Orthodoxy and yoga. Yoga and Orthodoxy

Writes Tatyana Tanskaya, yoga instructor, Kiev School of Yoga.

I wondered what arguments the priests put forward against yoga. And I addressed this question directly to the church ministers.

“Yoga is a sin,” Father Alexander answered softly. “Orthodoxy and yoga are incompatible. It is as different as for someone who wants to move to the other side of the river, a boat and a stone on the neck. Yoga is a cruel self-deception, not a desire for God, but a desire become God yourself. Beware of this - that’s what I can tell you about yoga.”

“The asceticism of Orthodoxy and the asceticism of yoga are really similar. But this only seems at first glance. In fact, the difference is enormous,” said Father Vincent. “An Orthodox ascetic, performing a feat, strengthens in humility, deepens in the vision of his sins, his shortcomings, begins to cry about his sins. And the yogi, when engaged in his exercises, strengthens himself in pride, exalting himself, believing that such behavior is unacceptable, because the Lord opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”

After interviewing several more priests, I came to the conclusion: no one really knows what yoga is and what its adherents do. And if you have heard anything, we are sure that the goal of yogis is to take the most difficult pose and be very proud of it. And whoever has even read any works gives the following arguments about the sinfulness of yoga: there is no repentance for sins, there is no love for God, yogis are cold and indifferent because they are focused on themselves, their body and psyche, which speaks of the desire to achieve only the personal well-being, they have no love for people, because they are ordered not to communicate with people, not to experience emotions.

One could laugh at these statements if it were not so sad for the desire to denigrate everything that one does not understand, the categorical desire to prove that only your path is the only true and correct one, if it were not so sad for the attempt to answer all the “whys” " just because".

Are they really that different?

I have no theological education and I have not achieved enlightenment in yoga. But I was born and lived my whole life in an Orthodox environment and have been doing yoga for a long time so that I don’t see the existing points of contact. Let's think together.

What is the minimum goal of yoga? Get rid of illnesses so as not to distract the soul from improvement. What is the main method for improving the soul? Dissolve your Ego, remove it from the pedestal of honor, from the foreground, stop considering yourself the center of the Universe. Only by getting rid of the predominance of the Ego can you cleanse yourself of the husks of petty passions, resentments, hatred and contempt and perceive the world with that spontaneity, joy and love that is inherent only in small children.

And what sin in Orthodoxy is the most terrible, the heaviest, the most unforgivable, for which one must repent incessantly and without stopping? No, not murder, not adultery or gluttony at all. The most terrible sin is pride. And oh, how many believers do not know about this. Or they know, but don't realize it. After all, it’s one thing to say in confession “I repent of my pride” and take communion with a pure soul. But it’s another thing to go after that and angrily scold your son for unwashed dishes, not allow your subordinate to go on vacation so that he doesn’t think anything of himself, harshly explain to your wife where her place is in the house, and despise your neighbor for drunkenness.

Pride at every step. Unconscious and that makes it even more terrible. A person blinded by pride will kill, rape and commit all other mortal sins. And he will find an excuse for himself. But, having gotten rid of pride, people merge with God and the light of God’s love illuminates their souls.

Aren't pride and ego the same thing?

Deadly sins in Orthodoxy

There are seven mortal sins in total: pride, greed, envy, anger, adultery, gluttony and despondency.

Greed leads to an increase in worries, internal anger and isolation, and provokes fear of loss and anger at possible competitors and envious people.

Envy or ill will presupposes a belief in the injustice of the order established by God and is contrary to the Christian virtues of generosity and compassion.

A person who gives in to anger, feels hurt or irritated, is in constant danger of committing terrible acts and causing harm to himself and others. The main cause of anger is pride.

Fornication and gluttony are forms of voluptuousness. They cause both bodily suffering and suffering of the soul, since the object of the sensualist’s joy is not true good. The fight against the vice of gluttony involves not so much the volitional suppression of the urge to eat, but rather reflection on its true place in life.

Dejection is a state of pointless dissatisfaction, resentment, hopelessness and disappointment, accompanied by a general loss of strength.

All mortal sins are the other side of pride or ego. And the ego is based on a sense of self-importance, fear of death and a feeling of self-pity. It is clearly seen that the sins of pride, greed, envy and anger are manifestations of a sense of self-worth, and fornication, gluttony and despondency are indulging in one’s weakness, which is regarded as self-pity.

Ten "commandments" of yoga

In the “Yoga Sutras” of Patanjali, ten guidelines are given for a yoga practitioner: five forbidden (yama) and five prescriptive (niyama) - the “don’ts” and “shoulds” of the spiritual path. As Swami Kriyananda writes, their significance is that they prevent the “leakage” of our energy. The first rule of the yama is non-violence, non-harm. As soon as the inclination to oppress others, to offend them in one way or another is driven out of the heart (including by seeking personal gain at their expense), then benevolence appears by itself.

The next “don’t” principle is abstaining from lies. Truthfulness is a natural tendency for us once the desire to distort the truth is overcome.

The third hole is non-covetousness, that is, the absence of self-interest. This applies not only to material things, but also to more subtle ones, such as praise or position.

The fourth yama is self-control (brahmacharya). Usually this attitude is correlated with the practice of sexual abstinence, but it has a broader meaning. Brahmacharya means control of all natural needs, of which sexual desire is the strongest, but not the only one. A huge amount of energy is spent on thoughts or in search of sensual pleasures. Yoga does not raise the question of the rightness or sinfulness of sex, it talks about how and where we should direct our energy.

Fifth pit: non-acceptance. “Non-acceptance” is a natural pair with “non-acquisitiveness.” Non-acquisitiveness means non-attachment to what does not belong to us, and non-acceptance means non-attachment to what we usually consider to be our property. The point is that we don't really own anything. Everything - our bodies, actions and even thoughts - belongs to the Lord.

Niyam or "should" is also five. These are purity, contentment, self-restraint, introspection (self-analysis, self-knowledge) and devotion to the Lord, piety.

By “purity” we mean heartfelt, not bodily purity, although, of course, it includes the latter.

“Contentment” is not complacency, but a state in which one should courageously remain in the face of the most difficult vicissitudes. That is, you need to accept everything that happens as the will of God and be satisfied.

“Self-restraint” is not the carrying out of external austerities, but a state of non-involvement in everything external. You should learn to be the master of your “I want” or “I don’t want” and be able to complete your undertakings.

Introspection (self-analysis, self-knowledge) is seemingly an inward turning, but it is more than introspection. Introspection still keeps the mind attached to the ego, whereas, first of all, it means turning the mind towards God. Introspection allows us to see God in ourselves. There is no need to judge yourself and your qualities, you just need to develop the ability to have an absolutely clear mind and objectivity.

Piety is devotion directed inward rather than outwardly expressed in religious ceremonies and rituals. Piety directs the natural love of the heart from worldly objects to God.

As you can see, mortal sins have very much in common with the principles of yama-niyama. And if you also remember the 10 commandments, in particular, love the Lord God with all your heart; love your neighbor as yourself; Thou shalt not kill; Thou shalt not commit adultery; do not steal; do not create false evidence; do not covet your neighbor’s wife and good, then this relationship becomes even more obvious.

Moreover, I will take the liberty of asserting that not only the general principles of life are similar, but also specific methods. Since ancient times, Orthodoxy has had a spiritual practice, as a result of which a person experiences unity with God. This practice is called hesychasm.

What is hesychasm?

According to one modern Orthodox theologian, if monasticism is the focus of Orthodox spirituality, then hesychasm is the very core of this focus.

The word "hesychasm" comes from the Greek "hesychia" - "peace", "silence". The practice of hesychasm is based on contemplative prayer, the renunciation of thoughts, emotions and images. As a result of practice, deification and ascension to God occurs.

I cannot help but quote here excerpts from A.S. Rigin’s wonderful article “Silence and Light,” dedicated to hesychasm.

“The main method of hesychasm is the repeated repetition of the “Jesus Prayer” (“Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me, a sinner.”) Taking a sitting position and lowering his chin to his chest, the person praying “directs his mind into the heart,” slows down his breathing in order to calm the flow thoughts, and begins to “make a prayer,” connecting its rhythm with breathing, until the prayer becomes “self-propelled,” and it is no longer the person who prays, taking certain actions for this, but the prayer, as it were, flows through him, without requiring any effort. the person praying consistently discards “thoughts” (i.e., thoughts), thus purifying the mind and making it like an empty mirror, in which the gracious touch of the “uncreated light” can be reflected, writes Rigin.

Contemplation of this light, which is called uncreated (that is, uncreated, existing forever) or Tabor (this is the light that the disciples of Jesus Christ saw during his transfiguration on Mount Tabor), is of great importance for the practice of hesychasm. Through this light the ascetic enters into communion with the Incomprehensible God. Filled with this light, he partakes of the divine life, becoming God by grace. This is how theosis occurs - the deification of man.

Further we read from Rigin: “It is believed that “placing the mind in the heart” and slowing down the breath when performing the “Jesus Prayer” is the main technique that goes back to Simeon the New Theologian and Gregory of Sinai. The mind “penetrates the heart” along with the inhaled air, following behind it, an additional technique proposed by St. Nikephoros the Solitary is that inhalation and exhalation are associated with heartbeats, and each word of the prayer is pronounced for one heartbeat. In this case, the first three words of the “Jesus Prayer” are pronounced while inhaling, and the next. three - on exhalation. The rhythm of repeated prayer associated with breathing gradually leads to the fact that thoughts fade away, and the mind calms down and remains in the heart, where, according to Simeon the New Theologian, at first it encounters only “darkness” and seething passions, but then, behind this “darkness” in the depths of the heart, “inexpressible joy” opens.

As he progresses in prayer practice, the ascetic begins to experience a state of ecstasy, however, according to Simeon the New Theologian, ecstasy is only the initial stage, and not the goal of practice, which is to achieve constant, unbroken unity with God, affecting the entire nature of man - the spirit, soul and body.

The doctrine of “bodily centers” is also associated with the practice of hesychasm. It is the "head centre" with which the activities of the mind are connected; “laryngeal center”, in which speech arises, reflecting thought; the “chest center” and, finally, the “heart place” (located in the area of ​​the heart), which is given so much importance in the practice of hesychasm. Below the “place of the heart” is the region of the “womb,” the focus of “base passions” (end of quote).

Isn’t it very reminiscent of techniques inherent not only in yoga, but also in other eastern practices, and “body centers” evoke very clear associations with chakras? But the author very wisely avoided answering this question. “The teaching about bodily centers, as well as practice techniques associated with breathing and repeated repetition of the same words, evoke natural associations with a number of Eastern traditions, however, we do not set ourselves the goal in this article to develop these associations for a number of reasons, the main one of which is the self-sufficiency of any spiritual tradition and the potential ability to explain its ideas while remaining within the boundaries of this tradition itself,” he says.

A little history and philosophy of hesychasm

Reading about the history of hesychasm, it is impossible to escape the thought of the amazing similarity of methods and practices inherent in Orthodoxy and yoga. See for yourself.

Thus, in the writings of Macarius of Egypt (IV century) there is a teaching about “deification” - the touch of the divine principle on a person, transforming soul and body. For ascetics, this was not an abstract idea, but a fact of their inner spiritual life, the reality of their spiritual practice. During unceasing prayer, the mind is freed from passions and illuminated with light. This brings special inner peace to the soul. This is not apathy or indifference, but a deep silence and equanimity of the spirit that refuses statements and manifestations. This state can be compared to the smooth surface of water on a windless day; it fills the soul with joy and bliss. This bliss gives purity of heart and virginity of the soul, that integrity of the soul, which is the goal of the spiritual practice of the ascetic.

The classic of Byzantine mysticism, Symeon the New Theologian (949-1022), is considered the true father of hesychasm. It is he who is credited with the authorship of the treatise “On Three Methods of Concentration and Prayer,” which describes the methods of practice that we talked about earlier - taking a sitting position and bowing his head to his chest, the ascetic deliberately slows down his breathing and begins to say the “Jesus Prayer,” combining it with the rhythm breathing and directing it into the heart until the prayer becomes “self-propelled.”

