Namaste, Satan

Na-ma-stay is the pronunciation. It’s a Hindu salutation that is said at the beginning and end of most yoga classes. Participants place their palms together before the heart, bow their heads, and utter “Namaste,” which means “The divine in me bows to the divine in you.” But wait! We all know professing Christians who participate in yoga classes.  Many of them have been warned that there are spiritual dangers associated with yoga and are not concerned in the least. According to Baptist Theological Seminary president Albert Mohler, who has warned of the spiritual dangers for years, “The bare fact is that yoga is a spiritual discipline by which the adherent is trained to use the body as a vehicle for achieving consciousness of the divine.”

So, should believers avoid yoga altogether?  What about “Christian yoga“?  And what is the association between yoga and Satan? Pam Frost answers these questions in a piece she penned for truthXchange.  Some of what Frost reveals about this Hindu practice is chilling. She writes:

Photo credit: truthXchange

Namaste, Satan.

These are surely shocking words to the ears of most yoga enthusiasts, who find the association of yoga with Satan to be both disturbing and incongruous with their own understanding and experience of yoga. Yet, so begins an article announcing yoga classes to be held in the Satanic Temple of Salem, Massachusetts. How could something so widely considered beneficial in every way suddenly be associated with the devil? After all, yoga has achieved status in the West as the seemingly ubiquitous answer for the general well-being of just about everyone—from children in our public schools to the elderly in assisted living, from those with robust health in the prime of their lives to those with terminal illnesses nearing the end of their lives, and everyone in between. Many healthcare professionals recommend yoga for purported benefits such as the increased strength, flexibility and balance attributed to yoga’s postures; for the reduced blood pressure and heart rate attributed to yoga’s breathing techniques; and for the inner peace and global harmony attributed to yoga’s meditative spirituality. Yet, while most acclaim what they believe to be the positive benefits of yoga, William J. Broad, in his New York Times Magazine article How Yoga Can Wreck Your Body, warns that it can actually cause serious physical injuries such as trauma to the back, neck and head, as well as brain injuries and even stroke. But as Christians, we also need to ask whether there could be real spiritual dangers associated with the practice of yoga. We need to understand what the essence of yoga really is.

The word yoga means “to yoke,” and the fundamental goal of its postural, breathing and meditative disciplines is attainment of enlightened consciousness that transcends the Creator/creation distinction until one perceives no distinction between himself/herself and the divine. This is essentially what the serpent placed on offer in the Garden of Eden. The traditional Hindi greeting “Namaste,” which opens and closes most yoga classes, including the one in the Satanic Temple, declares yoga’s quest for enlightenment and immortality through realization of inner divinity. The term actually means, “the divine light in me bows to the divine light in you.” Doubtless, most yoga practitioners are unaware that the familiar term represents a radical collision of worldviews, redefining both the doctrine of God and the doctrine of man as it reduces the divine to an impersonal force in nature and strips man of his dignity as created in the image of the personal Creator.  Continue reading

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12 Responses to Namaste, Satan

  1. Tammy Feathers March 16, 2017 at 10:53 am #

    They use namaste in the newish kids movie Trolls. I did not know here the word came from!

  2. Manny1962 March 16, 2017 at 12:26 pm #

    Most Christians get insulted if you bring up yoga and what it really means, the complaint is “well I just do it for physical exercise, I’m don’t pray to a demon, or worship a demon just because I want to stretch!” How many times have I heard that! Most people don’t know the origins of yoga and it’s true purpose, they try to “unreligionize” it, but the core is pagan demon worship. Thanks same can be said for most (not all) Eastern martial arts, great for self defence and great for working out, but most are steeped in pagan worship. God said, my people are steeped in Eastern ways! If satanism incorporated an exceeded deemed good for your body, would you practice it? The exercise…..because you’re not really worshipping Satan, you’re just stretching?

    Also, I’m awaiting a barrage of disgruntled Christians and non-christian adherents defending their yoga practice………

    • Gillibe April 3, 2017 at 4:35 am #

      Well said! The trouble is, the church has become complacent about these things. If the Gospel of repentance isn’t being taught, folk will not have a standard to live by. They are not being told that each and every one of us is a sinner but by the grace of Got we may be changed.
      People will always take a seemingly easy route of the “feel good factor”. It’s our human instinct to do so. Yoga can do this for a short period without the realisation that it leads to a far greater danger.
      The church should be looking into these things and searching the Word of God for guidance.

