I have a few questions about yoga. Is the practice of Yoga morally acceptable for Catholics ? Is it possible to seperate the positions of yoga from Budhism to use those positions for physical exercise ? Is it possible to "christanize", "baptize" yoga into Catholic spirituality ? Does the Magisterium of the Catholic Church allow the use of "christionized" yoga by Catholics ? Thank You.

Dear Tony,

There are many ways to practice yoga. Some do it in the context of Buddhism that involves a particular way of life. Others do it for the type of exercise it is without making it a way of life. Still others do it because they find the Eastern notion of body control more relaxing in contrast to the more Western way of exercising to get ready for action. The Church becomes wary only when the philosophy of life from which yoga came intrudes on the Christian way of life. It has happened that religious people have used yoga to undermine Christian spirituality. Other religious people have not done so. You have to make a judgment about which is which. The point is that difference human cultures have different ways of viewing the body. In the East the common practice was cremation and the spreading of the ashes. In the West the practice was to take the body to church, have a funeral mass, and then bury it in sacred ground. But times change. Sometimes it is too expensive to bury the deceased in the ground. Thus the Church permits the practice of cremation after the body has been brought to the funeral mass. She does not go for spreading the ashes about but encourages columbariums in which the ashes are kept so that the survivors can visit them.

Dr. Geraghty

COPYRIGHT 2013

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