Christian Yoga –
Exercise or Religious Deception?
MattS AMTM June 2019 Part 24 (heresy and false teachings)
I would have thought this one was a “no brainer”, but, apparently not. Yoga has crept in everywhere, and seems to be acceptable in every level of society as a so called legitimate form of exercise. Back when I became a Christian in the 70’s (yup, I know), it would have been unthinkable to the Christians I associated with, to even consider doing Yoga, let alone Christian Yoga. The two words were mutually exclusive. Christian Yoga would have been a complete oxymoron.
It would seem in the last 40 years that Yoga and Christianity have in some way been blended, to be seen as acceptable. This is my opinion, but I could never see Yoga (being a Hindu religious practice) and Christianity being spoken as a blended term. I have always regarded Yoga as a Hindu practice, and as such to be avoided (especially by Christians).
So, it would be right to ask the first question, “What is Yoga?”
Wikipedia defines Yoga as;
“Yoga(/ˈjoʊɡə/;[1]Sanskrit:योग;pronunciation) is a group of physical,mental, and spiritualpractices or disciplines which originated in ancient India. Yoga is one of the six orthodox schools of Hindu philosophical traditions.[2]There is a broad variety of yoga schools, practices, and goals[3]in Hinduism,Buddhism, and Jainism.[4][5][6]The term “yoga” in the Western world often denotes a modern form of Hatha yoga, consisting largely of the postures called asanas“.
So let’s get the first thing established – Yoga IS a Hindu Eastern spiritual practice!!
In that case, why would a Christian use a Hindu Eastern spiritual practice? I can hear the cries already. It is a form of exercise, don’t you know. So, I’ll ask again. If you are a Christian, why are you engaging in a Hindu religious practice?
Next question, “What is the purpose of Yoga for Hindus?”
The roots of Yoga are in Hinduism, according to this website “Hinduism Today“. In this question posed on the website “Is Yoga a Hindu practice?” it states clearly that it most certainly is. This website and many others indicate that the word Yoga means; yoked, union, union with God, union of the self with the universal self. That is seriously New Age!!
Is Yoga a religious practice? (From the website,https://www.hinduismtoday.com/)
To appreciate yoga’s spiritual and religious nature, one need only consider each of its eight limbs, or facets. The first is yama, the ethical restraints; of these, the most important is ahimsa, noninjuriousness. The second is niyama, specific religious observances, including puja in one’s home shrine and repeating mantras. The third is asana, the widely practiced hatha yoga postures. The remaining five limbs are all related to meditation: pranayama (breath control), pratyahara (sense withdrawal), dharana (concentration), dhyana (meditation) and samadhi (illumination, or oneness with God).
Yes, Yoga is a religious practice!!
So, why do Yoga practitioners use the mantra OM?
From this website “Verywell Fit” it has this to say;
Omis a very simple sound with a complex meaning. It is the whole universe coalesced into a single word, representing the union of mind, body, and spirit that is at the heart of yoga. Often chanted three times at the start and at the finish of a yoga session, the sound of omis actually three syllables: a, u, and m.
Omis an ancient mantra that is used in Hinduism and Buddhism, among other faiths. In the Hindu tradition, the sound of omis said to contain the entire universe. It is the first sound from the beginning of time, and it also encompasses the present and the future. As such, its importance and power are difficult to overstate.
Om is not a Christian word, it is a New Age (or should I say Old Age) concept that directly contradicts the Word of God [my very deliberate emphasis]. Hindu belief says that the word Om was “the first sound from the beginning of time”. John 1:1 says “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, the Word was God.” John is talking about Jesus, not Om.
As Christians we should be questioning everything in relation to Yoga and its Hindu origins. The word for demonic gods other than God the Father (Yahweh), is Shedim. In Exodus 20:3 God gives the very first commandment as “You shall have no other gods before Me“. In this case, as Christians, we should be avoiding anything that would potentially put us in contact with demonic entities that come before God. I’m still hearing people say “Yoga is just exercise; we don’t practice the Hindu religious part…………………….” I beg to differ. If you take part in what is a Hindu religious and spiritual experience, then you are partaking of that practice in its entirety, whether you like it or not. Satan does not care, he has got you hooked and is reeling you in.
Here is a question for the Christian Yoga practitioner. “Have you sought any other stretching programs that are not Yoga or New Age or Weird Christian alternatives?”
Yes, there are some out there but, please be careful as some of the Christian alternative programs have New Age practices, or they embrace Emergent Church and New Apostolic Reformation ideas, like prayer soaking or contemplative prayer techniques. As a teen I was a competitive swimmer and we did calisthenics stretching, we worked hard at it and it also involved the use of light resistance, but the results we had from using calisthenics were very much worth it. Just mentioning it!!
Ephesians 5:11 says “Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them;” If Yoga is a spiritual practice and it is not of God, then where does it come from? I will tell you now that it is demonic, and should not be practiced by Christians, and it should certainly be exposed, (I think that is what I’m doing here).
I will tell of a personal experience that I had many years ago. I was at Church home group meeting’ and a group of us were praying for a lady who was having issues with back pain. During our prayer for her I had a very clear image of a spine (like looking at a very clear x-ray image). In the spine was a snake that was coiled around several of the vertebrae. I relayed this to the lady we were praying for, and asked her if this might mean anything. She became very uncomfortable and asked us to stop praying, she refused to have anymore prayer. At the time I had a sense that this was related to something New Age, and occultic, that this lady had been involved in. Sadly she never returned to the Home group. My suspicions were that she had been involved in something like Yoga. At the time, I did not know anything about Kundalini Yogaor the Kundalini serpent. By the way, Kundalini means “the coiled one”. Are you connecting some dots here, I certainly have since learning about Kundalini Yoga. If you want to know more about the Kundalini Spirit, read my articleon this subject for more in depth information.
To wrap up I’m going to point you to a man called Mike Shreve. Carolyn Hamlett spoke of Mike some years back, as he was her Yoga instructor. Mike was a very popular Kundalini Yoga teacher in Florida; he had a very powerful conversion to Christianity and is now a pastor with many ministries to this day. Here is Mike’s testimony. Mike can speak to this subject far better than I can, and can speak to the dangers of Yoga practice. Here is a YouTube of Mike’s Testimony for those that struggle with the reading.
For those of you that have been unsure about Yoga, and have considered trying it, I hope you are now convinced to stay well away from it. For those practicing it, I ask you to stop, repent of it, and to seek an alternative. God will forgive you and will bless you for doing this.
God bless you all, and as always, keep reading your Bible.
References.
https://www.spiritualresearchnetwork.org/exposing-satans-power-yoga-dangers.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZnG0ZmNOhU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3oyIaY_p8s
http://shreveministries.org/cms/index.php?page=aboutmike
http://thetruelight.net/myspiritualjourney.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoga
https://medium.com/raja-yogamandiram/origin-and-meaning-of-the-word-yoga-8177fbd86aa
https://www.hinduwebsite.com/hinduism/yoga.asp
https://www.hinduismtoday.com/modules/smartsection/item.php?itemid=5673
https://www.verywellfit.com/the-meaning-of-om-3566806
https://biblehub.com/hebrew/7700.htm