  3. Sola Scriptura March 16, 2017 at 12:39 pm #

    Thank you for this. Fighting the Yoga wars with believers who love it is pretty much impossible. The recently deceased Caryl Matrisciana has some excellent youtube videos on Yoga and it’s new age/hindu/satanic spirit. She was a longtime new ager and yoga teacher. Yoga guru’s make it clear that each pose is an act of worship to one of their Gods.
    Warren B. Smith also has some youtube teaching videos on the infiltration of the church by the new age.

    I’d recommend that everyone who reads this considers signing up for the free Lighthouse Trails twice monthly email newsletter on new age trends in the church.

  4. Maggie March 16, 2017 at 12:51 pm #

    Two anecdotes from my former church:

    1. One of the congregants had a psychotic break requiring hospitalization after practicing yoga only one time “as exercise.” I have read this is not an uncommon occurrence and a seasoned guru in the East usually guides a novice because of such dangers.

    2. Two of the elders of the church were going to enroll in yoga classes “for exercise.” I explained the occult origins of yoga, as well as pointed out the fact they would be setting an example for others that practicing yoga is okay. In response, I got the usual scowl and soon thereafter left the church.

  5. Manny1962 March 16, 2017 at 1:37 pm #

    Eastern mysticism has thoroughly flooded Western society, it began in earnest in the mid to late 60s, I remember when hippies, The Beatles and Hollywood were promoting this garbage, then it tuned down in the mid 70s after people got sick of swamies and gurus, then it was repackaged in the late 70s early 80s as New Age, once again Hollywood got into the act Shirley Maclaine and her famous ” I am God,” obviously the compromised church that loves to follow the world “Christianized” it…….Now we have The Shack. “My people are steeped in Eastern ways!”

    It all boils down to worshipping Satan folks, there are no other options. Say what you want, there are other exercises and ways to have a low impact workout that’s both good for your physique and not harmful to your soul.

    • berlorac March 16, 2017 at 2:50 pm #

      Amen, Manny. I run a fitness business and we don’t do yoga. There are plenty of other ways to stay healthy. In fact, I know some trainers who employ yoga with their clients and end up hurting their clients because they actually over-stretch. Yoga, even aside from the spiritual dangers, is not all it’s cracked up to be, so far as health is concerned.

  6. SusanJ March 16, 2017 at 4:27 pm #

    So subtle and coming in everywhere. Last week we heard of our 7 year old grandson doing ‘alphabet yoga’ in his class at school! He already knows the alphabet so what other purpose is there?!? It all desensitises kids and opens the door to eastern practices. Christian parents have to be aware and checking all the time.

  7. Sarah March 17, 2017 at 7:20 am #

    (Moderator’s Note)
    Hello Sarah,
    I’ve removed your comment and replaced it with this:

    You won’t be able to comment any more, but you can still read this blog and its comments if you like. Perhaps you will learn something.

    • Manny1962 March 17, 2017 at 8:11 am #

      Boy you’re angry! This has nothing to do with you, this is a Christian discernment site, why are you here? Do you need Christ? Come to Him Sarah, He will take that anger away! You’ll have a new understanding of what real love is, yoga is not to be practiced by discerning Christians! I sense so much hate in you, why? There are many here that can tell you about the dangers of yoga. Are you not judging when you call people that you don’t know “miserable,” “intolerant,””terrorists?”

  8. James C March 21, 2017 at 11:03 am #

    Big difference in their world’s idea of what is divine and what God’s written Word teaches as being divine…

    2 Peter 1:4-8
    Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
    And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;
    And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;
    And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.
    For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

    Notice the Lord says in 2 Peter that it’s only thru His promises (His Word which is Jesus come in the flesh) we partake of His nature???

    It’s amazing that so many Christians don’t get this since it’s right there in God’s Word. Here’s another one…

    2 Corinthians 6:14-18
    Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?
    And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?
    And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
    Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,
    And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.

    Did we notice that the Lord says here that’s it’s His will to live IN His people and walk with them???

  9. Glenn Myers May 19, 2020 at 1:44 pm #

    This is clearly why Christianity’s dubious interpretations of the Bible has resulted in so many denominations and foolishness.

    How you can compare Yoga with paganism is ridiculous. How about your celebration of Easter and Christmas which have clear pagan roots?

    Every Christian thinks their interpretation of a book written by over 40 authors over hundreds of year is correct and divine. Christians should encourage followers to think for themselves and not whatever nonsense comes out of those on the pulpit.

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