Frequently Asked Questions

Yoga is used in a variety of ways in the North American context. In India, yoga evolved over thousands of years with the result that there are many different schools, branches, and styles of yoga. Similarly, in North America, yoga has evolved in the decades since its mainstream introduction in the 1970s.

However, it is essential to make a distinction between contemporary yoga and traditional yoga. Both forms are found in North America, but they are very different. Contemporary yoga is all about fitness and using yoga as a form of exercise. Contemporary yoga’s focus is not the spiritual component. In contrast, traditional yoga is wholly preoccupied with the spiritual. Its practice is focused on self-transformation. It is a process of working with the self through observation, acceptance, and understanding. Through this process, we begin to connect with our true Self, the place in us which is always and everywhere in direct and immediate contact with God.

There is extraordinary diversity within the categories of contemporary and traditional yoga. Under contemporary yoga, yoga practice may be solely about fitness and exercise with classes ranging from Yoga Boot Camp to Yoga Butt to Yogilates (a combination of yoga and Pilates). But it also includes classes of gentle yoga or chair yoga offered to seniors, nursing home residents, and physically challenged individuals. There are also many corporations offering yoga lunch hour classes to aid employees in stress management and in some sectors, to reduce workplace injuries due to repetitive motion work. Americans are devoted to self-help ideas and the physical benefits of yoga are becoming better known. Consequently, there are plenty of people practicing yoga simply for health maintenance or wellness.

Purists find it tempting to dismiss contemporary yoga in North America as an exercise fad but even under the contemporary yoga label, there is enormous variety. While contemporary yoga is the major form of yoga in the West, it would be inaccurate to say it is the only yoga in the West because there are many people who practice traditional yoga.

Traditional yoga is a spiritual discipline and its practice includes classes that incorporate the perspectives of specific faiths like Hinduism, Christianity, Judaism, and Buddhism. The classes may also simply emphasize self-awareness and self-discipline in order to become a more compassionate, centered human being, irrespective of a specific religion. As yoga was originally developed in India to prepare people for meditation, we believe traditional yoga should include a period of meditation, though there are many traditional yoga programs that do not include meditation or only encourage students to develop a meditation practice at home.

Bernadette Latin

There is a misconception that yoga is an Eastern religion. It is not, although it has been closely associated with Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. Yoga is a practical spiritual discipline, a systematic program for peaceful living with fuller awareness, and a tremendous tool for spiritual growth offered as a gift to the world by India. When a person’s heart is open to the richness, beauty and power of another tradition, it not only brings respect and understanding of the other, but it produces a meaningful deepening of one’s own relationship with God.

Traditional yoga offers people the opportunity to deepen their own faith by allowing them to connect to their nature which by design is open to God. In yoga the spiritual is experienced by cultivating awareness and using awareness to explore the subtle dimensions of our being.

For example, students might be encouraged to develop their awareness by connecting with the sensations in their bodies, by connecting with their breath, and by noting any emotions or thoughts that arise as they practice asana. This is yoga. As they begin to connect with their bodies, they might be invited to enter into the deep stillness within the body-mind. It is in this inner stillness that we open ourselves to the presence of God and the movement of the Holy Spirit within the heart and mind.

As Christian teachers, we employ a variety of methods in praying through our whole being. Some use affirmations drawn from scripture while holding a pose. Others “embody” classic prayers like the Our Father in posture sequences, and still others develop posture flows to inspiring song prayers as a way of offering thanksgiving, making intercession, and glorifying God in and through our bodies. The methods vary, but the original and underlying inspiration remains the same: to work with yoga as a spiritual path for all and as a way of opening to God. For Christians, that path goes to God through Jesus Christ, guided by the indwelling Spirit. For others, the path will lead to their understanding of Divinity or Supreme Being or Absolute.

