from an interview with Sharon Gannon of Jivamukti Yoga

from the www.jivamuktiyoga.com Web site:

Fr. Anthony: Where do you see conflicts between Yoga teaching and
Christian teaching?

Sharon: It appears to me that there are fundamental conflicts between yogic teachings and Christian teachings, but NO conflicts between yogic teachings and the teachings of Jesus.
If there was a movement to save Jesus from the Christians, I might join it! (Ha ha, I guess internally I already have joined it)

Jesus was a yogi: He lived the yogic life: Through acting in a way which was harmonious with the creation He felt the presence of God within His own being and was no only able to identify with it but to exemplify it so as to inspire others to remember their own True nature.

I and my father are one. -John chapter 10 this is Yoga! Could have come straight from Patanjali. Yogash Chitta Vritti Nirodha: Yoga sutra chapter1:2 which translates as: When you cease to identify with the fluctuations of the mind then there is yoga; identity with Self.

During his time Jesus was giving some pretty radical teaching, I and my father are one. is radical because it cites our true identity with the Divine (the Sacred Unity, Alaha), which means all that is. That which is seen and not seen. That Scared unity has to include all, so it even implies nature. This is radical because if we could identify with the Divine in this sense, then what would happen to our guilt or our anxiety or our insecurities and fear of loosing? If we knew ourselves to be connected with the All how could we enslave others or exploit them or see Mother Nature as belonging to us and existing for our benefit alone? How could culture survive? Without fear to plague us we may not need the heavy -handed control of the state. We would recognize the entire world as a Divine expression of our own greater heart.

There might be anarchy- oh my! Self-rule. Can't have that for a society based on the exploitation of others.  When one is governed by Love, one tends to see through the motives of man-made selfish laws. One can only be controlled through their anxiety, which is why culture is so keen on keeping us in a state of anxiety.  My teacher often said: "Yoga is the state where you are missing nothing."-Shri Brahmananda Sarasvati 

Jesus taught love and non-violence The social-political forces were threatened by his teachings, so they did what they had to do to maintain control. They turned His message upside down. By inverting the good news that the kingdom of heaven was within, and Love is the way to enter this Kingdom. The cultural powers focused on deifying Him, creating more separation. Separation or disconnection was what Jesus was trying to heal. After devaluing His teachings in lue of his deification the church became busy pointing an accusatory finger at pagans (worshipers of mother earth) and other savages who did not bow down to the One True Way.  The Church switched the focus from realization of the true nature of the soul to the worship of One Man The Church has been marching their armies over His message of love thy neighbor as thyself, in a frenzy to search convert and/or destroy.

There is indeed a basic difference between the Yogic teachings and the Bible in how the teachings are communicated. The yogic way does not emphasis proselytizing It is thought that One cannot be made to accept the teachings. One must instead already have the inclination inside of them and from that a person is able to hear the teachings. Isn't that what Jesus may have meant when he said, "He who has ears let them hear."