In the second half of the 13th century, the ideas of Simeon the New Theologian were developed by Nikephoros the Hesychast (Nicephorus the Solitary), an Italian who converted to Orthodoxy and became an Athonite ascetic; the author of the treatise “On sobriety and guarding the heart,” which systematically outlines the technique of spiritual practice of hesychasm.

The main development of hesychasm methods is associated with the name of the abbot of a number of Athonite monasteries, Gregory Sinaite (about 1250 - about 1330). In his work “On Silence and Prayer,” Gregory of Sinaite writes about two stages of monasticism - monastic activity (fasting, asceticism, withdrawal from the world, etc.) and contemplation, which consists of not doing. Contemplation, according to Gregory Sinait, has three stages:

Concentration and “prayer with the mind”;

Grace and spiritual joy, the descent of the “uncreated light”, the acquisition of silence of the mind;

Higher clarity, sobriety (“sobriety of mind”), comprehension of the essence of all things and contemplation of one’s own spiritual essence.

The tradition of hesychasm was most developed in the 14th century by Gregory Palamas.

Gregory Palamas (1296-1359) received a secular education in his youth, in 1315 he became a monk on Mount Athos, where he was for some time abbot of the Esphigmen monastery, and then became a hermit. According to the teachings of Palamas, a person who has achieved perfection in love, having loved God without any selfishness and selfishness, can, through prayer, join the Divine energy, that is, the living and universally operating grace of God and rise to God himself, seeing with his own eyes the Light of His eternal glory (Favorsky light) - to be devoured.

And the ideological opponent of Gregory Palamas, the monk Varlaam the Calabrian, who later became a Catholic, considered the Light seen by Palamas to be ordinary self-hypnosis, and he defined hesychasm itself as a series of semi-magical savage techniques. Varlaam argued that it is impossible to see the Divine light, because it is impossible. The dispute between theologians was resolved in 1351 at the Blachernae Local Council: the criticism of Varlaam was condemned, Palamism was declared the official doctrine of the Byzantine Orthodox Church, and in 1368 Gregory Palamas was canonized.

Palamas gave hesychasm a truly philosophical frame, developing the doctrine of the fundamental difference between the essence of God, which is unmanifested and inaccessible to comprehension, and the self-emitting energies of God, which permeate the whole world, descending to man. This uncreated radiation of God is that uncreated Tabor light. At the same time, Palamas refers to the words of Dionysius the Areopagite about “unapproachable light” and God as “super-light darkness,” again and again asserting the fundamental inaccessibility and transcendence of this light entering the heart of the ascetic, whose “thoughts” have faded away and whose soul is empty and transparent.

The theme of transformation, achieved with the help of light and the descent of grace, is central to the ascetic teaching of Gregory Palamas. He believed that such enlightenment of the spirit, once achieved, should also affect the body. The Spirit gives life to the flesh, transforming it, for “the body is the temple in which all the fullness of God abides bodily.” The path to such transformation is “silent” or “spiritual” prayer, about which Isaac the Syrian wrote that at the first stage prayer consists of words, and at the second stage it no longer has words or form. This is truly silent, spontaneously occurring or “self-propelled” prayer, giving the ascetic deep peace, silence and participation in the uncreated light of divine energies.

Rus' became the successor of Byzantium. The ideas of hesychasm began to penetrate here a long time ago, from the very adoption of Christianity. For example, Anthony - the founder of the Pechersk Monastery in Kyiv - made a pilgrimage to Mount Athos, and lived for some time in the Esphigmen monastery (where Gregory Palamas was later abbot), studying with Athonite hermits.

A follower of hesychasm was Sergius of Radonezh. The best ascetics of the Orthodox world, Seraphim of Sarov, John of Kronstadt, Ambrose of Optina, Ignatius Brianchaninov, thought and felt in much the same way as Palamas, who believed that a person can ascend to God, believed that a person should not come to terms with his own imperfection, but must overcome it.

My goal is not to prove that Orthodoxy uses elements of yoga. This would not be reasonable, nor would it be reasonable to compare the incomparable - yoga and religion. These are two completely different paths. But it seems to me that they run parallel and lead to the same goal. Therefore, methods of self-improvement, spiritual practices, methods of contemplation, getting rid of Ego or pride are similar. Doesn't this indicate their effectiveness?

A relationship with God, in my opinion, is a very intimate matter. Only you have the right to decide which path suits you best. I want to say only one thing: I do not consider myself a believer, because I do not believe, but I KNOW that God exists. And I don’t consider myself a follower of any one church, because I don’t like intermediaries between me and God, who endlessly fight for power, for spheres of influence, for finances, finally.

If the highest goal of religion, in this case Orthodox, is to bring a particle of God’s light into the soul, repentance of sins and the cultivation of boundless love for God in the heart, then I am Orthodox. Because I love God with all my heart and see His presence in everything that is on earth, and I strive to give all creatures - living and nonliving - the joy and light of the Lord's love. Isn't this yoga in the highest sense of the word, which means UNITY?

My friend, who was mentioned at the beginning, goes to the Kyiv School of Yoga. My friend goes to church. Each is a beautiful, bright-hearted person. I see a lot in common in their pursuit of excellence. May God give them strength on their Path.

Is it permissible for a Christian to practice yoga and if not, why not? In this collection the reader will find a reasoned answer to these questions. The authors of the materials are familiar with yoga firsthand - one devoted seven years of his life to it in his youth, and the other, being an Indian woman descended from the Brahman caste, practiced yoga since childhood. The introductory article also provides an overview of the statements of other Orthodox authors.

In the West - in Europe and America - yoga no longer feels like a “guest from the East”; in an adapted and simplified form, it has firmly taken its place in modern popular culture. In recent years, this has affected our country as well. Many yoga centers have appeared, in some it is presented as an ancient spiritual tradition leading to inner perfection, and in others - as a set of physical exercises for healing the body.

Among the visitors to these centers were people who called themselves Orthodox Christians. Many of them consider practicing yoga not to contradict their faith, and react painfully to the words of clergy and theologians who talk about the inadmissibility of practicing yoga for a Christian. The reasons for such a harsh position remain unclear to them.

In order to identify and explain the Orthodox attitude to yoga, this collection was compiled. Since there is a widespread opinion among many apologists of yoga that only people who are not really familiar with it allow themselves to criticize yoga and therefore their judgments cannot be competent, this collection presents the works of such Orthodox authors who are familiar with yoga first-hand.

Archimandrite Sophrony (Sakharov) in his youth devoted more than seven years of his life to yoga, and not just physical exercises, but with deep meditation. Subsequently, he repented of this and believed in Christ, and over time he became a monk on the Holy Mountain, a disciple of the monk. Father Sophrony in practice comprehended the spiritual experience of Orthodoxy, and had everything necessary to competently compare the Orthodox and Indian paths. He did not write a special essay on this topic, but spoke out in various conversations, quotes from which are given in this collection.

Christina Mangala Frost has the right to speak out about yoga to an even greater extent. She herself is an Indian by nationality, she was born into a family belonging to the Brahmin caste, and studied yoga not through third parties in adapted versions, like many modern Russians, but from early childhood and in the original Hindu tradition. In her youth, while studying in Australia, she converted to Protestantism, and later converted to Orthodoxy, in which she has been growing spiritually for more than ten years. Christina holds a PhD in English Literature from the University of Cambridge, is married to Orthodox Christian David Frost, is the mother of four children, and is a parishioner of the Russian Orthodox Church of St. Ephraim the Syrian in Cambridge (Great Britain).

Before moving on to these works, I would like to make a short overview of the opinions about yoga that authoritative Orthodox hierarchs expressed about it.

In May 2009, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus', speaking at the student festival “Faith and Deed,” answered a question about yoga: “Yoga classes have two components, one of them is physical exercise. Physical education specialists can accurately characterize these exercises, and there is nothing wrong with the technique of these exercises.” His Holiness reminded that yoga is not just physical exercise, it is based on a very specific religion and involves corresponding spiritual practices.

“Yoga is accompanied by meditation, and I approach this with great caution,” noted His Holiness. He emphasized, in particular, that when using this kind of practice, a person’s national self-awareness and cultural identity can be destroyed and warned against experiments with meditation. As an example, the Patriarch shared his impressions of communicating in India with Russian people who were seriously interested in Hindu spiritual practices.

The Primate of another Local Orthodox Church, Archbishop Anastasios (Yiannoulatos) of Albania, once wrote an entire article entitled “Yoga”. In it he writes:

“Many yoga exercises have a small positive effect on certain people, at least as much as other exercises have. But, generally speaking, these exercises are part of the structure of Hinduism and are stages of a broader and more general spiritual ascent. Their ultimate goal is something more than just good physical well-being... After all, the kneeling of our prayer tradition is not simple body movements, but is associated with deeper processes and expresses a certain mood and state of the soul striving for spiritual goals; in the same way, more complex yoga exercises are associated with Hindu beliefs and Indian spiritual, religious experience.”

Having listed the eight steps-stages of the traditional path of yoga, aimed at the final goal - “liberation”, Bishop Anastasy notes that “Although in the first stages some elements of consciousness are preserved, in the last the yogi comes to overcome even self-consciousness. They do not perceive colors, smells, sounds, feelings, or are aware of themselves or anyone else. Their spirits are “free,” as initiates say, from memory and oblivion. This is considered knowledge, enlightenment. This technique is aimed at connecting with the Absolute. For her, the central truths of Christianity about Christ the Savior, grace, selfless love, and the Life-giving Cross have no meaning.”

The Archbishop then speaks critically of the attempts of some Greeks to cleanse yoga of everything Indian and make it “Christian.” On this occasion, Vladyka Anastassy notes that if this were really possible, at best it would be some kind of method “for a person to achieve deep silence, to get rid of the internal turmoil produced by our desires, interests and fantasies,” however, “there is no need to look for such a method , because it would lead to the opposite results: absolute autonomy of the human spirit and extreme confusion. According to the Christian faith, spiritual life with its completion is a gift of God's grace, and not the achievement of an independent human-centric technique. In addition, for us, Orthodox Christians, there is the hesychast experience of Eastern Christianity, where, under certain religious conditions, one can achieve a holy spiritual life in Christ, peace and “hesychia” in love.”

Archbishop Anastasius also draws attention to the fact that in Greece, many centers where yoga is studied deliberately hide its religious origin and roots, thereby misleading people who do not have sufficient training in religious studies.

Orthodox religious scholar priest Mikhail Plotnikov, who devoted many years to studying the religious traditions of India, in one of his interviews recalls that “yoga is a monastic practice that implies first the renunciation of unnatural desires (that is, sinful, vicious desires), then - from natural desires (marriage, wealth, etc.), then - from all desires in general. For example, classical Hindu Raja Yoga, codified in Patanjali's Yoga Sutras, has eight limbs. Going through the first steps, the yogi, with the help of asceticism and special exercises, gains control over his physical and “subtle” bodies. At the highest levels, he achieves control over the psyche and comprehends the art of concentrated contemplation (meditation). In this case, you should practically not drink or eat, sleep and breathe little, be indifferent to praise and insults, feel nothing, stop the flow of your thoughts, fully concentrate on a certain point, enter a state of trance. And then light should enter your inner emptiness and silence, which is perceived by the yogi as the light of his own “divinity”...

Yogis believe that after stopping all mental processes and achieving samadhi, that is, a state of concentration without content, the seeds of karma are “burned out” and this guarantees against a new rebirth and allows you to free yourself from the body forever at any moment... This is exactly the real ascetic yoga in Russia Few people practice here... all sorts of gurus and owners of yoga centers in Russia actually practice New Age yoga, in which there is practically no asceticism, and only occasionally practice temporary solitude, meditation, reading mantras, which are needed to free oneself from thoughts and concentrate. The goal of such yoga is some kind of calm, entering a blissful state and nothing more.”

