Last century it was assumed that religion was an illusion propagated
by early civilisations and an insidious opiate manufactured to manipulate
the minds of people. Therefore, it was postulated that religion could be set
aside in favour of reason and modern science. However, after tens of
years of a fierce war on religion and even after abandoning it in countries
like the previous Soviet Union, religion did not perish. This, therefore,
raises the question, why is the religion so enduring?
Despite the recent and impressive advances in technology and the
availability of knowledge, human beings are now more susceptible to
damaging conditions such as neuroses, depression and other psychoses. In
addition, there has been a growing deterioration of good conduct and
ethical behaviours like anger, greed, jealousy and cowardice behaviour.
To find a way out of this mess, Asian yoga and meditation practices have
become increasingly popular, particularly in the Western world.
5
Different meditation practices have been propagated to empty the
mind from the worry and turmoil of life, reduce the stress and bring about
relaxation. Today, yoga and meditation are widely practised in
classrooms, prisons, offices, hospitals, etc. In addition, there has also
appeared an increasing percentage of people who are practising yoga and
meditation and claim that they are spiritual and non-religious. This raises
another question, could meditation be considered as an alternative to
religion?
In this booklet, we will try to answer the above-raised questions and
compare the spirituality gained through Asian, Christian and Islamic
practices.
2. Why do humans always believe in God?
Why are more than 90% of the world's population embracing some
sort of a religious belief? Why has religion survived and thrived for more
than 10,000 years in every human culture? Is religion an illusion
propagated by early civilisations? Could it be set aside, as postulated by
Sigmund Freud, in favour of reason and the sciences of modern times?
Could people forsake religion, if they are brought up in a society where it
is ridiculed?
2.1. Sigmund Freud’s postulate
Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) postulated that God is an illusion based
upon the infantile emotional need for a powerful supernatural protector.
He considered religious beliefs as a pathological and a malignant social
force that encourages irrational thoughts and ritualistic behaviours.
He also believed that religion was a necessity, in early civilizations,
for restraining man's violent nature and thought that in modern time
religion could be set aside in favour of reason and science. Interestingly,
according to a 2014 statistical study by the Pew Research Centre, which is
a nonpartisan centre, 76.5% of the adult population in the USA have
identified themselves as religious, though they do not suffer from survival
pressures (1).
1. Public Becoming less religious- http://www.pewforum.org/2015/11/03/u-s-public-becoming-lessreligious/.
Retrieved, 11. 2017.
6
To explain why non-religious Americans are only a minority, some
contemporary scientists, like the biologist Richard Dawkins, claim that
religious beliefs and practices have appeared under survival pressures as a
by-product of a ―built-in irrational mechanism in the brain‖ (2).
In other words, according to this line of thought, religion and
believing in God is an illusion without a support of evidence.
However, this is not true because there is ample scientific evidence
that suggests and ensures the presence of a Creator of the Universe, Who
rationally must have created us for a purpose. Please return to our booklet
―Does science lead to God?‖ (3).
2.2. The persistence of religion under communism
Lenin (1870-1924), the founder of the former Soviet Union, adopted
the ideas of the German philosopher and economist Karl Marx, who
believed that religion is an insidious opiate that is socially manufactured
to manipulate the minds of the masses.
Thus, fighting religion became the cornerstone of the entire ideology
of the former Soviet Republics and the communist Soviet Union regime
targeted religions on the basis of the State interests. Religion was,
therefore, ridiculed while atheism was propagated in schools. A strong
sense of social stigma was imposed on religion by the official structures
and mass media and it was generally considered unacceptable for
members of certain professions, like teachers, state bureaucrats, soldiers
to openly mention that they are religious.
"Science" was dedicated to confronting the "religious superstition" in
the media and in academic writings. Religious institutions were not
allowed to express their views in any type of mass media. Religious
properties were confiscated and believers were harassed. They had to
worship God in private and in their respective religious buildings, and
public displays of religion outside such designated areas were prohibited.
2. Dawkins, R. (2006). The God Delusion, Houghton Mifflin. Boston, MA.
3. Does science lead to God??????????put the site?????????
7
Figure 1: Stalin was the leaders of the USSR between 1922 and 1952.
According to the Encyclopaedia of the Nations, Orthodox Christians
constituted a majority of believers in the former Soviet Union. In the late
1980s, although the Russian Orthodox Church had over 50 million
believers, there were only about 7,000 registered active churches (4).
On the other hand, Muslims in Tatarstan had 12,000 mosques in 1930.
However, most of these mosques were closed. In the late 1980s, there
were only about 500 working mosques, although between 45 and 50
million Tatars identified themselves as Muslims.
According to the Pew Research Centre, after the collapse of the Soviet
Union, there has been an upsurge in affiliation with religion. In1991, 61%
of the surveyed Russians were identified as religiously unaffiliated, while
only about a third (31%), said they were Orthodox Christians (Table 1(.
Over the next 17 years, those percentages virtually flipped. By 2008,
roughly seven-in-ten Russians were identified as Orthodox Christians
(72%), while 18% were religiously unaffiliated (5).
Interestingly, while the decrease of ―no religious affiliation‖ amongst
the educated Russians was -59, the decrease amongst the less educated
was -40% (Table 1). This indicates that the tendency to be religious does
not decrease with the increase in education as was previously proposed by
Freud.
4. Religion in the Soviet Union, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_the_Soviet_Union#Islam.
Retrieved, 11. 2017.
5. Pew Research Centre, http://www.pewforum.org/2014/02/10/russians-return-to-religion-but-not-tochurch/.
Retrieved on 11. 2017.
8
This means that in spite of the fierce war on religion, it remained
dormant under communism and once people were given some freedom,
they gradually returned to God and religion.
