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Sacha Levein
IP: 90.241.38.243 Sep 2, 07 - 5:41 AM |
Whether Yoga Mantras are allowed in the Jewish Religion
i live in Bournemouth and practice yoga regualarly. We are quite observant as a family, ie shomrei shabbat, kosher. At the moment the yoga i practice is called intergral yooga which involves meditation mantras at the end of the sessions, which I feel benefit me as I sometimes suffer from anxiety and negative thoughts. Lately I feel it is confilicting a bit with my spiritual growth regliously and I have asked a friend who is Lubavitch if the mantras are ok, She then aksed a Rabbi in California who said that the mantras are not really ok as they have their basis in Idol worship. He said that it would be ok to change to the mantras to Hebrew which would make it a bit better. The only thing with this is that I would not be able to change the mantras in a class as they chant out loud. I can only do this if ptractising on my own, Could someone advise me on this please. Also I was thinking of becoming a yoga teacher and wanted to study with my teacher who is Intergral Yoga, should I find another course which does not use a yoga guru who they seem to worship. |
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Ron
IP: 99.237.111.122 Nov 19th, 2007 - 1:43 PM |
Re: Whether Yoga Mantras are allowed in the Jewish Religion
The benefits of Yoga are amazing, and the body-mind connection is truth, but we need to avoid the avoda zara aspect! If you would like to study without the risk of the avodah zara, as you say, maybe you should find a instructor that does not chant mantras etc. and all that stuff. Perhaps an understanding of what avodah zara truly is so that you will know what to avoid is also important. Dr. Rabbi Akiva Tatz is a brilliant lecturer that talks about what avodah zara really is, as well as many other fundamental concepts to Judaism (check out the chanuka series where he explains about the body and its connection to the Torah. Amazing!) All of his lectures have been posted online: http://www.simpletoremember.com/audio/Rabbi_Akiva_Tatz.html I made sure that the studio I goto does not chant mantras and does not talk about any dieties, after encountering one that does! That was an interesting experience :-) |
Avivah
 IP: 71.156.55.138 Jan 23rd, 2008 - 8:17 AM |
Re: Whether Yoga Mantras are allowed in the Jewish Religion
Mantras are very Jewish. Read the book Minyan by Rabbi Ravi Shapiro. He lists a number of traditional Jewish mantras to choose from. May personal favorite, which is in Aramaic: Brich Rachmana, Malka d'Alma, Marai d'Hai Rigah. (Blessed is the compassionate one, ruler of the universe, master of THIS MOMENT). It's very centering. You can mumble it to yourself all day long and always be brought back to the present, and who is really in charge. I love to take Kundalini yoga classes. I choose to change the mantras to what I want to say. No one knows I'm not saying the same as everyone else because I match the vowels. So, when they SAT- NAM, I say SHA- LOM And when they say ONG Na-mo Gu-ru DEV Na-mo, I say MO-dah ani li-fa-NEH-cha If I can't think of a match, I'll just chant the vowels alone, or hum. They are praying in Sanskrit, a holy ancient language that I don't understand, so I can't be confident that it's not avoda zara, so it makes me uncomfortable. Hebrew, the language of my people and tradition, provides me with the depth I need to truly experience a soul connection and resonate with my practice. |
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Reisha Golden
IP: 71.107.206.111 Feb 4th, 2008 - 12:05 PM |
Re: Whether Yoga Mantras are allowed in the Jewish Religion
No matter what you do, whether it is mantras or yoga, a large component is mind intention. If the mantras for you are words that help you relax - then let it be that. If they are words that are calling on particular gods to help you relax, then that is something else. You can also look at those "gods" as aspects or attributes of hashem, our one God. Mind intention, from my perspective is what makes our words meaningful. We can say the same thing in two tones of voice, with two different intentions and they mean two different things. |
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