Bernadette Latin

Reincarnation is a doctrine found in varied religions in different forms. Behind it lies the search for a meaningful, moral, just world order. It essentially says that an imperishable principle (soul) exists in every human being and comes back on this earth after death in a new form. It is an understanding perhaps most associated today with Hinduism and New Age philosophies. Since Buddhism does not posit an imperishable principle or soul, it does not espouse reincarnation as such, but rather the transfer at death of karmic energy from one form to another. The doctrine of karma is found in both these Eastern religions.

According to karma, the fate of every person in this life and in future lives is determined by the consequences of good or bad actions in the past or present. While Christianity’s understanding differs in a number of significant ways from that of Hinduism and Buddhism, what is common to all three is a recognition that liberation (salvation) is preceded by purification of some kind.

The Bible makes no mention of reincarnation, but there are several biblical passages that set forth a different understanding than one finds in Hinduism and Buddhism as to how that necessary purification occurs and whether we are granted more than one lifetime. The Letter to the Colossians states the Christian understanding as to how purification occurs when it says that “when you were dead in your trespasses, God made you alive together with him (Christ) when he forgave us all our trespasses, erasing the record that stood against us with its legal demands. He set this aside, nailing it to the cross” (2:13, 14). And the Letter to the Hebrews responds to the question of “more than one lifetime?” in saying that it is “appointed for mortals to die once, and after that the judgment” (9: 27).

If the record of all our trespasses has been erased, there is no need to come back again and again trying to expunge by dint of our own striving the negative imprints on that record. The central message of the gospel is that our fulfillment is not our doing or the result of our own efforts, but rather a gift of God’s grace. So neither one nor many lives can be adequate for reaching perfection. At the heart of Christian faith stands a savior. “This saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance,” wrote the apostle Paul: “that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (1 Timothy 1: 15).

It would be a mistake to read this as a license to passivity and wanton living. Some of the stories Jesus told, such as the parable of the fig tree (Luke 13:1-9), indicate that we are expected to bear fruit in response to God’s grace, and are not given an indefinite time in which to do so. Each person is given one lifetime, and must maximize the use of that time for bearing fruit. What is the standard by which one will be judged? In the parable of the laborers in the vineyard (Matthew 20:1-6), the stress is upon God’s mercy rather than upon an inflexible standard of recompense. In writings of Paul, a recurring theme is “that we are justified not by our works and deeds, but through faith in Jesus” (Romans 3:20-28; Galatians 2:16).

In an overall perspective, there are other points where Christian faith diverges from the theories of reincarnation and rebirth:
• A different view of time and history – Some religions see time and history through the image of an eternal cyclical return. The Bible’s approach to history is not cyclical, but linear; it has a distinct beginning and end, a consummation leading to something radically new, and God is the Creator and sovereign over time.
• Unity of body and soul—In reincarnation, it is the soul that repeatedly advances to a new body, leaving the old one behind. Christian faith speaks of “the redemption of our bodies” (Rom. 8:23)—their liberation from their bondage to decay—and speaks of a “spirit-body” that is no longer restricted to an earthly mode of existence. It sees the body as inseparable from the soul.
• Different perceptions of the meaning of suffering—The Christian view of suffering is not to see it as a punishment for past failures or sins but as a test case for basic trust in God, who challenges us to make decisions based on hope and trust.
• The Resurrection of Jesus—in his glorified risen body, Jesus claims to have the power to share this new risen life with others. In his resurrection, Christians see their own future foreshadowed.

What should be observed about both reincarnation and bodily resurrection in a singular and unique existence is that both are unprovable convictions rooted in faith. Despite the many reports of reincarnation or transmigration of souls, there are no scientifically undisputed, generally recognized data to back them up; neither is there for the resurrection of Jesus.

When we interpret events that touch upon the afterlife, we do so with reference to a philosophical or religious understanding of human nature and of our origin and destiny. It is not likely that there will ever be scientific proofs or refutations of either reincarnation or the bodily resurrection. Both are the objects of faith, and faith means “the acceptance of things unseen.” What should be recognized is that one cannot claim to believe in reincarnation without compromising key tenets of Christian faith, most notably the atoning role of Jesus’ work and the critical role of grace and forgiveness.

