"Yoga Invites Demons" Former Yoga Teacher's Warnings | Angela Ucci
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Summary
Angela is a former astrologer, yoga teacher, reiki practitioner, and tarot reader who spent nearly a decade engaged in New Age spirituality before finding true religion. She has a YouTube channel with over 1 million views where she talks about yoga and other topics related to spirituality.
Transcript
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Angela, as you know, is a former astrologer, yoga teacher, Reiki practitioner, and tarot reader
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who spent nearly a decade engaged in New Age spirituality before finding true religion,
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which is great. And she has a really interesting story, which you can listen to for a long period
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of time on my YouTube channel. That's available now. I think it's at 1.1 million views. You can
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go check that out. And now we welcome on Angela. Angela, thank you for coming on the show.
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So I want to start with a topic. We can branch off from there. But today is my day for difficult
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truths where people are going to want to shoot the messenger, but I'm just calling it like I
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sees it. And we were talking about this in the 2024 presidential race, and I'm not going
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to hold back. And now I'm going to have to irritate, I think, a not insignificant percentage of
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the audience when I point out that yoga is bad. I know young white women, even older white women,
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white women of a certain age, they love yoga, but no bueno.
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No. In fact, a couple of minutes ago when you said, speaking of people that insult their audience,
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I thought that's how you were introducing me because this insults my audience more than any
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other topic. And it's really amongst Christians that I get the most backlash from. And I have found
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that it is because, honestly, I'm just going to come right out and say it's because yoga is the
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practice that invokes the most demons. So when you're practicing yoga constantly, you are entirely
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demonized. And so not only is your flesh kind of at enmity with the truth of what yoga is, but
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the demons are too. They don't like to hear that. And that's really why it gets the most backlash.
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But yeah, it's not the practice for Christians to be engaging in. I got this directly from the
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Indian Ministry of External Affairs, which is the government agency that's responsible for
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implementing Indian foreign policy. They say that yoga is essentially a spiritual discipline based
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on an extremely subtle science which focuses on bringing harmony between mind and body. The practice
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of yoga leads to union of individual consciousness with the universal consciousness. And so thus the aim of
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yoga is self-realization to overcome all kinds of suffering leading to the state of liberation, which they
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call moksha, otherwise known as freedom. So it's about living with freedom in all walks of life,
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health, harmony, which would be the objective main focus of the yoga practice. And so that's just like
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right away, completely antithetical to what the Bible says. We know that freedom comes from Jesus
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Christ. We know that John 8.36, if the sun sets you free, you are free indeed. We know 2 Corinthians 3.17,
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the Lord is the spirit. And where the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And the spirit of the
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Lord is not engaged in a Hindu practice, straight up. So the yoga, I always say is a, and I think I said
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this on your show, is that yoga is a spiritual practice with physical benefits. It is not a physical
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practice with spiritual benefits. And when you really go back into the roots of yoga, because it's so
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important to really understand these things as they originate. You come back to this God, this Hindu God
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known as Shiva. So Shiva is the first yogi guru in the ancient yogic lore. And he's also known as
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Shiva, the destroyer or the God of destruction, which is funny when you look at scripture, how it says that
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the enemy is, his intention is to steal, kill and destroy. So that's kind of interesting.
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But it's believed in the Hindu religion. And for context, the religious worldview of Hinduism
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surrounds the foundational concepts basically of oneness and pluralism, which in and of itself is
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contradictory, but that's a discussion for another time. So it's believed that Shiva destroys the
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universe at the end of each 2 billion year cycle, which comes into its own thing with reincarnation
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and other things that we don't believe as Christians. And he destroys the universe at the
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end of each of those cycles, which allows for a new creation, which they call Brahma. And Brahma is
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known as the God of creation. So that's essentially saying our God. Of course, again, that's antithetical
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to our worldview. But this is the basis of yoga because it's within this belief that it's said
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that Shiva, the destroyer, taught yoga to the seven great sages. And that was so that they could pass
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their knowledge along to all of humanity. And so those seven great sages are, get this, the mind-born
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sons of Brahma, of creation. So the sons of God. Who do we know is the son of God, right?
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So it's just this major antichrist spirit that is behind the curation, the origination of the yoga
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practice, the narrative of the yoga practice. And we know, I love to reference this verse in terms of
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the yoga practice. First Corinthians 10, 21, where it says, you cannot drink the cup of the Lord and
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of the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and of the table of demons.
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And that's exactly what engaging in the yoga practice is. You are partaking of the cup of
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demons. And I don't care how dramatic it sounds. That's what scripture says. And when you look at the
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history, when you look at the narrative of yoga, when you look at the foundations, it is demonic.
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It is pagan. It is not of God. It is of devil. Because if it's not of God, it's of the other guy.
