While spirited and God-fearing Americans continue to debate the merits and menace of yoga, bless their hearts, LA’s Loyola Marymount University, the largest Catholic university on the West Coast has initiated a Certificate Program in Yoga Philosophy. Yep, a full list of courses covering:
…the study of classical yoga, various schools of Hinduism, Sanskrit, mantra chanting, Yoga Sutra of Patanjali, meditation, Samkhya Karika, hatha yoga, tantra, Kashmir Shaivism, moksha, Upanishads, Bhagavad-Gita, etc. Dr. John Casey and Dr. Christopher Key Chapple are the main instructors besides various guest lecturers who are experts in their respective fields.
Surprising? Well, not so much, if you knew LMU already offered a 200 hr yoga teacher training, and a Yoga Therapy certificate program helmed by the renowned likes of one Larry Payne PhD RYT 500, president of the International Association of Yoga Therapists. Did we mention this was a Roman Catholic university “rooted in the Jesuit and Marymount traditions”? Take that soul-sucking demon yogazoids!
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Earlier…
I love this. In my experience, too, Catholic Academics seem to be more…secure than, you know, some of the Evangelicals.
Thomas Merton, the famous Trappist Monk, famously said, “I want to become as good a Buddhist as I can,” sometimes using Sanskrit terms to explain his shared spiritual principles.
And my brother’s all-boys Catholic high school even invited ISKCON to make a presentation to their World Religions class, hosting a huge Hare Krsna kirtan in their quad. Let’s hear it for mutual admiration. 🙂
Gotta love the Jesuits! 🙂
I attended a small, Jesuit liberal arts college 20 years ago, and one of the classes offered by the Religion department was “Hinduism.” One of the best courses I ever took there, outside my department. In another “REL101” course, the Jesuit professor stated that he believed the Bible was merely a collection of stories/myths. Blew my mind at the time to hear him say that, and I experienced a real shift in perspective about so many things I had been raised to believe.
Anywho, I’d love it if they offered this program online – I’d register!
I went to Loyola, New Orleans and came out with nothing but love and respect for the Jesuits. Oh yeah, and a degree in World Religions!
Jesuits value critical thinking and studying a wide range of subjects above indoctrination and closed-mindedness. Every student at my Loyola, regardless of major, studied philosophy, history, religion, science, language and a few other mandatories for good measure. How are you going to become a knowledgeable, well-rounded person if you spend all of your mental energy on one subject? That was the idea anyway.
Go Loyola Marymount! Keep up the good work!
Bravo. We’re in a new age indeed.