That leads us to the conclusion that attempts to suppress religion are
short-lived and religious concepts are deeply rooted in human beings,
who innately believe in the existence of God. The analysis of the
statistical data of the Pew Research Centre is summarised in Table 1.
Table 1: Trends in Religious identification among demographic
groups (5).
% identifying as
Orthodox Christians
% identifying as no
religious affiliation
199
1
200
8
Chang
e
199
1
200
8
Chang
e
All Russian adults 31 72 +41 61 18 -43
Men 17 63 +46 76 24 -52
Women 43 81 +38 48 12 -36
Age 15-49 26 69 +43 66 18 -48
50 and older 40 79 +39 52 18 -34
University degree 16 76 +50 75 16 -59
Less education 34 76 +41 57 17 -40
3. The impetus for religious beliefs
3.1. Cognitive science and religious belief
The cognitive science of religion has been trying to tackle some
questions such as 1) Why is the religion so common around the world? 2)
Why do religious practices take on common characteristics across
cultures? 3) Why do some religious ideas and practices outcompete
others? 4) Why is the belief in God is so enduring over thousands of
years?
The answer to these questions may be concluded after the analysis of
what researchers have found.
9
Justin Barrett, the director of the Cognition, Religion and Theology
Project at the Centre for Anthropology and Mind at Oxford University,
has documented that humans are ―born believers‖, and are naturally
inclined to find religious claims and explanations attractive and they
attain fluency in using them. He and his co-workers think that the
attraction of humans to religion is an evolutionary by-product of our
ordinary cognitive equipment. This may explain why the religion is so
common around the world (6).
Barrett also argues against the ‗‗indoctrination hypothesis‖, which
suggests that religion can be reduced to a product of cultural
brainwashing. He presented data which argue convincingly against the
indoctrination hypothesis and tried to demonstrate that children‘s minds
are not sponges that naively and indiscriminately soak up cultural
information. However, he believes that the belief is modulated by
individual differences and the various environmental conditions (6).
3.1.2. The inborn inclination to believe in God
Data are building up to suggest that children have a natural tendency to
believe in powerful supernatural agents, and God in particular. Their
supernatural concepts are formed within the first few years of life as a
nearly inevitable product of human development (6). Kelemen, therefore,
postulates that children are particularly receptive to the idea of a creator
deity (7).
3.1.3. The inborn inclination to the intention-based
creation
Research suggests that young children have a broad tendency to
reason about natural phenomena in term intention-based accounts. They
have a cognitive tendency to see the world as a place with an intentional
design, created by someone. Children as young as three naturally attribute
supernatural abilities to ―God,‖ even though they have never been taught
6. Barrett, J. L. (2012). Born believers: The science of children's religious belief. Simon and Schuster.
7. Kelemen, D. (2004). Are children ―intuitive theists‖? Reasoning about purpose and design in
nature. Psychological Science, 15 (5), 295-301.
10
Figure 2: On the left one of the scientific papers indicating the effect of
prayers on brain networks. On the right, the brain of a Muslim before and
after his prayer. Notice the differences in the patterns of the green and red
fluorescent colours of the brain scan after praying. This indicates that prayer
tunes the brain waves produced by masses of communicating neurons.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eg-Kzku0zXg. Retrieved on January 2018.
about God (8). They also see natural phenomena as a result of nonhuman
design and that they are created for a purpose.
This tendency extends to adults who are also searching for meaning
for their lives, particularly during times of uncertainty and are primed to
see signs and patterns in the world around them (6).
3.1.4. The inborn inclination to believe in an afterlife
One of the themes which are common to most of the world‘s religions
is the belief in an afterlife. Research involving adults, conducted by Jing
Zhu from Tsinghua University (China), and Natalie Emmons and Jesse
Bering from The Queen‘s University, Belfast, has suggested that people
across many different cultures instinctively believe in an afterlife (9).
3.1.5. Conclusion
Cognitive scientists are accumulating evidence that the belief in God,
who created things for purposes, and the belief in an afterlife are innate in
humans. In other words, we are born with these beliefs in a similar way
like our innate ability to learn to speak.
8. Knight, N., Sousa, P., Barrett, J. L., & Atran, S. (2004). Children‘s attributions of beliefs to humans
and God: Cross-cultural evidence. Cognitive Science, 28(1), 117-126.
9. https://religionandotherthings.wordpress.com/2016/03/15/do-children-naturally-believe-in-god/
11
3.2. Evidence that the brain is primed to believe
The Neuroscience research of Jordan Grafman and his colleagues at
"the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke" found solid
evidence to supports the idea that the brain is primed to believe (10).
Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), Grafman and
his colleagues in 2009 demonstrated that the brain deals with specific
terms of religious belief through the activation of certain brain networks.
In their opinion, this suggests an evolutionary development of adaptive
cognitive functions in the brain (10).
Another research group in 2009 also used fMRI to prove that religious
thoughts activate certain areas of the brain. They found that hearing
religious phrases lits up certain areas of the brains. This provided another
evidence that the brain uses certain circuits to think about and experience
religious ideas (11).
Both the fMRI and the electrical activity of the brain (EEG) were used
to monitor the brain activity of Buddhists during long-term meditations.
The study revealed that these Buddhists had a stronger and betterorganized
attention system than people who are just starting to learn how
to meditate. The changes in the electrical circuits were located in the
anterior cortex of the brain (12).
We may conclude that there are certain areas and certain networks in
the brain, which are primed to be activated with religious ideas and
thoughts.
3.3. Prosociality and moral communities
The prosocial behaviour is a voluntary behaviour intended to benefit
other people or the society as a whole. Researchers found that people
10. Kapogiannis, D., Barbey, A. K., Su, M., Zamboni, G., Krueger, F., & Grafman, J. (2009). Cognitive
and neural foundations of religious belief. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 106 (12),
4876-4881.
