31 JULY 2015

Catholics warned about yoga: Rome

RELIGION: Catholics Warned About Yoga

http://articles.latimes.com/1989-12-14/news/mn-601_1_roman-catholics

December 14, 1989, From Times wire services, Los Angeles Times

Vatican City – The Vatican today cautioned Roman Catholics that such Eastern meditation practices as Zen and yoga can “degenerate into a cult of the body” that debases Christian prayer.

“The love of God, the sole object of Christian contemplation, is a reality which cannot be ‘mastered’ by any method or technique,” said a document issued by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

The document, approved by Pope John Paul II and addressed to bishops, said attempts to combine Christian meditation with Eastern techniques were fraught with danger although they can have positive uses.

The 23-page document was believed to be the first effort by the Vatican to respond to the pull of Eastern religious practices.

VATICAN:
Chanting ‘OMMMM’ may cause ‘moral deviations’

http://www.forumgarden.com/forums/eastern-religions/18932-yoga-against-christianity-2.html

by Charles Ridley, United Press International, December 14, 1989

Vatican City – The Vatican, in a letter approved by Pope John Paul II,
warned Christians
Thursday against spiritual dangers deriving from Eastern methods of contemplative meditation used in yoga and Zen Buddhism.
It said the symbolism and body postures in such meditation ”can even become an idol and thus an obstacle to the raising up of the spirit of God.”
It warned that to give ”a symbolic significance typical of the mystical experience” to sensations of well-being from meditation can lead to ”a kind of mental schizophrenia which could also lead to psychic disturbance and, at times, to moral deviations.”
The warnings were contained in a 25-page paper, titled ”Letter to the Bishops of the Catholic Church on Some Aspects of Christian Meditation,” issued by the Vatican Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith with the full approval of the pope. The letter analyzed the history and significance of Christian prayer and stressed the need to stick by its established methods.
”Many Christians today have a keen desire to learn how to experience a deeper and authentic prayer life despite the not inconsiderable difficulties which modern culture places in the way of the need for silence, recollection and meditation,” the document said. ”The interest which in recent years has been awakened also among some Christians by forms of meditation associated with some Eastern religions and their particular methods of prayer is a significant sign of this need for spiritual recollection and a deep contact with the divine mystery,” it said.

But while conceding Eastern methods of contemplative meditation have some benefit for those who practice it, the document warned against attaching too much importance to its symbolism.
”The Eastern masters themselves have noted that not everyone is equally suited to make use of this symbolism, since not everybody is able to pass from the material sign to the spiritual reality that is being sought,” the letter to the bishops said.

”Understood in an inadequate and incorrect way, the symbolism can even become an idol, and thus an obstacle to the raising up of the spirit of God,” it said. ”To live out in one’s prayer the full awareness of one’s body as a symbol is even more difficult: it can degenerate into a cult of the body and can lead surreptitiously to considering all body sensations as spiritual experiences.

ZEN AND YOGA NO SUBSTITUTES FOR PRAYER, VATICAN SAYS

Religion: Meditation as Physical Therapy Is Distinguished from Spiritual Enrichment

http://articles.latimes.com/1989-12-15/news/mn-206_1_christian-meditation

by William D. Montalbano, Times Staff Writer, Los Angeles Times, December 15, 1989
Vatican City – Urging Catholics to distinguish between spiritual form and substance, the Vatican warned Thursday against substituting Eastern methods of meditation such as Zen and yoga for Christian prayer.
In a 7,000-word letter to bishops approved by Pope John Paul II, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith made a firm distinction between meditation as physical or psychic therapy, and spiritual enrichment. “Prayer without faith becomes blind, faith without prayer disintegrates,” Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the head of the congregation, said in presenting a document he said was intended not to condemn the meditative practices of other religions but to reaffirm guidelines for Christian prayer. Ratzinger’s congregation defends doctrinal orthodoxy, and its letter to 3,000 Roman Catholic bishops around the world was apparently written to answer complaints from some of them about the growing popularity of mixing Christian meditation with practices common to Hinduism and Buddhism.

