Christian yoga : an attempt at description based on selected examples

In the West the term Christian yoga evokes many radical controversies. Some believe in the possibility of placing yoga (usually perceived as a set of physical practices) within a Christian context, and would like to see it as a helpful tool for deepening of spiritual life. Others, however, maintain that yoga and Christian tradition are not compatible. Still, there are people who intend to combine these two spiritual traditions by adopting randomly selected elements from both. The paper presents and explains the first, and so far, the most comprehensive system of Christian Yoga as developed by a French Benedictine monk Jean-Marie Dechanet. In 1955 Dechanet published his first book - La Voie du Silence developing the philosophy of Christian Yoga, which is, in fact, the interpretation of yoga system in the light of Origen’s philosophy of human being. The fundamental concepts of Dechanet’s system are: anima-corpus, animus-mens and spiritus-cor. Establishing and maintaining harmonious relationship between them is the fundamental aim of Christian Yoga. On the basis of Dechanet’s thought, the author of this paper explores also some new approaches to Christian yoga.