Yoga and Christianity

Recently, a friend and fellow Yoga teacher related that she was working on finding the middle ground between her Christianity and Yoga. She further related that she knows that Yoga is not religious, but being a Catholic, she felt there was some conflict. Below is the post I sent her. I share it here in the hopes that it helps others discover that Yoga is Integral Spirituality, not religion.
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First, here are a few wonderful exampls of a Yogi Jesus:

Pic - Jesus with many arms:
http://claudia.weblog.com.pt/arquivo/Jesus%20In%20India.jpg

Pic - A lovely murti (stature) of Jesus:
http://sahajayogafotos.files.wordpress.com/2008/04/jesus-in-india1.jpg

Pic - This is the one on my Facebook page:
http://www.geocities.com/jundalisay/JesusMeditating.jpg

Then .. here is a documentary on the idea of Jesus in India.
http://www.jesus-in-india-the-movie.com/

And another by the BBC (part 1):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DXCZFRsyl8

Here is the 'Tomb of Jesus' in Kashmir, India:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7aauXxuLHnQ

St. Issa, or Jesus, and a book by Notovitch entitled The Unknown Life of Christ:
http://reluctant-messenger.com/issa.htm

Someone who successfully merged Hinduism with Catholicism is the Venerable Monk Griffiths (Dom Bede Griffiths), also known as Swami Dayananda:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bede_Griffiths

Last year, I attended a "Yoga for Christians" retreat with a Yoga student, at the Monastery of the Holy Spirit in Conyers, Georgia:
http://www.trappist.net/index2.htm
There, I was meant to meet Father Thomas Francis, who spoke at length regarding how the Church has resculpted the Contemplative Prayer tradition by learning Yoga techniques.

During the retreat, he spoke on a number of interesting subjects, such as:
-How the 16th century Spanish Carmelites had a rich tradition of mystical prayer;
-How Meister Eckhart’s theology of the Godhead relates to Gregory Palamas’ teaching regarding the energies and essence of God;
-How the Rule of St. Benedict could be seen as actually undermining the wisdom of the Desert Fathers;
-How postmodern theologies of the Holy Trinity might be the best hope for a widespread revival of mysticism in our day. (This was one of his favorite topic, where he spoke regarding his personal theory of God Triune, and the work of Father Thomas Merton.);
-How the teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi influenced the Benedictine contemplative Henry Le Saux (or Swami Abhishiktananda), and why these ideas are important for students of Christian mysticism today. (This was his other favorite subject, and notably, he was one of the first Benedictine monks sent to train with the Maharishi.);
-About the importance of the book, The Cloud of Unknowing, and how it may represent Christian mysticism.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cloud_of_Unknowing
(I highly recommend this book.)

In brief, Father Thomas spoke about the need for the Church to return to Comtemplative Prayer, because the Western Church has become enamored of the intellict and ego, and that only a return to Mystical Christianity would save the dwindling numbers within the Church today.

I bought his book, and one by Cynthia Bourgeault. This latter, Centering Prayer and Inner Awakening, reads like a Yoga text, except, its meant for Christians.
http://www.amazon.com/Centering-Prayer-Awakening-Cynthia-Bourgeault/dp/1561012629

While reading the book, I kept penning in the Yogic translation of terms used. For example:
-The "diamond radiance of God", and the "pure diamond blazing light of heaven" is Vajra;
-Being "grounded in our spiritual awareness" is Prarabdha Karma;
-The "energetic prayer well known to mystics" is Dhyana;
-The "prayerful repetition of God's name to keep the mind from wandering" is Japa;
-"A surrendering method .. to relase emerging thought during prayer" is Neti;
-The use of a "sacred word..to make Centering Prayer easier" is Mantra;
-To focus on the "gaps in the stream of consciousness" is Vyana;
-The "Mechanics of Sitting..to keep the body relaxed but alert" is Asana;
-She uses the Greek words "Cataphatic" and "Apophatic" to mean Saguna and Nirguna;
-"Listening to God" by "keeping silent" and "become an empty vessel into which God pours" is Kevala Kumbhak;
-"The Art of Letting Go" is Vairagya;
-Jesus in the desert and the Christian monastics who "performed ascetic feats" are Sadhus;
-The importance and need of "daily prayers" is Puja and Prarthana;
-The lectio divinia as a "gradual and steady movement from mind to heart" is Yoga;
And I could go on, but I will stop there.

In all, the practice of Yoga is the embrace of all religions, shifting through the dogma to reveal the spirituality of the practice. Therefore, Yoga is Integral Spirituality .. pulling pure water from many wells.

Om Peace!
Yogini Valarie Devi