A Christian Outlook on Yoga

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A Christian Outlook on Yoga is a unique book about Yoga intended for Christians. The market is flooded with books on Yoga. But most of them deal with only a part of Yoga, called the asanas. This book deals with the background philosophy - Sankhya which is essential for a comprehensive knowledge of the system of Yoga. Sankhya is an atheistic philosophy. Yoga was not a part of any religious system to begin with. Later many religions adopted it. The author tries to dispel many of the misconceptions about Yoga and shows how the Indian Christians can be benefitted from it. The book can be viewed as a Christian commentary of Patanjali's Yoga Sutras. It also tries to establish how the Greek Orthodox Christian spiritual movement called Hesychasm is similar to Yoga in many respects. The book will be a valuable help for all those who work towards spirituality that goes beyond the boundaries of any particular religion.

Fr. Dr. Abraham Oommen is the priest of the Malankara (Indian) Orthodox Church. He is serving as Secretary, Diocese of Calcutta, Executive Vice Chairman and Head of the Department of Communication Skills of M.P. Christian College of Engineering and Technology, Bhilai and a visiting faculty of St. Thomas Orthodox Theological Seminary, Nagpur. He has been actively involved in inter-faith dialogue for several years starting with his tenure in the National Council of Churches in India as the Executive Secretary for Unit I. He has also served as the Advisor for World Council of Churches' Office on Inter-religious relations. A well-known author and speaker at the national and international levels; he has published several books including Paths to Unity, Issues in Hindu Christian Relations, Milestones, Towards Ecumenical Praxis, Media for Society. The Crown and the Gift; apart from several articles and conference papers.

Ours is an age of noise pollution and mental imbalance. It is hard to find peace and mental health among us. Present technological progress has produced many psychological problems. Man has become a slave of anxiety and tension. He tries to forget himself through nerve-exciting amusements, without any lasting effect. The sickness of mind prevents a positive and healthy attitude towards life.

When we turn the pages of the history of our country, we come across a situation similar to ours during the time of Kapila. Though there was outward material prosperity, tensions were mounting up. Kapila put forward Samkhya as a remedy. His aim was to lead "the neurotic and confused people" of his time to happiness. Later, Rishi Patanjali, a contemporary of Buddha modified Kapila's system. He produced "Yog Sutras," the manual of yoga the art of mental control or control over all dimensions of personality and behavioural patterns.

Today, the world is becoming a harder place to live in. In many parts of the world the people are poor, they cannot easily rise above their bread and butter existence. In some parts, there is luxury but these people have no peace. Materialism is not giving men and women what they need. It is high time they learn that happiness is not determined by material possessions or bodily pleasures alone.

It is no use trying to change the society without indvidual's internal conversion. This will explain the rise in the number of seekers of spirituality today. Yoga is one of the most popular spiritual exercises. Yoga teaches that the root of our disappointments and problems lies not outside but inside.