Category: Uncategorized

A long time ago when I was just starting my study of yoga – guess it was 1986 or 1987 – one of my groupmates came with a clandestine reprint of a brochure made with the help of factory printing office. Though, it was not even a brochure: just several unbound sheets bearing the title… Continue reading On Yoga Sutras’ Five Translations

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 “Hatha Yoga after Patanjali” 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

They traditionally believe that the word “yoga” was not used in Vedas, at least in the context of designating a system of esoteric psycho-practices as we know it today. However, this is not quite the case.   Vedas indeed do not contain the word “yoga” as an absolute equivalent of the meaning we assign to… Continue reading Yoga and Magic. The Most Ancient Reference to Yoga in Atharvaveda

In the course of gearing up for my big lecture on Yoga Sutra I had come across a dramatic story that even Wikipedia mentions in its entry. I’ve called it “The Legend of Lost Sutra”. If briefly, the legend tells that Yoga Sutra, a sacred text known in India from ancient times, practically sank into… Continue reading The Legend of Lost Sutra

The succeeding lines of Yoga Sutras (namely, all remaining lines of the section) are dedicated to cognition. So I shall lay down a few considerations to make the reader mentally prepared. Most of Western people erroneously take yoga as a system of physical exercises. A kind of gymnastics. However, hatha-yoga is just a small element… Continue reading Yoga and Gnosis

Summing up the block of seven lines that Patanjali dedicated to exercising the state of mind wholeness (chitta-prasadanam), I shall try to explain why this subject has been essentially significant. One can by intuition guess that mind non-wholeness (chitta-vikshepa) correlates with vritti. And indeed, this opinion was shared by all commentators of Yoga Sutras We… Continue reading Mind Wholeness, Absent-Mindedness and Torpid Mind. Mistakes in Meditation

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

They have once again asked me: why in general read ancient texts, the more so commentaries on them? Why a person like me, a modern yogi who is rather future-focused than past-minded, the one who objects to traditionalism in all its manifestations and gives skeptical smile to talks on “paramparas” and consecrations, decided to spend… Continue reading Why Read Ancient Texts?

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

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

The next line of Yoga Sutra (1.40) dwells on siddhis – at least this is what most of modern commentators think – so I shall give my brief note on this disturbing issue, all the more so as some readers have already become restless in anticipation of this theme. Let me also remind that there’s… Continue reading Sutra 1.40. Eight Supreme Siddhis of Yoga Tradition

The subject of Tantra has definitely captured the attention, so I’ve created some intrigue. In order not to keep the reader in suspense I shall just say that: 1. NO, Patanjali did not use the word “tantra” in Yoga Sutras. 2. YES, he highlighted a group of techniques that were later made a groundwork of… Continue reading Sutra 1.39. Yoga Sutra and Tantra

In his developing the subject of chitta stabilization techniques Patanjali offers another group of methods, namely – the mechanisms of dreams interpretation. The corresponding sutra is very short and almost completely ignored by modern commentators, whereas classical scholiasts did not pay much attention to it as well. However puzzling it out is possible. Now, the… Continue reading Sutra 1.38. Yoga and Interpretation of Dreams

In the recent articles of the blog I have wandered a little off the point of Yoga Sutras’ text sequential analysis in favor of sharing interesting reports made at Krakow conference. Now I’m coming back on the track of the main issue. Let me remind the reader that starting from sutra 1.33. Patanjali draws a… Continue reading Sutra 1.37. Emotions and Wholeness

The word “nirvana” must be familiar to every more or less educated person living. It has been assimilated by every language – this is what also happened to the word “guru” (for we have all heard about IT-gurus and marketing-gurus…) – and has just the same way changed its meaning more than once. Most probably… Continue reading Nirvana in the Context of Yoga

I’d like to add a few words to my penultimate post on own one’s Way and personal Dharma. I guess the reader has already got the key thesis about correlation between person’s dharma and Genuine desires: Genuine Desires in fact lead one along the road of his own Dharma. In the article that I suggest… Continue reading On genuine desires and living by genuine inwardness

The next case of Krakow conference that I would like to share is the unusual double report made in form of a discussion between two classics of modern Indology – Philipp Maas and Michel Angot. The subject of the discussion in itself was very interesting – it dealt with Yoga Sutras authorship. But even if… Continue reading Krakow 4. Yoga Sutra Authorship Debate

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?

