This week begins a four-part class in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. The Yoga Sutras are among the core scriptural sources chosen by Paramhansa Yogananda when he came from India to the West to share the ancient wisdom of India. There are innumerable sources from which Yogananda could have chosen in addition to which are countless commentaries by some of India’s greatest rishis and scholars.
While the beloved Hindu bible, the Bhagavad Gita, is unquestionably Yogananda’s favorite go-to, he recognized the scientific and analytical contribution that Patanjali made when Patanjali codified the ancient insights into the human mind and higher consciousness and the method to achieve God-union.
So, has the rest of the world of yoga and yoga’s leading lights. In Autobiography of a Yogi, there are principally two chapters that describe the Sutras: Chapter 7-I Join the Swami Order, and, Chapter 26-Kriya Yoga. And the Sutras have two core insights: its famous definition of the state of yoga-union, and, its outline of the eight steps to liberation, the Eightfold Path of Raja (or Ashtanga) Yoga.
There are many, many other fascinating revelations in the Sutras of the soul’s journey including the appearance of miraculous powers known as siddis. These powers have been demonstrated by saints in every religion notwithstanding modern skepticism.
Sutras are a playbook on the science of meditation though specific techniques are reserved for the disciple-guru relationship as has long been the tradition in scriptures of East and West. Nonetheless, Patanjali acknowledges that many forms of meditation can help validate one’s approach.
Patanjali enumerates the psychological blocks to the depth of concentration needed to transcend ordinary consciousness, including subconsciousness. Meditation on the OM vibration and sound is considered by Patanjali an essential element of the practice.
The number of translations and commentaries on the Yoga Sutras makes its study bewildering, to say the least. Swami Kriyananda, blessed with the gift of articulate clarity, has offered to us a peerless window into the essence of the Sutras in his landmark book, “Demystifying Patanjali.” This will be the text for our class.
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Blessings to you,
Nayaswami Hriman