Further, Father Mikhail specifically dwells on exposing some myths about yoga, spread by its Western adherents: “I have more than once heard or read statements from Russian yoga adherents that, they say, Indian yogis live happily ever after, and do not suffer from serious chronic diseases, they are not weighed down by stress and unresolved problems. This is a lie, a myth... The general medical examination that took place in India (for the first and last time) in the 1980s showed that yogis, of whom there are several million, live on average even less than the average resident of India and suffer, Moreover, there are a lot of diseases. For example, cataracts of the eyes, because they constantly concentrate on the sun, dislocations of joints, arthritis and arthrosis due to often being in unnatural positions for a long time. Yogis suffer from a bunch of diseases of the upper respiratory tract and gastrointestinal tract, because every day they do enemas, clean the nasopharynx with tourniquets, which over time practically destroys the mucous membrane in the intestines and nasal cavity... Despite the fact that all of them, with the exception of married Shaivites take a vow of celibacy, the vast majority of yogis turned out to be sick with chronic venereal diseases. Those same yogis who do not want to succumb to lustful passion very often castrate themselves in savage ways...”

Father Mikhail makes the following conclusion: “Speaking about the spiritual danger from practicing yoga, we can briefly say this: if you do real Hindu or Buddhist yoga, you will fall into self-delusion - you will consider yourself a “god,” and if you do New Age yoga, you will also fall into delusion ... There are no serious spiritual consequences from practicing fitness yoga, however, as a rule, fitness is practiced by people who do not live any spiritual life at all... In my opinion, it is more correct to say that any fitness, not only with elements of yoga, itself in itself is not beneficial for the soul. People who care too much about their appearance and health thereby indicate that they do not live a spiritual life."

It is also worth citing the opinion of Hieromonk Seraphim (Rose), who in his youth, before accepting Orthodoxy, also spent a lot of time engaged in Eastern meditative practices: “Almost twenty years ago, the French Benedictine monk Deschane wrote about his experience of transforming yoga into a “Christian” teaching... Anyone who understands the nature of delusion, or spiritual delusion, will recognize in this description of “Christian yoga” the exact characteristics of those who have gone astray spiritually... The same desire for “holy and divine feelings”, the same openness and readiness to be “admired” by some spirit, the same search not for God, but for “spiritual consolations”, the same self-intoxication, which is mistakenly taken for a “state of grace”, the same incredible ease with which a person becomes a “contemplator” or a “mystic”, the same “mystical revelations” and pseudo-spiritual states. These are the general characteristic signs of those who have fallen into precisely this state of spiritual error...”

In conclusion, I would like to quote a recording of the conversation made by Metropolitan Hierotheos (Vlahos) - at his request, one of the Athonite elders briefly outlined the main differences between the Orthodox Jesus Prayer and the Indian type of yoga and meditation:

“First, prayer strongly expresses faith in God, who created the world, governs it, and loves it. He is a tender Father who cares about the salvation of His creation. Salvation is accomplished in God, so in prayer we ask Him: “Have mercy on me.” Self-salvation and self-deification, in which Adam’s sin, the sin of the fall, consisted, is far removed from the practitioner of mental prayer... Salvation is accomplished not “in oneself and through oneself,” as human teachings claim, but in God.

Secondly, in prayer we do not seek to meet a faceless God. We do not set a goal to rise to “absolute nothingness.” Ours focuses on the personal God—the God-man Jesus. Hence the prayer: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God”... We love Christ and keep His commandments. We strive to implement them. He said: “If you love Me, keep My commandments”(). By loving Christ and keeping His commandments, we unite with the Most Holy Trinity.

Thirdly, with intelligent, unceasing prayer we do not fall into a state of pride. The teachings you spoke to me about earlier are rife with pride. Our prayer acquires a blissful state of humility. “Have mercy on me,” we say and consider ourselves worse than everyone else. We do not exalt ourselves above any brother. Any pride is alien to the practitioner of prayer. He who has it is mad.

Fourthly, as already noted, salvation is not an abstract state, but unity with the Trinitarian God in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ. But this unity does not eliminate the human factor. We do not assimilate, because each of us is a special individual...

Archimandrite Sophrony (Sakharov)

“Meditation brought me peace from being distracted by the worries of earthly life, gave me hours of intellectual pleasure, lifted me into imaginary spiritual spheres, placed me above the environment around me. Philosophically, I could not think of the Absolute Beginning as personal. The reason for this was partly my adherence to the general error of the circles in which I moved: the confusion of the concept of person with the concept of individual, whereas philosophically they are diametrically opposed. As a child, I was taught to pray to the Immortal Heavenly Father, to Whom all my grandfathers and great-grandfathers went. Then, in a child’s faith (cf. ; ), Persona and Eternity were easily combined. So, from infancy, the Christian personalism I perceived at some point became the most significant question: Can Being, absolute, be personal? My sincere “Eastern” experience had, rather, an intellectual form, divorced from the heart: an asceticism of mental detachment from everything relative. Gradually I became convinced that I was on the wrong path: I was moving away from true real Being into non-being.”

“Upon my new discovery of Christ, my “Eastern” experience, which lasted approximately seven or eight years, appeared to my spirit as the most terrible crime against the love of God, Whom my soul had known from early childhood.”

“The most unacceptable thing is mixing it [the Jesus Prayer] with yoga, with Buddhism and even “transcendental meditation” and the like. The radical difference between all these deviations and Christianity is that the basis of our life is the Revelation of a personal God: I AM. All other paths divert the human mind from the personal relationship between God and the worshiper into the realm of the abstract transpersonal Absolute, into impersonal asceticism. Meditation, as a distraction of our mind from all images, can give us a feeling of calm, peace, an outcome from the conditions of time and space, but it lacks a conscious presence of a personal God; there is no real prayer in it, that is, face to face. This can lead to the fact that someone who is keen on meditation will be satisfied with the mental results of such experiments and, worst of all, the perception of the Living God, the Personal Absolute, will become alien to him.”

“In this striving for the universal, transcendental, superpersonal, man, as a living personality, must disappear. In parallel with this, in the East, the human mind sought fusion with absolute Being, transcending everything that is characteristic of the world of transitory phenomena. A gap was created between what really exists and the abstract contemplation of the human mind... In all these cases, we are faced with the stratification of the whole person, ending in his complete destruction.”

“The path of our fathers requires strong faith and long-suffering, while our contemporaries are trying to seize all spiritual gifts, including even the direct contemplation of the Absolute God, by pressure in a short time. Often among them there is a tendency to draw a parallel between prayer in the Name of Jesus and yoga, or “transcendental meditation,” and the like. I believe it is necessary to point out the danger of such a misconception - the danger of looking at prayer as the simplest and easiest “technical” means leading to direct unity with God. I consider it necessary to categorically emphasize the radical difference between the Jesus Prayer and all other ascetic theories.

All those who strive to mentally detach themselves from everything transitory and relative are mistaken, in order to thus step over some invisible threshold, to realize their originlessness, their “identity” with the Source of all things; to return to Him, the nameless transpersonal Absolute; in order to dissolve one’s personality in the ocean of the supermental, mixing this latter with the individualized form of natural existence. Ascetic efforts of this kind gave some the opportunity to rise to the metalogical contemplation of existence, to experience a certain mystical awe, to experience the state of silence of the mind when this latter goes beyond the limits of time and space dimensions. In such experiences, a person can feel the peace of the constantly changing phenomena of the visible world; Unleash your freedom of spirit and contemplate intelligent beauty. The ultimate development of this impersonalistic asceticism of many led to the recognition of the divine principle in the very nature of man, to the tendency to self-deification that lies at the basis of the great Fall; to see in oneself a certain “absoluteness”, which in essence is nothing more than a reflection of God’s Absoluteness in what is created in the image; experience a desire to return to that state of peace in which a person supposedly was before his appearance in this world; in any case, after the experience of seduction, this type of mental aberration can be born in the mind.

In this case, I do not set myself the goal of listing all the variations of mental intuitions, but I will say from my own experience that the True, Living God, i.e., the One Who is “Existing,” is NOT in all of this. This is the natural genius of the human spirit in its sublimated movements towards the Absolute. All contemplations achieved on this path are self-contemplation, not God-contemplation. In these positions we discover for ourselves beauty that is still created, and not the First Being. And in all this there is no salvation for man."

Christina Mangala Frost

Yoga and Christian Faith

I was born into an Indian family, became a Christian at age 22, and have been an Orthodox Christian for ten years. I was brought up in the spirit of yoga. My grandfather was a friend of one of the founders of modern yoga, Swami Sivananda, who usually sent his books on yoga along with a sweet, herbal, vitamin-rich brew that we really liked. As a child, my parents were encouraged to do certain poses and breathing exercises, always with a clear warning that there were different ways of breathing for men and women because their bodies were different shapes.

When I got married and had children, I taught them some things that I found helpful and took from my childhood yoga lessons, such as doing certain poses and benefiting from those exercises. My children were raised Christian and were in no danger of being misled by Hindu esoteric spiritual ideas such as “self-realization” that often accompany modern yoga. During a trip to India, they encountered similar ideas in the ashram, but quickly rejected them as part of the idolatrous, cultic atmosphere that reigned in this ashram.

I present all of this primarily to emphasize that yoga is more than just an exercise, and that we need the gift of insight in our introduction to yoga now more than ever. We need to have a clear understanding of what we are dealing with.

Yoga was once regarded with reverence in India as a mysterious branch of Hindu spiritual discipline that required great physical and psychological courage. She was approached by seekers seeking to reach the heights of the Indian concept of spiritual perfection. Such a seeker had to adhere to a rigorous regimen of physical and mental activities under the strict guidance of a revered master, the guru. The ultimate goal of yoga was nothing less than to experience the divine within oneself.

Since the nineteenth century, thanks in large part to the tireless propaganda efforts of Indian missionary gurus such as Swami Vivekananda, yoga has been stripped of its mysticism and complexity. Outwardly, this has been expressed in the form of American schools of self-help and positive thinking and is presented to the masses as a safe and easy path to bliss, accessible to everyone. The word "Yoga" is now well known in both the East and the West; A very popular program of regular exercise is studied and practiced by large numbers of people in school halls and sports fields. While some yoga teachers promote it as a simple technique for promoting physical well-being, others advocate that it is a universal answer to life's basic questions. Some yoga teachers and students downplay the Indian ethos in which the spiritual language of yoga is enshrined; others readily embrace that ethos, especially those who find the Orthodox faith, its rituals and demands tedious. Many Christians practice yoga without paying attention to its spiritual baggage, while others feel somewhat uneasy about it and are often disapproved of by their priests and bishops.

A typical case in the Anglican Church

The Times newspaper published an article on August 31, 2007, which caused a lot of noise. “Priests ban non-Christian yoga for kids,” the headline read, and it continued: “A children's group holding yoga classes in two church premises has been banned. The group was dispersed by priests who described Yoga as fraudulent and unchristian." The view presented in the article seemed to suggest that the priests behaved as irrational and overzealous alarmists. The article also revealed that yoga teacher Ms. Woodcock was “outraged” by their ban on her “Yum Yum Yoga for Babies and Their Moms.” She claims to have explained to the church that her “yoga is completely non-religious.” She was, however, forced to admit that “some types of adult yoga are based on Hindu and Buddhist meditations.”

By using the word “exercise” rather than “meditation,” the teacher draws our attention to the two main types of yoga common today: modern physical yoga and modern meditative yoga. Recognizing that meditative yoga often delves into spiritual realms and has goals that are incompatible with Christianity, Ms. Woodcock strives to keep the “exercise” without the “meditation.” Can such a refusal make yoga “safe”?

The priests disagree: “The philosophy of yoga cannot be separated from its practice, and any yoga teacher (even for children) must share the point of view of this philosophy. Yoga may seem harmless or even beneficial, but in this way people may begin to think that there is a way to achieve wholeness of body and soul through human methods, when the only true path to wholeness is through faith in God, through Jesus Christ.”

Any reliance solely on the “human method” to achieve wholeness apart from faith in Jesus Christ is certainly condemned by clergy – including Anglican and Baptist clergy.

But at the same time, there are those among the laity who wonder whether it is possible to consider yoga methods as a means of “tuning” our body and soul so that we begin to better perceive God’s grace? Before attempting to answer these questions, I need to briefly introduce the types of yoga that can be found today and the Hindu-Buddhist ethos of which they are an integral part.