Fr. Tom Ryan

It is a common experience for yoga practitioners to find themselves at a weekend or evening program which features a kirtan or singing bhajans (devotional chants). Often, the chants are in Sanskrit, so it is not always clear what you’re singing. At other times, loose translations are provided. Not all chants are devotional in nature; sometimes one might be invited to chant simple “seed-syllables” for harmonizing one’s inner energies. But devotional chants, the focus of this question, frequently address or invoke Hindu deities.

A common explanation offered by way of reassurance to those who find themselves feeling ambivalent is that there is just one Supreme Being of all religions (Saguna Brahman), and the various deities actually represent different aspects or attributes (sagunas) of the one Supreme Being.

The problem for Christians (as well as for Jews and Muslims) is that the saguna forms are venerated as such, i.e., as real gods who, when propitiated, grant specific requests or bestow certain graces. It is the act of worship that is problematic. The veneration of the deity forms runs counter to the first commandment in the Decalogue: “I am the Lord your God. You shall have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:2).

Intellectually, one can respect the high-level Hindu belief that saguna deities are just manifestations of the one Supreme Being. But words, and the understandings behind them, matter. If they did not, Muslims would feel free to pray the “Our Father”, which in general they decline to do, and Christians would think nothing of getting in the prayer line with Muslims (which they generally do not do) to make their profession of faith that “There is no god but God and Mohamed is his prophet”. Similarly, tantric Buddhist practitioners will avoid expressing heartfelt adoration in devotional chants to the saguna manifestations because it violates the root tantric commitment of not venerating or invoking "worldly deities".

Generally, when Christians pray with Hindus in India, they employ chants that use generic names like “God” or “Lord” or “Creator” that can be applied to the God of one’s own understanding, but beyond that they do not use specific names. Religious traditions generally recognize that there is an energy around the specific names for deities, and when we invoke those names with heartfelt devotion, those energies do not remain without but in some sense enter in.

I have discussed this question with a number of colleagues with much experience in interfaith work and we share the same sense of things: one should not enter into that energy field without being formally initiated to it. Christians have been initiated in baptism into the body of Christ, into the love-energies of God revealed as Jesus-Emmanuel (God-with-us) whose Holy Spirit has been poured out into our hearts. So my counsel would be: Chant those names. Intensify those divine energies within you.

Chanting is a powerful form of prayer. It centers you. It turns your heart and mind toward God. It has a communal dimension. I always begin my Prayer of Heart and Body (yoga and meditation) classes with a chant drawn from the Christian faith tradition, e.g, one of the many Taize chants, or one of the chants written and sung by Rufino Zaragoza (see our Recommended Music page).

Fr. Tom Ryan

OM is India’s supreme mantra, the most sacred sound, the pranava. It comes from the most ancient Vedic times. More than any particular name of the Divinity in Hinduism, it conveys the ineffability and the depths of the divine Mystery. It bears no special distinct meaning, as do the names, for example, of Shiva and Rama. It does not even recall any mythological or semi-historical event. It is a kind of inarticulate exclamation uttered when one is confronted with the Presence within and around oneself.

The most frequent explanation of it is that it is formed of three elements: the vowel A combined with U to make O, and prolonged with a nasal after-sound M . It is therefore said to symbolize all possible triads in place and time-- the past, the present, and the future—as well as what is beyond all triads because God is in everything and yet is beyond everything. Sometimes, a fourth element is added: silence.

Since OM comes near to the utmost limit of what can be uttered or heard, it is considered better fitted than any other sound to express the bankruptcy of word and thought when the mind is directly presented with the ineffable mystery of God.

The contemplative or apophatic (way of negation) tradition of Christian prayer is based on the same premise: that there are no words or images or concepts which can ultimately capture the reality of who and what God is. This is what Psalm 46 witnesses to when it says, “Be still, and know that I am God.”

The kataphatic (way of affirmation) tradition of Christian prayer places its stress upon what we can know about God as manifested in Jesus. These two pathways of praying both have their place. It is not either/or, but both/and. Yes, God’s self was revealed in Jesus, but Jesus’ life, circumscribed as it was by the limitations of a historic time and place and culture and life-span, by no means exhausted all there is to know about God.