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

I’ve made up my mind to write a number of articles dedicated to lectures given at Yoga Darsana, Yoga Sadhana conference in Krakow. I believe this to be quite acceptable in the context of this blog because at least one third of the papers presented were dedicated to Yoga Sutras. Besides, in consideration of the… Continue reading Krakow Lectures 1. Yoga and Siddhis. Dominik Wujastyk

The next sutra can be well understood in the context of the previous ones, and it complements the earlier sutra 1.35 in terms of logic. Let me remind that the latter stated that the activity filled with an object, a target, facilitates retaining of personal wholeness. Or, to be more specific, it prevents chitta from… Continue reading Sutra 1.36. Methods of Chitta stabilization. Part 5. Grand Thoughts and Reflections on abstract notions as a part of yoga

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

The next line of Yoga Sutras does not involve any difficulty for translation, as well as for commentary and understanding.   प्रच्छर्दनविधारणाभ्यां वा प्राणस्य ॥ ३४॥ 1.34 pracchardana-vidhāraṇābhyām vā prāṇasya
 pracchardana (n.) – a well-known word that in terms of literature on yoga denotes “exhalation”. It consists of the prefix pra + cchardana – a… Continue reading Sutra 1.34. Breath control as a method of gathering chitta up

As it has been said earlier, maitri – “amicability” – comes as one of the yogi’s basic features. Yet most people, especially those brought up in the post-USSR environment, have difficulties in experiencing this feeling. For several generations they were being habituated to take counter-revolutionists, Germans, Americans, capitalists and others of the kind for foes.… Continue reading Sutra 1.33. Meditation for overcoming hostility

In his next sutra Patanjali offers a totally different and very original approach to the issue of restoring the integrity of chitta that is grounded upon development of anahata experience: मैत्रीकरुणामुदितोपेक्षाणां सुखदुःखपुण्यापुण्यविषयाणां  भावनातश्चित्तप्रसादनम् ॥ ३३॥ 1.33. {maitrī-karuṇā-muditā-upekṣāṇāṃ} {sukha-duḥkha-puṇya- apuṇya-viṣayāṇāṃ} bhāvanātaś {citta prasādanam}
 In this line the author made use of nominal compound structures called “samasas”… Continue reading Sutra 1.33. Methods of chitta stabilization. Part 2. Yogi’s “Virtues” of anahata nature

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

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

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”

The next two sutras of Patanjali, the lines 1.29 и 1.30, are dedicated to the so-called barriers in yoga: ततः प्रत्यक्चेतनाधिगमोऽप्यन्तरायाभावश्च ॥ २९॥1.29. tataḥ pratyakcetanādhigamo’pyantarāyābhāvaśca  व्याधिस्त्यानसंशयप्रमादालस्याविरति-भ्रान्तिदर्शनालब्धभूमिकत्वानवस्थितत्वानि चित्तविक्षेपास्तेऽन्तरायाः ॥३०॥1.30. vyādhi-styāna-saṃśaya-pramāda-ālasya-avirati-bhrānti-darśana-alabdha-bhūmikatva-anavasthitatvāni citta-vikṣepāste’ntarāyāḥ The traditional translation of these lines is as follows: 30. Disease, mental laziness, doubt, calmness, cessation, false perception, non-attaining concentration, and falling away from the state when… Continue reading «Obstacles to Yoga» and Defence Mechanisms of Psyche

In addition to and in confirmation of the foregoing I shall adduce a popular article in which they give the results of the latest speech physiology studies. Our particular interest is drawn by the “mechanics of phonetics” section [the original English text is here – transl.note], the investigation in which they have used the state-of-the-art… Continue reading The Mechanisms of Mantras Effect (continuation)

The following two lines of Yoga Sutras are dedicated to mantras and power of the sound. तस्य वाचकः प्रणवः  ॥२७॥1.27. tasya vachakah pranavah तज्जपस्तदर्थभावनम्  ॥२८॥1.28. tajjapas tad-artha-bhavanam Sutras 27 and 28 tell that “the expression of that (Isvara) is OM (pranava)” and “the repetition of it (Om) in one mind’s eye allows one to experience… Continue reading Sanskrit and Mantra-Yoga

The line 25 of Yoga Sutras compares Ishvara with a seed that contains omniscience (sarva-jnana-bidja): तत्र निरतिशयं सार्वज्ञबीजम् ॥ २५॥25. tatra niratiśayaṃ sārva-jña-bījam  25. In Him [Ishvara] is the complete manifestation of the seed of omniscience. [Engl. transl. by Swami Satchidananda – translator’s note]. This happens to be in a remarkable manner aligned with an… Continue reading Ishvara and the World Tree. The Metaphysics of Plato

In my two previous posts I have without further ado explicated to the reader my understanding of the “ishvarapranidhana” category introduced by Patanjali. Yet an attentive reader might remember that the author of Yoga Sutras tends to give the definition of the new concepts in the lines that follow their introduction. Now, does the understanding… Continue reading Ishvarapranidhana (continued). Ishvarapranidhana and Purusha