11. Schjoedt, U., Stødkilde-Jørgensen, H., Geertz, A. W., & Roepstorff, A. (2009). Highly religious
participants recruit areas of social cognition in personal prayer. Social Cognitive and Affective
Neuroscience, 4(2), 199-207.
12. Hagerty, M. R., Isaacs, J., Brasington, L., Shupe, L., Fetz, E. E., & Cramer, S. C. (2013). A case study
of ecstatic meditation: fMRI and EEG evidence of self-stimulating a reward system. Neural
plasticity, 2013.
12
primed with religious thoughts are more social, happier, charitable and
fairer towards others (13, 14).
Some cognitive scientists of religion have suggested that once
religious ideas and practices emerged in human groups, they provide the
religious folks with survival advantages over non-religious competitors.
Therefore, religions have evolved to gain some social advantages (15).
However, it could equally be argued that it is not the need for the
prosociality that led to the evolution of religions in societies. The
prosociality is rather a byproduct of the religion and the religion is an
inborn tendency which is innately impeded into human nature as has been
previously discussed.
3.4. Why do religions have common characteristics?
As discussed before, science has suggested that believing in God is an
inherited innate part of the human nature. Islam calls this phenomenon
"Fitrah". Part of this Fitrah is also the moral commitment of humans.
Therefore, regardless of their type of religion, people of different
civilizations and cultures have innately realised that it is bad to cheat, lie,
steal, kill, torture others, etc.
Some people like the Jews have claimed to be the Chosen People of
God, and for instance, have given themselves the right to occupy the
territories of the Palestinian people. However, the issue of a Chosen
People is not true because God is the God of all humans, and He would
not bestow His mercy, love and bounties on only a certain chosen race or
people, and deprive the others.
God has sent His guidance to all humanity through successive
prophets since the creation of Adam (PBUH), who is considered as the
first prophet. He wouldn‘t deprive humanity of his mercy for thousands of
years till the coming of a Messiah like Jesus (PBUH), who would carry
their sins.
13. Graham J and Haidt J. 2010. Beyond beliefs: religions bind individuals into moral communities.
Personality and Social Psychology Review, 14 (1):140-50.
14. Barrett, J. L., & Burdett, E. R. (2011). The cognitive science of religion. Psychologist, 24 (4), 252-
255.
15. Henrich, J., Ensminger, J., McElreath, R., Barr, A., Barrett, C., et al., (2010). Markets, religion,
community size, and the evolution of fairness and punishment. Science, 327 (5972), 1480-1484.
13
―We sent you with the truth; a bearer of good news, and a warner. There
is no community but a warner has passed through it‖ (Qur‘an 35: 24).
Therefore, both Fitrah and the revelation of God‘s guidance to all
nations may explain why religions of all nations have common
characteristics. They all have roots in the revelations of God. Though
these religions by time could have been mixed up with myths of different
societies, they still keep some of the original messages of God revealed to
them through one of His prophets.
3.5. Why does a religion out-compete other religions?
It seems that religious ideas and practices which fit well with the
inherited natural instinct of human beings (Fitrah), would be more
agreeable and attractive to people. This is because it arouses what has
been deeply rooted in their nature.
Therefore, because Islam was revealed by God, Who created humans
and seeded the Fitrah in their body and spirit, it fits well with their nature.
This perhaps may explain why Islam is the fastest growing religion.
Interestingly, Islam spreads fast, in spite of its distortion by the Western
media, its misrepresentation by Muslims and the absence of organised
missionary activities.
―So devote yourself to the religion of monotheism—the natural
instinct (Fitrah) God has instilled in mankind. There is no altering God‘s
creation. This is the true religion, but most people do not know‖ (Qur‘an
30: 30).
4. Islam and the impetus for religion
The Qur‘an preceded researchers‘ reports that Children are "born
believers", and that they do not simply acquire religious beliefs through
indoctrination.
"And when your Lord brought forth descendants from the loins of the
sons of Adam and made them witnesses against their own selves by asking
them: 'Am I not your Lord?' They said: 'Yes, we do testify.' Thus you
cannot say on the Day of Resurrection, ‗We were unaware of this'‖
(Qur‘an, 7:172).
14
Figure 3: Islam is the fastest growing religion.
http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/04/06/why-muslims-are-the-worlds-fastest-growingreligious-
group/. Retrieved in January 2018.
http://www.pewforum.org/2017/04/05/the-changing-global-religious-landscape/pf_17-04-
05_projectionsupdate_grl310px/. Retrieved in January, 2018
This verse of the Qur‘an suggests that at the time of the creation of
Adam, God genetically and inheritably imprinted in Adam (PBUH), and
consequently on his offspring, an inborn tendency to believe and
recognise Him.
In other words, the tendency to be religious is not a by-product of an
evolutionary process, which took thousands of years as some scientists
claim. It is rather because God has printed it in the genes of every single
cell including neural cells. Therefore, believing in God is a natural
phenomenon which has been impeded in all humans whenever and
wherever they have been.
This inherited information may explain why children acknowledge the
presence of God, early in their lives. And why they acknowledge Him as
their Creator, Who is all-Knowing, Supreme and Almighty, as discussed
before.
The Blue Brain is a Swiss national brain initiative, which aims to
create a digital reconstruction of the brain. Neuroscientists working on the
Blue Brain Project try to simulate the mammalian brain to identify the
fundamental principles of brain structure and function. The research team
led by Professor Henry Markram has discovered clusters which contain a
15
Figure 4: The Blue Brain Project is an attempt to reverse engineer the human
brain using a computer simulation. The project was founded in May 2005 at
the EPFL which is widely regarded as a world-leading university
in Lausanne, Switzerland.
network of about fifty neurons on average and they represent part of the
building blocks responsible for the basic innate knowledge (16).