In view of this, there is a very long tradition of monologistic (literally: one word) prayer in Christian spirituality, and it flows precisely out of the experience of God as ineffable Mystery. Thus Christians have historically prayed with a short word or phrase in recognition that, ultimately, all words and concepts break apart and fall short of capturing the full reality of who and what God is. That recognition is basically what the mantra OM was intended to express. OM stands for God the essential Beyond, to whom everyone who has had even a glimpse of that Presence is insistently called and irresistibly tends.

Henri Le Saux, a.k.a. Abhishiktananda, a Christian monk with an exceptional grasp of the Hindu mystical tradition, said this of the mantra OM:

The use of the pranava (OM) cannot be recommended indiscriminately to Christians, or of course to any others. It is too rich and too exalted for anyone to be capable of using it unless s/he has at least begun to taste the inner experience to which it refers. Otherwise it remains an empty sound, having no spiritual echo in the one who utters it. But if the Christian has tasted the spiritual tradition of India, and better still, if he has accepted the full implications of the gospel’s message (for the gathering and summing up of all things in Christ, and in him, the return of all to the Father, the Source and Consummation of all (1 Cor. 15:28,) and has allowed the Spirit to lead him into the depths of his own heart, then he is as much entitled as his Hindu brother or sister to sing or whisper the OM, the ultimate symbol of the abysmal depth of God and the self (Abhishiktananda, Prayer, SPCK, 1967, p. 61).

So while there is a direct analogue in Christian practice for this kind of prayer, it follows that OM is not a chant to be used lightly, or simply because it’s “cool” or “what people do” in yoga classes. Out of respect for the unique status of this word in the yogic tradition, a teacher deciding to use it would do well to do some catechesis around the word and the apophatic expression of Christian prayer to enable the Christian participants to see how their own spiritual tradition also recognizes what OM is intended to express.

Fr Tom Ryan

First, let’s define these terms.

An astral body is the psycho-spiritual body in Hindu literature. It mediates between the material body and what is known as the causal body or pure spirit. It has its own energetic physiology, which roughly parallels the systems of the material body. It might be conceived as an aura or field of energy surrounding the physical body.

Chakras (Sanskrit for “circle”) are the energy centers in the astral body, roughly corresponding to the spinal plexi—relay terminals along the spine at which the central nervous system (brain, spinal cord and their nerves) communicates with the autonomic nervous system which modulates the activities of the glands, organs, and other involuntary processes. Most texts speak of seven chakras, five of which are located along the spine. The sixth is located in the center of the forehead, and the seventh atop the head.

In Hindu literature, kundalini is described as a very powerful form of psycho-spiritual energy that is coiled at the base of the spine. According to yogic understanding, when awakened through the disciplines of yoga this energy uncoils and moves up through the spinal canal, piercing the ascending energy centers (chakras) and eventually entering the brain. Great energy, insight, and bliss are said to accompany the experience of kundalini when it reaches the crowning energy center in the brain.

This process is poorly documented among Christian contemplatives and saints. They were not working with the same categories of interpretation that grew out of the Hindu culture and spiritual experience, and their own categories may not have been as serviceable. Philip St. Romain, author of Kundalini Energy and Christian Spirituality (New York: Crossroad, 1991), writes:

There is nothing in Christian teaching comparable to the Hindu notions of chakras, astral body, and kundalini energy. Neither will one find in Christianity anything like the spiritualities associated with the yoga system, which are designed to lead one up through the various centers of the experience of union. Nevertheless, the chakras, the astral body, and the awakening of kundalini are experiences that can be identified in the experiences of many, many Christian mystics.

