Mother Teresa said, “If you judge people, you don’t have time to love them.....If we have no peace in the world, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other."
...ran into a conversation on how yoga is denounced in christianity in some churches. Some pastors believe you cannot be a christian whilst practicing yoga, they claim it'll disrupt the person's own christian beliefs. Some christians believe that it'll alter subtle changes within themselves and have profound dramatic spiritual consequences that will not be for the better. How funny that because yoga is from the East, some even claim that travelling to the East (i.e. East of Eden) is idolatry.
Yoga can be affiliated to hinduism.......if that's the direction you want to head into. If you send your kid to a chinese learning school, would you be worried the child might convert into buddhism one day? Everything in life is related to one thing to the other. But the linkage to 'whatever not's ' is to your own discretion. Everything in moderation. Not too much and not too little.
I've practice yoga for well over 5 years....still a strong believer in my faith and I don't have deities set up in my home and even though I meditate, I don't levitate and I don't go into trance. And this is all because I don't seek to do it and it's not where my practice is heading. Yoga means (to me) the balance of the body and the mind .....it's not magic. When you jog or when you dance or when you watch a movie, do you not forget the one thing that was troubling you before you started your run or waltz? The only difference is yoga teaches you to observe the parts of your physicality that needs strengthening and toning. It teaches you to listen to the breath. It's not rocket science ! When you're in the hospital and you're recovering from heart surgeries, the nurses teaches deep breathing. Same thing, yoga teaches you to focus on the breath, one of the many things that helps relaxes a busy day work.
You could love baking or cooking and maybe that relaxes you. Some people need poses that stretches and tones, so yoga could be something that makes the day better for them.
I don't hail yoga as the be end and end all. But maybe if people stop judging, cause judgments seldom leave room for alternate possibilities.
As we seldom know what roads people have traveled before a shared encounter or why they have come into our lives, we should always give those we meet the gift of an open heart. Doing so allows us to replace fear-based criticism with appreciation because we can then focus wholeheartedly on the spark of good that burns in all human souls. (Daily Om)
It's sad when society claims by self on what's right or wrong to do in every religion. You'll either be damned if you do and damned if you don't. Yoga teaches the ego is destructive, so, is it not egoistical to claim knowing your spiritual way is the only gateway to heaven?
I think above all lessons I have learned till this day is love. Love is simple and kind. It's not hateful in any way. It doesn't judge, it doesn't cause separation and it's not set on certain conditions. It just is. Simple. Love tolerates and it forgives. It doesn't berate grudges for a life time neither does it claim rightfulness above anything or anybody. It's infinite. Love is acceptance and understanding of the human race. Love is trust, faith and hope.
Maybe if one doesn't have all the above, it's time for a little humility, less ego and more enthuasiasm to live in a more balanced world. Maybe we might not be able to live together in harmony altogether yet, but we can at least start to live in tolerance and compassion.
Like Gandhi once said,"My religion is kindness"
