Jesus was a Yogi!

I came across this article today on Yahoo and it made me angry in so many ways. If you dare read it here is the link. If you happened to be a yogi/yogini or particularly a yoga teacher who digs Jesus, I must warn you, your blood will boil. (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101007/ap_on_re/us_rel_southern_baptists_yoga).

Basically, this man who is the “Southern Baptist Seminary President”, Albert Mohler, claims that yoga goes against Christianity. What I loathe most in life is when people claim things—in the name of Jesus Christ—that go completely against what Jesus stood for. You would think, in his high position (which by the way, did Jesus even believe in a hierarchy?), that he would know the bible front to back. But if he did, and truly comprehended what Jesus stood for, he would have come to the same conclusion that I have come to: Jesus was a yogi! Instead, this man feels threaten by the mere thought that people can find their spirituality in something other than Christianity, thus trying to exert control over his “Christians” by claiming yoga should not be practiced if you consider yourself Christian. Well, Albert Mohler, let me begin by educating you.

There are six branches of yoga:

• Hatha- This includes the physical poses and meditation that help to purify your body and mind.
• Raja- This is about the path to self-respect. It is all about honoring yourself and what you give to the universe.
• Karma- Deals with the principle that what we do today will influence our happiness in the future. Thus we should be selflessly devoted to helping others.
• Bhakti- This branch is about your path to devotion. It stresses seeing the unity and divine in all beings. Of course this includes loving God having tolerance for others.
• Jnana- Deals with intellect and being accepting of all philosophies and religions.
• Tantra- Most commonly understood, it is really about the path of ritual and regular spiritual practice.

Mohler said in this article that yoga practitioners who consider themselves Christian “must either deny the reality of what yoga represents or fail to see the contradictions between their Christian commitments and their embrace of yoga." Really? Let’s take a second look at those branches of yoga.

• Hatha- This includes the physical poses and meditation that help to purify your body and mind. Meditation is all throughout the Bible. Jesus often led crowds and his apostles into the wilderness for the purpose of spiritual meditation. Is it not mediation when Jesus communicates with God? Also, we are told to meditate on the Word (Ps 1:2 and Ps 119:97) Another example is in Genesis (24:63) Isaac goes out to the fields in the evening to meditate, etc.
• Raja- This is about the path to self-respect. It is all about honoring yourself and what you give to the universe. Jesus says, in the Gospel of Thomas: If those who lead you say to you, "Look, the Kingdom is in the sky," then the birds will get there first. If they say "It is in the ocean," then the fish will get there first. But the Kingdom of God is within you and outside of you. Once you come to know yourselves, you will become known. And you will know that it is you who are the children of the living Father.”
• Karma- Deals with the principle that what we do today will influence our happiness in the future. Thus we should be selflessly devoted to helping others. Jesus practically invented karma yoga! We all know the famous quote, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” (Matthew 7:12)
• Bhakti- This branch is about your path to devotion. It stresses seeing the unity and divine in all beings. Of course this includes loving God having tolerance for others. Jesus said, in Mark 12:28-31 that the most important 2 commandments are to love God and others and if you do this all the other commandments are a given. Of course he believed in tolerance! In Luke 5:31 He even said that the sick are the ones that we need to tolerate more than anyone. How about Matthew 5:43-45? "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you."
• Jnana- Deals with intellect and being accepting of all philosophies and religions. “Love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence. Love others as well as you love yourself.” (Matthew 34:40) Also, see the references above for Bhakti yoga, they apply here as well.
• Tantra- Most commonly understood, it is really about the path of ritual and regular spiritual practice. Christians NEVER follow ritual, do they? HA. Everything about Christianity deals with ritual and regular spiritual practice! Communion, saying the Lord’s prayer, etc. Speaking of the Lord’s prayer, that is exactly like the chanting people do during yoga. One of the most common phrases that is chanted is “Loka samasta shukino bhavantu” which translates to “let all beings in the world be happy and at peace”. Would you honestly say that Jesus would object?

Another thing Mohler said was that “people have written him to say they're simply doing exercises and forgoing yoga's eastern mysticism and meditation” and if that’s the case then he claims they are simply not doing yoga. First of all, as listed above there are 6 branches of yoga and you can certainly practice hatha yoga (physical poses) without the spirituality and enlightenment that comes with the other branches. You do not need to get into the spirituality. Even still, very few individuals in the world, dead or alive, have ever been able to achieve a successful path in all 6 branches, except for perhaps Jesus and other prophets. In addition, can Mohler actually claim that there is no “mysticism” in Christianity? Jesus walked on water, turned water into wine, rose from the dead, etc. We are supposed to emulate him and strive for the likeness of him, aren’t we? So as a Christian, wouldn’t you hope to attain a level of spirituality with God and Jesus that perhaps is mystical? What is wrong with mystical?

Dictionary.com defines “mystic” as the following:

1. involving or characterized by esoteric, otherworldly, or symbolic practices or content, as certain religious ceremonies and art; spiritually significant; ethereal.
2. of the nature of or pertaining to mysteries known only to the initiated: mystic rites.
3. of occult character, power, or significance: a mystic formula.
4. of obscure or mysterious character or significance.
5. of or pertaining to mystics or mysticism.

Isn’t God a mystery? If God wasn’t a mystery, than we wouldn’t need to “have faith” like so many religions tell us.

So, please, in the name of Jesus Christ, I beg you: Do not be fooled by people such as Mr. Mohler. Jesus disapproved of hypocrites worse than anyone. "Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written: 'These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.’” (Mark 7:6) So, Mr. Mohler, Mr. Southern Baptist Seminary President, next time you think of condemning something that is so beautiful and peaceful and beneficial to the world as yoga, I’d like you to ask yourself: What Would Jesus Do??