By Jennifer Clawson, RYT
Too many people erroneously believe that yoga is a religion. It’s not. Yoga does not require you to believe in or worship a deity. Yoga has no dogma that you must adhere to. You don’t have to believe in a long list of principles. People of all faiths can practice yoga, and yoga will not interfere with their religion. In my experience, yoga has not replaced my Christian faith, but rather, has enhanced and deepened it.
Sometimes, when we don’t understand something, we fear it. Instead of learning more about it, we run from it. It’s easy to denigrate something we don’t immediately identify with. I think that’s been the case with yoga. Yoga has roots in ancient India, a culture that’s very different from our own. Indian religious traditions are unfamiliar to many Americans, and frankly, many Americans make snap judgments about these traditions. Too many in our society find them strange, and have even gone so far as to call them evil. Some people equate chanting with worshipping an idol, another god, or even the devil. In reality, chanting is a form of devotion, called bhakti yoga. Bhakti yoga is filled with sacred sounds. In my opinion, yogic chants are no different than Latin or Gregorian chants.
If you look at Christianity, Judaism, Islam, and Buddhism, they all revolve around love, compassion, and faith. These are universal ideals, and we can believe in them without belonging to a particular religion. We can all recognize goodness in the world when we see it, and it comes from many different sources. Yoga recognizes the universal truths that bind us all.
So, if you’ve thought about yoga, but have shied away because you thought it was a religion, think again. Yoga is for everyone. It is a spiritual practice in that it connects us with something greater than ourselves. For some people, that greater thing is God. Others may call it universal energy, or a connection with spirit. Whatever you call it, it’s a force of love and compassion. Yoga connects us to this source, it brings out our goodness, and it helps us see the goodness in others.
For more on this topic, read Phil Catalfo’s article in Yoga Journal.
July 21st, 2009 → 6:08 pm
[...] me state it clearly: Yoga is not a religion. Yoga is neither Buddhism nor Hinduism. These three traditions do share a cultural connection, [...]