Some Christian mystics have manifested bodily transformations that correspond to the release of intense energy, similar to the phenomena reported for kundalini manifestations. Some examples: St. Macarius, St. Peter Alcantara, and St. Rose of Lima went for long periods without sleep. St. Philip Neri, St. Francis de Sales, St. Charles Borromeo and St. John Vianney had experiences of inner light or mystical aureoles (auras of light) around their bodies which were sometimes visible to other people. St. Therese of Lisieux experienced spontaneous bodily contortions, and St. Teresa of Avila the temporary paralysis of limbs.

The list could go on . . . St. Veronica Giuliani and St. Pio of Pietrelcina had stigmata and intense ecstasies. St. John of the Cross mentions bodily heat phenomena, bone dislocations, sexual arousal--all in the context of how to deal with these concerns in the course of the spiritual journey to transformative union. St. Maria Maddalena de' Pazzi describes a flame-like experience that follows the sequence of events of Christ's passion, transforming her body over a period of time (her body is still incorrupt).

The fact that such phenomena actually exist and can be described would tend to support the traditional yogic claims that kundalini is a real energy, and that its awakening must be done in the context of guided spiritual practice.

The philosophical categories for understanding it in Christian terms are provided by the soul’s relation to the body in Christian understanding. Jim Arraj, a life-long participant of interfaith dialogue, puts it like this:

We tend to think of our bodies and souls as two separate things, with our soul somehow in our body. The brilliant medieval philosopher-theologian Thomas Aquinas took a very different approach. When, for example, the spiritual soul is created by God and infused in the human embryo it is not somehow just “in” the body, but it becomes the very principle of life by which the whole human being lives. The animal soul of the embryo is rooted in the spiritual soul and receives its existence from it, and the other lower levels of being, as well. This unlocks the mystery of kundalini from a philosophical point of view, for it allows us to see that the spiritual soul is present to every level of our being, and its own full activation in enlightenment demands the activation of all these levels of being.

In this context, kundalini is seen as soul energy, for it is the soul that gives life to the body in all its dimensions. The awakening of kundalini signals the awakening of the powers of the soul in the body. Whether this is for good or evil is another question all together. Kundalini awakening may or may not bring about a deeper union with God, for union with God is effected through love and surrender and not simply through increased consciousness or awareness. The awakening experience can help one to bring greater energies into the service of love, but free will continues, and with it the possibility of misusing the considerable powers released for selfish motives.

Kundalini is, then, a kind of primal human energy of the body-soul union simultaneously impacting the physiological, psychological, and spiritual levels of human existence. It seems to be a natural phenomenon that can awaken as a powerful energy in the body/subtle body interaction. The awakening can happen spontaneously, or as a result of yogic practice and/or the use of mantras. As with any natural phenomenon, it is a question of interpretation.

Inasmuch as the chakras and kundalini energy itself can be seen as natural phenomena, then we can postulate that these realities exist within Christians. They certainly pop up even spontaneously in Christians today, and took place in the Christian world in the past which, however, had no way of articulating what was going on.

The deeper question lies elsewhere: On a practical level, should Christians cultivate a desire to awaken kundalini? There are very real dangers that can accompany this kind of awakening. Spontaneous kundalini awakenings, or premature awakenings done by imprudent use of mantras or breathing techniques can be extremely damaging to mental and physical health. The violent awakening of kundalini is often considered to be the result of unhealthy physical and psychological conditions.

In the normal course of spiritual practice in any tradition, a person will gradually notice the awakening of energy phenomena in the body. It is only logical that the experience of growing intimacy with God, who is a real Being emanating real energies, is going to impact you physiologically, psychologically, and spiritually. Relating to this energy requires a strong container developed through mental focus, self discipline, regularity of practice, and a healthy life style. Ultimately and even before it manifests, the energy must be consecrated to a spiritual objective; otherwise it can cause harm.

If you undertake this practice or any other advanced practice from any tradition, it is wise to do so under the eye and care of a well-trained teacher or guide.

For a more in-depth discussion of kundalini within the context of Christian spirituality, see Philip St. Romain’s discussion forum at:

- http://shalomplace.com

For further development of questions relating to chakras and auras, see St. Romain’s online series at

- http://shalomplace.com/inetmin/chakras/

Fr. Tom Ryan