Happy Wednesday! I'm so sorry that I missed last Wednesday, but it simply couldn't be helped.
Lately, I have felt the universe calling me to help people understand the foundations of yoga. I have shared a different concept each day on my Facebook and Instagram pages. I am going to bring it all together just a bit here.
I have heard from certain people of different religions that they cannot do yoga because it is a religion. Yoga is not a religion it is a belief system. I know that might sound like I'm splitting hairs, but the difference between the two is all the difference.
I have spent a large portion of my life studying religions, of various types. They all have a lot of similarities. The belief systems of yoga, although they use different words, usually Sanskrit, align beautifully with pretty much any religious system out there.
At the root of yoga is the 8 limb path. This is the path a yoga practitioner must follow to reach enlightenment. I think that this speak is why some people think that Abrahamic religions cannot coexist with yoga. There is a thought that the 8 limb path is a religious path and therefore counters the love of "the one true God". (Sorry if the quotation marks offend, I use them here because they refer specifically to the God worshiped by each individual religion.)
The 8 limbed path, is not a religious command though and a blueprint for how to lead a more harmonic life with the universe. If you take a look at the first limb, Yama, you'll see that the 5 Yamas actually aren't that different from the beliefs in most religions: "Thou shalt not lie." "Thou shalt not steal."
There is no "god" that is forced upon the yogi. Under the second limb, Niyama, is the concept of surrender. Under this concept, you, the yogi, can choose whether you are surrendering to your higher being, or to the universe. That is up to you and your heart.
I think, I am going to leave you here and allow you to ponder that which I have presented you.
Think on this, meditate, digest it.
I will be back in a week.
I love you all,
Kris