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Okay. Now, what do you say to our dear liberal or even somewhat conservative white women friends
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who say, look, man, I get it. I'm even willing to agree with you. And maybe it's some weird like
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kind of demon thing or whatever. But for me, it's just a thing I do before brunch on Sundays. And so I
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go, I just stretch out my body. It's, I'm not trying to commune with spirits. I'm just trying to be a
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little peaceful and like sweat in my Lululemon pants. And then I go get a smoothie and eggs
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Benedict. And why, you know, if, if I am not engaging with it, if I don't consciously view it
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that way, then why is it bad if I kind of, you know, stretch around and do the ohms or whatever?
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Right. So to that, I say, um, we know that the word says that the heart is deceitful above all
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things first and foremost. So your intentions are kind of irrelevant to that. I mean,
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the, the entire gospel alone proves that how, you know, Jesus came for us because we would never be
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able to, to get to heaven without him because we are just innately sinners. And so I say all the
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time that there is, regardless of your subjective intent, there is always an objective reality to the
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things that you're participating in. And I like to use a very simple example of say a single mom,
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you know, is struggling, can't keep a roof over her head, can't feed her kids. So she goes out and
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with the best intentions, she goes out and robs a bank so that she has the money to sustain her family.
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Subjective intention, good. Wants to provide. Objective reality, a crime. Should not be doing that.
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So, I mean, you know, apples and oranges, but it's just, it's just the point is your subjective
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intention does not negate the objective reality. This is such an important point. This is something
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a lot of people misunderstand even about Christianity, but this is the essential point of the sacraments
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is, uh, in our modern age, we think that all, all that really matters is my feelings, you know,
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or my intentions, the road to hell is paved with good intentions or my mind space or my vibes,
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man or whatever. And they fail to observe that Christianity is not a feeling and it's not a
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philosophy and it's not a poem. It's a fact, right? The gospels are journalism. They're not,
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they're not, uh, some work of fiction or poetry or something like that. And so in the sacrament of
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baptism, you, if you're being baptized and I don't know, the morning's news pops into your head
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or you start thinking about how much you look forward to the cheeseburger after the baptism,
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or I don't know, you start thinking about your cousin, Bill, and then the priest baptizes you
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and you say, oh no, I, did it take? I don't know. I wasn't in the right mind space, man.
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What people are confusing is the preeminence of objective reality over subjective feeling.
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The person who is doing the acting in baptism is not you. It's the Holy Spirit. That's the point.
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When Christ goes and he heals the sick, it's not the sick who are acting. It's Christ who is acting.
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When the priest forgives sins, who sins you forgive or forgiven, who sins you retain or retain,
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it's not you who is acting. I mean, you're, you're penitent, obviously you're requesting absolution,
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but it is, it is outside of you. And that, that is very liberating. I just, in a lot of new age
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practices, you know it a lot better than I do. It seems like the whole point of it is just to
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focus yourself on yourself. And with yoga specifically, it's, it's, I mean, that's true
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because it's ritualistically designed by means of enlightenment and it's self enlightenment.
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Um, I mean, the primary, the primary goal of the creation of yoga is salvation, personal self
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salvation. And so within the context of the Christian worldview, the result is, I mean,
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it's inevitably blasphemous just to be honest about it. Um, because Hinduism, which is again,
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yoga's founder is the direct antithesis of everything that the Bible says to be true.
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And as you just said, you know, the Bible, what the Bible says was Romans 10, Romans 10,
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nine through 10. Um, and so we don't, we, we just really shouldn't be doing this. And I know
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it sounds like, well, why, why can't I stretch? Why can't I do this? Why can't I do that? I know
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it sounds innocuous, innocuous, but that's how the devil loves to present himself. Second Corinthians
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11, 14, he comes as an angel of light. Everything about yoga is presented as light and love.
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There's a reason that the mindfulness industry is like a $1.1 billion industry because it just
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capitalizes off of this lie of light and love. It capitalizes off second Corinthians 11, 14.
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I love that point. I just want to hit it really briefly, which is that mindfulness and meditation,
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we hear about it all over the place. It's in schools now. And even I, I'm fairly attuned to
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this stuff. Even I sometimes let it pass by. I think, oh yeah, mindfulness, whatever, some hippie
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dippy thing. But no, of course, mindfulness and meditation, that's presented as light.