This inherited innate knowledge is not a strange phenomenon found
only in humans. It can be easily watched and admitted in animals. For
example, when a horse is born, he can immediately walk. He walks
without learning because the knowledge of walking is simply inherited
genetically in him.
God called the innate acceptance and believing in Him, in the Qur‘an,
Fitrah as exemplified in the following verse.
―So devote yourself to the true faith – Fitrah (the innate belief in God) –
that has been instilled in mankind. There shall be no altering of God's
creation. That is the upright religion, but most people do not know‖
(Qur‘an 30:30).
The same term (Fitrah) was also used by the Prophet Muhammad
(PBUH), to indicate the same phenomenon.
"Every child is born with Fitrah (innate belief in God), and it his parents
that may make of him a Jew, a Christian or a Majus" (Narrated by Al-
Bukhari).
Muslim scholars have defined Fitrah as an instinct, intuition, or insight
16. Perin, R., Berger, T. K., & Markram, H. (2011). A synaptic organizing principle for cortical neuronal
groups. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 108(13), 5419-5424.
16
to believe in God. This Fitrah does not only give mankind the tendency to
believe in God, but also the innate disposition towards the right actions
and how to live in balance in societies. A study on children – with
biological or adoptive parents – asserts that they are innately inclined to
religion and they tend to mirror the religious beliefs and behaviours of
their parents (17).
Fitrah is believed by Muslims to be implanted by God into humans in
the purest form of goodness. We are all born with Fitrah including even
those who disbelieve in God. This may explain why all humans including
atheists possess an internal disposition that still tells them how to
differentiate between the right and wrong actions.
5. The body and soul
We are made of body and soul. Both our bodies and souls need to be
nourished and cared for. What usually happens is that we usually care
about our physical needs and we often ignore, partially or totally, the
nourishment of our souls. This imbalance and the lack of satisfaction of
our souls lead to their restlessness, even if we satisfy all our physical
needs.
5.1. Body-Soul Conflict, asceticism and monasticism
The idea that body and soul are mutually antagonistic has influenced
both philosophical and religious thoughts. Therefore, for the soul, the
body is a prison and the activities of daily life are the shackles which keep
it in bondage and arrest its growth.
Therefore, asceticism was introduced as a lifestyle. It is characterised
by abstinence from sensual pleasures, for pursuing spiritual goals.
Ascetics adopt a frugal lifestyle characterised by the renunciation of
material possessions and physical pleasures and spend time fasting and
concentrating on the practice of religion or reflection upon spiritual
matters. Asceticism is observed in the traditions of Buddhism, Hinduism,
17. Koenig, L. B., McGue, M., Krueger, R. F., & Bouchard, T. J. (2005). Genetic and environmental influences on
religiousness: Findings for retrospective and current religiousness ratings. Journal of Personality, 73(2), 471-488.
17
Jainism, and Judaism.
Christian monasticism is similar to but not as extreme as asceticism.
Monks and nuns seclude themselves from all earthly influences to live a
godly life and to keep their personal religious vows. It was introduced in
the third century. Western monks and nuns are mostly Catholics and
Eastern monks and nuns are Orthodox.
On the contrary, there is no monasticism in Islam because the Prophet
Muhammad (PBUH) forbade it.
5.2. Islamic perspective of the soul and body
According to Islam, God has given Man certain authority and has
given him certain responsibilities and obligations. Our bodies have been
created to allow our souls to use them to fulfil their duties and
responsibilities towards God. Therefore, in Islam, there is no conflict
between body and soul. The body is not a prison for the soul, but it is its
workshop, and the soul can grow and develop through this workshop.
According to Islam the real place for the growth of the spirit is in the
midst of life and not through withdrawal in solitary places of spiritual
hibernation.
Therefore, a Muslim uses his body to give the best account of himself
in all aspects of life, whether related to home, family, neighbourhood,
society, work, school, law courts, etc.
5.3. Soul nourishment
The imbalance and the lack of satisfaction of our souls have lead to
their restlessness, though we may have satisfied all our physical needs.
For instance, Scandinavian countries rank in the top ten in education,
innovation, life expectancy and general economic well-being. However,
still, statistical studies have shown that suicide rates are relatively high in
these countries and other rich countries like Japan and Hungary (18).
18. List of countries by suicide rate, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_suicide_rate.
Retrieved on January 2018
18
Therefore, the satisfaction of our physical needs is not enough to have
a happy and satisfactory life. We need to be attached to God in order to
satisfy and nourish our souls and get a balanced happy life. God
summarises this meaning in the following two verses of the Glorious
Qur‘an:
―Those who believe and whose hearts find comfort in the remembrance
of God. Surely, it is in the remembrance of God that hearts find comfort‖
(Qur‘an, 13:28).
"But whoever turns away from My remembrance, for him is a stringent
life. And We will raise him on the Day of Resurrection blind‖ (Qur‘an,
20:124).
6. Spiritual practices
Religions are known to be a means of attaining spirituality. Spiritual
practices aim at concentrating on the nourishment of the human spirit or
soul instead of concentrating on only the physical earthly materialistic
things.
In religions, individuals believe and worship the super-controlling
―God or gods‖. Usually, religions are associated with sets of beliefs and
rituals that are supposed to get the person into the right relationship with
God. Generally speaking, religions teach people to be closer to God and
lessen their dependence on the materialistic world.
6.1. The major religions of the world
There are thousands of practised religions in the world. However,
nearly 75 % of the world's population practise Christianity, Islam,
Hinduism, and Buddhism. Both Christianity and Islam are Abrahamic
religions which preach one God and rely on revelations from God through
prophets. The two religions rely on different sets of rituals and practices
in order to get their followers closer to God.
