Yoga

Islamic forum is not a right place for asking about yoga because yoga was originated from Hinduism and contains Hindu's ritual.That was a reason why Malaysian and Indonesian ulema council passed a fatwa that ban yoga for Muslim.

Ardianto is quite right in saying that Yoga originated from Hinduism. I would add that the goal of Yoga reflects the Hindu philosophy of discovering divinity within ourselves. However, the yogic steps leading to its ultimate goal are many and in the early stages it is largely about achieving physical health and its practice is not dependent on the practitioner owing allegiance to any particular religious belief system.

islamic yoga?! thats kinda ... the way i see it is yoga is to them like salah is to us

Salat is about praying to God or worshiping God. Yoga has nothing to do with praying to God or worshiping God - it is about discovering our potential. It is another matter that in discovering our potential we discover God.

is it because it is to unite with the "god" that is in you?

I have a feeling that one of the moderators is going to step in and terminate this discussion of Hinduism in an Islamic forum. But I think it would be interesting if this discussion is allowed to continue.

It is not about "uniting with the 'god' that is in you". (This implies that there is something alien within you.) The Hindu understanding is that all existence is one. Yoga is about discovering this in practical living. Yogis (the practitioners of Yoga) are seeking to achieve a state of integrity in the very act of living. The result is the living of an enchanted and harmonious life, which is our very birthright but often obscured because we tend to think that the truth is "out there" - when we are ourselves the truth.

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It boils down to an individual attaining "peace that surpasseth all understanding". This yogic legacy of Hinduism is there to be claimed by any individual. Any denial of access to it, for whatever reason, would be artificial and temporary - Man needs to know himself before he can know anything else.

so it is 2 step process?1 I find myself2 after having found myself Brahman will just pop up and take up residence in me?

"Brahman" as used in Hinduism (not to be confused with Brahma or Brahmin, which words have a different meaning) does not mean God or Allah. God or Allah primarily means 'creator'. Brahman does not mean 'creator' but is the 'is-ness' of existence. I do not blame Muslims of being contemptuous of what they think is the Hindu claim of everyone being "God". For the Abrahamic religions, God is the entity that makes "footstools of nations". When Hindus say everyone or everything is God, they only mean that all existence is one. The oneness of all existence they call Brahman. This word Brahman has been misunderstood as God, the creator. God the creator is a concept that is transcended in the highest teachings of Hinduism - generally known as Advaita.

Therefore, to answer your question - discover yourself and discover you are God, nay - beyond God.

Originally Posted by doorster
would you please make-up your mind? what is the difference between me saying " discovering god within oneself" and you ealier saying "discovering divinity within ourselves"

So long as it is understood that by God we do not mean a creator separate from his creation, there is no difference between saying 'discovering god within oneself' and 'discovering divinity within ourselves'. We are thereby only saying that we are discovering the oneness of existence. God is not an alien.