KOCHI: A week after International Day of Yoga, the Kerala Catholic Bishops Council (KCBC) has issued guidelines advising the faithful to be ‘careful’ while practising the age-old practice. It has triggered a debate on whether yoga is a religious-method of exercise and compartmentalising it as a Hindu way or Christian way of practice is diluting the whole affair.
“Be aware that you may be attracted to Hinduism when you practise yoga,” cautions the KCBC. “Chanting prayers of other faiths and meditating on religious icons of other faiths by Christians while practising yoga is undesirable and unacceptable. Consuming food offerings made to idols, assuming that the idols themselves are gods, is against the basic tenets of Christianity,” reads the guideline released by KCBC.
“Religious practices that do not accept the fact that Christ is the path to salvation are not acceptable to Christianity. It is Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who sacrificed himself on the Cross, who is the only path to salvation,” it says.
“In Christianity, prayer is communication with God, rather than with the inner self. In yoga, however, one communicates with oneself and understands the depths of one’s mind. As per Christian faith, humble and unselfish acceptance of God’s will is the paramount facet of prayer. Christians practising yoga must never misunderstand that God can be brought to one’s bidding through meditation,” reads the KCBC guidelines. On the other hand, Sr Infant Tresa, a Catholic nun, who runs a yoga centre at Muvattupuzha, said that yoga is to be practised for peace to one’s soul and body.
“Yoga can be practised in a Christian way also, but we do not usually practise it in a group where all belong to different religions. The age-old practice of yoga practised by sanyasis and priests was meant to impart inner peace to all people, not just those belonging to a particular religion. It should not be compared to any religion,” said Sr Tresa.
Whereas in the Christian community we do practice yoga in a Christian way, in Sun Salutation and while doing some postures, religious chants of other faiths are used. Even the ‘Om’ mantra chanting at the time of meditation is not attributed to the Hindu religion, but is a way of bringing inner peace, said Sr Tresa.
However, yoga guru S Rajendran of Sree Yogadarshan, Eroor, said the practice of yoga needs to be understood as a way of life as well as a science. It is not a subdivision of any religion.“The ultimate goal of yoga is to raise the standard of living of the practitioner through heightening his level of consciousness,” he said.