Hinduism and Buddhism, on the other hand, are East Asian religions
which are not based on divine revelations. They believe in Karma and
reincarnation. Karma refers to the spiritual principle of cause and effect
19
where the intent and actions of an individual (cause) influence the future
of that individual (effect) in cycles of reincarnations. By going through
these cycles of the reincarnation, which is called Saṃsāra, the soul learns
things. According to Saṃsāra, one is born and dies elsewhere in an
endless cycle.
While Asian meditation techniques concentrate on the disengagement
of the mind to reach nothingness, Islamic and Christian spiritual practices
aim to concentrate and fill the mind with God‘s devotions.
6.2. The disconnection between spirituality and
religion
With the rise of secularism in some Western societies, an increasing
percentage of people today are defining themselves as nonreligious.
However, those nonreligious people who do not identify themselves with
a particular religion still, find themselves in need of some sort of a
spiritual experience.
Because Eastern practices like yoga claim that they could be practised
independently from religion, nonreligious people have found it possible to
integrate Eastern spiritual knowledge with their secularism. Hence,
religion and spirituality today in the Western countries have been
disconnected.
7. Yoga spiritual practices
Hinduism and Buddhism are the major Eastern traditions, representing
22% of the world population. In both faiths, yoga is usually practised with
the purpose of transcending the mind and attaining enlightenment.
Yoga is thousands of years old. However, since the 1970s, yoga has
become internationally popular for its spiritual and physical benefits. At
the 2017 International Yoga Festival, participants from 101 countries
attended the festival.
7.1. Health benefits of yoga
Most people practice yoga for physical and mental health benefits,
including a stronger sense of mental clarity, physical fitness, flexibility,
20
relaxation and enlightenment. Yoga, along with meditation, has also been
commonly recommended as a complementary therapy. Most people who
have practised yoga have reported better health after yoga exercises.
Some published studies have suggested that yoga may be beneficial in
managing pain like lower back pain and mental health issues such
as stress, anxiety and mild depression. Positive impacts on cardiovascular
diseases, such as hypertension, obesity and sleeping problems, have also
been reported (19).
In addition, many yoga teachers integrate lessons on important
principles, such as kindness, truthfulness, and self-discipline.
7.2. Is yoga a religion?
Most yoga practitioners would answer this question with "no" and
they usually claim that yoga is a spiritual practice that has nothing to do
with religion. It could be exercised by the followers of any faith.
They also say that in yoga there is no dogma, and the yogi isn't even
required to believe in God, observe religious rituals or learn or keep
specific prayers.
Therefore, yoga, spiritual practices have become more popular in the
West as people can keep their religious beliefs as Christians and Jews
while they still practise spiritual yoga exercises.
Theologically, Hindus believe in one supreme God, who created the
universe and many other gods who perform various kinds of functions.
Buddhism, on the other hand, is a non-theistic. However, Buddhists still
recognises a cosmic creator known as Ishvara. Most yoga traditions
emphasise self-realization, rather than worshipping God as their main
focus. Both Hinduism and Buddhism believe in reincarnation.
Religiously, meditation is practised by both Hindus and Buddhists to
elevate oneself to the state of enlightenment called Nirvana. According to
Hinduism, Nirvana means the union of the inner self with Brahman. In
Buddhism, the state of Nirvana is a means for the liberation from the
endless reincarnations and sufferings.
19. Lamb, T. (2001). Health benefits of yoga. http://caeyc.org/main/caeyc/proposals-
2011/pdfs/KellyPinzak.pdf
21
Figure 5: There are seven Chakra centres with the characteristic colours (A).
The Chakras are located on the crown, between the eyes, the throat and four
on the spine. Unblocking the Chakras by meditation is supposed to allow the
flow of energy from the first Chakra at the base of the spine, where there are
two coiled sleeping serpents (B).
According to the Yoga Sutra, which is the ancient authoritative text
widely referred to today in yoga classes, yogis should clearly follow a
moral code to reach the mystical state of Samadhi enlightenment or the
union with the Divine. The yoga tradition also recognises the path
of Bhakti which includes in its practices chanting to deities, praying and
fasting.
Usually, during meditation, both Hindus and a Buddhist set up altars
and sit on the floor facing images or statues of Buddha or Krishna and
chant their names. According to Hindus beliefs, chanting Hare Krishna in
yoga means ―linking up with the Supreme‖ (Krishna) and getting in direct
touch with him.
Therefore, though teachers of meditation claim that they do not
necessarily worship the images or statues of Buddha or Krishna as deities,
it is naive to think of yoga as a wholly secular activity.
We may, therefore, conclude that yoga, which is widely practised in
schools, hospitals, prisons and other secular institutions across the
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
A B
22
Western countries today has descended from Eastern religions, though it
has taken a claimed status of nonreligious spirituality.
7.3. Yoga schools and practices
The term "Yoga" covers a number of methodologies, each with a
number of schools. There is a broad variety of yoga schools, practices,
and goals in Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism. They all rely on a group
of physical, mental and spiritual practices which originated in ancient
India. In addition, there is a great number of distinct new styles of "Yoga"
that have been introduced by the individual teachers. The major branches
of yoga are Hatha, Rāja, Lāya, Jñāna, and Bhakti.
Hatha yoga is a branch of yoga, which emphasises physical exercises
to master the body along with the mind. It uses these exercises to
withdraw the mind from external objects in order to achieve
enlightenment. Hatha may require a diet to internally purify the body.
Rāja Yoga is an internal yoga, which concentrates on the last three
limbs (steps) of the eight limbs of yoga. Through Rāja yoga the yogi aims
to get the bliss of calm, serenity, peace and contentment. Rāja yoga
concentrates on the perceptual awareness and union with the divine.
Therefore, Rāja yoga is the highest state of yoga. However, it is
impossible to practice Rāja yoga without first practising external yoga
exercises.
Lāya yoga, like Kundalini, aims to awaken a three and half times
coiled serpent sleeping at the base of the spine (See Figure 5B).
