John prophecised in Scripture that the Antichrists have come, and will continue to do so (1 Jn 2.18), while advising that "There are many deceivers at large in the world, refusing to acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in human nature. They are the Deceiver; they are the Antichrist." (2 Jn 7)
Jesus himself warns us of the grave danger that we are to face, "False Christs and false prophets will arise and produce signs and portents to deceive (even) the elect...You, therefore, must be on your guard. I have given you full warning." (Mark 13.22-3)
I have been seduced by the Antichrist, but as St. Paul was knocked right off of his horse on his way to Damascus to commit sin, so too was I knocked down on my way to becoming a yoga master, right at the beginning of my teacher training program in the autumn of 2008. This is why I feel such a strong connection to the dangers of the New Age, though I did not understand until this month the mission that God has been preparing me for.
I am now working to release my bondage from Satan, as I repent for the times I would hold asanas to demons and lesser-gods, and for chanting blasphemy. Even if I was unaware of what I was doing; ignorance is no defence (Ps 8.2), as well as for my inherent offences against God for the generational curse of my ancestors’ iniquity in practicing the occult (idolatry), “I punish a parent’s fault in the children, the grandchildren, and the great-grandchildren among those who hate me.” (Ex 20.5).
The primal reason, the primitive reason, why yoga is the leading destructive force in the insidious New Age movement, is because it swiftly and accurately ushers in the Antichrist; it comes from the same seed that allowed for the first violation against God ever to be committed: idolatry - the worship of the self, over the respect due to the one who created us. Indeed, New Age is not new - it is merely an exotic form of the forbidden fruit of the one and only rule that God had set for us in the Garden of Eden.
Yoga takes us away from God, by telling us that we are God, which empowers us and makes for an appealing teaching. As God, we are perfect: we do not fault, we have no need to repent, we never die, we can control the weather, we can move mountains - and not with faith in God, but simply with faith in ourselves and our own "divinity". Yoga claims to be spiritually superior, but what it really does is prey on the vulnerable.
Yogi Bhajan, my former master's master, who passed the year before I walked into my first yoga class, brought Kundalini Yoga to North America in the late 1960's. Yogiji, as his followers call him, was allegedly prophecised by the Hopi Indians to establish peace and unity on earth. But I now argue that he is in truth an Antichrist, and the most powerful one this world has thus far witnessed.
This guru was attractive, charming, charismatic, intelligent, and persuasive; he even got away with telling his students that they are filthy on the inside. Some of his lectures were so crass and cruel, that I would often have to stop reading them. This is just one way in how yoga is contradictory (and should be a red-flag, but naturally is not). In one class we're being taught that we are perfect, and in another we are being told we're ugly on the inside: fakes behind our spotless white garments that symbolize purity.
It is pressing that us Catholics recognize the dangers of yoga, and also be vigilant of New Age philosophies that are seeping into some of our priest's homilies. It is time to ask for courage to become a Jeremiah, and to watch out for our brothers and sisters who are leaving the flock to pursue a life of idolatry - the one grave sin that Jesus says is unforgivable (Mk 3.29), yet which tens, maybe even hundreds by now, of millions of North Americans have been recorded of practicing.
And yet naturally it is challenging to understand the dangers of yoga, because it makes one feel attractive: it gives one confidence, strength, and esteem. But the devil makes us feel good, this is why we usually do not recognize his ways.
Satan makes us feel like limitless gods - until he calls his debt in.
As Jesus says, you have been warned.
Jesus himself warns us of the grave danger that we are to face, "False Christs and false prophets will arise and produce signs and portents to deceive (even) the elect...You, therefore, must be on your guard. I have given you full warning." (Mark 13.22-3)
I have been seduced by the Antichrist, but as St. Paul was knocked right off of his horse on his way to Damascus to commit sin, so too was I knocked down on my way to becoming a yoga master, right at the beginning of my teacher training program in the autumn of 2008. This is why I feel such a strong connection to the dangers of the New Age, though I did not understand until this month the mission that God has been preparing me for.
I am now working to release my bondage from Satan, as I repent for the times I would hold asanas to demons and lesser-gods, and for chanting blasphemy. Even if I was unaware of what I was doing; ignorance is no defence (Ps 8.2), as well as for my inherent offences against God for the generational curse of my ancestors’ iniquity in practicing the occult (idolatry), “I punish a parent’s fault in the children, the grandchildren, and the great-grandchildren among those who hate me.” (Ex 20.5).
The primal reason, the primitive reason, why yoga is the leading destructive force in the insidious New Age movement, is because it swiftly and accurately ushers in the Antichrist; it comes from the same seed that allowed for the first violation against God ever to be committed: idolatry - the worship of the self, over the respect due to the one who created us. Indeed, New Age is not new - it is merely an exotic form of the forbidden fruit of the one and only rule that God had set for us in the Garden of Eden.
Yoga takes us away from God, by telling us that we are God, which empowers us and makes for an appealing teaching. As God, we are perfect: we do not fault, we have no need to repent, we never die, we can control the weather, we can move mountains - and not with faith in God, but simply with faith in ourselves and our own "divinity". Yoga claims to be spiritually superior, but what it really does is prey on the vulnerable.
Yogi Bhajan, my former master's master, who passed the year before I walked into my first yoga class, brought Kundalini Yoga to North America in the late 1960's. Yogiji, as his followers call him, was allegedly prophecised by the Hopi Indians to establish peace and unity on earth. But I now argue that he is in truth an Antichrist, and the most powerful one this world has thus far witnessed.
This guru was attractive, charming, charismatic, intelligent, and persuasive; he even got away with telling his students that they are filthy on the inside. Some of his lectures were so crass and cruel, that I would often have to stop reading them. This is just one way in how yoga is contradictory (and should be a red-flag, but naturally is not). In one class we're being taught that we are perfect, and in another we are being told we're ugly on the inside: fakes behind our spotless white garments that symbolize purity.
It is pressing that us Catholics recognize the dangers of yoga, and also be vigilant of New Age philosophies that are seeping into some of our priest's homilies. It is time to ask for courage to become a Jeremiah, and to watch out for our brothers and sisters who are leaving the flock to pursue a life of idolatry - the one grave sin that Jesus says is unforgivable (Mk 3.29), yet which tens, maybe even hundreds by now, of millions of North Americans have been recorded of practicing.
And yet naturally it is challenging to understand the dangers of yoga, because it makes one feel attractive: it gives one confidence, strength, and esteem. But the devil makes us feel good, this is why we usually do not recognize his ways.
Satan makes us feel like limitless gods - until he calls his debt in.
As Jesus says, you have been warned.
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