It apparently was the first time that the Vatican has issued a warning on this topic.
The letter declared that “the love of God, the sole object of Christian contemplation, is a reality which cannot be ‘mastered’ by any method or technique.”
Like the Catholic Church, other religions specify how to achieve “union with God in prayer,” the letter noted. “Just as the Catholic Church rejects nothing of what is true and holy in these religions, neither should these ways be rejected out of hand simply because they are not Christian. On the contrary, one can take from them what is useful so long as the Christian conception of prayer, its logic and requirements, are never obscured.”
Some Catholics, the letter noted, believe their prayer is enhanced by techniques borrowed from “various religions and cultures.” It said, though, that such practices “can degenerate into a cult of the body and can lead surreptitiously to considering all bodily sensations as spiritual experiences.”
Attempts to integrate Christian meditation with Eastern techniques that use breath control and prescribed postures like the lotus position can be successful, Ratzinger said, but they are “not free from dangers and errors,” and may boomerang.
“Some physical exercises automatically produce a feeling of quiet and relaxation, pleasing sensations, perhaps even phenomena of light and of warmth, which resemble spiritual well-being. To take such feelings for the authentic consolations of the Holy Spirit would be a totally erroneous way of conceiving the spiritual life. Giving them a symbolic significance typical of the mystical experience, when the moral condition of the person concerned does not correspond to such an experience,” the letter continued, “would represent a kind of mental schizophrenia which could also lead to psychic disturbances and, at times, to moral deviations.“
Some forms of Eastern Christian meditation have “valued psychophysical symbolism, often absent in Western forms of prayer,” the letter noted. “On the other hand, the Eastern masters themselves have also noted that not everyone is equally suited to make use of this symbolism, since not everybody is able to pass from the material sign to the spiritual reality that is being sought. Understood in an inadequate and incorrect way, the symbolism can even become an idol and, thus an obstacle to the raising up of the spirit to God,” the letter asserted.

YOGA-REPORTS

BRAHMA KUMARIS WORLD SPIRITUAL UNIVERSITY

http://ephesians-511.net/docs/BRAHMA_KUMARIS_WORLD_SPIRITUAL_UNIVERSITY.doc

CARDINAL OSWALD GRACIAS ENDORSES YOGA FOR CATHOLICS

http://ephesians-511.net/docs/CARDINAL_OSWALD_GRACIAS_ENDORSES_YOGA_FOR_CATHOLICS.doc

CATHOLIC YOGA HAS ARRIVED

http://ephesians-511.net/docs/CATHOLIC_YOGA_HAS_ARRIVED.doc

CHURCH MOUTHPIECE THE EXAMINER ACCUSED OF PROMOTING HERESY

http://ephesians-511.net/docs/CHURCH_MOUTHPIECE_THE EXAMINER_ACCUSED_OF_PROMOTING_HERESY.doc

DIVINE RETREAT CENTRE ERRORS-05
YOGA PROMOTED

http://ephesians-511.net/docs/DIVINE_RETREAT_CENTRE_ERRORS-05.doc

EXORCISTS WARN AGAINST USE OF YOGA MANTRAS

http://ephesians-511.net/docs/EXORCISTS_WARN_AGAINST_USE_OF_YOGA_MANTRAS.doc

FORMER YOGI REJECTS A CHRISTIAN ALTERNATIVE TO YOGA

http://ephesians-511.net/docs/FORMER_YOGI_REJECTS_A_CHRISTIAN_ALTERNATIVE_TO_YOGA.doc

FR ADRIAN MASCARENHAS-YOGA AT ST PATRICK’S CHURCH BANGALORE 

http://ephesians-511.net/docs/FR_ADRIAN_MASCARENHAS-YOGA_AT_ST_PATRICKS_CHURCH_BANGALORE.doc