Prolonged internal meditation is required to awaken the serpent, and
release the stored energy which moves up along the spine upbraiding and
purifying the six Chakras on the way up to the crown chakra.
Bhakti yoga refers to devotion to, and the love of a personal god or a
representational god by the devotee, while Jñāna yoga is considered the
most difficult path of yoga, requiring a great strength of will and intellect.
7.4. Spiritual but not religious
According to a study conducted in 2017, the number of Americans
who do not identify themselves with any religion has increased from 15%
in 2007 (19), to 20% and 27% in 2012 and 2017 respectively. This means
that more than one-fourth of the US public are unaffiliated with any
23
religion and their number is continuously growing. Of these religiously
unaffiliated Americans, 37% classify themselves as spiritual but not
religious (20).
The stressful demands of modern life are considered as a threat to
human intelligence. So, people who are not religious are still yearning for
a way out of thinking in their busy lives. Because yoga scholars claim that
yoga is a spiritual practice which is not related to a religion or a dogma,
non-religious meditation has been adopted as a spiritual practice for those
who are non-religious. In this way, they enjoy the benefits of spiritual
practices by emptying their minds from the worries and turmoil of life to
reach nothingness and enlightenment.
Consequently, the trend of non-religious spirituality has been
propagated and gained a lot of popularity in the West. Interestingly,
Americans who practice meditation are more often highly educated than
the general public, and most of them have attended at least some colleges
(20).
Table 3: The increase of “spiritual but not religious” Americans, by age and
education (Based on 20).
The category of adults who identify
themselves as „spiritual but not religious
2012
%
2017
%
Change
Ages 18-29 20 29 +9
30-49 20 30 +10
50-64 21 29 +8
65+ 14 17 +3
High school 16 20 +4
Some College 20 32 +12
College graduate 23 32 +9
20. More Americans now say they are spiritual but not religious, http://www.pewresearch.org/facttank/
2017/09/06/more-americans-now-say-theyre-spiritual-but-not-religious/ft_17-09-
06_spiritual_increaseof/. Retrieved January 2018.
24
Figure 6: Both Transcendental Meditation (left) and Zen (right) have
gained interest in mass media and scientific Journals.
Many of those who are ―Spiritual but not religious‖ have been
attracted to both Zen and Transcendental Meditation (TM). Both types of
meditation have been reviewed by many academic journals and
magazines and have been widely propagated by all types of mass media
(See for example Figure 6).
Zen is a distinct form of Buddhism which emphasizes rigorous selfcontrol
and meditation practices. It originated in China and spread to
Vietnam, Korea and Japan. Zen involves focusing on the third eye, which
often symbolizes a state of enlightenment. The third eye (inner eye) refers
to an invisible eye located between the eyebrows (Figure 7). In the
spiritual traditions of Hinduism, the third eye is recognised as the gate
that leads to inner realms and spaces of higher consciousness.
Transcendental Meditation (TM) on the other hand, was introduced by
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in the mid-1950s. By the early 2000s, TM had
been taught to millions of people, and the worldwide TM organization has
grown to include educational programmes, health products, and related
services. The technique has been seen as both religious and non-religious
and has been propagated as a non-religious method for relaxation and
self-development.
It should be mentioned that before teaching the TM technique, a
religious ceremony is performed and a ―Mantra‖ is provided to each
25
student. The mantra used is a name of on of the Hindu gods. Therefore,
TM is obviously a religious practice. However, it is naively followed by
nonreligious people in the West. Furthermore, courts in the US have ruled
that TM is not a secular discipline, and they considered it a Hindu religion
(21).
7.5. The deception of yoga spiritual practices
As mentioned before, yoga in the West is often promoted as a way to
relax the mind, improve the mood and rejuvenate the body and spirit.
However, people overlook the fact that originally Eastern meditation
never meant to reduce stress and bring about relaxation as the teachers of
the yoga in the West claim. Eastern meditation, in fact, is innately
religious practices for Asian gods to achieve union with the universe.
The Hindu scripture called the Bhagavad Gita introduces the ritual of
yoga to achieve union with the spirit of the universe. Both Hindus and
Buddhists believe in "Pantheism" in which God is everything and
everyone. Consequently, a tree is God, a rock is God, the sun is God, you
are God, etc. In this way yoga philosophy does not make a distinction
between man and God. Therefore, even though yoga and meditation are
disguised in the West as a spiritual exercise, they are rituals of
polytheistic religions.
No matter the claims in the West, that a yogi does not need to change
his religious beliefs, actually the practised yoga rituals are innately
devoted to different Hindus gods like for instance, the Lord Krishna.
Now, people who get deep into yoga rituals and pratices, open
themselves up to the spiritual side of Hindu and Buddhist religions and
gods. This means that they open themselves not only to to polytheism, but
also to the demons of these gods.
We may conclude that the claims of yoga teachers that people can
enjoy spirituality without being religious are misleading and yoga, in
reality, is meant to achieve union with Hindu gods.
21. US District Court, Newark, NJ, on October 29, 1977, and the US Court of Appeals, Philadelphia, PA
February 2, 1979).
26
Figure 7: The speculated third eye spot which occurs between the eyes.
On the other hand, practising yoga seduce and absorbs people for
hours every day and keep them away from worshipping, meditating and
communicating with our real Almighty and Supreme God.
―Say,'What thing is more solemn in testimony?' Say, 'God is Witness
between you and me. This Quran was revealed to me, that I may warn you
about it, and whomever it may reach. Do you indeed testify that there are
other gods with God?' Say, 'I myself do not testify.' Say, 'He is One God,
and I am innocent of your idolatry'‖ (Qur‘an 6:17-19).
7.6. Is yoga dangerous?
A number of common yoga poses are inherently risky (See for
example figure 8) and if done incorrectly, they may cause physical
injuries ranging from relatively mild injuries to permanent disabilities.
