Your name:(Required)Email(Required) 1. The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali are considered the "Bible" of the path of yoga (meditation). Its defining aphorism is "Yogas chitta vritti nirodha". Please “translate” this sutra and explain why it is important.2. Pranayama is said to be the heart of the practice of meditation. Please translate this term and explain what it means and why it is so central to meditation practice.3. Yama and niyama are the first two stages of the 8-Fold Path. Please describe each of them:4. Why is a vegetarian diet recommended by yogis?5. List one yama and one niyama: give its Sanskrit name, its English name, what “power” comes with its realization:6. What is the mantra given in this course in synch with inhalation and exhalation for the watching-the-breath technique we’ve learned? Give the Sanskrit name and its translation.7. The alternate breath has numerous variations but some aspects are always present. Please complete these questions: Which hand is used for the mudra? Which finger closes the right nostril? Which finger closes the left?8. How would you explain what a mantra is to a friend?9. What does the word “yoga” mean? What is the GOAL of yoga practice?10. If someone asked you, “Do I need a guru?”, how would you respond?11. In which chakra does the ego have its “seat?” Where (which chakra) is the soul said to reside?12. What are the three bodies that together comprise our one human body?13. List the three gunas ? Which guna reflects: kindness? restlessness? anger?14. In which of the 3 bodies does the soul first appear?15. In which of the 3 bodies does the ego first appear?16. What are the two basic nadis (nerve channels) that lie along and outside the central, subtle spine?17. What is the name of the central, subtle spine?18. Pran and apan refer to the astral currents whose movement produces the physical breath which flow through the nadis named in #16 above. Which current goes with which nadi, and which current produces inhalation, and which produces exhalation?19. Please define the following terms: Kundalini, Vritti, Samskara20. Where (at which chakra) in the body does Life Force (energy and consciousness) enter at conception and exit at physical death?21. Give one suggestion on how to deal with intrusive thoughts during meditation:22. How might you combat sleepiness during meditation?23. At what point in a meditation routine is it best to use affirmations, ask for personal guidance, or offer prayers for others or oneself?24. Please share your thoughts on the importance of sitting in the silence after the practice of techniques:25. Are affirmations generally considered best used with the breath held in, or out?26. A bar of steel can be magnetized by a strong current of electricity going through it, or, by being placing it next to a magnetized bar. One method represents self-effort and the other represents divine attunement. Which is which? Current of electricity represents: ___________________ . Proximity to a magnetized bar represents: ____________________________.27. Paramhansa Yogananda shared his guru’s (Swami Sri Yukteswar’s) teaching that our earth has entered a new age. It is the second of four ages in a 12,000 year ascending cycle. What is the Sanskrit name for our current age? How or with what characteristics is our age associated with? Do you think humanity’s consciousness and awareness is growing or contracting?28. Watching the breath is used throughout the world in various traditions as the focal point for meditation. Why do you think that is?29. Let’s say you wanted to explain to a friend a very simple description of how to “watch the breath.” List at least three instructions you would give and which are part of what you learned:30. One of the core precepts of Vedanta philosophy that attempts to explain the process by which Spirit creates the cosmos from nothing and with an illusion is a principle or mechanism of motion of opposites known as: ___________31. The real purpose of all breath control techniques, including watching the breath, is to achieve a state of: