Posted on 11/08/2012 6:28:20 PM PST by truthxchange
Do you believe the claim Newsweek made in 2009 that “We are all Hindus now”? Phillip Goldberg does. In his book American Veda: How Indian Spirituality Has Changed the West (2010) he makes the compelling case that many Americans have adopted the spiritual Hindu principle of Advaita, meaning “not two,” and now believe that all is “one.” So Bill Clinton uses Eastern meditation, we speak freely of mantras, avatars, karma, mandalas, and…we practice yoga. Yoga is big in Southern California, even among Christians, and even in the schools. Is yoga just exercise, or is it part of the Hinduization of the West? Here is the testimony of Mary Eady, an employee of truthXchange:
This year, my 6-year-old son and his classmates were enrolled in a twice-weekly mandatory yoga class in our local public school. This new district-wide program is funded by a $533K grant from the Jois Yoga Foundation, named after Sri Patthabi Jois, the modern father of Ashtanga yoga.
In researching this new program, I discovered that the curriculum is not just physical exercise, even according to the grant documentation signed by the superintendent of the district. The grant explicitly states that Ashtanga yoga must be taught by Jois-certified instructors as a part of a cross-disciplinary curriculum to teach students “life skills” and how to make healthy life choices based on “key themes of yoga instruction such as self-discipline, balance, and responsibility.” This particular program is not just about exercise! I could not let my son participate in the class. Here is why.
Ashtanga literally means “Eight-Limbed” and Jois was explicit in his declaration that this yoga was “Patanjali” yoga, described and codified in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. The ultimate goal of this Eight-limbed path is “Samadhi,” or absorption into the Universe. The homepage of the Jois Yoga Foundations website opens to a large-font quote from Jois: “Do your practice, All is coming.”
But even milder forms of Yoga instruction cannot be stripped of all Hindu religious connotations. The poses of yoga are themselves a form of bodily prayer intended to change people and connect them to “the Divine.” Some insist that yoga is spiritually neutral and non-religious, but when we look at yoga through the lens of the One-ism/Two-ism categories, a statement like “Do your practice, All is coming” takes on specifically spiritual meaning.
My method for assessing the claims of yoga’s neutrality has been this: Does this practice allow us to acknowledge that there is a Creator God distinct from us and the rest of creation (reality is Two), or does it imply that we and everything around us are ultimately part of the same whole or “All” (reality is One)?
The president of the Jois Yoga Foundation has insisted that its teaching is not religious. However, the Jois Foundation states on its website, “[Jois] lives on through his teachings at the Institute in Mysore, and every time we practice as he has taught us.” And Jois himself taught that “Yoga is one. God is one. Yoga means knowing God inside you. But using it only for physical practice is no good, of no use. The spiritual aspect, which is beyond the physical, is the purpose of yoga.”
The children in our school district are being taught a practice and a way of making decisions that seeks confirmation, truth and fulfillment within themselves, based on One-ness. Are they really being taught a practice that is religiously neutral? Is (Ashtanga) yoga a practice that poses no conflict with the Biblical truth—that our purpose, our objective moral standards and our salvation are found outside of ourselves, outside of time and space, in the Person of the great I AM who is distinctly not us?
The tool of One-ism and Two-ism that I have learned in my time at truthXchange have proven invaluable. Jesus is the “only, narrow way” to fellowship with the Father Creator, which is Two-ism. Yoga is the broad way to the god within, which is One-ism. These are clearly conflicting religious paths.
Mary’s experience was confirmed yesterday when friends in Canada sent me documentation of the “MindUP” curriculum, teaching Buddhist mindfulness meditation to children in public schools in British Columbia, as well as in other countries, including the US.
Is there any doubt that our once “Christian” West is now deeply infiltrated by the Trojan Horse of Eastern spirituality? Is this the religion of “The Coming Pagan Utopia” (to quote the title of our next Think Tank)? How vigilant the Church must be, in order to avoid complicity in this infiltration! We must “MindUP” with the mind of Christ, as revealed in his Word, in order to speak the Gospel with absolute clarity—for the glory of Jesus and for the saving of souls lost in mists of deceptive one-ness.
About the author: Dr. Peter Jones is Director of truthXchange, and Adjunct Professor of New Testament, as well as Scholar in Residence, at Westminster Seminary California. He has written The Gnostic Empire Strikes Back (1992), Spirit Wars (1997), Gospel Truth/Pagan Lies (1999), Capturing the Pagan Mind (2003), Cracking DaVinci's Code (2004, co-author, James Garlow), Stolen Identity (2006) and The God of Sex (2006). Peter Jones is an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church in America, and is married to Rebecca Clowney Jones. They have seven children and twelve grandchildren. For recreation, Dr. Jones enjoys playing jazz piano and golf.
No, but I have a feeling we’ll all be Muslims soon enough.
More like, what Westerners pick and choose from Hinduism/Buddhism/Paganism to justify their hedonism in the “New Age” movement.
Bow or bend?
I think the correct word is ‘submit’.
Jeesh, if it’s not the muslims, it’s the hindus.
Prostrate on the floor.
:: Sigh ::
What ignorance.
"Yoga" is merely part of the Sanatan Dharma, the Eternal Truth. And within that overarching teaching there is both Dvaita (the author's "reality is Two") and Advaita (the author's "reality is One").
Vedic teachings offer both perspectives because it declares that above all, God is infinite. Therefore there can be no perspective that God does not include. On the other hand, some perspectives are more conducive to spiritual practice and the limitations of the human mind than others, so all are studied and discussed.
Sneer at Hinduism is you must, but it was discussing these issues thousands of years before Jesus showed up. Ignoring its depth, therefore, does not do Christians proud. Christianity should be able to hold its own without lying about what it sees as the "opposition" - even if that opposition acknowledges the legitimacy of Jesus Christ (as Hinduism does).
Exactly. And I'll tell you this much I know many locals who fall into the "Holy Roller" category where they literally roll around on the floor and other such bizarre behavior. If you were to engage most of them in a Conversation about anything to do with the Federal Government like the Electoral College or the powers of the Presidency or Congress they wouldn't have a clue.
They are quick to condemn any who do not conform to their beliefs and will spread lies and gossip about any unbelievers they cross paths with. When there is a function like a charity event they complain and bicker and cause all sorts of drama. And there are certain other churches they will have nothing to do with because they believe they are in league with Satan (like the idol worshiping booze drinkers... Yes they actually say that.)
Yet the few around here who are practicing Hindus are intelligent respectful and will show up to just about any charity function to work tirelessly for the cause without complaint. You'll see them working at Catholic events and Methodist and the Latter Day Saints and the Baptists etc. Whenever a prayer is given they bow their heads respectively. They are always pleasant and smiling.
So if I had a say in the matter I would be all for running off the typical "Rollers" around here and replacing them with the typical Hindus we have in the area. We'd be much better off!
what does "legitimacy" mean here? Are you are saying that Hinduism acknowleges that Jesus Christ is a transcendent God who existed before the material universe and created the universe out of nothing? I've never heard any variation of pantheism which admits this.
"... acknowledges the legitimacy of Jesus Christ (as Hinduism does)"So Hinduism acknowledges that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the only way to salvation and eternal life with God?
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