• Welcome to Religious Forums, a friendly forum to discuss all religions in a friendly surrounding.

    Your voice is missing! You will need to register to get access to the following site features:
    • Reply to discussions and create your own threads.
    • Our modern chat room. No add-ons or extensions required, just login and start chatting!
    • Access to private conversations with other members.

    We hope to see you as a part of our community soon!

Yoga Sutras and Bible Parallels

PearlSeeker

Well-Known Member
I've noticed some interesting similarities in chapter Ashtanga Yoga. Five yamas (ethical don'ts) are similar to five of ten commandments that concern all fellow humans (6.-10.).

Nonviolence. - - > You shall not murder.
Truthfulness. - - > You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
Not stealing. - - > You shall not steal.
Chastity. - - > You shall not commit adultery.
Non-possessiveness - - > You shall not covet your neighbor’s house, nor his wife, his man-servant, his maid-servant, nor his ox, nor his ***, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.

We can also notice a difference. Yamas are more general while commandments are more specific.
 

PearlSeeker

Well-Known Member
Let's see also niyamas (the do's) that complement yamas. We can find similar positive observances in Jesus' Sermon on the Mount.

Purity. - - >

Blessed are the pure in heart...

... everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for justice...

Blessed are the merciful...

... whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them...

Contentment - - >

Blessed are the meek...

Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven...

Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you...

... do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on...

Blessed are those who work for peace...

Tapas - - >

When you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret.

And when you fast...

... when you give to the needy...

Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and ruste destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.

Study of self - - >

The eye is the lamp of the body...

... first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.

Self-surrender - - >

... seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness...

There are also other verses in Bible but I referred only to the Sermon on the Mount.
 

Vinayaka

devotee
Premium Member
Some verses are indeed close. The original yamas and niyamas had 10 each, not 5, but later got edited to 5. The yamas and niyamas are the first 2 of the stages (or limbs, as some people view it). There are 6 more stages, getting progressively deeper.

It's not surprising to find similarities, as there are many ethics that are more or less universal. Stealing, murder, ... I know no religion that would encourage those.
 

Fool

ALL in all
Premium Member
I've noticed some interesting similarities in chapter Ashtanga Yoga. Five yamas (ethical don'ts) are similar to five of ten commandments that concern all fellow humans (6.-10.).

Nonviolence. - - > You shall not murder.
Truthfulness. - - > You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
Not stealing. - - > You shall not steal.
Chastity. - - > You shall not commit adultery.
Non-possessiveness - - > You shall not covet your neighbor’s house, nor his wife, his man-servant, his maid-servant, nor his ox, nor his ***, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.

We can also notice a difference. Yamas are more general while commandments are more specific.
you might find this interesting



Edgar Cayce and the Yoga Sutras
 

MNoBody

Well-Known Member
I've noticed some interesting similarities in chapter Ashtanga Yoga. Five yamas (ethical don'ts) are similar to five of ten commandments that concern all fellow humans (6.-10.).

Nonviolence. - - > You shall not murder.
Truthfulness. - - > You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
Not stealing. - - > You shall not steal.
Chastity. - - > You shall not commit adultery.
Non-possessiveness - - > You shall not covet your neighbor’s house, nor his wife, his man-servant, his maid-servant, nor his ox, nor his ***, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.

We can also notice a difference. Yamas are more general while commandments are more specific.
these kinds of synchronicities seem to imply that there was an original proto-civilization at some distant point which had a core system of ideology that went out with the early colonizers who went everywhere, and the core idea mutated and adapted to the new geographical and climatic environment, which is reflected in the development tree we can see in each branch of human ideological development globally......
 

PearlSeeker

Well-Known Member
Asanas

Patanjali has no neck-breaking asana instruction. Meditation position should be comfortable and steady.

The Bible doesn't contain any instructions on body posture during contemplative prayer/meditation. There is only some mention of traditional positions.

"Meditate in your heart upon your bed, and be still." (Psalms 4:4)

Standing meditation:
"Go out and stand on the mount before the LORD." (1 Kings 19:11)

Seated position:
"King David sat down before the Lord..." (2 Samuel 7:18)

Kneeling position:
"When Paul had finished speaking, he knelt down with all of them and prayed." (Acts of the apostles 20:36)

And a few more...
 

PearlSeeker

Well-Known Member
these kinds of synchronicities seem to imply that there was an original proto-civilization at some distant point which had a core system of ideology that went out with the early colonizers who went everywhere, and the core idea mutated and adapted to the new geographical and climatic environment, which is reflected in the development tree we can see in each branch of human ideological development globally......
In this case I doubt there are any geographical/cultural connections (cultural diffusion). Only spiritual.
 

PearlSeeker

Well-Known Member
Pranayama

Prana is similar concept to "breath" in the Bible but I'm not sure it's (always) the same and there is no mention of controlling prana through breathing.

"He gives breath to everyone, life to everyone who walks the earth." (Isaiah 42:5)
 

MNoBody

Well-Known Member
Pranayama

Prana is similar concept to "breath" in the Bible but I'm not sure it's (always) the same and there is no mention of controlling prana through breathing.

"He gives breath to everyone, life to everyone who walks the earth." (Isaiah 42:5)
the breath of lives which moves within everything, animating the entire work, without which it would collapse into nothing.
 

Vinayaka

devotee
Premium Member
I don't see any historical connection. Much as the Rockies, Alps, Andes, and Himalayans are similar rugged mountains that developed independently, so too with ethics. They can be similar without a connection. I don't see the value in looking for connections. Each stands by itself.
 

PearlSeeker

Well-Known Member
Pratyahara (withdrawal of the senses)

This is hard to track in the Bible. I haven't find any mention of such interior ascetic practice. The closest (but not the same) were: physical isolation, mastery over senses, detachment from material possessions and worldly concerns... As I understand these belong to tapas and niyamas.

"Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth." (Colossians 3:2)
 

PearlSeeker

Well-Known Member
Dharana (Concentration) and
Dhyana (Contemplation)

The closest I could find:

"When I remember You on my bed,
I meditate on You in the night watches." (Psalms 63:6)

“Martha, Martha,” the Lord replied, “you are worried and upset about many things. But only one thing is necessary." (Luke 10:41-42)

"Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maidservant to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the LORD our God, till he has mercy upon us." (Psalms 123:2)
 
Last edited:

PearlSeeker

Well-Known Member
Samadhi (union with One)

"I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me." (Galatians 2:20)

"I and the Father are one." (John 10:30)
 
Last edited:
Top