In the 1960, Fr. Gaspar Koelman, a Jesuit working in India, did a meticulous study of Patanjali, The Patanjala Yoga, that is invaluable even today. From a very different angle, in 1990 Ravi Ravindra, a Hindu scholar, published an insightful interpretation of the Gospel according to John entitled The Yoga of the Christ. And — lest we forget — there have been many columns, essays, and letters by Christian leaders cautioning Christians against being enchanted by physical practices that ultimately mean a whole way of life — possibly or probably incompatible with Christian values. So the fruits of my seminar — this latest “Jesuit Yoga” — need to be carefully assessed, for the sake of the general question, How can we benefit from the ancient and wise tradition of yoga, as Christians? My hope is to add at least two more to this series of reflections — Jesuit Yoga II and III — to spell out a bit more of what I mean. I also very much welcome comments from readers who (for better or worse) have brought yoga together with Christian (and/or Ignatian) spirituality.
Link (here) to read the full article by Fr. Francis Xavier Clooney, S.J. at Christian Yoga Magazine
Link (here) to read a New York Times article on the licentious nature of Hatha and Tantra yoga
A critique of yoga (here)
Link (here) to read a New York Times article on the licentious nature of Hatha and Tantra yoga
A critique of yoga (here)
Fr. Mitch Pacwa, S.J. on Yoga (here)
Fr. John Hardon, S.J. on Yoga (here)
Fr. Clooney asks--How can we benefit from the ancient and wise tradition of yoga, as Christians?
ReplyDeleteAnswer: We can't,Padre.
there is a magazine called ''christian yoga''? Huh? What does one write about after one issue? And check out the pict where clearly the ''artist'' draws a picture of a person that resembles Our Lord...what's that about?
ReplyDelete1. I am the LORD your God:
ReplyDeleteyou shall not have
strange Gods before me
I am the LORD your God,
who brought you out
of the land of Egypt,
out of the house of bondage
You shall have no other gods before me.
You shall not make for yourself a graven image,
or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above,
or that is in the earth beneath,
or that is in the water under the earth;
you shall not bow down to them or serve them;
for I the LORD your God am a jealous God,
visiting the iniquity of the fathers
upon the children to the third and the fourth
generation of those who hate me,
but showing steadfast love to thousands of those
who love me and keep my commandments
L40--Lent is always a good time to review the tenents of our Faith, right? ;)