YOGA MEDITATION

YOGA MEDITATION

The Vatican Document, “Letter to the Bishops… on Christian Meditation” warns of the dangers of yoga [see pages 32-39].

Yoga and meditation are synonymous. Yoga courses are never advertised without highlighting yoga’s meditation component.

Meditation is a key element in any Eastern path towards liberation, sef-transcendence, self-realization. 

Like physical fitness may be a consequence of performing asanas, relaxation may be a result of samyama [*meditation exercises], but it must be understood that they are only by-products on the way to liberating the self from reincarnation. Along with the repeating of mindless [though some are associated with Hindu deities] mantras, the common element in meditation is the annihilation of critical thought and normal state of consciousness which is considered essential for liberating the self.  However, shutting down the mind in order to grasp non-rational ‘higher’ realities and giving up critical discernment opens the way for possession by spiritual beings. 

Since yoga is a spiritual discipline, it is essential to remember that there are no neutral powers in the spiritual world. The practice of yoga can lead to a quite different end from that much-advertised fitness and relief from stress, as documented in letters received by this ministry. 

At a 2004 seminar in Bandra, Mumbai, the shocking testimony of a person once involved in yoga exercises and meditation did infinitely more to convince the audience of its grave dangers than this writer’s talks. 

Yoga requires the suspension of one’s will and the silencing of one’s mind [YS 1, 1-3]. 

But the Word of God exhorts us to “have the mind of Christ” [1 Corinthians 2:16]. 

The Christian is enjoined to “be transformed by the renewal of your mind that you may prove what is the will of God” [Romans 12:2], “gird up the loins of his mind” [1 Peter 1:13], “sing [God’s] praises with the mind” [1 Corinthians 14:15].

SIMPLISTICALLY, ACCORDING TO ITS PROMOTERS, YOGA IS:

Yama                       [moral codes]
Niyama                 [self-purification and study]
Asana                    [posture]
Pranayama          [breath control]
Pratyahara          [sense control]
Dharana               [concentration]
Dhyana                 [meditation]
Samadhi               [contemplation]