FR JOE PEREIRA-KRIPA FOUNDATION-NEW AGE ENDORSED BY THE ARCHDIOCESE OF BOMBAY AND THE CBCI

http://ephesians-511.net/docs/FR_JOE_PEREIRA-KRIPA_FOUNDATION-NEW_AGE_ENDORSED_BY_THE_ARCHDIOCESE_OF_BOMBAY_AND_THE_CBCI.doc

FR JOE PEREIRA-KRIPA FOUNDATION-WORLD COMMUNITY FOR CHRISTIAN MEDITATION

http://ephesians-511.net/docs/FR_JOE_PEREIRA-KRIPA_FOUNDATION-WORLD_COMMUNITY_FOR_CHRISTIAN_MEDITATION.doc

FR JOE PEREIRA-KRIPA FOUNDATION-WORLD COMMUNITY FOR CHRISTIAN MEDITATION-LETTERS TO THE BISHOPS AND THEIR RESPONSES

http://ephesians-511.net/docs/FR_JOE_PEREIRA-KRIPA_FOUNDATION-WORLD_COMMUNITY_FOR_CHRISTIAN_MEDITATION-LETTERS_TO_THE_BISHOPS_AND_THEIR_RESPONSES.doc

FR JOE PEREIRA-PLANS YOGA EVENT SPARKS DEBATE
http://ephesians-511.net/docs/FR_JOE_PEREIRA-PLANS_YOGA_EVENT_SPARKS_DEBATE.doc

http://ephesians-511.net/docs/FR_JOE_PEREIRA_SUPPORTED_BY_HIS_BISHOPS_CONTINUES_TO_MOCK_AT_CATHOLICS.doc

FR JOHN FERREIRA-YOGA, SURYANAMASKAR AT ST. PETER’S COLLEGE, AGRA

http://ephesians-511.net/docs/FR_JOHN_FERREIRA-YOGA_SURYANAMASKAR_AT_ST_PETERS_COLLEGE_AGRA.doc

FR JOHN VALDARIS-NEW AGE CURES FOR CANCER

http://ephesians-511.net/docs/FR_JOHN_VALDARIS-NEW_AGE_CURES_FOR_CANCER.doc

IS BISHOP DABRE FORMER CHAIRMAN DOCTRINAL COMMISSION A PROPONENT OF YOGA

http://ephesians-511.net/docs/IS_BISHOP_DABRE_FORMER_CHAIRMAN_DOCTRINAL_COMMISSION_A_PROPONENT_OF_YOGA.doc

NARENDRA MODI SEEKS TO INTRODUCE YOGA IN UNIVERSITIES

http://ephesians-511.net/docs/NARENDRA_MODI_SEEKS_TO_INTRODUCE_YOGA_IN_UNIVERSITIES.doc

NEW AGE GURUS 01-SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR-THE ‘ART OF LIVING’

http://ephesians-511.net/docs/NEW_AGE_GURUS_01-SRI_SRI_RAVI_SHANKAR-THE_ART_OF_LIVING.doc

PAPAL CANDIDATE OSWALD CARDINAL GRACIAS ENDORSES YOGA
http://ephesians-511.net/docs/PAPAL_CANDIDATE_OSWALD_CARDINAL_GRACIAS_ENDORSES_YOGA.doc

U.S. CATHOLIC MAGAZINE ENDORSES NEW AGE-REIKI, YOGA AND ZEN

http://ephesians-511.net/docs/U_S_CATHOLIC_MAGAZINE_ENDORSES_NEW_AGE-REIKI_YOGA_AND_ZEN.doc

VISHAL JAGRITI MAGAZINE PULLS YOGA SERIES OF FR FRANCIS CLOONEY

http://ephesians-511.net/docs/VISHAL_JAGRITI_MAGAZINE_PULLS_YOGA_SERIES_OF_FR_FRANCIS_CLOONEY.doc