It was the very same period the year before that I was in Varanasi and in this blog of mine I was blissfully and deliberately reflecting upon Vairagya as one of the fundamental methods of yoga. Yet the recent situation in my country [Ukraine, Dec.2013-March, 2014 – transl.note] not only encourages me to get back to this subject – this… Continue reading Some More Words About Vairagya

“And when these [Hindu] books were read to me letter by letter and I comprehended their contents, my conscience could  in no way have me fail to impart them to those yearning to read them. After all, avarice is the worst crime and the deepest sin when it is related to knowledge” . Al-Biruni It… Continue reading The Arabic Translation of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras made by Al-Biruni. The Problem of Yoga Impact on Sufism

“The Koan is the door, the answer is the key. But the basic point is not about opening the door,  It is about what you will see there…» (Probably, if I have put it here,  someone might have said this somewhere…)     In one of the previous articles of this blog in have outlined… Continue reading The Koans of Zen and Meditative Question

I have recalled that I have a small thing to be done for the blog. Early last year I visited Kumbh Mela and I promised I would express my opinion concerning the symbolism of this holiday, but I was tied up with my affairs and I have not written a corresponding port. But I will… Continue reading Some words about Kumbh Mela

The terms hatha-yoga, karma-yoga, jnana-yoga, bhakti-yoga, laya-yoga and others are familiar to everyone and they play an important role in positioning yoga as a system. Although they are not used in Yoga Sutras (except for the term kriya-yoga), these terms are rather old and one can find them already in Mahabharata [1]. This division of yoga… Continue reading On “Types of Yoga”: Karma Yoga and Bhakti Yoga

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

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

Inspired by watching a nice Indian series about relations between Shiva and Sati. This article for sure comes as the off-top in this part of the blog, but now I can’t be bothered to find some other place to speak out, thus I will take the liberty of doing this prank. And so, the word… Continue reading To the Origin of the Word “Yoga”

For those readers who in this multitude of articles might havelost the general thread and the logic of YS doctrine exposition Ishall put in remembrance the basic points. • In the second line Patanjali gives the definition of yoga as chitta-vritti-nirodhah • Then he draws definitions of each vritti. • In the line 1.12 he… Continue reading Sutras 1.2 and 1.17. Nirodha and Samprajna

Here we shall notice that since meditation is the attempt tosearch for an answer that is not obvious to the question that is not trivial, one’s readiness to “look” beyond one’s habitual stereotypes comes as a mandatory precondition of its performance. It is safe to say that if the answer that has come asa result… Continue reading Meditation Ability and the State of Traineeship

The word “meditation” is one of the brands that the mass consciousness has inseparably linked to yoga, spiritual practices and person’s development. And this opinion is justified: yoga is not yoga without psycho-practices, since it was yet in Hatha Yoga Pradipika that they wrote that “All the methods of hatha are meant for gaining success… Continue reading Meditation in the Context of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras

I hope the reader remembers that the lines 1.12-1.16 were dedicated to abhyasa and vairagya. In particular, the line 1.15 gave an extensive definition of vairagya:   1.15 the disengagement from emotions [related to] the seen and heard objects is the sign of mastery in vairagya,    while the 1.16 defined the ultimate experience of… Continue reading Sutras 1.12 – 1.18. Vairagya and Samprajna. The Logic of the Few Latest Slokas Arrangement

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 Sutra 1.17. Fundamental Meaning of the Sloka 1.17. Correlation Between the Dimensions of Human Existence

Let us proceed with analysis of the line 1.18. विरामप्रत्ययाभ्यासपूर्वः संस्कारशेषोऽन्यः ॥ १८॥ 1.18 virāma-pratyayābhyāsa-pūrvaḥ saṃskāra-śeṣo’nyaḥ I shall draw several classical variants of its translation for the reader to get a better picture of what the legend is, as well as to see the difference in interpreting this sloka: 1.18 There is another Samadhi which… Continue reading Sutras 1.17 – 1.18. The Legend of Asamprajna Samadhi (continuation)

Let us come back to the text of Yoga Sutras. The sloka 1.17 introduces the category of Samprajna(ta). वितर्कविचारानन्दास्मितारूपानुगमात् सम्प्रज्ञातः ॥ १७॥ 1.17 vitarka-vicāra-ananda-asmita-rūpa-anugamāt samprajñātaḥ   The exact understanding of this line on the basis of translation taken “from the dictionary” shall be difficult since in fact the whole line is drawn of psycho-technical terms… Continue reading Sutras 1.17 – 1.18. Samprajna. The Legend of Asamprajna Samadhi

