Yoga in Christianity

[Chang dao ling]

Hi, in the book auto biography of Yogi author mentioned that saint Paul can levitate. Is this true? Is it possible Christianity have their own yoga system but kept secretly? Only high priests can learn them?

[Nungali]

St Paul died some time ago . Does 'levitation; count  if you are dead ?

[old3bob]

4 hours ago, Chang dao ling said:

Hi, in the book auto biography of Yogi author mentioned that saint Paul can levitate. Is this true? Is it possible Christianity have their own yoga system but kept secretly? Only high priests can learn them?

 

if that is all that someone touts run don't walk

[Daniel]

11 hours ago, Chang dao ling said:

in the book auto biography of Yogi author mentioned that saint Paul can levitate. Is this true?

 

It would be best to bring a quote from the book in order to discuss what is written there.  To be clear?  Did you read the words yourself, or is this something you heard from someone else?

 

11 hours ago, Chang dao ling said:

Is it possible Christianity have their own yoga system but kept secretly?

 

At the time when the epistles were written, there was no "Christianity".  The author who is known as Paul was a Pharisee. Yes, the Pharisees were initiated into a "mystery school".

 

11 hours ago, Chang dao ling said:

Only high priests can learn them?

 

No, it would have been any Levite.  Only a few of them were high priests.

 

ETA:  I suppose the scribes would have learned them also.  The scribes came from any tribe.

 

Edited July 24 by Daniel

[Cobie]

 

19 hours ago, Chang dao ling said:

Hi, in the book auto biography of Yogi author mentioned that …

Is that  ‘Autobiography of a Yogi’ by Paramhansa Yogananda?

 

Quote

… saint Paul can levitate. Is this true? 

Saint Paul (Saul of Tarsus, 1st century) did not levitate. ‘Saint Paul of the cross’ (18thcentury) did levitate.

Levitation is not unusual in Christianity e.g. Saint Francis of Assisi and Saint Teresa of Avila both did.

 

Quote

Is it possible Christianity have their own yoga system 

No, they have their own Christianity system.

 

Quote

but kept secretly? 

No, it’s not a secret.

 

Quote

Only high priests can learn them?

No, it’s open to all.
 

 

Edited July 24 by Cobie

[Cobie]

 

6 hours ago, Daniel said:

… ETA …

Elvis Tribute Artist  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eta_(disambiguation) 

 

 

[Chang dao ling]

11 hours ago, Daniel said:

would be best to bring a quote from the book in order to discuss what is written there.  To be clear?  Did you read the words yourself, or is this something you heard from someone else?

I read but I don't remember exact chapter. But in this book he mentioned st Paul practice some type of yoga. Here the quote 

St. Paul knew Kriya Yoga, or a technique very similar to it, by which he could switch life currents to and from the senses. He was therefore able to say: “Verily, I protest by our rejoicing which I have in Christ, I die daily.”10 By daily withdrawing his bodily life force, he united it by yoga union with the rejoicing (eternal bliss) of the Christ consciousness. In that felicitous state, he was consciously aware of being dead to the delusive sensory world of maya.

 

[Chang dao ling]

5 hours ago, Cobie said:

23 hours ago, Chang dao ling said:

Hi, in the book auto biography of Yogi author mentioned that …

Is that  ‘Autobiography of a Yogi’ by Paramhansa Yogananda?

 

Yes

[Daniel]

19 hours ago, Cobie said:

 

Elvis Tribute Artist  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eta_(disambiguation) 

 

 

 

Apologies:  I'll be more clear.  ETA = Edit to Add.  I thought, up to now, that it was a well known internet forum acronym.

[Daniel]

14 hours ago, Chang dao ling said:

I read but I don't remember exact chapter. But in this book he mentioned st Paul practice some type of yoga. Here the quote 

St. Paul knew Kriya Yoga, or a technique very similar to it, by which he could switch life currents to and from the senses. He was therefore able to say: “Verily, I protest by our rejoicing which I have in Christ, I die daily.”10 By daily withdrawing his bodily life force, he united it by yoga union with the rejoicing (eternal bliss) of the Christ consciousness. In that felicitous state, he was consciously aware of being dead to the delusive sensory world of maya.