YOGA AND THE BRAHMA KUMARIS AT A CATHOLIC COLLEGE IN THE ARCHDIOCESE OF BOMBAY http://ephesians-511.net/docs/YOGA_AND_THE_BRAHMA_KUMARIS_AT_A_CATHOLIC_COLLEGE_IN_THE_ARCHDIOCESE_OF_BOMBAY.doc

http://ephesians-511.net/docs/YOGA_IN_THE_DIOCESE_OF_MANGALORE.doc

YOGA, SURYANAMASKAR, GAYATRI MANTRA, PRANAYAMA TO BE MADE COMPULSORY IN EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS

http://ephesians-511.net/docs/YOGA_SURYANAMASKAR_GAYATRI_MANTRA_PRANAYAMA_TO_BE_MADE_COMPULSORY_IN_EDUCATIONAL_INSTITUTIONS.doc

YOGA-ARTICLES/COLLATIONS

AYUSH-THE NEW AGE DANGERS OF

http://ephesians-511.net/docs/AYUSH_THE_NEW_AGE_DANGERS_OF.doc

A CATHOLIC ALTERNATIVE TO YOGA-PIETRA FITNESS

http://ephesians-511.net/docs/A_CATHOLIC_ALTERNATIVE_TO_YOGA-PIETRA_FITNESS.doc

AN INDIAN CATHOLIC’S PROBLEMS WITH THE CONDEMNATION OF YOGA ARE ADDRESSED

http://ephesians-511.net/docs/AN_INDIAN_CATHOLICS_PROBLEMS_WITH_THE_CONDEMNATION_OF_YOGA_ARE_ADDRESSED.doc

AUM SHINRIKYO YOGA CULT

http://ephesians-511.net/docs/AUM_SHINRIKYO_YOGA_CULT.doc

AYURVEDA AND YOGA-DR EDWIN A NOYES

http://ephesians-511.net/docs/AYURVEDA_AND_YOGA-DR_EDWIN_A_NOYES.doc

DEATH OF A GURU

http://ephesians-511.net/docs/DEATH_OF_A_GURU.doc

MANTRAS YOGA WCCM CHRISTIAN MEDITATION ETC-EDDIE RUSSELL

http://ephesians-511.net/docs/MANTRAS_YOGA_WCCM_CHRISTIAN_MEDITATION_ETC-EDDIE_RUSSELL.doc

PRANAYAMA

http://ephesians-511.net/docs/PRANAYAMA.doc

REIKI YOGA AND CENTERING PRAYER

http://ephesians-511.net/docs/REIKI_YOGA_AND_CENTERING_PRAYER.doc

TRUTH, LIES AND YOGA-ERROL FERNANDES

http://ephesians-511.net/docs/TRUTH_LIES_AND_YOGA-ERROL_FERNANDES.rtf

WAS JESUS A YOGI? SYNCRETISM AND INTERRELIGIOUS DIALOGUE-ERROL FERNANDES

http://ephesians-511.net/docs/WAS_JESUS_A_YOGI_SYNCRETISM_AND_INTERRELIGIOUS_DIALOGUE-ERROL_FERNANDES.doc

YOGA

http://ephesians-511.net/docs/YOGA.doc

YOGA-02

http://ephesians-511.net/docs/YOGA-02.doc

YOGA AND CHRISTIANITY-ARE THEY COMPATIBLE?