What is yoga

1 . Hollywood Yoga, as the name suggests, is aimed at achieving visual attractiveness, good physical shape and longevity.

2 . Harvard Yoga focuses on mental clarity, concentration and peace of mind.

3 . Himalayan Yoga does not fit into the framework of the previous two and is aimed at achieving a special state known as samadhi (absorption).

4 . Cult Yoga places charismatic gurus at the center of attention. It is believed that enlightenment comes with just one touch from the guru to the disciple, who worships him or her as God.

Pure Indian techniques state that one must follow the directions of the original Sanskrit text, the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. The Indian tradition assumes an “eight-fold” yoga, for which physical exercise is a relatively minor part of the program, and the main emphasis is on mental and moral purification and the use of psychic powers for self-improvement. The “Eight Steps” are:

1 . "five restrictions" (yama),

2 . "five disciplines" (niyama),

3 . “physical exercise” (asana),

4 . “expansion of vital energy” (pranayama),

5 . "inner focus" (pratyahara),

6 . "concentration" (dharana),

7 . "meditation" (dhyana),

8 . “absorption” (samadhi).

The passage of the first two “steps” is aimed at developing such moral qualities as truthfulness, selflessness and non-violence. Some Indian yoga teachers regret that the third stage, "physical exercises", is now widely taught without any reference to moral improvement. They insist that the balance achieved by the practice of postures is what primarily sets the yogi on a path whose ultimate spiritual goal is a state of constant bliss known as samadhi, or “absorption.”

Immersion in what? There are many answers to this question - it all depends on what you believe.

If you are a Hindu who believes that there is no difference between his essence (atman) and the Supreme essence (Brahman), "absorption" means achieving the experience of inseparable oneness with Brahman. Such a Hindu sees the ultimate spiritual reality as the Faceless One and strongly asserts that faith in the Faceless One is superior to any faith in a Personal God.

If you are a theistic Hindu who develops a personal loving relationship with your god or goddess and seeks liberation by the grace of the deity, then "absorption" means drowning yourself in that particular god.

If you are a Buddhist and do not believe in God the Creator (as the Dalai Lama often repeats), “absorption” means the onset of nirvana, “extinction,” the final disappearance of oneself.

Although Patanjali's ambitious spiritual yoga program has evolved into fitness exercises in Western yoga manuals, it is still found in slightly modified form even in the West.

At the heart of all traditional approaches to yoga is the point of view of the philosophical system known as Samkhya. According to it, our ordinary psychosomatic “I” is a by-product of physical processes, and with the help of training a person is purified, like an onion, reaching the center where “pure consciousness” is located. This is how one yoga teacher explained it: “one day a person realizes that he, in essence, is pure consciousness, different and separate from psychophysical processes, from his false ideas.”

However, the assertion that a systematic severance of contact with the outside world creates unity in a person seems very dubious. On the contrary, as R. D. Lake showed in his “Divided Self,” the beginning of a radical withdrawal from external reality may well lead to schizophrenia. Not only does a person, according to yoga, embark on a journey into himself risk becoming mentally ill, but such a goal also raises a number of serious problems for a Christian. Jesus calls us to seek within the Kingdom of God, not “pure consciousness.” Even in the Christian monastic tradition, which recommends withdrawal from the world, from the objects of sensory experience, the monk is in search of the “inner kingdom.” In this “inner kingdom” is the Divine Holy Trinity, our Lord. We know Christ and communicate with Him in the Holy Spirit, and by the power of the same Spirit we call God “Our Father.” “Pure consciousness” is only a distant echo of what the Christian state of the “Kingdom of God” is.

Influential Indian missionaries like Vivekananda and his followers pioneered certain yoga techniques to promote pop mysticism, based on the concept of "self-realization" which became the catchword of yoga. The path to “self-realization” through yoga is presented as a universal appeal, free of dogma and strictly secular. However, a careful study of Vivekananda's writings reveals a strong bias towards one particular Indian tradition, from which Vivekananda removed the subtle metaphysics of Indian non-dualism (advaita) and what remained was championed in the market with all the fervor. Random quotations from his works illustrate his reckless syncretism and sweeping, often ridiculous claims of what he did for the method of "self-realization".

“Everything is I. Say this continually.” “Go to your room and get the Upanishads from Yourself. You are the greatest book that ever existed or ever will be, the endless repository of all that is." "I am the essence of bliss." “Don’t follow the ideal, you contain them all within yourself.” “Christs and Buddhas are simply cases in which your inner powers are personified. In reality, we are the ones answering our own prayers.” “We can call it Buddha, Jesus, Krishna, Jehovah, Allah, Agni, but it is only Me.” “The universe is a thought, and the Vedas are the words of this thought. We can create and destroy, recreate the whole universe."

When Vivekananda realized that he needed more than rambling philosophical talk about his brand of “self-realization,” he wrote a work on Raja Yoga, which is a practical guide for those seeking so-called “self-realization.”

Incompatibility of yoga and Christianity

There are many reasons why the spiritual foundations of modern yoga are incompatible with Christianity, the main one being the excessive emphasis on self. Egocentrism from a Christian point of view is the root of evil. It represents the fall of man, his deviation from God towards erroneous, rebellious dependence on himself. This is a break in communication with God that ends in sin and...

Yoga is a technique aimed at healing the human body and nourishing the spirit. Yogis who have been practicing it for decades are confident that thanks to it it is possible to prevent the development of diseases and get rid of existing ones.

People, including Orthodox and churchgoers, are more often attracted by the external side of yoga. They like to perform asanas, relax, practice cold baths, cleansing procedures, and learn to breathe correctly. As a result, internal systems work harmoniously, digestion, potency, memory, and mood improve. Many people believe that it is enough to arm themselves with practical exercises, but ignore the worldview on which yoga is based.

But Hindu gymnastics is not just a set of exercises. It contains elements of directions associated with the so-called transcendental meditation and mystical Taoism. Some of them have points of contact with Tibetan Buddhism and its ideology.

From the point of view of Orthodoxy, yoga is a set of techniques with the help of which every person can control the physiological and psychological processes occurring in him. It also includes methods that help achieve a certain state of mind. Any physical training becomes, first of all, rituals, as well as occult meditations, which allow one to become imbued with Eastern philosophy. And the asanas that a person learns in the process of practicing identify him with animals, and sometimes even with objects. By taking certain poses, a person influences the sexual centers in the body, awakening the energy of sex.

Orthodoxy is of the opinion that it is impossible to separate faith, morality and the performance of external rituals from physical exercise. In yoga, even the simplest movements incorporate a sign system through which certain information is transmitted to the body and soul. With the help of such psychotechnical techniques, people achieve expansion of consciousness and the revelation of divinity within them. This is contrary to the Christian faith, which is why spiritual mentors tend to prohibit their students from practicing yoga.

Many people think that the values ​​in Buddhism and Christianity are the same: overcoming worldly passions, avoiding sins, love for living things and sacrifice. But a person who preaches Buddhism must renounce attachments and desires, which also implies a renunciation of Christ. The difference is that Buddhists strive to achieve a state where they are not attached to anything, and the soul is pure and unfulfilled. Christianity perceives sacrifice, help and joy only through the prism of love living in the soul. The attitude of the Orthodox Church towards yoga is ambiguous, but more often it is negative.

Yoga and Christian Faith

The peculiarity of yoga is that performing exercises, or asanas, as well as breathing exercises prepare the body for the experiences of the soul. The purpose of the technique is not to tighten or make the body more flexible. She has a religious-ascetic basis. Experienced yogis reach the point where they are in control of all mental states and can freely focus their minds on anything. Then they are freed from the corporeal shell and leave the circle of reincarnation.

Christian teaching implies the opposite. When the soul connects with the divine principle, a person reveals all his talents and best traits. There is no need to get rid of personal qualities or lose yourself. A Christian should not try to eliminate joy, love and other feelings from his heart, because only with their presence does life become truly fulfilling.

We must not forget about the meditative techniques used in yoga. During meditation, a person strives to focus his thoughts on one idea. There is a complete detachment from objects of the external world, and a certain state of mind is achieved. The meditator seems to be communicating with himself, immersing himself in the inner world, and practicing self-hypnosis.

The prayers accepted in Orthodoxy are directed not inward, but outward - towards God. This is a conversation with God. The source of strength, inspiration, and spiritual perfection in these two cases is completely opposite: in Buddhism it is the human soul, in Christianity it is God.

Being, from the point of view of religion, a religious-mystical practice, meditation forces a person to be outside of Christ. Developing his abilities, a person begins to think that the conductor of higher powers, light and revelations is himself, the owner of a higher mission. This is the reason why the church world does not accept yoga.

It is wrong to say that yoga does not allow you to achieve significant results. With its help, you can achieve internal balance, a state of peace, regardless of external circumstances, and put your nervous system in order. Each exercise allows you to develop some ability. But the position of Christianity is such that the soul cannot be forcibly calmed down; it must constantly “sick.” Only then will the soul be freed from sins through confession.

Churched Orthodox people are convinced that in order to maintain vigor and strength of spirit, one can resort to ordinary physical education. Gymnastics is a great way to stay in shape. They are afraid of the problems that arise from those who adhere too zealously to the rules of yoga. Thus, clearing the nasopharynx and intestines will eventually lead to damage to the mucous membranes, and due to an incorrectly designed program, dislocations, arthritis and arthrosis can occur.

Is it possible for Orthodox Christians to practice yoga?

Nowadays, maintaining a healthy lifestyle is turning into a real cult. Yoga is spreading everywhere, coming primarily to large cities. But, becoming its adherent, Orthodox Christians must remember that this is not a sport, but a branch of the religious tradition of the East.

The purpose of this practice is to teach people to control not only the body, but also the psyche. This is done to achieve a higher state of mind and body. You cannot do yoga just to develop your body. When attending training, each person must be aware that he accepts the spiritual goals of yoga and the entire system of Buddhist spiritual views. On this occasion, there is a wise statement by Hieromonk Seraphim, even when doing yoga solely to maintain the health of the body, a person unconsciously prepares himself for a change in spiritual guidelines and new spiritual experiences.

The Church does not recommend that Orthodox people resort to this practice. She explains: yoga considers any spiritual experience positive, including those that occur during meditation. Orthodox people must learn to distinguish between spirits, and also understand that the surge of energy and warmth during prayer in any part of the body located below the level of the heart is dangerous and should be rejected. And yoga classes involve working out various chakras and centers in the human body, filling them with warmth and energy flows.

Yoga and Orthodoxy are incompatible concepts, especially for those who do not accept superficiality and strive to immerse themselves in what they do and believe in. Therefore, each person must independently make his own choice of spiritual guidelines.

Thinking of yoga as just an exercise movement is the same as “saying baptism is just an underwater exercise.”

Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers, for what fellowship has righteousness with iniquity? What does light have in common with darkness? What agreement is there between Christ and Belial? Or what is the complicity of the faithful with the infidel? What is the relationship between the temple of God and idols?
(2 Cor. 6:14–16)

THE HIDDEN FLAME: AN ORTHODOX VIEW ON YOGA

I am a Catholic by birth. I loved to pray. Walks in the forest, games on the river, wanderings through the vast expanses of imagination. All this was a form of prayer for me: silence, peace, almost hesychia, so natural for a child. I was not constantly in this state of prayer. But I recognized him. This experience was given to me for free, simply as an action in my heart.
We all – to varying degrees – experience this. Some names are given to this - or not given at all, because all the words seem so inappropriate to express the movement of the heart towards God. When we are innocent at heart, especially in early youth, there is an experience of two in this experience. Loving and Beloved. Somebody else. As a child, I could not clearly identify this Presence of Christ, just as I never called my parents by name. I just knew them.

When I was in high school—my grandparents sent me to an all-boys Catholic school—I wanted to become a Trappist monk. I attended services regularly and read the Bible often. Scripture is truly like a door. You can walk through it and the Holy Spirit will take you to different places without ever leaving your soles off the ground. But I knew there was something more. That there is a difference between reading about events and experiencing an encounter with Him.