People trying to stretch their bodies into difficult poses that are
beyond their physical limitations may cause injuries to the knee, lower
back, shoulder, etc. Overstretching muscles too far beyond their resting
lengths may damage them and may tear the cartilages. Ligaments — the
tough bands of fibre that connect bones or cartilage at a joint — may also
be damaged and fail to regain their shape once stretched out, leading to
strains, sprains and dislocations. Some yoga poses can even lead to
fractures or ruptures of delicate bones, heavy pain and internal bleeding.
27
The negative side effects of yoga are not always physical. Practising
too much yoga or practising it incorrectly can also cause psychological
harms which may include pseudo-death, pseudo psychosis, confusion,
hallucination, increased anxiety, panic attacks, suicidal patterns,
depression, homicidal urges, insomnia, inability to talk, inability to drive,
and feelings to self-mutilation and grief. Headaches, temporary blindness,
sexual pains, split personalities and social issues could also arise as has
been reported by several scientific journals (22-24).
Therefore, yoga exercises are not recommended for children under
sixteen because their bodies‘ nervous and glandular systems are still
growing, and yoga exercises may interfere with their natural growth (25).
The third eye activation by Zen, Kundalini or other types of
meditation have frequently caused side effects like headaches, pressure on
the forehead, a tingling feeling on the forehead, migraines, seeing shapes
and vivid dreams. Though these symptoms were said to be cleared up in a
few days, they could be a lifelong problem that might eventually lead to
death (25).
Therefore, one may ask, what is behind all the above serious
psychological side effects when people get deeply into yoga? In fact,
people who practise yoga are unaware that they are practising rituals for
the demons of Hindus gods. So, they may open themselves to demonic
possession and invite these demons into their beings and into their lives
and they become more vulnerable to pathological and psychiatric
complications. In addition, they also invite these demonic entities into
their homes and their families.
In addition to all the above, yoga has caused different social problems.
It has divided families and friends. Some yogi left their jobs and families.
22. Lindahl, J. R., Fisher, N. E., Cooper, D. J., Rosen, R. K., & Britton, W. B. (2017). The varieties of
contemplative experience: A mixed-methods study of meditation-related challenges in Western
Buddhists. Plos One, 12(5), e0176239.
23. SHAPIRO, D.H. (1982). Overview: clinical and physiological comparison of meditation with other
self-control strategies, American Journal of Psychiatry, 139, pp. 267-274.
24. Epstein, M. D., & Lieff, J. D. (1981). Psychiatric complications of meditation practice. The Journal of
Transpersonal Psychology, 13(2), 137.
25. SHAPIRO, D.H. (1992). Adverse effects of meditation: a preliminary investigation of long-term
meditators, International Journal of Psychosomatics, 39, pp. 62-67.
28
Figure 8: Yoga is religious practices for Hindu gods to achieve union with
the universe. It never meant to reduce stress and bring about relaxation as
claimed.
Some others have sold all their material objects and left to Asia searching
for the promised enlightenment.
7.7. Commercialisation of yoga
The fashion of yoga is sweeping the world. More people across the
world are attracted to the magic benefits of yoga propagated by different
types of media about stress relief, flexibility, overall well-being, balance
and mental clarity.
The luxurious yoga of today dramatically differs from the simple
lifestyle of the 5000-year-old ancient Indian religious practices which can
obviously be seen in Figure 8.
According to the Wall Street Journal, yoga has been practised not
only at yoga studios, but also in offices, schools, hotels, grassy meadows,
hospitals, private homes and prisons. Estimates of the number of global
yoga practitioners are as high as 250 million. In the UK, ―yoga‖ is
considered one of Google‘s most searched-for words in 2016 (26).
26. Hakuta J. Has Yoga Lost Its Soul? Part I: Selling Out and Innovating,
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/justin-hakuta/yoga-sell-out_b_1157089.html?ref=yoga.
Retrieved January 2018.
29
In 2016, a yoga study in America conducted by Yoga Journal and
Yoga Alliance reported that the number of US yoga practitioners has
increased to more than 36 million, up from 20.4 million in 2012.
Interestingly, women represent 72 percent of yoga practitioners (27).
Inevitably, yoga has become a thriving and growing industry and an
upper-class lifestyle around the globe. The business of yoga includes
classes and yoga-related products like clothing, books, mats, yoga retreats
and vacations and even food and juice cleanses.
The annual spending of practitioners on yoga classes, clothing,
equipment, and accessories in the US rose from $10 billion to $16 billion
over the past four years. Practitioners spent $5.8 billion on yoga classes,
$4.6 billion on yoga clothes and $3.6 billion on yoga mats and other
items. Globally, yoga is now worth $80 billion. The exercise mat business
was $11 billion and clothing generated $35 billion in 2015 (27).
The TM movement alone operates a worldwide network of TM
teaching centres, schools, universities, health centres, etc. The global
organization was reported to have an estimated net worth of USD 3.5
billion (28).
The US Patent and Trademark Office has reportedly issued 150 yogarelated
copyrights, 134 of which were yoga accessories. In 2017, there
were 2,315 yoga trademarks (29).
What concerned the India most, is that many yoga poses have been so
far patented in the USA. Therefore, Hindu gurus and some 200 scientists
from the ‗Council of Scientific and Industrial Research‘ (CSIR) in India,
counteracted the patenting of yoga poses to the United States and Europe
by compiling and patenting a list from 16 ancient texts, including the
Mahabharata and the Bhagavad Gita (30).
27. http://media.yogajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2016YIAS-Release-Final. Retrieved January 2018.
28.‘‘Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. The Times. London (UK). 7 February 2008.30.
https://www.richardrosenyoga.com/yoga-land-india-patents-1300-yoga-moves.html. Retrieved, 11.
