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Home > Archive > Yoga > July 2006 > Incorporating your yoga into your Christianity
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Incorporating your yoga into your Christianity
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| howdydave 2006-07-20, 9:25 pm |
| Howdy!
I saw the subject phrase in another thread so I thought that I would
start this one.
If a person is interested in doing this I highly recommend the
following:
TO CHRIST THROUGH THE VEDANTA (in 2 volumes)
The Writings of P. Johanns
ISBN (paperback): 8185526060 (vol. 1); 8185526079 (vol. 2)
This is a 2 volume book consisting of a series of articles
written by: Pierre. Johanns SJ
and published by the United Theological Seminary in Bangalore, India
Father Pierre was a Catholic missionary in India. He was a Jesuit, a
mystic
and an eccumenicist who, like Thomas Aquainus believed that TRUTH could
be found in resources outside of the standard Christian documents.
The book consists of a series of articles that he wrote for a
newsletter over a
period of 12 years from 1922-1934.
He gives a VERY good overview of the various proponants of Vedanta and
how their teachings fit into the Christian philosophy.
I got my copy from:
DK Agencies in India
http://www.dkagencies.com/
Dave
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| omjaroo 2006-07-21, 4:28 pm |
| howdydave wrote:
> I saw the subject phrase in another thread so I thought that I would
> start this one.
>
snip
>
> He gives a VERY good overview of the various proponants of Vedanta and
> how their teachings fit into the Christian philosophy.
>
> I got my copy from:
>
> DK Agencies in India
> http://www.dkagencies.com/
Howdy Dave,
Interesting topic. And one that I am sure is important to a great many
practicioners of yoga.
As I see it there are two aspects of this:
1. Philosophic: The recognition, reconciliation and integration of
yogic philosophy/methodology with the ideas/methods of Christianity.
Yogananda has done a supreme piece of work along these lines in his two
volume set: "The Second Coming of Christ" -The Resurrection of the
Christ Within You- A revelatory commentary on the original teachings of
Jesus.
2. Social: That is the process of living as a "Christian" among others,
while holding and acting in accordance with expanded Yogic/Christian
frame of reference. This is the area in which I think that we sharing
our experience, ideas and our own process can be most helpful :-)
Jared
o
^
by all means, make it so... www.omjaroo.com
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| howdydave 2006-07-21, 4:28 pm |
| Howdy Jared!
I've got: "The Second Coming of Christ" but I haven't gotten
around to reading it yet.
There ya' go folks... reconciliation books from BOTH directions!
I was not brought up as a fundamentalist, but I was brought up
in a church with a VERY structured dogmatic framework
(Lutheran Church Missouri Synod.)
I was asked to be a Sunday School teacher a few months ago.
I turned it down and gave the following reason:
I would be always encouraging the kids to think outside the box.
The whole function of Sunday School is to BUILD a good,
solid box for yourself that will last you a lifetime should you
decide to never think "outside the box."
IMO: reconciliation means being a "silent sage" rather than
being a "guru." When you incorporate your yoga into your
faith you DEMONSTRATE your faith rather than attempting to
PROSELYTIZE and convert the world.
Dave
omjaroo wrote:
> howdydave wrote:
>
> snip
>
> Howdy Dave,
>
> Interesting topic. And one that I am sure is important to a great many
> practicioners of yoga.
>
> As I see it there are two aspects of this:
>
> 1. Philosophic: The recognition, reconciliation and integration of
> yogic philosophy/methodology with the ideas/methods of Christianity.
> Yogananda has done a supreme piece of work along these lines in his two
> volume set: "The Second Coming of Christ" -The Resurrection of the
> Christ Within You- A revelatory commentary on the original teachings of
> Jesus.
>
> 2. Social: That is the process of living as a "Christian" among others,
> while holding and acting in accordance with expanded Yogic/Christian
> frame of reference. This is the area in which I think that we sharing
> our experience, ideas and our own process can be most helpful :-)
>
> Jared
> o
> ^
> by all means, make it so... www.omjaroo.com
| |
| howdydave 2006-07-21, 4:28 pm |
| re: MEDITATION...
There is no need to reconcile meditation.