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That's presented as love. But of course that isn't that. I want to get your take on the people
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who are with you so far. They say, okay, yeah, sure. It's demon stuff. Okay. Maybe I shouldn't
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do it. Maybe it's weird if Christians engage in these liturgical practices of non-Christian
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religions, but aren't all people just kind of moving toward God? Meaning, you know, maybe we're,
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we think God is like a fire hose and someone else thinks God is like a big tree trunk, but actually
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we're all just kind of blind and we're just grabbing different parts of the elephant, you
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know, man. And so I'm grabbing the nose and someone's grabbing the leg, but it's all, we're
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all kind of doing the same thing. Isn't that, isn't that a lot less harsh, you know, isn't that a lot
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nicer to, and just kind of more inclusive and welcoming? Well, it goes back to what we were just
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talking about, like subjective intention versus objective reality and how you even said Christianity
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is a fact. And I mean, it sounds harsh, but the truth often comes not easily taken. Yeah. It's not,
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it's not always easy to hear what is objectively true. And as far as inclusivity goes, it's, it's a moot
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point because the truth is there, there is no such thing as oneness. All roads do not lead to God.
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The Bible says that broad is the road to destruction, but narrow leads to the gate. And so
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the narrow road is the, is the Christian lifestyle. And I'm not saying that because I want to be right.
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I'm saying that because I know God's word to be true because I know God keeps his promises. I know
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he is faithful. I know that Jesus is who he says he is when he says he is the way, the truth, and the
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light. You know, Buddha said he is a truth seeker. Mohammed said he is a prophet of truth. Jesus said,
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I am the truth. And so I just, I'm not here to make anyone feel better. And I don't say that from a
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place of disrespect. It's just, I don't care about your feelings. I care about your eternity.
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I care about the, your soul. I care about what's going to happen to you at, at, at the other side,
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at the other side of this life. And I've said before on my own podcast that,
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you know, if someone was standing on a street corner about to set themselves on fire,
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you wouldn't just let them do it. You want to just be like, yeah, go live your truth. If that's what,
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if that's what you need to do for yourself, that, that seems like a great idea. Go ahead. It's like,
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no, you would take the match. You would take the gasoline. And that's what I feel
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most Christians, I won't say all Christians, because there are Christians that don't do it
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well, but most Christians that really want to demonstrate the gospel. When we tell you about
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the word of God, that's what we are doing. We are trying to take the match and the gasoline from you
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and tell you that there is a better way because there is the way. And that is Jesus.
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But, you know, Penn Jillette, who was an atheist, I think he might still be an atheist.
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He said, 15, 20 years ago now, he said that he didn't have any respect for Christians who don't
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proselytize. Because he said, if you really think that I'm in danger of hellfire, then I should hope
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you care enough about me to mention that I'm maybe on the wrong path. What do you make of this
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objection from Hamoto Dragon, who says, quote, everything I don't like is just the devil and
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demonic. Because sometimes, you know, when you talk about these things a lot, sometimes people think
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that you're just, you know, claiming that everything that doesn't tickle your fancy is,
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you know, a red guy with a tail and horns. It's like satanic panic. Right. So sin,
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the things that we tend to like as human beings are often sinful. And that does come from our fallen
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nature, which comes from the result of a fallen world, which is the devil's doing, essentially the
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serpent in the garden. So, I mean, that's not necessarily a false thing to say. The things
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that we enjoy as human beings are often sinful and thus they're demonic. You know, if someone
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enjoys going out and getting drunk every night, that's demonic because it's just a blatant sin.
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But not all things that we enjoy are that way. I mean, maybe in this culture, it's so easy to fall
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into, because of concupiscence, it's so easy to fall into pleasures that are vicious. But if you
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practice virtue and you try to turn away from that stuff, then one can derive a great deal of joy from
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taking a walk in a park, playing music or something like that. Right. So, yeah, I'm not saying, you know,
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taking a walk in the park is demonic, but you know what I mean? It's just like within the context of
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things that, I guess, that the Bible would categorize as what is sinful. Taking a walk in
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the park, spending time with your pets, that's not demonic. But the point with yoga specifically
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is a completely different animal from somebody enjoying flying a kite, taking a walk in the park,
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going parasailing, surfing, stuff like that. It's like when the vine is pagan, the fruit cannot be holy.
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Yeah. And so, the vine here, specifically with yoga, if that's what this person is alluding to,
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something that they enjoy doing, then the fruit of yoga, if the vine is Hindu and the fruit is yoga,
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so then we take it from this point of view. The vine is yoga, so the fruit is idolatrous.
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It's false worship. It's explicitly condemned in the word of God, and that just is what it is.
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And in John 15, Jesus calls himself the vine. That's the only vine that we should abide in.
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There's only one vine that produces holy fruit, and apart from him, we can do nothing.
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And so, just given the design, the history, and the purpose, and the definitions surrounding yoga,
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we can be assured that the one whose branch grows from the practice is withered and thrown away,
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I'm struck even by the language that people use around this stuff, because there are going to be
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maybe more people after this segment than before who say, okay, you're right, yoga, I'm not going
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to engage in it. It's kind of weird. It's probably demonic. It's not good for me. Okay, I'm not going
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to do it. But I just want to be at one with the universe, you know? I just want to manifest good
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things, you know? Like, I just want to feel some good vibes, man. I'm putting good vibes out for you.
