“Is Yoga ‘demonic’”? by Sam.S.Nath
Seattle mega church pastor Mark Driscoll of Mars Hill Church created uproar when he said earlier this year that yoga is "absolute paganism." "Should Christians stay away from yoga because of its demonic roots? “Totally. Yoga is demonic," Driscoll said. "If you just sign up for a little yoga class, you're signing up for a little demon class." (
according to The Seattle Times)
Why is that even as Yoga is being practiced by about an estimated 15.8 million people in USA, Christians still have fears about yoga. The Seattle Times noted, “Driscoll earlier made similar statement, "There's not creator and creation," he said. "All is collapsed into what we call oneism. The result is that you don't go out to God, you go into self. It's not about connecting to God through the mediatorship of Jesus. It's about connecting to the universe through meditation. It's absolute paganism."
The Catholic Church is not far from this opinion about Yoga. I have discussed this very issue in very details in my book “The Second Coming of Da Vinci – Real Lost Symbols of Bible.” Many Pastors and church leaders believe that anything they do not understand in Biblical context is ‘demonic.’ They think that if it does not originate from Bible and since in their occurring world, Bible is the only ‘Word’ of God, any other religious practice has to be “paganism”.
I am going to explain Yoga not from Hindu perspective but to reveal that Yoga is indeed Biblical. The real reasons, we do not see Yoga and meditation in Bible are the real lost symbols of Bible. As many pastors do not understand the lost symbols of Bible, they can not see Yoga and the Bible as one and complimentary. But you do not need to be a theologian to see Yoga and Bible as the same process of getting to God if you read Bible with a open mind.
When Pastor Driscoll calls Yoga “absolute paganism” it shows the ignorance both toward Yoga and Christianity. So called ‘Oneism’ is no different than message of Bible that Kingdom of God is within you. The difference is that Christians read it in Bible and Yogis practice it in life.
Pastor Driscoll is not alone is standing against Yoga. According to Telegraph, Last month Southern Baptist Theological Seminary President Albert Mohler warned his followers of the dangers of chanting 'Om' – the droning sound used by Hindus to praise the divine – and inward meditation. "Christians are not called to empty the mind or to see the human body as a means of connecting to and coming to know the divine. Believers are called to meditate upon the Word of God – an external Word that comes to us by divine revelation – not to meditate by means of incomprehensible syllables," he wrote.
Nothing can be far from truth when you read Bible with a open mind. You do not even need to decipher the real lost symbols of Bible. “Christians are not called to empty the mind” must be put in the context in Bible verse Mark 7:15,
“There is nothing from without a man that entering in to him can defile him: but the things which come out of him, those are they that defile the man.’ Continued in Mark 7:21-23: “For from within, out of the heart of men proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders,
“Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness:
“All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.’
Here we see the total focus on internal cleansing or purification of the mind. It is the process of moving from our lower mind to our higher mind.(Source: The second Coming of Da Vinci: Real Lost Symbols of Bible)
You can still disagree that the above verse are not related to what Albert Mohler is talking about. But you can still read further in Bible.
“The kingdom of God is within you.”
“’When Thy eye will be single, your body will be full of light.’”
““I die daily.’”
“Be in the world, not of the world.”
Yoga is constantly trying to have the experience of ‘Single Eye’ so the body can be full of light. Meditation and Yoga lets you be in the world but not attached to it (same concept as ‘not of the world’). You can still disagree that Yoga is Biblical. But, keep reading Bible verses.
John 1:1:
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
Its no different that Hindus calling that primordial word ‘OM’. True Yogis claim to hear this sound ‘OM’ in their meditation and ‘OM’ sound is not far from Amen and Amine.
We can actually dig deeper and look at the Revelations:1:8.
“I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the almighty.”
This verse supports Easter yogic assertion that Jesus was not limited to time and space but an eternal consciousness the ‘holy spirit’. When an Eastern advance Yogi reads it, he or she can see the Yogic visions in Revelations. How different is this from what Krishna revealed his deepest mystery to Arjuna…,
”My existence is not known to anyone, for I am cause of everyone’s existence”
I believe that Christian pastors naming Yoga ‘demonic’ is based on its theology and not the exercises or Yoga postures in itself. Yoga is also about uniting body and mind with the ultimate aim to unite oneself with God, which most pastors believe is against Bible as the Creator and creation can never unite. But Yoga in itself is not contradicting Bible, when you read John: 1:12
“But as many received him, to them gave he power to become sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.
“Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God?”
Meditation is no different than trying to prove Biblical declaration that The Kingdom of God is within you.” In fact, all Yogic experiences are revealed in Revelations. So next time, if someone tells you Yoga is demonic, ask them have you read ‘Revelations’?
Sam. S. Nath, Author
The Second Coming of Da Vinci Real Lost Symbols of the Bible
www.SecondcomingofDaVinci.comBook can be found on Amazon.com