 

 

Excellent.  Thank you.  These are the parts which I am focusing on:

 

" ... yoga union with the rejoicing (eternal bliss) of the Christ consciousness ... "  

 

"... Verily, I protest by our rejoicing which I have in Christ, I die daily ... "

 

" ... he was consciously aware of being dead to the delusive sensory world of maya ... "

 

For me, speaking only for myself:  "I die daily"  is not at all the same as " being dead to the delusive sensory world" when I put myself in Paul's position and read his words as he is composing them.  What I am feeling is pain, sorrow, suffering.  Paul IS DYING daily.  He is not awakening from a dream.  He is living in a nightmare where people need to be saved, and many have been, but there is so much more work to do in order to save them all.  And, it would be good to see from which epistle this is?  Is Paul writing from a jail cell?  If so, Paul is suffering, and dying for a holy purpose.  It is this self-sacrifice which is fueling his mystical experiences.  That, to me, just me, maybe others will agree, is the opposite of awakening from the delusion which naturally produces child-like innocent bliss.

 

[Cobie]

1 hour ago, Daniel said:

… "I die daily"  is not at all the same as " being dead to the delusive sensory world"

Exactly.  
 

Quote

… it would be good to see from which epistle this is?  

1 Corinthians 15:31

And what it refers to (persecution) is clear from the preceding line:

30 And as for us, why do we endanger ourselves every hour? 31 I face death every day … 

 

 

Edited July 25 by Cobie

[Daniel]

22 minutes ago, Daniel said:

our rejoicing

 

This, the bliss, maybe someone can correct me?  In America, maybe elsewhere, we affectionately refer to this as "drunk on Jesus".  It is a term of endearment.  It's a feeling of unconditional love and acceptance from the very tippy-top of heaven, all the way, down down down to earth.  It's supposed to be like falling in love, but much much greater by many magnitudes.

 

Maybe another expression that approaches it ( only approaching, because, I would argue, it's wholly unique ) is punch-drunk-love.

 

Here it is portrayed in small part in song and dance.  At the fountain?  That's one way to present the rejoicing in Christ The Lord.

 

 

15 hours ago, Chang dao ling said:

St. Paul knew Kriya Yoga, or a technique very similar to it, by which he could switch life currents to and from the senses...By daily withdrawing his bodily life force, he united it by yoga union with the rejoicing (eternal bliss) 

 

Is what you see in the video in the fountain after hearing the "wake-up-call", what you expect to occur using the Kriya Yoga technique?  Withdrawal >>> reunion >>> eternal bliss?

 

 

 

15 hours ago, Chang dao ling said:

 

[Cobie]

20 minutes ago, Daniel said:

… bliss …

It’s entirely unrelated to “bliss”. Saint Paul was referring to being proud (καύχησιν) of the Corinthians (he founded that community). https://biblehub.com/text/1_corinthians/15-31.htm  

 

 

Edited July 25 by Cobie

[Daniel]

3 minutes ago, Cobie said:

unrelated to “bliss

 

What is this?  Referred to below?  Any ideas?  How would you describe it?

 

15 hours ago, Chang dao ling said:

the rejoicing (eternal bliss) of the Christ consciousness

 

I'm reading this ^^ as the focus of Chang-dao-ling's inquiry.

[Cobie]

18 minutes ago, Daniel said:

… the focus of Chang-dao-ling's inquiry.

The statement he quotes from the book is entirely false (see my posts above); his OP has been answered.
 

 

Edited July 25 by Cobie

[Cobie]

In conclusion, old3bob got it spot on:

On 24/07/2024 at 11:20 AM, old3bob said:

if that is all that someone touts [-]  run don't walk

Exactly.

 

 

[Daniel]

8 hours ago, Cobie said:

The statement he quotes from the book is entirely false (see my posts above); his OP has been answered.

 

Perhaps you're right? The OP has been answered?  I'm asking.  For myself.

 

Is there something special, unique, about the rejoicing of those newly in Christ?  Is it similar to the "eternal bliss" described by Yogis?

 

@old3bob,  Have you heard of "Christ consciousness"?  If so, what is it?  The rejoicing of those newly in Christ?  Is it unique to Christianity?  If not, what are the others which are similar to it?

 

 

Edited July 26 by Daniel

[Chang dao ling]

16 minutes ago, Daniel said:

 

Perhaps you're right? The OP has been answered?  I'm asking.  For myself.