In Christianity it just goes by a different name:
CONTEMPLATIVE PRAYER
Dave
howdydave wrote:[vbcol=seagreen]
> Howdy Jared!
>
> I've got: "The Second Coming of Christ" but I haven't gotten
> around to reading it yet.
>
> There ya' go folks... reconciliation books from BOTH directions!
>
> I was not brought up as a fundamentalist, but I was brought up
> in a church with a VERY structured dogmatic framework
> (Lutheran Church Missouri Synod.)
>
> I was asked to be a Sunday School teacher a few months ago.
> I turned it down and gave the following reason:
>
> I would be always encouraging the kids to think outside the box.
> The whole function of Sunday School is to BUILD a good,
> solid box for yourself that will last you a lifetime should you
> decide to never think "outside the box."
>
> IMO: reconciliation means being a "silent sage" rather than
> being a "guru." When you incorporate your yoga into your
> faith you DEMONSTRATE your faith rather than attempting to
> PROSELYTIZE and convert the world.
>
> Dave
>
> omjaroo wrote:
| |
| Richard Corfield 2006-07-21, 4:28 pm |
| On 2006-07-21, howdydave <howdydave@msn.com> wrote:
> re: MEDITATION...
>
> There is no need to reconcile meditation.
> In Christianity it just goes by a different name:
>
> CONTEMPLATIVE PRAYER
I'd also come to this conclusion, and noticed in a documentary on nuns
that it happens a lot. They also talk about finding their inner themselves
- an inward journey similar to that in yoga.
I take the yoga teachings as abstract, or rather if there are any concrete
bits I abstract them. Designing object orientated computer systems for
a living I am very used to thinking and solving things that way. (Would
Yoga for Programmers be a big UML model? Something you can release as an
open source Argo-UML project? It would be interesting).
Christianity seems to fit the abstraction very well, though I expect there
are variations depending on how the individuals practice and interpret it.
The models I'm using of both yoga and christianity may have been swayed
by my own internal beliefs. Forming the models and asking myself the
questions helps me to determine what those beliefs are.
It would be interesting to find a vicar or someone willing to answer
questions like "I remember somewhere the bible saying such and such -
where is it? Can it be interpreted like this?". Asking christian friends
has been positive so far.
- Richard
--
_/_/_/ _/_/_/ _/_/_/ Richard Corfield <Richard.Corfield@gmail.com>
_/ _/ _/ _/
_/_/ _/ _/ Time is a one way street,
_/ _/ _/_/ _/_/_/ except in the Twighlight Zone
| |
| omjaroo 2006-07-22, 2:26 am |
| howdydave wrote:
> Howdy Jared!
>
> I've got: "The Second Coming of Christ" but I haven't gotten
> around to reading it yet.
Yes, its a "years" reader :-)
> I was asked to be a Sunday School teacher a few months ago.
> I turned it down and gave the following reason:
If and when you are ready, I would encourage you to reconsider. It's no
small matter when someone asks you to teach. Especially their children.
> I would be always encouraging the kids to think outside the box.
And this is a bad thing?
As I recall Jesus Christ was quite the "out of box" kinda guy himself.
> The whole function of Sunday School is to BUILD a good,
> solid box for yourself that will last you a lifetime should you
> decide to never think "outside the box."
This sounds to me like "old" thinking. I am sure there is a more
constructive way to view this.
> IMO: reconciliation means being a "silent sage" rather than
> being a "guru."
Reconciliation to me means a deep acceptance of the essential Truth of
two or more schools/traditions and the easy and transparent movement
from one to the other.
> When you incorporate your yoga into your
> faith you DEMONSTRATE your faith rather than attempting to
> PROSELYTIZE and convert the world.
How did we get from guru to convert the world? I think I missed
something here.
Jared
o
^
| |
| howdydave 2006-07-22, 2:26 am |
|
omjaroo wrote:
> howdydave wrote:
>
> Yes, its a "years" reader :-)
>
>
> If and when you are ready, I would encourage you to reconsider. It's no
> small matter when someone asks you to teach. Especially their children.
>
>
>
> And this is a bad thing?
>
> As I recall Jesus Christ was quite the "out of box" kinda guy himself.
>
>
> This sounds to me like "old" thinking. I am sure there is a more
> constructive way to view this.
