Christian Living

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I have seen many people following Yoga as a tool for fitness. But the question is - Can Christians also do Yoga? Through this article I would like everyone to know what is Yoga and why it is performed in Hindu religion. This is a research I did many years ago.

In the most sacred text of the Hindus, the Bhagawad Gita, there are a number of different Yogas to attain moksha. Yoga simply means union in Sanskrit and although it has become a form of physical fitness in the west today, it is a method to clear one's mind of impurities and bring one closer to a state of moksha. The most important forms of yoga outlined are Karma Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, and Gyana Yoga.

To know the jargins, let me explain some words from the sanskrit, the hindus religious language.

MOKSHA
SALVATION

VEDAS
Any of the oldest and most authoritative Hindu acred texts, composed in Sanskrit and gathered into four collections.

BHAGWAT GITA
Krishna, as the speaker of the Bhagavad Gita is referred to within as Bhagavan[4] (the divine one), and the verses themselves, using the range and style of Sanskrit meter (chandas) with similes and metaphors, are written in a poetic form that is traditionally chanted; hence the title, which translates to "the Song of the Divine One". The Bhagavad Gita is revered as sacred by the majority of Hindu traditions,[5] and especially so by followers of Krishna. It is commonly referred to as The Gita.[6]

The content of the text is a conversation between Krishna and Arjuna taking place on the battlefield of Kurukshetra just prior to the start of a climactic war. Responding to Arjuna's confusion and moral dilemma, Krishna explains to Arjuna his duties as a warrior and Prince and elaborates on a number of different Yogic[7] and Vedantic philosophies, with examples and analogies. This has led to the Gita often being described as a concise guide to Hindu philosophy and also as a practical, self-contained guide to life.


YOGA AND ITS PHILOSOPHY

The various Paths undertaken to perform any virtue is defined as Yoga in the Vedas. Srimad Bhagavad Gita expounds on popular doctrines of Karma Yoga, the yoga of self-less action performed with inner detachment, Jnana Yoga, the yoga of knowledge, and Bhakti Yoga, the yoga of devotion.

KARMA YOGA

Karma Yoga is the practice of work. One does work but one does not necessarily become obsessed with the fruits of one's actions. One must work for the benefit of all and offer all work to the divine. Mst must offer all services to all regardless of circumstances seeing the universal divinity in all beings.

Bhakti Yoga
Bhakti yoga is the practice of devotion. Whether it is by the way of dance, music or other devotional forms, these are all bhakti yoga. The importance in this yoga is not necessarily the idea of the act of doing the act of devotion but rather the idea of nama smarana or remembering the lord.

Gyana Yoga

Gyana Yoga or the yoga of knowledge is described by Sri Krishna as the fastest but hardest forms of reaching the divine. Gyana Yoga is to a large part meditating, and renouncing oneself from desires. The ideal here is to go inward and find the divinity within. Buddhism and Jainism, both offshoot religions from Hinduism are based on this practice.

What is Ultimate Spiritual Goal?

O chief among men, that firm man whom, surely, these afflict not, to whom pleasure and pain are same, is fit for realizing Immortality of the Self.

How does one attain Moksha (SALVATION)?

He attains Peace into whom all desires enter as waters enter the ocean, which, filled, form all sides, remains unmoved, but not the `desirer of desires'.

The man attains peace who, abandoning all desires, moves about without longing, without the sense of `I-ness' and `my-ness'.

What is the path of liberation (MOKSHA)?

When the Seer beholds no agent other than the Guna-s and knows Him who is higher than the Guna-s, he attains to My Being.

How can one attain immortality?

The embodied-one, having crossed beyond these three Guna-s out of which the body is evolved, is freed from birth, death, decay and pain, and attains to Immortality.

Who is eligible to attain Moksha (salvation)?

He who is happy within, who rejoices within, who is illuminated within that Yogi attains Absolute Freedom or Moksha, himself becoming Brahman.
Those Rsi-s obtain Absolute Freedom or Moksha- whose sins have been destroyed, whose dualities are torn asunder, who are self-controlled and intent on the welfare of all beings.

Although it is a long subject to deal with but I have tried my level best to make it as short as possible. Yoga is practised to achieve SALVATION. My question to all Christians who practise Yoga, is it the way to Salvation. When God said, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son so that whosoever belives in Him shall not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16)"

Our SALVATION depends only and only in accepting Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior and not on some body exercises. I pray that all Christians who are led astray by this deception may turn to God, because Jesus Christ in the ONLY ANSWER to everything.

See to it no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ. (Colossians 2:8)

Please do understand this, that I have not written this article against any religion. I have tried to stop many CHRISTIANS who perform Yoga as an exercise tool without realizing that it is way of worship to gain salvation for Hindus.

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