Yoga events being held at UN Plaza in NY, National Mall in DC.
By Sithara Sethumadhvan
Yoga events are planned in more than 100 cities across the United States Sunday to mark the first International Yoga Day.
In New York, India’s External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will preside over a two-hour event, which will be attended by, among others, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.
Spiritual guru and founder of Art of Living Foundation Sri Sri Ravi Shankar will speak on the occasion and demonstrate yoga exercises. The event, which starts at 10 am EDT, will be broadcast live on the giant screens at Times Squire, where thousands will perform yoga.
Thousands are also expected to attend a yoga event on the National Mall in Washington, DC, a few hundred yards away from the White House and the Capitol Hill. The event is hosted jointly by the Embassy of India and a group called “Friends of Yoga.”
A video message from Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be screened at the event, which will begin at 8:30 am at the Sylvan Theater on the Mall.
According to the embassy, the “event will feature an interactive program on guided yoga sessions and yoga instructional videos, Indian dance and music performances.”
Similarly, Indian consulates in Chicago, San Francisco and Houston are also celebrating the Yoga Day with free public events.
The Consulate General of India in Chicago has launched a special website to mark the day.
In Houston, the local Consulate General is hosting yoga sessions and a yoga fair at George R. Brown Convention Center.
Several Indian American groups and local yoga enthusiasts are also hosting yoga events in more than a hundred cities in dozens of states across the country.
The proposal to celebrate the International Yoga Day was put forward by Modi during his address to the UN General Assembly last September. In the speech, the prime minister urged the world community to make yoga a daily practice and celebrate it at the international level. Three months later, the UN decided to mark June 21st as the Yoga Day.
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There are a few reasons why I discourage Christians from practicing yoga.
Jesus is the only way in order to have salvation. Salvation is not found in any other religious system, practice or founder.
Jesus told us that he was the only way to the Father in John 14:6: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.”
Acts 4:12: “And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.”
We are not saved from any works that we can do ourselves. It’s all by grace through faith in Jesus Christ as our Saviour.
Ephesians 2:8-10: “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.”
So we see by this passage that we are not saved by our good works. Our good works are a result of our salvation, but they do not cause our salvation. Our salvation is to bring glory and honor to God, not to ourselves.
We as Christians are to be different from the world. We are not to do things the same way as the world.
Romans 12:1-2: “Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”
As Christians we are not to be conformed to this world. We are to be different and set apart from the world. When we try and use the methods of the world in order to get to God, then we are in direct disobedience to God. Even if a Christian can practice yoga without any of the religious practices getting involved, would you want to take the chance of hurting your witness with Hindus or those of the New Age who think that Yoga is religious in nature?
As Christians we are to meditate only on God and His Word. We are not to focus on ourselves or to clear our minds. The Bible never gives us a prescription to free our mind. The prescription that the Bible gives us is to only meditate on God and His Word.
Psalm 1:1-3: “How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, Nor stand in the path of sinners, Nor sit in the seat of scoffers! But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night. He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water. Which yields its fruit in its season and its leaf does not wither; and in whatever he does, he prospers.”
Psalm 63:6: “When I remember You on my bed, I meditate on You in the night watches.”
Psalm 119:15: “I will meditate on Your precepts and regard Your ways.”
Psalm 119:23: “Even though princes sit and talk against me, Your servant meditates on Your statutes.”
Psalm 119:27: “Make me understand the way of Your precepts, so I will meditate on Your wonders.”
Psalm 119:48: “And I shall lift up my hands to Your commandments, which I love; and I will meditate on Your statutues.”
Psalm 119:97: “Oh how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day.”
Philippians 4:8: “Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.”
When one clears his mind, he is opening himself up to demonic powers. We are to only let our minds dwell on Godly things and meditate on Scripture. Again, we are not to clear our minds, empty ourselves and open ourselves up to anything but God.