The push to foist Hinduism on Jamaicans has intensified. Spiritualists and yoga practitioners from India are making covert and overt visits to the country in recent months with the support of government officials.
The most recent initiative to get Jamaicans to worship deities was a Sahaja Yoga meditation tour which started on August 19 and concluded on September 10. The three-week tour, which focused on the North Coast and Kingston, saw participants learning yoga and transcendental meditation techniques to ignite a personal journey to start incorporating these ancient Eastern practices in their daily lives.
“The public sessions are really just the start point of your individual journey of discovery. We strongly recommend everyone to continue meditation at home to get the full effects. There is a free app available to help with this,” stated a section of the promo for the event, which was being staged in partnership with at least two major universities, The India in Jamaica High Commission, and a few local yoga studios.
Yoga is being pushed globally as a form of exercise; however, several former practitioners and pastors have warned that it is the worship of other gods and could cause demonic oppression for practitioners.
Prophet Andrew Harris, a former journalist now residing in the United States, is cautioning parents and educators that the practice is not as harmless as it seems.
“You may think that yoga is not harmful, and it is stretches and stuff. I guess people want to do exercises, but for yoga, every stretch and pose you do, you realise that they have names,” he said.
“Every stretch they do is giving a praise to some form of deity in the Eastern Hindu religion, basically,” he explained.
The practice has become commercialised in Jamaica, with several gyms and exercise studios offering it alongside other ancient eastern practices like Tai Chi and Pilates.
In the US, yoga is big business with the sale of Hindu apparel, classes, and accessories. According to Forbes Magazine, in 2024, there were over 300 million yoga practitioners worldwide, and the global yoga industry is projected to be worth $215 billion in 2025.
“It is a form of making money, but it’s a danger. We are opening up the children, and the children are the most vulnerable in the society,” said Prophet Harris before issuing this stern warning, “I would caution the schools. I would warn parents. Parents, it is your responsibility to guard your child, because all of this stuff they are doing is going to affect your child.”
According to a BBC report in 2020, yoga practices were deemed incompatible with the Christian faith by the powerful Greek Orthodox Church.
The church body ruled that yoga has no place “in the life of Christians,” after Greek media recommended yoga as a way to combat stress during the coronavirus quarantine.
“[Yoga] is a fundamental chapter in Hindu religion… it is not a ‘kind of physical exercise’,” the Holy Synod said in a statement.
Other religions have also advised against the practice. The ancient spiritual practice has connections to both Hinduism and Buddhism.