http://ephesians-511.net/docs/YOGA_AND_CHRISTIANITY-ARE_THEY_COMPATIBLE.doc

YOGA AND DELIVERANCE

http://ephesians-511.net/docs/YOGA_AND_DELIVERANCE.doc

YOGA IS SATANIC-EXORCIST FR GABRIELE AMORTH

http://ephesians-511.net/docs/YOGA_IS_SATANIC-EXORCIST_FR_GABRIELE_AMORTH.doc

YOGA-A PATH TO GOD-FR LOUIS HUGHES

http://ephesians-511.net/docs/YOGA-A_PATH_TO_GOD-FR_LOUIS_HUGHES.doc

YOGA-BRO IGNATIUS MARY

http://ephesians-511.net/docs/YOGA-BRO_IGNATIUS_MARY.doc

YOGA-FR EZRA SULLIVAN

http://ephesians-511.net/docs/YOGA-FR_EZRA_SULLIVAN.doc

YOGA-MARTA ALVES

http://ephesians-511.net/docs/YOGA-MARTA_ALVES.doc

YOGA-MIKE SHREVE

http://ephesians-511.net/docs/YOGA-MIKE_SHREVE.doc

YOGA-SUMMARY

http://ephesians-511.net/docs/YOGA-SUMMARY.doc

YOGA-SUSAN BRINKMANN

http://ephesians-511.net/docs/YOGA-SUSAN_BRINKMANN.doc

YOGA-THE DECEPTION-FR CONRAD SALDANHA

http://ephesians-511.net/docs/YOGA-THE_DECEPTION-FR_CONRAD_SALDANHA.doc

YOGA-WHAT DOES THE CATHOLIC CATECHISM SAY ABOUT IT

http://ephesians-511.net/docs/YOGA-WHAT_DOES_THE_CATHOLIC_CATECHISM_SAY_ABOUT_IT.doc

YOGA-WHAT DOES THE CATHOLIC CHURCH SAY ABOUT IT?

http://ephesians-511.net/docs/YOGA-WHAT_DOES_THE_CATHOLIC_CHURCH_SAY_ABOUT_IT.doc

YOGA-DOCUMENTS

LETTER TO THE BISHOPS OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH ON SOME ASPECTS OF CHRISTIAN MEDITATION
CDF/CARDINAL JOSEPH RATZINGER OCTOBER 15, 1989

http://ephesians-511.net/docs/LETTER_TO_THE_BISHOPS_OF_THE_CATHOLIC_CHURCH_ON_SOME_ASPECTS_OF_CHRISTIAN_MEDITATION.doc

JESUS CHRIST THE BEARER OF THE WATER OF LIFE, A CHRISTIAN REFLECTION ON THE NEW AGE COMBINED VATICAN DICASTERIES FEBRUARY 3, 2003

http://ephesians-511.net/docs/JESUS_CHRIST_THE_BEARER_OF_THE_WATER_OF_LIFE_A_CHRISTIAN_REFLECTION_ON_THE_NEW_AGE.doc