Dr. Harry Bouzalis writes in Sacred Tradition: “We are called not simply to “follow” the Tradition or “imitate” the Tradition. We are called to experience it... as the saints did and continue to do now.” We know that something is missing in the world around us. A certain wealth, a certain depth that we intuitively know about and strive for. This, of course, is the wealth of God's love, light and grace. But at that time in my life, I didn't have the words to express it. Like many, I associated this dissatisfaction, this anxiety with other things.

In high school, a psychology professor introduced us to self-hypnosis. And soon my affair with meditation began. I relaxed. I threw caution to the wind for a new experience. I felt as if the back door of my soul was constantly open. I rejected God “to be on my own.” I experienced - very clearly - how the light went out inside me. The Presence, the Someone, the Friend respected my decision. It felt like He had quietly left. He respects free will. He never imposes Himself. He knocks on the door of the heart and waits.
I started meditating regularly. At first, as a teenager, it was very difficult for me to sit for hours with old Tibetan monks, completely motionless, turning all my thoughts to the bare wall and the bronze statue of Buddha in front of me. I delved into the teachings of reincarnation, karma and samsara. I did not know then that Tibetan Buddhism comes from the shamanic religion of Bon and that it includes astrology, witchcraft and other occult practices.

I wanted to know how to overcome anxiety and depression, how to collect my scattered thoughts. Visiting Buddhist meditation halls and Hindu ashrams, I was intrigued by the “spiritual fireworks”: ecstasy, trance, feelings and visions. All this is associated with various levels of meditation and yoga and multiplies with practice. These and other experiences are sometimes given by siddhis or powers accumulated through sadhana (the practice of meditation and yoga). The affair grew into infatuation, infatuation became a habit. And I didn’t notice how my initial “harmless” interest in yoga and meditation had solidified into an attachment. I plunged into this spiritual abyss for more than ten years.

And all these years I asked different questions. For example, what do Catholic priests and monks know about whether the early Christians believed in the pre-existence of souls and reincarnation? They replied that they knew nothing about it. And in addition they asked: what is this anyway? Immersing myself more and more in the sources and concepts of Eastern religions, passionately wanting to penetrate the bardo - the intermediate dimension between the spiritual and material worlds - I began to study the “Tibetan Book of the Dead”.

I studied all the mystical and esoteric literature that came into my hands, always carried a volume of the Bhagavad Gita in my back pocket and read the works of Paramahansa Yogananda. I immersed myself in reading Osho, Ram Dass and Ramana Maharshi, convinced that there was no being more divine than myself.
But my illusory self was destroyed by myself. According to many books I had read and what I had heard, there could not be a personal relationship with the Divine, and this created conflicts in my soul. The peace and quiet of childhood is gone. The deeper I went into meditation and yoga, the more often sudden, unexpected thoughts came that brought me pain. My soul was amazed. It was a very dark and sad period of my life.

In search of peace, I took the bodhisattva vow and joined a contemplative and peaceful Buddhist monastic order, trying to somehow gain a foothold somewhere. After an initial period of relative peace, audacity, even recklessness, and restless spiritual movements appeared. It was something like spiritual alcoholism. But I didn’t suspect it then.

The prodigal son ate the food of pigs in a distant land. But he returned home when he remembered the taste of bread in the Father's house. For more than ten years I lived in this distant country and ate its food.

I have seen so many people, both friends and strangers, seeking to dissolve themselves. They had an insatiable desire to lose themselves, but not in the life and light of God, but in the darkness of emptiness, separating themselves from the Love that surpasses everything. This department is hell. Many men, women and children seek this hell, rolling through promiscuous relationships and jumping out of drug windows through which so many have fallen.

I studied and practiced kundalini yoga and shamanism, learned the presence of fear and cold. I have gained a reputation as a tarot card reader. I have taught yoga and been an instructor in guided meditation and chanting groups in deep deserts. We experimented with astral projection, a guided out-of-body experience through the bardo described in Tibetan books. I carried with me everywhere not only the Bhagavad Gita, but also the Upanishads and Buddhist sutras.
All these activities took me further and further away from the holy mountain of Christ. Drop by drop, the stone wears away. With my forehead smeared with orange paste, I rang the bell, bringing fruit and lighting a fire in worship of Krishna, wandering barefoot through the streets of Eugene, Seattle, Portland, and then Rishikesh, Haridwar and Dharamsala in northern India.

Archimandrite Zacharias in his book “The Hidden Man of the Heart” writes:

“Separated from God, the Source of life, a person can only withdraw into himself... Gradually he becomes empty and corrupted.”

In Buddhism, God, soul, personality is an illusion that must be overcome, discarded, destroyed. Buddhism rejects individuality, soul and personality. Folds his hands in silence against God. Suffering is not transformed there. In Buddhism there are crosses, but resurrection is not possible. One could say that Buddhism finds the empty tomb and declares its emptiness as the natural state of things, even the purpose of existence. In Buddhism, everything: heaven, hell, God, the individual, the soul, the personality - is an illusion that must be overcome, discarded, destroyed. That's the goal. Complete destruction. A 9th century saying expresses the essence of Buddhism as follows: “If you see Buddha, kill him.”

Buddhism does not claim, and is not capable of, healing the soul and body. Soul and body must be overcome and abandoned. In the Orthodox Church, on the contrary, the soul and body receive healing. Buddhism teaches that nothing has intrinsic value.
The Church teaches that everything created by God has intrinsic value. Including the human body. We are complex beings. The actions of our body, mind and soul are coordinated. And these coordinated actions directly depend on our communication with God and the spiritual sphere.

For Orthodox Christians, everything - even suffering - is a secret door through which we meet Christ and through this we embrace each other.

One autumn day I came to Rishikesh in India. This city is named after the pagan god Vishnu - “the god of feelings.” Rishikesh is the “Yoga Capital of the World”. It is generally accepted that this is the place where yoga originates. For 40 days I studied and practiced the so-called “secret path” of integral yoga in the foothills of the Himalayas. It included not only gymnastics, as in America, - each lesson began and ended with a prayer to the “god of the roaring storm” Shiva.

At that time, I was teaching English to Tibetan refugees and working for the Tibetan Government in Exile as an editor. Yoga has historical roots in Hinduism. Interestingly, while talking to a Rinpoche at the Dalai Lama's monastery in Dharamsala, I asked who or what these Hindu gods are according to Buddhist cosmology.
His answer was chilling: “They are created entities with an ego... They are spirits held in the air.”

What is yoga? What is kundalini energy?

Awakening kundalini energy

The literal meaning of the word “yoga” is “ties, connection.” This means binding one's will to the kundalini serpent. and raising her to Shiva by knowing your “true” essence. IN All directions of yoga are interconnected, like the branches of a tree. Trees with roots descending to the same areas of the spiritual world. This is reflected in the ancient books of Bhagavad Gita and Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. I learned that the ultimate goal of yoga is to awaken the kundalini energy coiled at the base of the spine in the form of a serpent, and this will lead to a state that allows one to realize Tat Tvam Asi.

Of course, yoga can initiate unusual states of mind and body. But the same thing can be achieved with the help of psychotropic drugs and tasteless, invisible poisons. Through yoga one gradually becomes familiar with shakti, whom yogis refer to as the “divine mother,” the “dark goddess,” associated with other major Hindu deities. This energy is not from the Holy Spirit, and it is not just aerobics or gymnastics. Attached to this entire system are bhayans and kirtans - the pagan equivalents of Orthodox Christian akathists, and to the Hindu gods - also mantras, which are “sacred” formulas, like telephone cards or telephone numbers of various pagan gurus and gods.

How is yoga related to Hinduism?

To be honest, Hinduism is not a single religion. This is the term used by the British to describe various cults, schools of thought and shamanic religions in India. If you ask a Hindu if he believes in God, he will probably say that you yourself are a god. But ask another and he will point out a rock, or a statue, or a flame of fire. This is the Hindu polarity: either you yourself are God, or everything around you is God.

Yoga comes under the umbrella of Hinduism and for many reasons is the tip of that umbrella. It functions as a missionary arm of Hinduism and the New Age outside India. Hinduism is like a nesting doll: you discover one philosophy and it contains ten thousand others.

And undiscovered ones carry risks. You can swim easily and carefree in unknown waters. But if you don't know about the tides and the characteristics of the area, you can get into trouble. You could be carried away by an undercurrent. You can get hurt on invisible rocks, or catch an unknown infection, or get poisoned.

This happens in spiritual life too.

When we dive in the ocean, we may be attracted to bright, colorful or interesting fish, but the most colorful and exotic are the most poisonous and deadly.

When I first came to India, I took off my shoes and socks and walked through spilled water, coconuts, scattered sweets and the twinkling lights of the Kalkaji Temple. This is one of the most famous temples dedicated to Kali - the “goddess of death”. I didn’t know that I was in the middle of a crowd celebrating its most important holiday. The temple was in chaos and tensions reached a dark climax.

Thousands of men, women and children gathered in that Rishikesh temple to worship this demon. The woman next to me had her eyes rolled back in her head, her arms moving back and forth, her tongue hanging out of her mouth, her legs jerking up and down like a puppet. It was obvious demonic possession.

One day I venerated the Sitka Icon of the Mother of God and experienced indescribable warmth, tears of humility and love, clarity of mind and peace. It was as if I had walked past a window full of warm, fragrant sunlight. At Kalkaji Temple I experienced the opposite.

Kali is often depicted as a fearsome, blue-skinned, many-armed goddess standing on top of human heads with a bloody tongue hanging from her mouth. She is wearing a necklace made of human heads and a belt made of hands.

I had coffee with people who were active in the yoga, Hinduism and New Age movements in America, who ate the meat of corpses from Nepalese cemeteries to initiate into the cult of this goddess. Not long ago, the popular British newspaper The Guardian wrote that a child was sacrificed in honor of the demon Kali. All this is typical of Hinduism.
And this is all connected with yoga, because Yoga poses are not neutral. All classical asanas have a spiritual meaning. For example, as one journalist writes, the Sun Salutation—perhaps the most famous sequence of asanas, or poses, of Hatha Yoga, especially popular and widespread in America—is actually a Hindu ritual.

“Sun salutations have never been a tradition of Hatha Yoga,– writes Subhas Rampersaud Tiwari, professor of philosophy of yoga and meditation at the American Hindu University in Orlando, Florida. – This is a full circle of ritual veneration of the sun, gratitude for the source of energy.”

Thinking of yoga as just a physical exercise movement is tantamount to “saying that baptism is just an underwater exercise,” writes Swami Param, a spokesman for the Academy of Classical Hindu Yoga and Dharma Yoga Ashram in Manahawkin, New Jersey. .

It is Goddess Kali who seeks to unite practitioners through shakti with Shiva through yoga. In her temple, near New Delhi, I saw a disgusting self-explanatory idol: a stone with strange beaded eyes and a beak, covered with a yellowish, nasty and lumpy edible substance.

In Hinduism, idols are "awakened". They are dressed. They are fed. They sing to them. And then they are put to bed. I have taken part in these ceremonies hundreds of times.

The Yoga Journal has over 5 million subscribers and is the best-selling yoga magazine in the world. It is significant what the Yoga Journal wrote when, proving the superiority of yoga as psychotherapy, it speaks of the Hindu philosophy hidden behind the practices of yoga:

“In the yoga perspective, all human beings are “born divine,” and each person has at his core a soul (atman) that eternally resides in the unchanging, infinite, all-pervading reality (brahman). In Patanjali's classic formulation of this view...we are already what we strive for. We are the deity in hidden form. We are already, in essence, perfect, and our potential is ready at any moment to awaken to this truth, with an awakened consciousness and an enlightened nature.”

Yoga teachers and students usually greet each other with the Sanskrit word “namaste”, which means: “I honor the divine in you.” This is an affirmation of pantheism and a betrayal of the true God revealed in the Bible. Sun salutation, or surya namaskara, comes from the veneration of the Hindu solar deity Surya.

In church hagiography and iconography, we honor saints - real people who lived righteously before God, who have joined and continue to join His light and love - and ask for their intercession.

