This unscheduled article has been induced by my short post on Facebook. A couple of days ago my sight was caught by an ad of “Patanjali Hatha Yoga” event in Kharkov, and I could not but turn the yoga community attention to incorrectness of this word combination. They started speaking about Hatha Yoga in the… Continue reading Hatha Yoga and Patanjali
Tag: patanjali
Difference Between Ancient And Modern Commentaries
Thorough analysis of primary sources assumes concurrent study of authentic commentarial works. Thus in the process of writing my commentary to every new sutra I usually thumb through primary classical commentaries that I here enlist. Some of them have turned into “favorites”, that is, must-reads: Vyasa, Mishra, Sankara, Bhoja, Sadashivendra. Aged 1000 years and even… Continue reading Difference Between Ancient And Modern Commentaries
Sutra 1.40. Chitta Extension and Densification
We have analyzed sutra 1.40 in the context of cognitive aspect proposed by Vyasa. But there can be a different view on techniques the sutra proposes. This kind of energetic practices can be found in all major esoteric Traditions though they may come under different names. In our School we refer to them as “the… Continue reading Sutra 1.40. Chitta Extension and Densification
Sutra 1.40. Another Post About Miracles
Many people are looking for kitschy miracles but turn their blind eye to the major one The sutra 1.40 been quoted out of context gave rise to numerous twisted fantasies that I intend to dispel. This sutra completes the passage on scattered mind (chitta vikshepa) restoration and stabilization methods, and reads as follows परमाणु परममहत्त्वान्तोऽस्य… Continue reading Sutra 1.40. Another Post About Miracles
Krakow 3. What Does “Svarūpa” Actually Mean?
The next report that I would like to refer to was made by Keith Edward Cantú from the University of California, Santa Barbara and explored the category of Svarūpa and its understanding in live Yoga Traditions of India, mostly of Bengal. The reader may remember that the term svarūpa (own form) was introduced by Patanjali… Continue reading Krakow 3. What Does “Svarūpa” Actually Mean?
Krakow 2. The History of Standing Asanas. James Mallinson’s Report
The next report that I would like to give my special consideration to was made by a person who is believed to be a living legend of yoga insider studies – James Mallinson. A British aristocrat addicted to Oriental studies since his early youth; a man who’s been practicing in one of authentic Traditions for… Continue reading Krakow 2. The History of Standing Asanas. James Mallinson’s Report
Sutra 1.35. Methods of chitta stabilization.
Part 4. Thoughtless brains beget evil ideas
In the next lines Patanjali proceeds with methods of chitta stabilization and bringing together that, as you might remember, have been already said to include the development of Anahata experience and control of breath. The line 1.35 offers one method more, yet its interpretation requires that we overcome a few challenges. The first challenge is… Continue reading Sutra 1.35. Methods of chitta stabilization.
Part 4. Thoughtless brains beget evil ideas
Sutra 1.32. Methods of chitta stabilization. Part one. Totalness
Having laid down the criteria of chitta scattering (chitta-vikshepa) in shloka 31, Patanjali dedicated further 8 shlokas (32 to 39) to methods aimed at withstanding this state, while another 2 shlokas that follow (40 and 41) speak about the results of “bringing” chitta together. So far as these methods are quite applicable and highly topical, I… Continue reading Sutra 1.32. Methods of chitta stabilization. Part one. Totalness
Chitta-vikshepa and energetic ties
There is a direct link between the theme of Chitta-vikshepa and another fundamental subject that Yoga and other esoteric systems have in their arsenal, namely – the subject of energetic “cords” or, as we refer to them in our slangy word – “tails and trails”. For non-practitioners I shall remind that when we speak about… Continue reading Chitta-vikshepa and energetic ties
The Archetypes of Wholeness and “Energy Loss”
In the previous article dedicated to psychosomatics in Yoga Sutras I draw reader‘s attention to the association between the state of “chitta-vikshepa” – the scattering of chitta – and somatic responses that has been foregrounded by Patanjali. Let me remind that the word “vikshepa” in the framework of “Chitta-vikshepa” term is derived from the verbal root… Continue reading The Archetypes of Wholeness and “Energy Loss”
Ishvarapranidhana
In the last dozen of my blog posts I have somewhat deviated from the linear and sequential expansion of the Sutra commentary. Many issues required clarification and more detailed consideration, or they were my contemplations that were wandering in such a mysterious way – so far the format of blog allows taking such liberties, unlike… Continue reading Ishvarapranidhana
Sutra 1.20. Prerequisites to Cognition
So, developing his idea, in the line 1.20: श्रद्धावीर्यस्मृतिसमाधिप्रज्ञापूर्वक इतरेषाम् ॥२०॥ 1.20. śraddhā-vīrya-smṛti-samādhi-prajñāpūrvaka itareṣām Patanjali tells that for others (itareṣām), i.e. different from those that we dealt with in the line 1.19 and whom I have referred to as the people of [spiritual] flow, the knowledge (prajna) is preceded (pūrvaka) by four factors: śraddhā, vīrya, smṛti and samādhi. Let… Continue reading Sutra 1.20. Prerequisites to Cognition
Sutra 1.19. Supernatural Beings vs People of Spiritual Flow. Mysterious Pratyaya
Would it occur to anyone to invite tenders for the most ambiguously understood and intricate sloka of the Yoga Sutras, the line 1.19 would be the safe winner. Sorting out this case is not an easy thing to do, so that I beforehand beg the reader’s pardon for this article to be this complicated. Now,… Continue reading Sutra 1.19. Supernatural Beings vs People of Spiritual Flow. Mysterious Pratyaya
Correlation Between the Dimensions of Human Existence
Notwithstanding the apparent simplicity of the sloka 1.17 it has a fundamental value in scope of Patanjali’s concept of Yoga and in understanding the principles of spiritual advance in general. As for its application significance, this line probably comes as the second most important after the one defining Yoga as chitta-vritti-nirodhah. In fact, in this… Continue reading Correlation Between the Dimensions of Human Existence