ. I’m not saying it’s wrong to do yoga for exercise, relaxation, or to feel peaceful. I have done it over the years and understand that. I have gotten a physical and mental feeling of peace from it so I get that. But true peace, peace with God comes through Christ. It’s not a feeling it’s reality. We can set our minds on truths from about who we are in Christ and feel that peace as well. And through faith in Christ we do have all things that pertain to life and godliness. 2 Peter 1-3. So I don’t look to other things for life or godliness. I have it in Christ.
 
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Akita Suggagaki

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God so loved the world that he gave His Son.... he sent Christ to the whole world. But only through Him, not faith in other Gods or oneself.

What I am saying is that Christ can act and encounter people beyond the nominal "Christian" culture.
 
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Pepper77

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What I am saying is that Christ can act and encounter people beyond the nominal "Christian" culture.
I’m not totally sure I know what you mean by the nominal Christian culture.
 
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FireDragon76

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What I am saying is that Christ can act and encounter people beyond the nominal "Christian" culture.

The early Church did not understand Jesus in such dualistic, exclusive terms. That was a later product of Greco-Roman and Medieval civilization.

I’m not totally sure I know what you mean by the nominal Christian culture.

What passes for Christianity in much of the US is really a religious movement that is only about a 100-140 years old, and also quite culturally insular, being shaped by white, provincial or rural British-American cultural expectations. There's no reason to think it should be some kind of absolutist paradigm for understanding the meaning of Jesus.
 
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Akita Suggagaki

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I’m not totally sure I know what you mean by the nominal Christian culture.

The culture that explicitly claims to know Christ. I believe the love of Christ extends far beyond that limited group. Christ can be found in other religions wherever there are sincere, loving hearts, compassion for others. As the old song goes, 'Where charity and love prevail, there God is ever found."
 
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Pepper77

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The early Church did not understand Jesus in such dualistic, exclusive terms. That was a later product of Greco-Roman and Medieval civilization.



What passes for Christianity in much of the US is really a religious movement that is only about a 100-140 years old, and also quite culturally insular, being shaped by white, provincial or rural British-American cultural expectations. There's no reason to think it should be some kind of absolutist paradigm for understanding the meaning of Jesus.
I go by scripture to understand who Christ is. What do you go by? What I have been saying is straight from scripture. Christianity has always been exclusive. Christ said himself “you cannot come to the Father but by me”. Just one of many exclusive statements he made.
 
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Akita Suggagaki

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I go by scripture to understand who Christ is mainly. What do you go by?

I use scripture to encounter Christ, not define him or limit him, or exclude others from him.
 
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