As Father Mikhail Pomazansky writes:

“Idols are images of false gods, and their worship is the worship of demons or imaginary creatures that do not exist; and thus, in essence, it is the worship of lifeless objects.”

I have seen swamis in America - those who transmit this demonic kundalini energy simply by looking into a person's eyes. And if he is open to it, his body can shake and vibrate like a wind-up iron toy.

And when the time came for me to accept this damned energy through Shaktipat, incredible fear gripped me like icy, electrified water, and I raised my shield and sword: I began to say the Jesus Prayer. God bless! This eerie presence was reflected in the name of Jesus. We must remember that, as the Apostle Paul writes:

“Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in high places” (Eph. 6:12).

With this prayer, as with a shield and sword, I swam back to Christ. I came from a distant country. I took a step towards my Father's House.

Yoga and Orthodoxy

Yoga is a psychosomatic practice, the interaction between mind, body and spirit(s). We must remember that the word "yoga" means "yoke" - a wooden cross placed on the neck of animals and attached to a plow. Remember what the Apostle Paul warns us:

“Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers, for what fellowship has righteousness with iniquity? What does light have in common with darkness?

Yoga does not belong to Scripture and is not part of the Sacred Tradition of our Church. Everything we need is found through the Orthodox Church. So what do we want from yoga?

It is important to know that in yoga, as in many mystical schools, strange lights may appear to practitioners, but most likely they are from demons or created fires in the consciousness, because "Satan himself disguises himself as an angel of light"(2 Cor. 11:14).
Many have encountered and followed the “spiritual fireworks” of the so-called “new” century. Of course, this is not the Uncreated Light that Moses and the disciples saw on Mount Tabor. This is not the Divine Light that defended St. Gregory Palamas in the 14th century from Western scholastics. Direct knowledge of God is possible, as is direct experience of His knowledge, but knowledge and experience of evil are also certainly available. We have free will to choose who and what we seek. This, of course, requires prudence and testing, where the presentation of what has been tested before an experienced confessor is a necessary condition. Without a doubt, heartfelt participation in the Sacraments of the Church is necessary. It is better for us to look at the mysteries in our hearts than to be entertained by the imagination of our minds.

Popular forms of gymnastic yoga are dangerous and can cause harm to the practitioner.

It is also necessary to say a few words about the statement that popular forms of gymnastic yoga do not pose harm or danger to the practitioner. Those who hold this opinion are either not sufficiently informed or deliberately ignore many of the warnings found in Eastern yoga manuals regarding Hatha Yoga for practitioners. Is the instructor aware of these warnings and can ensure that the student will not be harmed?

In his book The Seven Schools of Yoga, Ernest Wood prefaces his description of Hatha Yoga with these words:
“I must give a stern warning to some hatha yoga practitioners. Many people got incurable diseases and even went crazy because they did yoga exercises without bringing their soul and body into proper condition. Books on yoga are full of such warnings... For example, the Geranda Samhita declares that if one begins to practice in hot, cold or rainy weather, it will lead to illness; also if there is no moderation in food and the stomach is more than half full of heavy food... “Hatha Yoga Pradipika” says that breathing control must be established gradually, “like lions, elephants and tigers are tamed,” otherwise “the experimenter will be killed”; and with any mistakes, cough, asthma, headaches, pain in the eyes and ears and many other diseases arise.”
Wood concludes his warnings about postures and breathing with: “I must make it clear that I do not recommend these exercises because I believe that hatha yoga is very dangerous.”

If an Orthodox Christian wants to exercise physically, then he can swim, run, walk or do gymnastic exercises, he can do aerobics, fitness. These are safe alternatives to yoga. We can also bow to the ground before God. The Church does not want to make us unhealthy or unhappy. We must trust the instructions of the Mother Church and follow them to the extent that we can and as the grace of God allows. You cannot try to improve the life of the body at the expense of the soul.

You should also not trust your own opinion. There must be leadership.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding” (Prov. 3:5).

As Orthodox Christians, we know that the actions of our body, such as bowing, prostrating, and making the sign of the cross, have an impact on the state of our soul before the True God. Why should we try to copy bodily actions that for many centuries were directly associated with the service of demons? Such actions have serious consequences for the soul and body that belong to Christ.

“Let us be wise as serpents and innocent as doves” (Matthew 10:16).

Notes:

Reincarnation– in Eastern religions, the doctrine of the re-incarnation of the soul after the death of the body into another being; reincarnation. Karma - in Buddhism, Hinduism and other religions of the East, a set of actions committed by a person and their consequences, which determines the fate and nature of his new birth, reincarnation. Samsara (or samsara), “wandering, wandering” - the cycle of birth, life and death.

Rinpoche– recognized as a reborn and advanced teacher in Buddhism.

Kundalini means “coiled in a ring”, “coiled in the shape of a snake.” In yoga and esotericism - the idea of ​​energy concentrated at the base of the spine; There are various methods and practices whose goal is to “awaken the snake” by raising energy up the spine. The presence of the "awakened" kundalini energy, also called shakti, should lead to union with Shiva, the ancestor and god of yoga.

"That You Are"- one of the “great sayings” of the Upanishads. It was pronounced by the teacher Uddalaka Aruni while teaching his son Shvetaketu. They hint at the identity of the innermost essence of man with the “last foundation of the external world,” Atman and Brahman.

Shaktipat(Sanskrit) - the transfer of power, the spiritual energy of kundalini from the teacher, in whom it is already active, to the student. Element of the rite of passage in Tantrism. Transmission can occur through a glance, touch, mental message, pronouncing a mantra, through things (fruit, flower, letter), on the phone or TV.

Dr. Christine Mangala was raised in India and grew up a devout Hindu. Her family was closely acquainted with one of the most influential Hindu gurus and teachers. Now an Orthodox Christian writer and educator, she is interviewed by Illuminated Heart host Kevin Allen about whether various aspects of Hindu yoga are compatible with Christian faith and life or should be avoided.

Leading: Welcome to Illuminated Heart on Ancient Faith Radio. As many of you know, on our program we often talk about the influence of Eastern non-Christian spiritual ideas, metaphysics and worldviews on our culture. This is the spiritual environment from which I myself came, the environment that continues to interest me and, I hope, some of you too.

Recently, in my ward in southern California, there has been a group of people asking questions about various Eastern traditions, especially Hinduism. Therefore, I hope that our conversation today on the topic “Yoga and Orthodoxy - are they compatible?” will shed light on these questions. In addition to these issues, many Christians are known to also practice yoga asanas, body poses that have practically become the so-called “mainstream” trend in North America and Europe. Even some forms of meditation influenced by Hinduism are practiced. Thus, the question of the compatibility of yoga (in its various meditative forms and especially body postures) with Orthodox Christianity is the question that we will try to consider in today’s program.

My guest, with whom I am very, very happy to talk, is a Hindu woman who comes from a caste brahmins, the highest priestly caste in India. She was raised in the yoga tradition. Her grandfather was, in fact, a close friend of one of the expositors of modern yoga and Vedanta philosophy, the famous Swami Sivananda, founder of the Divine Life Society. But my guest, Dr. Christine Mangala, became a Christian at age 22 and then converted to Orthodoxy. She received her PhD in English Literature from the University of Cambridge and is the author of articles on literary theory and fiction. Christine herself has written several fiction books, as well as books on various spiritual topics, including yoga and Christianity. She is married to Dr. David Frost, director of the Institute of Orthodox Christian Studies in Cambridge (England) - a wonderful institution, by the way. They have four children. Christine attends St Ephrem's Russian Orthodox Church in Cambridge.

Her excellent article "Yoga and Christian Faith" was the impetus for this program, and today I have a guest from Cambridge on the phone with us.

– Dr. Christine Mangala, welcome to Illuminated Heart on Ancient Faith Radio. It’s great to hear you as a guest of our program.

Dr. Mangala: Thank you very much, Kevin. It is a great honor and pleasure for me to be on this program.

Leading: Thanks a lot. The fact that you are our guest is very good: I am looking forward to our conversation. Let's start with the very first question, Christine. When talking about yoga, not in its modern and popularized context, but in the classical context - in which you were probably taught yoga - is yoga in its native Indian tradition understood as a spiritual practice, or is it presented as a form of relaxation and exercise? or is it both true?

Dr. Mangala: Yes, I must say that yoga in its classical sense is a diverse discipline. At the core of everything is a spiritual goal and therefore it would be most fair to say that in a classical context one must understand yoga as a spiritual practice. But since the work of the reformers of the late 19th century or even the beginning of the 20th century, the relaxation aspect of yoga has also come to dominate. However, Indian yoga teachers, starting from Sivananda, always never tired of repeating that the spiritual goal is the main goal of yoga, and postures and exercises and other things are only auxiliary. If you revere teachers, then the likes of Ashok Kumar Malhotra and even the most popular yoga writer B.K.S. Iyengar emphasizes this.

Leading: Okay, and the question that I'm trying to get at, and that we'll be constantly addressing throughout our program: is it possible to somehow separate certain forms of yoga from their spiritual context? And that's why I'd like to start with this. Nowadays, most people in the UK, Europe and North America are most familiar with the yoga of body postures called hatha yoga. But this is just one of several classical forms of yoga. Could you briefly describe for our listeners all, that is, five, as far as I know, classical forms of yoga - the spiritual disciplines of Hinduism.

Dr. Mangala: You only mentioned five. It’s like with the sacraments in the West: some say there are seven, and some say there are countless, etc. In fact, if you look at the Bhagavad Gita, then every chapter is entitled “Yoga of something or that.” -that”, which is a little confusing, but we'll stick to these five. These are, firstly, karma yoga, in which you work to develop detachment and achieve a state of dispassion. In the Bhagavad Gita there is a wonderful phrase about “labour without labor” and “labour without labor”, the paradox is how to implement it in our daily life - this is karma yoga. Secondly, jnana yoga is the yoga of true knowledge, true discrimination, it is an exercise of the intellect in various forms: in distinguishing truth from falsehood, ignorance from enlightenment, etc. Thirdly, bhakti yoga (which, in fact, , is one of the most popular forms of yoga in India and is widely practiced so to speak) - it simply involves devotion and love for a chosen deity or God in general. Then there is Raja Yoga, which is a much more advanced form of mental and psychosomatic control. Finally, hatha yoga, which is very popular in the West, is aimed at gaining athletic shape, tuning the body, if you like, that is, it works with poses.

Leading: Thanks for the review, I think it's a great review. So, Christine, in the context of classical yoga in which we are discussing, how do poses, asanas, and hatha yoga relate to other forms of yoga? I mean, are they a spiritual element of one degree, or a lower form, or a prelude to other forms? Tell me, is it possible to achieve liberation in the Hindu sense solely through the use of yogic postures or asanas, etc.?

Dr. Mangala: I would say that in classical yoga you can look at it two ways. Seen from the point of view of gradual ascension, this may be a little misleading. If you look at it more broadly, it is like spokes in a wheel: there are different aspects, and the idea is to get to the center. And the poses are practiced along with all the other things, so you're actually practicing multiple aspects of yoga at the same time. This is a diverse discipline. Of course, in ancient times there was no talk of achieving liberation, that is, spiritual liberation, through the practice of postures in themselves. Such an idea would not have even occurred to the ancient posture rishis, because they were fully aware of the full range of psychosomatic problems that had to be overcome in any spiritual path.

And even when a yogi simply sits under a tree and impresses people with his postures or lies on nails, he is often seen as a spectacle, as an object of ridicule. Even now there are people who do this in pilgrimage centers - I call these places “rural bazaars” as a kind of spectacle. And this was certainly not encouraged: simply focusing on the physical aspects of postures in the expectation that somehow an arbitrary spiritual state would be achieved often leads into nooks and crannies. In this case, some psychic feats become possible, but not necessarily spiritual liberation. This is recognized by Indian yoga teachers in its classical sense.

Leading: Speaking of yoga and practicing it in an organic sense, what is the ultimate goal of yoga? How is this goal defined by Patanjali in his classical yoga sutras and other works like these?