>
>
> Reconciliation to me means a deep acceptance of the essential Truth of
> two or more schools/traditions and the easy and transparent movement
> from one to the other.
>
>
> How did we get from guru to convert the world? I think I missed
> something here.
>
> Jared
> o
> ^
Broad generalizations m'lad...
Gurus teach --
taken in the church terminology: convert, proselytize, evangalize, "Go
ye therefore and teach all nations," whatever.
Dave
| |
| howdydave 2006-07-22, 9:24 pm |
| I will take your Sunday School advice under consideration.
I have some serious doubts about whether I can just teach
"church doctrine." At this point I have personally discarded
a great deal of it myself!
I don't want to undermine the whole categorical framework that I
am supposed to be helping people build for themselves.
re: "Guru to convert the world" --Broad generalizations m'lad...
Gurus teach --
taken in the church terminology: convert, proselytize, evangalize, "Go
ye therefore and teach all nations," whatever.
Dave
omjaroo wrote:
> howdydave wrote:
>
> Yes, its a "years" reader :-)
>
>
> If and when you are ready, I would encourage you to reconsider. It's no
> small matter when someone asks you to teach. Especially their children.
>
>
>
> And this is a bad thing?
>
> As I recall Jesus Christ was quite the "out of box" kinda guy himself.
>
>
> This sounds to me like "old" thinking. I am sure there is a more
> constructive way to view this.
>
>
> Reconciliation to me means a deep acceptance of the essential Truth of
> two or more schools/traditions and the easy and transparent movement
> from one to the other.
>
>
> How did we get from guru to convert the world? I think I missed
> something here.
>
> Jared
> o
> ^
| |
| howdydave 2006-07-23, 2:30 am |
| Howdy Jared!
re:
> Reconciliation to me means a deep acceptance of the
> essential Truth of two or more schools/traditions and
> the easy and transparent movement from one to the other.
I will pretty much agree with that but I would add one provisio:
I must also make sure that my "transparent movent from one
to the other" does not undermine the faith of another.
That's where my "silent sage" comes from...
It's just like the primary law of medicine:
FIRST -- DO NO HARM!
Dave
| |
| omjaroo 2006-07-23, 2:30 am |
| Understood,
Jared
o
^
howdydave wrote:
> Howdy Jared!
>
> re:
>
> I will pretty much agree with that but I would add one provisio:
> I must also make sure that my "transparent movent from one
> to the other" does not undermine the faith of another.
>
> That's where my "silent sage" comes from...
> It's just like the primary law of medicine:
> FIRST -- DO NO HARM!
>
> Dave
| |
| omjaroo 2006-07-23, 4:28 pm |
| Howdy Dave,
I got to thinking about this and pulled a copy of "The Holy Science",
By Swami Sri Yukteswar 1894, off the self. If you will remember Sri
Yukteswar was Yogananda's guru and the impetus for him coming to the US
with the goal of uniting yogic/Christian thought.
Chapter 1, The Gospel; Sutra 1 [Parambrahma (Spirit or God) is
everlasting, complete, without beginning or end. I is one, indivisible
Being.]
The Eternal Father, God, Swami Parambrahma, is the only Real Substance
(Sat) and is all in all in the universe.
man possesses eternal faith and believes intuitively in the existence
of a Substance, of which the objects of sense - sound, touch, sight,
taste, and smell, the component parts of this visible world - are but
properties. As man identififies himself with his material body,
composed of the aforesaid properties, he is able to comprehend by these
imperfect organs these properties only, and not the Substance to which
these properties belong. The Eternal Father, God, The only Substance in
the universe, is therefore not comprehensible by man of this material
world, unless he becomes divine by lifting his self above this creation
of Darkness or Maya, See Hebrews 11:1 and John 8:28.
"Now faith is the subatance of things hoped fore, the evidence of
things not seen."
"Then said Jesus unto them, When ye have lifted up the son of man, then
shall ye know that I am he."
> I saw the subject phrase in another thread so I thought that I would
> start this one.
> TO CHRIST THROUGH THE VEDANTA (in 2 volumes)
> The Writings of P. Johanns
>
> ISBN (paperback): 8185526060 (vol. 1); 8185526079 (vol. 2)
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