RECOMMENDED READING

Celtic Prayers from Iona, J. Philip Newell, www.paulistpress.com

Christian Yoga, Barbara Moeller, www.lourdeswellnesscenter.org, 856-869-3127

Prayer of Heart and Body: Meditation and Yoga in Christian Spiritual Practice, Thomas Ryan, CSP, www.paulistpress.com, 1-800-218-1903

Reclaiming the Body in Christian Spirituality, Thomas Ryan, CSP, ed., www.paulistpress.com, 1-800-218-1903

Yoga for Christians, Susan Bordenkircher, W Publishing, release date March 2006, contact www.christianyoga.us for more information

Selected Bibliography
by Kevin Flynn

Abhishiktanananda, (Henri Le Saux, O.S.B.) Prayer. London: SPCK, 1967, revised edition 1972.

The author, a Frenchman by birth and a priest of the Benedictine order, lived as a holy man in a hermitage at Gyansu in the Himalayas, taking an Indian name which means “Bliss of the Anointed One.” The book combines treasures of Indian spiritual heritage with a profound and satisfying Christian teaching.

Amaldas, Yoga and Contemplation. Foreword by Bede Griffiths. New York: Crossroad, 1982.

Amaldas was an Indian Christian and a member of Bede Griffiths’ ashram at Shantivanam. The book provides an excellent overview of hatha yoga, with instruction on asana, pranayama, and meditation from the experience of a Christian practitioner.

Amaldas, Christian Yogic Meditation. Wilmington, Delaware: Michael Glazier, Inc., 1983.

Continues the work he began in his earlier book with greater emphasis and detail on meditation as growth in Christ consciousness.

Carlo SVD, Gilbert, Christian Meditation Through Yoga. Pune, India: Ishvani Publications, 1999.

An overview of yoga, with an emphasis falling on yoga for prayer. Includes some description of asana with photographs of acceptable quality. The author, a Roman Catholic priest from India, includes some mantras and chants in Sanskrit with Christian content. Apparently there is a tape with the music for these. He has also produced a couple of videos.

Davila, Caesar Augustus, The Keys to Thy Kingdom, trans. from the Spanish by Monica Reynoso-Gauta. Quito, Ecuador (?): The Center for Yoga and Christianity.

The late Fr. Davila, a diocesan priest in Quito, established centres for the practice of Christianity and Yoga in a number of Ecuadoran cities under the title of Asociacion-Escuela de Auto-Realizacion. More emphasis on concentration and meditation than on asana.

Déchanet, J.-M., Christian Yoga, (Originally published as La Voie de Silence, 3rd edition, translated by Roland Hindmarsh. First French edition, 1956) Tunbridge Wells, Kent: Search Press, Ltd., first published 1960, eighth impression 1984.

Perhaps the first published appreciation of Yoga from a Christian perspective, the author, a French Benedictine, presents Yoga as a means to encourage contemplation in the tension of the modern world.

Drego, Pearl, Pathways to Liberation: An Essay on Yoga-Christian Dialogue. New Delhi: The Grail, 1974.

A lovely book by a Christian Indian woman, exploring asana, psychology, philosophy, and Scripture. A dialogue between Christianity and Yoga. Out of print, but if you can track down a copy, it is a gem.

Johnston, William, Silent Music. The Science of Meditation. New York: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1974.

One of many works by this author, this is a synthesis of insights from modern science and time-honoured wisdom from Eastern and Western religious traditions. Having taught for many years at Sophia University in Tokyo, the author is especially conversant with Zen meditation.

-----------------------, “Arise My Love...” Mysticism for a New Era. Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis Books, 2000

While not dealing exclusively with Yoga, this book reflects positively and constructively on the interface between especially the magesterial teaching of the Roman Catholic Church and the mystical insights of Christianity and other world religions.

Maloney, George A., S.J., Prayer of the Heart. Notre Dame, Indiana: Ave Maria Press, 1981

A guide to contemplative prayer with particular emphasis on the Jesus Prayer tradition. The author is helpful in bridging the cultural gap between the desert Fathers and possible contemporary applications of their teachings.

Mascharenas, B.C.M., Yoga and Christian Thought. Bombay: Society of Saint Paul, 1973?

I haven’t yet read this, having only just discovered the title.

Matus, Thomas, Yoga and the Jesus Prayer Tradition. An Experiment in Faith. Preface by Bede Griffiths. Ramsey, N.J.: Paulist Press, 1984.

Matus, a Camaldolese Monk, examines the relation between tantric yoga and hesychasm by comparing the experiences of St. Symeon the New Theologian and Abhinavagupta. A remarkable blend of scholarship and personal experience.

Michaëlle, Yoga and Prayer (First published in French, Les Editions du Cerf, 1977) London: Search Press 1980.

Michaëlle, a disciple of Jean Déchanet, provides an overview of Yoga asanas, pranayama, diet, etc. She offers a series of prayers and meditations that may be linked to asanas. Attractive line drawings by a Poor Clare.

O’Brien, Justin, Christianity and Yoga. A Meeting of Mystical Paths. London & New York: Penguin Books, Arkana, 1989.

Many fine insights into connections between the yoga tradition(s) and Christianity, including a chapter on the Beatitudes. His musings on gnostic Christianity and his possibly adoptionist Christology will mitigate the book’s value to more traditional Christians.

Roth, Nancy, A New Christian Yoga. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Cowley Publications, 1989.

Written by an Episcopal priest this is a gentle introduction to the use of hatha yoga linked to prayer.

St. Romain, Philip, Kundalini Energy and Christian Spirituality Originally published by The Crossroad Publishing Co., NYC, 1991. Wichita, KS: Contemplative Ministries, Inc. 1004.

The author writes out of his experience of the rise of kundalini energy over the course of several years while deeply engaged in Christian prayer and worship. Provides a good orientation for Christians, including some reference to the prayer experiences of some Christian saints, to this experience which is widely known and discussed in a number of Yoga traditions but not so in Christianity.

Zaleski, Irma, Living the Jesus Prayer. Ottawa: Novalis, 1997.

Beautifully written introduction to the technique of the prayer and a meditation on its import.

Selected Bibliography
by Doreen Corwith Eckert

Bruteau, Beatruce, (compiled by) The Other Half of my Soul, Bede Griffiths and the Hindu-Christian Dialogue, Quest Books, 1996

Douglas-Klotz, Neal, Prayers of the Cosmos, Meditations on the Aramaic Words of Jesus, Harper San Francisco, 1990

Edwards, Tilden, Living in the Presence, Spiritual Exercises to Open Our Lives to the Awareness of God, Harper San Francisco, 1995

Kabot-Zinn, John, Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life, Hyperion, 1994

Rama, Swami and others, Meditation in Christianity, Himalayan Institute, 1983

Roth, Nancy, The Breath of God, An Approach to Prayer, Cowley Press, 1990

Yogananda, Paramahansa, Man’s Eternal Quest, Self Realization Fellowship, 1982
(has several chapters on yoga and Christ)