Dr. Mangala: Patanjali speaks of yoga as the “eight-pointed” Ashtanga: eight-pointed poses, eight-pointed discipline. And in fact, the poses that are practiced, asanas, come third on the list. It all actually starts with moral and psychological preparation, with five restrictions: you must control your feelings. And the five disciplines are the other side of this: you have to be trained to do the right things, and then you have the third stage - body postures. And then you move on to the regulation of the vital force and the cessation of the participation of the senses (Pratyahara), and then to concentration and meditation, and finally you have what is called the word “samadhi” - absorption. Now, as a rule, samadhi or absorption is seen as the ultimate goal.

However, a tricky question arises here: in What exactly are you being absorbed? And I'm afraid there are different answers to this question given by different schools of Indian/Hindu tradition. Some will say that this is the absorption of some faceless Brahmana(Brahman), and it is there that the individual becomes identical with the universal; and others will say that this is absorption into the transpersonal, the divine; and, of course, if you are a follower of the Buddhist tradition, you will not have any question about any deity at all: after all, according to the original Buddhist teachings, you “ enter Nirvana"(Nirvana), as if "suffocating the soul." Absorption or samadhi is the key word described by yogi Patanjali in his yoga sutras.

Leading: So, it would be fair to say that if we adhere to the classical understanding of yogic disciplines, then their ultimate goal is samadhi. Therefore, I think we need to flesh out this goal somewhat, talk about it in a little more detail. Samadhi is often described in terms of sakshiananda, “pure consciousness”, “bliss”, etc. How can they be compared, and are they comparable in principle, with our views within Christianity about the Kingdom of God and similar concepts?

Dr. Mangala: Well, the concept of sakshyananda covers in its own way truth, knowledge and bliss - it is a tripartite description of such ultimate experience. In my opinion it sounds wonderful, but this concept is static, it is also an abstract concept. Now, when Jesus talks about the spiritual goal of human beings such as the Kingdom of God, then this, for me, is an unusually rich, exciting, dynamic, inspiring vision. Because His concept is not only internal, but also external; it is not only individual, but also communal: it involves other human beings. And, moreover, the Kingdom of God that Jesus speaks of embraces not only humanity, but the entire Creation. Not only we humans are destined to be transformed, but also Creation along with us. And moreover, this is not a static goal, because it is rooted in the Christian concept of God, who is the Life-Giving Trinity, sung in our liturgies, which means it is a very dynamic, active force of love and relationships.

That is why it is an unprecedented concept, an incredible creed, and also, for me, it is even more magnificent because it does not end; it is not a goal that you will achieve and that’s it, it lasts. It is a continuous transformation “from glory to glory,” in the words of the Apostle Paul. I can go on and on about this, but my verbosity will probably be unnecessary. But there is one very important reminder about the Kingdom of God, with which I would like to summarize: the Kingdom of God is achievable only through the Crucifixion of the Lord, only by following Christ. Which means through suffering on an equal basis with Him.

This is another thing that struck me as a Hindu, a Hindu convert from Hinduism. One of the reasons I became a Christian was that I found Hindu answers to questions about evil and suffering to be extremely insufficient and even pathetic: it is not very good to simply reduce the problem to “karma” or “past life” " Whereas, by accepting suffering with all our hearts and conquering it with love and faith, we heal not only our wounded soul, but also the entire wounded world. And at the same time, this is exactly what the Kingdom of God is. So all of this is to suggest that the Christian idea of ​​the Kingdom of God is very far removed from what I would call - I guess, yeah, I'll offend people if I say it, but I'll say it anyway - what I would call a "do it" set. himself" ideas of samadhi. Also, the idea of ​​samadhi inevitably becomes ego-oriented. Even if people talk about “community work” and the like, ultimately samadhi pushes the whole world for them, pushes other people and Creation into the background.

Leading: How do you think? You know, I've always been confused by this idea of ​​samadhi, especially in the context of bhakti yoga, which I practice and which, as you noted earlier, is devotion to a personified deity. And this is what is causing me confusion - perhaps you could shed some light on this. We are now talking about people like the Vaishnaites who worship Krishna, and in my case it was Ramakrishna, but there are others who worship the Holy Mother (Sarada Devi?) and Kali, etc, etc. My question is, Kristin: is samadhi always a loss of self? Of course, in Christianity our identity as God is key. Is it always or not always a loss of self, or is it “blowing oneself out,” as the Buddhists might say?

Dr. Mangala: I think that the concept of “self”, which is spoken of in the Hindu tradition, does not coincide with the Christian understanding of the human person. The whole of human anthropology is understood differently, and this creates many problems. So, when you look into the Bhagavad-gita, you see a classic example of how the human being is considered as a kind of soul residing in a body. The separation of body and soul is extremely strong, so that only the soul matters; the body is simply a collection of various elements. A very similar idea is present in other Hindu schools of philosophy, even in Buddhism, but Buddhism goes even further by destroying the very concept of personality. Therefore, when you ask: “What exactly is absorbed into itself?”, most Hindus will mention any illusory sense of “self”. In other words, there is no sense of the significance of a separately created human person from which to build.

Now why do I find Christianity so liberating? The fact is that in Christian theology we have a clear idea and a convincing idea: God is love, and God is God the Creator and Lover of Man. These two things are immensely significant when you think about who human beings are, because since humans are created in the image and likeness of God, they also have these personal qualities. And this is incredibly important when you talk about the Kingdom of God or “deification” ( theosis) and other related concepts. For human beings are inherently valuable, since they are created in the image and likeness of God. On the other hand, I do not find a parallel concept anywhere in the Hindu way of thinking. So samadhi is naturally a delusion, because there are different ways of defining a human being, but basically you will notice in them a hidden Gnostic tendency: the soul is significant, but the body is not.

Leading: I have talked to some people in our country who are part of the Hare Krishna movement. There are people who, thank God, began to come to our church with their questions. And they argue that it is not being spoken of absorption into an impersonal deity, but of eternal life as a unique being in a "disposition" ( approx. translator: in the original - “loca”, presumably a corruption of “location” - location) with Krishna, with their deity. So I was confused whether we are talking about losing oneself in all cases or only in some of the Vedanta schools.

Dr. Mangala: One of the problems with so many expressions of Hinduism today is that it has become quite difficult to keep track of the cross-currents that are taking place. You would find a lot of adopted Christian terminology, which I call "liquefying leaven" - meaning that a large part of Christian thinking and Christian terminology and concepts were absorbed into Hinduism and spat out back, like Hinduism itself - to the West. And this idea of ​​“living in disposition” is just a wonderful fantasy. Several years ago I met a Hare Krishna follower on the street, and he was trying to sell me the Bhagavad Gita. I felt sympathy for him and said, “Okay, I'll buy a copy” - you see, I was working on translations of the Bhagavad-Gita at that time and I told him, “You know, all you dream of is poetic fantasy. In reality there is Jesus Christ who actually came as a human being. God actually came at one historical moment in time, He came to us to offer everything that you dream of.” This is the place where, for me, the Hare Krishna movement is located.

Leading: Christine, you did a great job putting him in his place! After all, when I myself meditated in the ashram at one time, already having my experience of Christ, I came to the conclusion that my aspirations, visual images and thoughts that the guru taught me were actually poetic fantasies. They represented my wanting something or not wanting something happening inside of me - I think you know what I mean. So you gave a good, very good description. Would you like to add anything to it?

Dr. Mangala: I was going to say as an addition that, as you know, there is a word “visions” used by the Church Fathers and other theologians who write in their commentaries that there are certain views and images that we expect, and Christ is a reality. And as soon as you gain reality, visions are no longer needed. The point is that there are many visions depicted in other religions. Some of them, at best, encourage people to look in the right direction, but at worst, they can be demonic - that's the difference. No one can say for sure, and you will need spiritual insight to figure out which is which. In fact, the visions can be so intense that you may even hallucinate the images. Agehananda Bharati, the Austrian converted to monk in Hare Krishna, spoke of how he "saw" his goddess in reality, and he had a very clear idea of ​​what happened and how it happened to him.

Leading: Yes, of course, Ramakrishna constantly appeared in visions of Kali, and so on, and so on - and this took on some forms that were very frightening to me. Christine, you wrote in your article on yoga and Christianity that the key problem is that yoga encourages people to think that there is a way to achieve wholeness of body and mind through the use of human methods, i.e. yoga, without grace and faith in salvation through Jesus Christ. But there is a kind of paradox here that I would like to throw at you. We Orthodox, as you probably know, are sometimes accused, especially by evangelical Protestants, of our increased attention to deification and synergy with God. And these are accusations of the same kind that you make of yoga: accusations of spiritual efforts, work on righteousness. Help us understand how to differentiate between yoga as a false spiritual effort, so to speak, and deification and synergy as appropriate and effective spiritual efforts?

Dr. Mangala: I’ll admit right away: I really love the Orthodox concept of synergy. This concept is the most beautiful and inspiring way to recognize human freedom. Orthodox writers emphasize synergy because they recognize it as part of the fact that we are created in the image and likeness of God, as the freedom we have. God was not stingy: he gave us this freedom. And the idea of ​​effort can easily be misinterpreted. This is not a case where we can pull ourselves up by our own strength, but rather a case where we use God-given energy and direct our physical, mental and spiritual strength towards God, towards Christ through the Spirit.

Let me give you an example. And this will not be a brilliant example, but a rough one. Let's say someone is rushing at full speed, striving and eager to get somewhere. And at the same time, he does not know exactly where he is going, and perhaps he is even on the wrong road, maybe the GPS navigator is letting him down. But as soon as he realizes that he will not get anywhere, he must turn back.

So, this is what happens to most of us: we, in our fallen state, find ourselves deceived by our sins and passions, confused by the “follies of this age.” And first we seek to find comfort in all kinds of things that the world offers - in what the Bible calls the words “the world” or “the flesh.” But when we realize that all this does not work, we literally turn back, that is, we repent. And then, as soon as this turning back - this redirection of our energies to the right human goal, which is to seek God, worship and glorify Him - occurs in all its sincerity, we are filled with the Holy Spirit. In other words, God's power begins to flow into us. This is why I love the word “synergy” because it recognizes two aspects of spiritual life. So when we pray, when we struggle, it is the Holy Spirit praying through us. This is my response to the reproaches hurled by evangelical Protestants about so-called “synergy,” which is a kind of effort.

I will give you another of my favorite examples, taken from the life of St. Ephraim the Syrian, the patron saint of our parish. This example perfectly allegorically tells us what kind of effort we should make. St. Ephraim sees the human personality as a “harp of the Spirit,” as a beautiful musical instrument. To play the music of the Holy Spirit well, we must be pure: the harp must be clean and well tuned, and its strings must be neither too tight nor too loose. That is, our spiritual effort, asceticism - everything that is recommended by the Orthodox Church and the Orthodox tradition of fasting, almsgiving, repentance, thanksgiving, prayer - all these are the means to achieve such an attunement. That is, in my opinion, synergy is the redirection of forces coming from God in such a way that they can flow into us and change us. I hope I have addressed some of the criticisms.

It's the same with deification, which is a bold and a little scary word for some people - they feel it implies too much. But that's not all, because if you look in the Bible, what does it say? We are commanded by God, we are told: “Be holy, because I am holy.” How can we ignore this command? After all, He will not at all ask us to do this on our own, far from it - He pulls, “pushes” us, if you like. This is not a military order, but a command of love. God manifests His will. He is a great lover of humanity. We tirelessly sing “Lover of Mankind” at all our services, meaning that “God is a Lover of Mankind,” He is ready to share His life with us, and He seeks us first. The parable of the Prodigal Son is a classic example of how He seeks us out first. When we are still far away, He is already hastening to us.

And then, all this is very difficult to grasp with modern perception, because people have not yet even begun to think about God as love. They are still trapped in the outdated ideas of God as the punisher, God as the collector of sins, and God as the law - and all these false gods need to be gotten rid of first. When you read the Bible and pray, you discover a God of love - that's where you should start. However, what happens when love is offered? Many people these days, just as they did in the past and still do, say, “No, thank you. I am self-sufficient." But the moment you push back by saying no, you close the door: God does not intend to force Himself. So, I like to think of deification as being transformed by God's love. The wider we open the windows - and this is what I mean by our efforts - the more streams of God's light penetrates inside. And we must remember that this is not a static light, this is the dynamic light of the Trinity - the light that we allow to penetrate, illuminate and change us. This is what deification is, in my limited understanding.

