The Christian response to the popularisation of yoga in the west has taken two forms. The first is represented in literature originating in some Protestant evangelical churches. Some of this sees no good at all in yoga. Yoga is viewed as highly dangerous: its practice is to be avoided at all costs.
More academic studies such as that of John Allan entitled "Yoga - a Christian Analysis", examine different forms and schools of yoga, including several of those studied in the second part of this book.
Allan is dubious about the possibilities of using any yogic practices purely for improving one's health and he has considerable worries about possible occult or even demonic influences - "at the very least the advanced yogi is leaving himself open to tremendous temptations".
He does not encourage the view that some yogic techniques can be disengaged from their Hindu background and used to enhance the spiritual lives of Christians.
An alternative Christian response to the advent of yoga in the west and to yoga as encountered in its country of origin is more affirmative. This recognises in yoga approaches to spirituality that have the potential to contribute to a rejuvenated Christian spiritual praxis as well as an opportunity for dialogue with Hinduism. This approach has been spearheaded during the second half of the twentieth century by a small group of individuals mainly within the Roman Catholic tradition. These have opened up a range of possible uses for yoga within the context of Christian meditation and spirituality. Before this is done however, the question will be asked as to whether such an undertaking is permissible in terms of the Catholic Church's teaching.

THE RATZINGER DOCUMENT
In October 1989 the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith issued a "Letter to the Bishops of the Catholic Church on some aspects of Christian Meditation". The letter was signed by Cardinal Ratzinger, Prefect of the Congregation and it represents the Catholic Church's most authoritative statement to date on matters relevant to the application of yogic methods to Christian meditation.
Like the evangelical writers mentioned above, the Catholic Church too - going by the Ratzinger document- sounds a cautionary note where yogic practices are concerned. It stresses that "getting closer to God is not based on any technique in the strict sense of the word", but is essentially God's gift. It warns against identifying the grace of the Holy Spirit with any kind of psychological experience, or sensation of relaxation, light or warmth. It holds that to regard these kinds of sensations as symbols of mystical experience "when the moral condition of the person concerned does not correspond to such an experience, would represent a kind of mental schizophrenia which could also lead to psychic disturbance and, at times, to moral deviations". While the document does not make any specific reference to yoga apart from one footnote in the introductory chapter, it is true that psychological and sense experiences of the type referred to in the document are used widely within the yogic and particularly the tantric tradition as triggers for a variety of altered states of consciousness.
The Ratzinger document does not limit itself to issuing warnings about the dangers of meditation based on practices of non-Christian origin. On the positive side it states that ways of praying used by the great world religions should not be rejected out of hand simply because they are not Christian. It goes on to say that "one can take from them what is useful so long as the Christian conception of prayer, its logic and requirements are never obscured" . It mentions with approval a number of specific practices from which Christians might receive inspiration, e.g., the "humble acceptance of a master who is an expert in the life of prayer". This line can be understood to apply to - among others - the Hindu model of guru and disciple which is the traditional setting for yogic practice.
The document also makes the point that the emphasis placed on bodily posture, breathing and the heartbeat in the context of prayer, has for centuries been part of the spiritual traditions of Christianity - but those of the east rather than the west. Here physiological processes are utilised legitimately as symbols of spiritual experience - an example being the "Jesus Prayer". Despite the "dangers" referred to above, the Ratzinger document acknowledges that genuine practices of meditation, not only from the Christian east, but also from the great non-Christian religions, can be' a suitable means of helping the person who prays to come before God with an interior peace, even in the midst of external pressures .
At the time of its publication a number of Catholic commentators expressed disappointment at what they felt to be the negative tone of the Ratzinger document. However, bearing in mind that the role of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith is that of "goal-keeper" among the Church's departments, cautionary language was to be expected. Of much greater significance is that the Congregation left open the possibility for Christians to hold dialogue with non-Christians and, in the context of the present work, with Hindu yogis, hinging on the common experience (at least) of bodily posture and awareness, breathing and heartbeat.

PIONEERS IN THE DIALOGUE BETWEEN YOGA AND CHRISTIANITY
The spiritual leaders studied in the following chapters had done most of their work well before the Ratzinger document was published. Between them they incorporated a wide selection of yogic techniques into Christian spirituality. Contrary to what was suggested in some sections of the media at the time, Cardinal Ratzinger's letter in no way denigrated the theology of anyone of them, or of others like them. On the contrary, it appeared to this writer to endorse - albeit cautiously - their general approach to using yogic techniques as means of becoming more open to union with God in Christ in a way that is faithful to the demands of Christian theology and spirituality.

Louis Hughes OP

Illustration: Anne Alcock

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