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And, you know, it's just like, it's like a yin and the yang. You know what I mean, man? And I'm
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being slightly hyperbolic with the way I'm using this language. But people, even conservative people,
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Christian people, traditional people, because language is so slippery, and because it's so
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prevalent in our society, and we're mimetic creatures, so we just imitate what other people
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do, they'll just use this language. And then the more you use that kind of language, the more it
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informs your view of the world, because language constitutes, in many ways, our view of the world.
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I've heard people say, hey, can you just pray to the universe, man? And I think praying to the
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universe is explicitly condemned by all of the monotheistic religious views, and of course,
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Christianity. Praying to the universe is to pray to creation, which is idolatry. And I know you don't
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mean to say that you want to be idolatrous, but that's how slippery the language can be.
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100%. And I did say this on your show. If you go into a yoga studio, that's what you're going to
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hear them say, is let's, you know, oneness with the universe. Let's channel our source energy. It's
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not going to be about God. When I was at the tail end of my journey in New Age, when I was teaching
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yoga, and I was starting to wake up to the truth of Christianity, I tried to be like, well, I'm going
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to be a Christian yoga teacher, which is a hilarious thing that people like to say to me sometimes.
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I'm going to be a Christian yoga teacher, so I would try to talk about God. And it was just like,
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it just struck the room in such a way where it just did not belong, because it's not of God.
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So why are you trying to bring God in? God has nothing to do with the yoga practice.
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You know, it's really funny that, you know, I mentioned at the beginning, there's an antichrist
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spirit behind yoga, and that's true. And it's actually called the kundalini spirit. So there's
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something in the yoga practice that they refer to as the kundalini spirit often. And it's
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literally referred to as a coiled snake that lives at the base of your spine. And yeah,
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a coiled snake, we know what the snake is. And so through the yoga practice, this snake
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travels up through your chakra system. And this is done through the particular asanas,
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and the asanas are the movements that you go through. Stretching, by the way, I will just
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say as a sidebar, stretching and yoga are two different things. You can stretch, just do not
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stretch within the context of yoga. I try not to do either, though. Just to be safe,
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Angela, I try not to exercise or, you know, work out in any way. There's plenty of ways to exercise
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without channeling ancient deities. I'll just be really careful, though. I'm going to be on the
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side of caution. This snake travels up through your chakra system, according to yoga. And it's done
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through the multiple poses and the asanas. And the intention with that snake traveling up through
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your spine and through your all your seven chakras up through your head is to align with a higher
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version of yourself. And so basically the Kundalini spirit is a counterfeit Holy Spirit. And so this
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whole play of Satan with the with the lore of the Kundalini spirit and yoga, it's crafty because
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it is an assault to our very God given design to crave the supernatural. You know, God gives us these
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yearnings because we are created for relational intimacy with our creator. But too often,
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we simply just don't want to invest the time, the fervent Bible study or a prayer or, you know,
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church going to really witness that. And so that, you know, the timing with the Holy Spirit is always
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in God's hands. It's not by our demand. And so then here comes the false prophet of the Kundalini
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spirit of this this lore of the yoga practice that's like, oh, I can have it right now. And so yoga is
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just like a deception within that context. And, you know, it's funny. It's funny, Angela, because
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it's, you know, when we say these things, you know, like yoga is bad, you know, there's demons
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involved, don't do it. Then the lib media break it out. They say, listen to these crazy people. And I
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think, you know, look, obviously, according to the modern liberal view of things, we probably sound
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pretty wacky, but we're not innovating here in any way. We're just stating something that Christians
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have believed for all of history and that the Old Testament Jews believed before there were such
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a thing as Christians. And so when you zoom out beyond the myopia of the last two decades or
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something of pop culture, and you look at the scope of history, our view is the consistent view of the
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church forever. I got in trouble the other day because I pointed out that artificial contraception
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is like really bad and you shouldn't do it. And headlines all over the place. Well, this crazy
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radical guy, I think, you know, there's nothing innovative about what I just, there's nothing
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original about what I just said. I'm articulating the view of the church for its entire history.
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You know, if people have a little perspective on this, I think they'll notice that what
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is strange is not the voices that are supposed, according to the mainstream media, are supposedly
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fringed today by expressing eternal religious truths. But maybe the fringiest, wackiest, most bizarre
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people are the ones engaging in all sorts of kooky practices in our modern culture that are the
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ones that we are pointed to right now. We got to leave it there. Angela, where can people find you?
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So you can find Heaven and Healing Podcast on YouTube, Apple, and Spotify. My Instagram is just
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my full name. And I do actually have like a two-hour episode all about the yoga practice if people
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want to hear more. Excellent, Angela. Always wonderful to see you. And I would encourage people
00:22:55.840
to go check out our very long interview over at the Michael Knowles YouTube channel. And we'll have to
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