2017.
29. https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/sep/17/yoga-better-person-lifestyle-exercise).
Retrieved, 11. 2017.
30. Yoga land: India patents 1,300 yoga moves, https://www.richardrosenyoga.com/yoga-land-indiapatents-
1300-yoga-moves.html. Retrieved, 11. 2017.
30
7.8. Conclusion
Yoga is a Hindu and Buddhist religious practices. Therefore, the claim
that yoga is a non-religious practice is deceitful to attract people to a
global big business which is worth billions of dollars.
Yoga rituals are supposed to be devoted to Indian gods. The
engagement in these rituals deeply may lead to the possession of the yogi
with the demons of these gods. Therefore, these rituals may lead to
lifelong physical and psychological harms to both the yogi and his family.
Practising yoga seduces people for hours every day and keep them
away from worshipping God. We are not supposed to spend hours to
empty our minds and reach nothingness. We are supposed to connect with
and get close to God, to achieve the real spirituality we are looking for.
Figure 9: Practising yoga may lead to serious demonic side effects
instead of the supposed spiritual enlightenment.
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8. Spiritual practices in Christianity
8.1. How did Jesus’ worship God?
Jesus (PBUH) was not sent with a new religion. He was sent to the
lost sheep of Israel, to fulfil the Law of God and to bring the Jews back to
the Straight Path of God (Matthew 5:17).
As a Jew committed to the Law of God, Jesus (PBUH) was
circumcised, ate the food of the Jews and attended Jews‘ temples and
synagogues, where he practised Jewish rituals. He even taught and
explained their Law (Luke, 21:37). There is no single evidence in the four
canonical Gospels which suggests that Jesus (PBUH) abandoned Judaism
and worshipped God or ordered his disciples to worship Him in a
different way.
Therefore, logically, we would expect spirituality in Christianity to be
based on both The Old Testament, which contains the Law of God, which
Jesus was sent to fulfil, and the Gospels which record the practices and
teachings of Jesus (PBUH).
8.2. Forms of Jesus’ prayers
The Bible does not give us firm definitions to distinguish the term
prayer, meditation and contemplation. However, Jesus (PBUH) practised
them all and from the wording of the verses and their circumstances, we
may tell what form of prayer was meant or practised.
On several occasions in the Bible, we find Jesus (PBUH) withdrawing
from his followers to a solitary place to pray the whole night.
―One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray and spent
the night praying to God‖ (Luke 6:12).
―After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to
pray. Later that night, he was there alone‖ (Matthew 14:23).
What would Jesus (PBUH) do in a solitary place on a mountain all the
night? It is unlikely that Jesus spent the whole night just supplicating to
God. He probably (PBUH) spent the whole night communicating with
God using different forms of rituals like physical prayers, supplications
(vocal prayer), meditation and contemplation.
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It was an opportunity for Jesus (PBUH) in his solitude to enjoy the
closeness to God. He probably wanted to supplicate to God to express his
love and the appreciation of God‘s favours; he wanted to assert his
commitment to preach the Law he was sent to fulfil; he wanted to ask
God to help him in his mission to guide the stubborn sons of Israel to
return back to God‘s Straight Path. Jesus (PBUH) also wanted to meditate
to relax and find rest after a full day of preaching people, and he wanted
to contemplate the Law of God and His Transcendence and Might.
―Truly my soul finds rest in God; my salvation comes from him‖
(Psalm 62:1).
―Surely, it is in the remembrance of God that hearts find comfort‖
(Qur‘an, 13:28).
8.2.1. Supplication (Vocal prayer)
Verses of the Bible tell us that Jesus (PBUH) was in continuous
communication with God, and he was fully dependent on Him. He prayed
at dawn and before leaving (Mark 1:35-36), before choosing his disciples
(Luke 6:12-13), when the Jews did not believe him in spite of his miracles
(Matthew 11:25-26), before and after healing people (Mark 7:31-37;
Luke 5:16), before feeding people (e.g. Matthew 15:36, Mark 6:41, Luke
9:16), before eating (Luke 24:30) before walking on water (John 6:15),
etc.
Figure 10: On the left, Muslim ladies raising their hands praying to God. On the
right, Ethiopian Christian ladies like Muslim ladies are praying to God while
raising their hands. Notice that the Ethiopian ladies still modestly keep the tradition
of covering their heads during their prayers - like Muslim ladies.
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8.2.2. Meditation
The word "meditate" and "meditation" are mentioned 18 times in the
Old Testament and 3 times in the New Testament. The following are
some examples.
―May my meditation be pleasing to him, as I rejoice in the Lord‖ (Psalm
104:34).
―Cause me to understand the way of your precepts, that I
may meditate on your wonderful deeds‖ (Psalm 119:27).
"My soul thirsts for You; my flesh longs for You in a dry and thirsty land
where there is no water. So I have looked for You in the sanctuary, to see
Your power and Your glory" (Psalm 63:2-3).
―This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall
meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according
to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous,
and then you will have good success‖ (Joshua 1:8).
―And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think
they will be heard because of their many words‖ (Matthew 6:7).
Therefore, it is obvious that meditation was practised by the believers
to demonstrate that they yearn for and rejoice in their closeness to God by
conversing with Him. They appreciated the favours of God upon them.
The above verses, among many others, also draw our attention that
meditation was also practised through discursive thinking and reasoning
(contemplation) and not just by repeating a mantra.
The verse in Joshua (1:18), emphasises the great importance of the
Law of God. Therefore, the believer‘s should rehearse the Law of God
during their meditation day and night as the verse indicates, and they
should be committed to it in order to be successful. Interestingly, although
Jesus (PBUH) was sent to fulfil the Law of God (Matthew 5: 17), because
of its importance, after him, Paul dropped the law of God and freed
people from it.