And in this life we ​​are given the opportunity to gain insight into the lives of the saints who have shown us throughout the centuries that this kind of change is possible, that one can become “light-permeable” to God in this life, right in this life and even more so in life to come.

Dr. Mangala: I think so, because of the natural meaning that sacraments, the mysterious and mystical dimensions of life have for Hindus. And in Orthodox Christianity, one might say, they will feel at home. I remember traveling through India with my family and husband, we went to Haridwar in the north and attended an evening lantern ceremony there. You know, hundreds and hundreds of people lit lanterns, said prayers at certain times, letting them swim down the Ganges River, the mother of all living things, the giver of life, and so on. And I couldn’t help thinking how easily this could be turned into a Christian prayer of thanks, and the Orthodox would be able to perform it, because, you know, we perceive everything in some mystical, sacred way, which is naturally combined with culture, in which Indians grew up with.

Leading: Hinduism is so material in its essence, even with the duality of soul and body, it has so many material aspects. And, of course, in Orthodox Christianity we also have a material aspect - the event of God becoming human, so I agree with you. How and when, Christine, did modern, posture- and meditation-oriented yoga become, as you wrote in your article, “a textbook example of American self-help and positive thinking schools and established itself in the marketplace as a safe and easy path to mainstream bliss”? Was it under Vivekananda in the 19th century, or was it before him under Maharishi, or under someone after him?

Dr. Mangala: In fact, believe it or not, I don’t want to say that I lived in America and saw it with my own eyes, but the origins go back to the beginning of the 19th century, to certain literary figures such as Emerson and Thoreau, who laid the beginning of this movement. Emerson, of course, was a thorough transcendentalist and unitarian, and he introduced the concept of the Over-soul and wrote poems about Brahman and the like. But did you know that the Boston Brahmin Thoreau was the first to practice yoga?

Leading: Really? I did not know that.

Dr. Mangala: It was him, undoubtedly! He and people like him, in fact, probably reacted this way to the excesses of Calvinist Puritanism, I’m not sure, but this was apparently the way they were surrounded. And they began to introduce more idealistic ideas about human beings. I always feel that, throughout history, this is the way the Holy Spirit works. After all, something is forgotten or not recognized sufficiently, and someone succeeds and even turns out to be overvalued - and you understand this, and it is necessary to restore the balance in one way or another. And then someone else comes and with their actions stirs up the waters, introduces ambiguity. I mean people who flirted with the ideas of Swedenborg and his followers, Blavatsky with her theosophy and other people like them - it’s difficult to go into detail now, but there is a book about this that I can recommend, I will do it a little later. So, they created the “spirit”, this is the main thing, they created “ it with" - the ideal of a psychologized psychic religion.

Further, what is interesting is when Vivekananda arrived at the meeting of the World Parliament of Religions ( approx. translator- a congress of representatives of different faiths, held in the United States in 1893), then it was like a breath of air for him: he very quickly saw the prospect - this was another point of intersection of East and West, but not simple, but out of the ordinary. And Vivekananda changed, reformulated classical Hindu metaphysics, creating something called "practical Vedanta", which was actually far from what Shankara, the original philosopher of Vedanta, taught. But this “practical Vedanta” turned out to be too abstract even for Vivekananda himself, so then he created his manual on Raja Yoga, and it was the language of this manual that had a huge influence - incredibly close to the language of “self-help” books and “self-development” books. After all, he directly stated that the whole goal is how to take control of yourself and control nature.

But in his works, in some places there are, in my opinion, ridiculous, and sometimes downright unceremonious promises of instant results, aimed at creating a consumer mentality. Now there is this approach: "instant results" and "quick fixes", if you will, "do it yourself", all this "here and now" and "in your own home" and on your own - don't bother going anywhere else ! This approach was further developed by people such as Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, Rajneesh and entire nations such as swamis and matajis.

I mentioned one book here and I think your readers might be interested in it. It is called A History of Modern Yoga: Patanjali and Western Esotericism, written by Elizabeth de Michelis, and contains very useful information about this extraordinary cross-fertilization of ideas between East and West in the late 19th century, which ultimately gave rise to two modern forms of yoga. : yoga body postures and meditative yoga.

Leading: Please repeat the title and author again for our listeners. Spell out the author's last name.

Leading: Following the line that we followed and from which we deviated a little, I would like to ask: is there anything wrong, in your opinion, in using yoga as a form of relaxation or exercise? And to add to this, should Christians be aware of or concerned about the spiritual baggage that yoga often carries? Do you think it is possible to practice yoga completely separate from its religious component?

Dr. Mangala: It’s a paradox, but the movement that arose then has now produced certain results - let’s give examples: the Ministry of Health and Sports of England recommends yoga for its football players and athletes. The NHS here recommends yoga for people with medical problems etc. Yoga has become very commonly used as a form of exercise and relaxation, along with physiotherapy and other such things. And I think that's a good thing in some ways, because what they've done is to decouple the parts of yoga, and doing a few stretches or some proper breathing will certainly be really beneficial for posture and help realign and calm the mind.

A word of caution is necessary here. Exercise in moderation is a wonderful thing, and yoga exercise in moderation can be a wonderful thing. But I would also like to point out that what happened to some people I know is that when these people got tired of simple exercises, they moved on to more complex ones, and then they became addicted. I use the word “addiction” because the happy hormones are released, it gives you a boost and you become addicted to it in the same way that runners are addicted to running, etc. And here is the time to stop and think about what exactly is happening: you Are you just relaxing or is it actually an addiction for you, akin to craving for alcohol or overeating. And this is a dangerous moment.

The second thing I would like to say about spiritual baggage is that Christians definitely - and I'm talking to Christians now - definitely need to be careful with what they receive as spiritual baggage, whether they read books, whether they go to yoga classes. First of all, there are two things that Christians should do: first, they should be completely and completely established in their Christian faith, in prayer and worship. Only in this case will we, Christians, have light, the true light of Christ, will we be able to distinguish good and take it, sweeping away evil. I have a pretty simple image of Christ, and when people ask me, “How do you deal with your past, your Hindu past?” - I say: “let’s say there are some good things in the attic and there is garbage, then Christ is a magnet.” I am using a metaphor here: Christ acts like a magnet. He will attract good things to himself, and the rest will fall away. And we will need this light [of Christ], otherwise we will not be able to say what is right and what is wrong. The second thing that cannot be overlooked is the need to ensure that your yoga teachers - whether they teach only poses or not only - do not lead you, openly or covertly, to other things that already involve you in Hindu spirituality. it with. For, as I have already said, by virtue of samadhi as its goal, self-realization and other similar things, it is alien and incompatible with Christianity, where we seek the Kingdom of God. In addition to these words, I would even say that it is a form of apostasy in the worst sense. So, it is absolutely clear: there are two necessary things. You must be steadfast in good Christian faith, worship and prayer, and, as a result, be able to make distinctions. You should also monitor whether the exercises remain just exercises or whether they gradually turn into something else.

A researcher friend of mine in the States signed up for one such group to keep herself in good physical shape. After some time, she discovered that the teacher was giving them mantras, after which she began to enter strange mental states; she was then writing a dissertation for her Ph.D., which in itself is enough to put anyone into a strange mental state. The classes did not help, on the contrary, she became more anxious, and she quit them very soon, because she is an Orthodox girl and therefore realized that something was wrong. So, I argue: we really have to learn to discriminate - and this is very important.

Leading: You know, that's what I want to add to this. Once upon a time, many, many years ago, even before becoming a Christian, I went through the school of transcendental meditation, where they tried to put Hindu religious it with. However, they told you: bring a piece of fruit, and you had to bring this or something like that, and then when you came, the American instructor put it in front of a photo of the Maharishi and his guru, said a few words in Sanskrit, then gave you a mantra in Sanskrit for repetition - so, in many ways, it was transcendental meditation in the spirit of Hinduism. Therefore, Christine, I share your point of view. Since we must wrap things up, I want to ask one last question about attempts to “Christianize” yogic techniques. You mentioned Déchanet and other authors in your articles. So can there be truly Christian yoga?

Dr. Mangala: Deschane is a very interesting case. He is a very clear-thinking writer. Are you familiar with his works?

Leading: Do not know. To be honest, I learned about it from your article. Now, understanding a little more, I'm going to read it.

Dr. Mangala: He is very thorough and also very careful and clearly distinguishes between the spiritual ethos of yoga and Christian beliefs, and he makes it very clear that they are incompatible. Deshane has a bright head and a good style. Further, in the second part of the book, he gives practical recommendations on how to use yoga poses to glorify God, sing His praises, express repentance, etc. This is a kind of synchronization of Christianity, Christian prayer and worship with yoga poses.

I thought it sounded interesting, so I spent some time while writing this article doing what he recommended. Then I soon began to have the unpleasant sensation that I was becoming terribly self-conscious in my prayer: now I was not forgetting about myself, but becoming hyper-conscious of myself. I really didn't like it. I would like to focus on God and not on how I pray. And this really confused me. So my personal experience is that I would rather just do the exercises and then pray without thinking about the postures in connection with prayer.

Leading: Interesting. Our broadcast is coming to an end. I don’t know who – Christians or not – are listening to us now, but for Christian listeners I want to ask you seriously: what conclusion have we come to regarding the practice of yoga by Orthodox Christians? Do yoga? Not to study at all? Or do it with some restrictions?

Dr. Mangala: Well, I think, as long as these people know what they are doing... So, for example, some of the asanas in the early stages are okay, as long as you take them as a form of relaxation, as a way to get your body in shape and as a way learn to breathe correctly - most of us don’t know how to breathe correctly - but this is a limit beyond which I would not go. Anything more difficult will somehow become a major problem for you because it requires proper health. For example, if you suffer from high blood pressure, you should not do Sirsasana pose. You know: this is bad for you and you should be aware of these things.

Leading: Is this a headstand?

Dr. Mangala: Yes. If you have a thyroid problem, you should also be careful about which asanas to do and which not to do. So you will need more knowledge than most people who go to these groups. Because all the trouble begins here. As for meditative practices and chanting mantras, etc., then you definitely need to say “no” to this, because they put you into some mental states, which can be very dangerous sometimes. So I would talk about the most limited and minimal activities. Minimal in the sense of immersion within, when even thoughts should not arise about these classes as yoga, if you like it.

Leading: I want to add this. I knew a woman who was 42 and started doing hatha yoga. She was actively studying, and perhaps there was talk of addiction. Not knowing that she had high blood pressure, she regularly did headstand poses. This woman was a very close friend of my mother. So, while she was standing in one of these positions, she suffered a brain aneurysm and died on the spot.

Dr. Mangala: Well, this is an outrageous case! But, in fact, this case is one of many. I would say that there are comedians who make fun of Indian gurus who do some of these yogic practices - they are ridiculed by saying that these poses can actually damage the capillaries of the brain - and people actually suffer, damage their brains, and think that they are entering into a state of bliss because they simply don’t understand what’s what anymore.

This is extremely harsh criticism, but the danger exists, and even doctors, when they advise something, must be careful about their recommendations. I hope they really understand this. On the other hand, I myself notice that whenever I forget something or when I sit hunched over the computer for too long, if I sit with my arms folded in a certain way and breathe a little slower, etc., I start to feel better. This is me talking about how you can come to your senses, and similarly, if your limbs are numb, you take a few basic poses, and this helps. I'm a very average amateur, so I won't go into too much detail. I move from doing nothing to doing the simplest things. Yes, I'm glad you mentioned this story because health is extremely important when people start doing these things.

Leading: Yes, as with any other physical exercise. So our guest on today's program was Christine Mangala, Ph.D. Christine, thank you so much for being my guest on Illuminated Heart on Ancient Faith Radio. It was very fun and exciting.

Dr. Mangala: Thank you very much. It was very nice to talk with you.

Translation by Dmitry Kulikov and Maria Bagirova