 

Is there something special, unique, about the rejoicing of those newly in Christ?  Is it similar to the "eternal bliss" described by Yogis?

 

@old3bob,  Have you heard of "Christ consciousness"?  If so, what is it?  The rejoicing of those newly in Christ?  Is it unique to Christianity?  If not, what are the others which are similar to it?

 

 

I think according to yogananda Christ consciousnes means brahma consciousness ( identify yourself with formless God)

[Cobie]

2 hours ago, Daniel said:

…’Christ consciousness" … Is it unique to Christianity?  …

It does not even exist within Christianity, ‘Christ Consciousness’ is not a Christian concept.  
 

 

Edited July 26 by Cobie

[Chang dao ling]

1 hour ago, Cobie said:

It does not even exist within Christianity, ‘Christ Consciousness’ is not a Christian concept.  
 

 

Yes I agree. I think it was coined by yogananda 

[Chang dao ling]

14 hours ago, Daniel said:

 

For me, speaking only for myself:  "I die daily"  is not at all the same as " being dead to the delusive sensory world" when I put myself in Paul's position and read his words as he is composing them

For me I die daily means Paul might achieved samadhi ( absorption) when this happens your physical body looks like dead but it won't. Many Hindu, Taoist, buddist yogis demonstrate this ability they can stop their heart beat.

[old3bob]

7 hours ago, Chang dao ling said:

I think according to yogananda Christ consciousnes means brahma consciousness ( identify yourself with formless God)

 

There is Lord Brahma in Hinduism,  the creator aspect as a particular being,  but not Brahman which beyond all categories or particular beings,  and there are Brahmins of the priestly caste or practices.   So lets not confuse those?  (although at times these terms may have some cross-mixture or usage)

 

I've heard the term Christ consciousness; what it means or points to is more important than the term itself which I think is a kind of "new age" term.  When the term first came into use I don't know.   Anyway the virtues of a soul at that point in evolution are well described in the NT and have parallels in other religions, with compassion and wisdom being major ones.  Btw. I'd say that the Abrahamic religions can only be cross-correlated to eastern ones up to a point after that they do not really mix.  (contrary to "new age" like teachings)

Edited July 26 by old3bob

[Daniel]

10 hours ago, Chang dao ling said:

I think according to yogananda Christ consciousnes means brahma consciousness ( identify yourself with formless God)

 

Good.  The Pharisee technique is an emptying of self, nullifying the self, becoming a completely empty vessel for divine will.  Will.  That's all.  Not God itself.  If the individual identifies them-self with God, in the way you are describing, it sabotages, compromises the technique.   Imagine a tight-rope.  The acrobat is crossing.  Identifying oneself with God, is like taking a step to the left, or a step to the right, and down, down, down they go, off the tight-rope into a net.  

 

This is because, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, King David's God, King Solomon's God, Jeremiah's God, Isaiah's God, Jesus' God, Pauls' God is:  Absolutely Everything and More.  Identifying oneself with this, is not only impossible, it is counter-productive to emptying.  It would be the opposite.  It would be filling.  And that is like taking a sharp turn off the tight-rope in the technique of Paul the Pharisee and Christ-Jesus.

 

This is important.  Paul and Jesus are not happy.  They are not rejoicing at all.  They are sacrificing and suffering for their beloved friends.  Agape!  And, in turn, their beloved are able to rejoice in a way, which is many orders of magnitude greater than the love one feels when they are meeting their soul-mate.  These concepts, especially the "soul-mate" and "self-sacrifice for another", the greatest LOVE according to Jesus, do not exist in the solitary practice of Yoga.  However, it could be that there is a connection, a relationship, a correlation, which is valuable and useful to explore.  But, it is NOT from the Pharisees.  It is from Christ-Jesus.

 

 

 

[Daniel]

8 hours ago, Cobie said:

It does not even exist within Christianity, ‘Christ Consciousness’ is not a Christian concept.  

 

Thank you.

[Daniel]

6 hours ago, Chang dao ling said:

Yes I agree. I think it was coined by yogananda 

 

It is a way to validate the Yogi's teachings through a sort of adapted version of Christianity?  It's using ( abusing? ) Christian jargon for the purpose of preaching?