YOGA-TESTIMONIES

TESTIMONY OF A FORMER YOGI-01
MIKE SHREVE

http://ephesians-511.net/docs/TESTIMONY_OF_A_FORMER_YOGI-01.doc

TESTIMONY OF A FORMER YOGI-02
TERRY JUSTISON

http://ephesians-511.net/docs/TESTIMONY_OF_A_FORMER_YOGI-02.doc

TESTIMONY OF A FORMER YOGI-03
KENT SULLIVAN

http://ephesians-511.net/docs/TESTIMONY_OF_A_FORMER_YOGI-03.doc

TESTIMONY OF A FORMER YOGI-04
MICHAEL GRAHAM

http://ephesians-511.net/docs/TESTIMONY_OF_A_FORMER_YOGI-04.doc

TESTIMONY OF A FORMER YOGI-05
BRAD SCOTT

http://ephesians-511.net/docs/TESTIMONY_OF_A_FORMER_YOGI-05.doc

TESTIMONY OF A FORMER YOGI-06
JANICE CLEARY

http://ephesians-511.net/docs/TESTIMONY_OF_A_FORMER_YOGI-06.doc

TESTIMONY OF A FORMER YOGI-07
CARL FAFORD

http://ephesians-511.net/docs/TESTIMONY_OF_A_FORMER_YOGI-07.doc

TESTIMONY OF A FORMER YOGI-08
ANONYMOUS

http://ephesians-511.net/docs/TESTIMONY_OF_A_FORMER_YOGI-08.doc

TESTIMONY OF A FORMER YOGI-09
DEBORAH HOLT

http://ephesians-511.net/docs/TESTIMONY_OF_A_FORMER_YOGI-09.doc

TESTIMONY OF A FORMER YOGI-10
DANION VASILE

http://ephesians-511.net/docs/TESTIMONY_OF_A_FORMER_YOGI-10.doc

TESTIMONY OF A FORMER YOGI-11
MICHAEL COUGHLIN

http://ephesians-511.net/docs/TESTIMONY_OF_A_FORMER_YOGI-11.doc

TESTIMONY OF A FORMER YOGI-12
LAURETTE WILLIS

http://ephesians-511.net/docs/TESTIMONY_OF_A_FORMER_YOGI-12.doc

TESTIMONY OF A FORMER YOGI-13
KEITH AGAIN

http://ephesians-511.net/docs/TESTIMONY_OF_A_FORMER_YOGI-13.doc

TESTIMONY OF A FORMER YOGI-14 VIRGO HANDOJO

http://ephesians-511.net/docs/TESTIMONY_OF_A_FORMER_YOGI-14.doc

TESTIMONY OF A FORMER YOGI-15 PURVI

http://ephesians-511.net/docs/TESTIMONY_OF_A_FORMER_YOGI-15.doc

TESTIMONY OF A FORMER YOGI-16
PRISCILLA DE GEORGE

http://ephesians-511.net/docs/TESTIMONY_OF_A_FORMER_YOGI-16.doc

TESTIMONY OF A FORMER YOGI-17
SARAH

http://ephesians-511.net/docs/TESTIMONY_OF_A_FORMER_YOGI-17.doc

TESTIMONY OF A FORMER YOGI-18
BRANDY BORDEN SMITH

http://ephesians-511.net/docs/TESTIMONY_OF_A_FORMER_YOGI-18.doc

TESTIMONY OF A FORMER YOGI-19
CONNIE J. FAIT

http://ephesians-511.net/docs/TESTIMONY_OF_A_FORMER_YOGI-19.doc

TESTIMONY OF A FORMER YOGI-20
LOSANA BOYD

http://ephesians-511.net/docs/TESTIMONY_OF_A_FORMER_YOGI-20.doc

TESTIMONY OF A FORMER YOGI-21
FR. PARESH PARMAR

http://ephesians-511.net/docs/TESTIMONY_OF_A_FORMER_YOGI-21.doc

MANTRAS AND “OM”

CHANTING OF MANTRAS

http://ephesians-511.net/docs/CHANTING_OF_MANTRAS.doc

EXORCISTS WARN AGAINST USE OF YOGA MANTRAS

http://ephesians-511.net/docs/EXORCISTS_WARN_AGAINST_USE_OF_YOGA_MANTRAS.doc

MANTRAS, ‘OM’ OR ‘AUM’ AND THE GAYATRI MANTRA

http://ephesians-511.net/docs/MANTRAS_OM_OR_AUM_AND_THE_GAYATRI_MANTRA.doc

MANTRAS YOGA WCCM CHRISTIAN MEDITATION ETC-EDDIE RUSSELL

http://ephesians-511.net/docs/MANTRAS_YOGA_WCCM_CHRISTIAN_MEDITATION_ETC-EDDIE_RUSSELL.doc

NEW COMMUNITY BIBLE 26-RESPONSES TO REVISED EDITION NOT RECOMMENDED FOR CATHOLICS

http://ephesians-511.net/docs/NEW_COMMUNITY_BIBLE_26-RESPONSES_TO_REVISED_EDITION_NOT_RECOMMENDED_FOR_CATHOLICS.doc

ARATI IN THE LITURGY-INDIAN OR HINDU

http://ephesians-511.net/docs/ARATI_IN_THE_LITURGY-INDIAN_OR_HINDU.doc

Categories: Eastern Meditation, Hinduisation of the Catholic Church in India, new age