There is an interesting point of view that was published on the vKontakte page [a social network that is popular is CIS states – translator’s note] dedicated to Yoga Sutras that I mentioned in one of my winter posts, by the author of the said public who calls himself Igor Aleksandrovitch. I quote: “Here is… Continue reading Samadhi, Assemblage Point and Gestalt Psychology

So, as we have already mentioned earlier, the shloka 1.16 of the Yoga Sutras links the practice of vairagya to the category of gunas. तत्परं पुरुषख्यातेर्गुणवैतृष्णयम् ॥१६॥ 1.16 tatparaṃ puruṣakhyāterguṇavaitṛṣṇayam First of all let us outline the translation of the shloka. tat – that. In this case this word denotes the vairagya from the previous… Continue reading Sutra 1.16. The Gunas: Psychological Interpretation

In order to proceed further with interpreting the Yoga Sutra text we need to take a look at different methods of describing the psyche and the object-matter of psycho-practices. I have already analyzed this issue in my monographs thus I shall not draw a new article but shall cite an excerpt from my last monograph… Continue reading The Modern Scientific Methods of Describing Psyche and Psychologic Experience

Let us step back from our reflections on gunas and return to abhyasa and vairagya. Having taken another thought about these methods I have noticed an apparent analogy with the way the right and left petals of ajna chakra are unctioning. And after this I recalled my concept of right- and left-petal meditations that I… Continue reading Sutras1.12 – 1.15. The Methods Abhyasa and Vairagya and Ajna Chakra Petals

The line 1.16 of Yoga Sutras refers to the category of “gunas”, thus in order to understand this line we need first to study out the meaning of this category, so let us proceed to this. Normally each one who is somehow related to yoga even in its most “pop” variants has heard the terms… Continue reading The Gunas: Sattva, Rajas and Tamas

As we have said earlier, Patanjali has singled out pramana, or “valid”, “true” knowledge, as the first vritti. However it strikes the eye here that, unlike with all other vrittis, when speaking about pramana the Yoga Sutras author has not only provided its definition but has also listed the main concepts of traditional Indian gnoseology.… Continue reading Sutra 1.6. PRAMANA: the Methods of “Valid” Cognition. Gnoseology and Ajna Development in Yoga

Having made sense of “Drashtar” category we can come back to analyzing the category of “vritti”. Let us remember that vritti is something that a person identifies himself with, letting his Inner Observer (Drashtar) get dissolved in this something and thus lose its essence. By the way, this category has been invented by theosophs in… Continue reading Vritti: Pramana, Viparyaya and Vikalpa

In our previous article we have discussed the general aspects of the category of “klesha”. However I think that two of the said categories – raga and dvesa – require a more thorough analysis. And as a matter of fact, given the name of the blog it is time we proceed from the text analysis… Continue reading Raga and Dvesa. The Issue of Emotions in Yoga

वृत्तयः पञ्चतय्यः क्लिष्टाऽक्लिष्टाः ॥५॥ 1.5. vṛttayaḥ pañcatayyaḥ kliṣṭā’kliṣṭāḥ The category of “klesha” by no means refers to the group of words that should be rather explained than translated. Moreover, the situation with this category translation is just as confusing as it is with other key psycho-technical terms. The Russian-Sanskrit dictionary offers the following translation variants:… Continue reading Sutras 1.5, 2.3. – 2.9. Klesha. A very conceptual article:)

So the word nirodha that at first glance seemed to be so easy to understand has turned out to come with many surprises. Let us consider another one that despite its apparent irrelevance once cost the great Buddhist teaching its split followed by numerous inter-school debates. In terms of its application to Yoga Sutra this… Continue reading Sutra 1.2. Nirodha. The Problem of the Practice Boundedness

It is interesting that they have actualized the difference between nirodha variants in scope of classical Yoga; for instance the Sandilya Upanishad that in terms of significance I consider to be commensurate with the text of Yoga Sutras states that: 41. For the destruction [1] of the Chitta, there are two ways – Yoga and… Continue reading Some Words on the Subject taken from Sandilya Upanishad

The problem of emotional content of words cannot be ignored as an insignificant one, and even if we no longer lose our sleep over nirodhait will still come before us in all its charm as we start to comprehend the two fundamental concepts of yoga and the Indian philosophy as a whole – the moksha… Continue reading Sutra 1.2. Nirodha (continuation). The Problem of Motivation to Practice

Probably the fewest discrepancies and variant readings have been caused by the dictionary translations of the word nirodha (निरोध). 1) curb; 2) confinement; 3) encirclement; 4) holdback, hindrance; 5) difficulty, obstruction; 6) suppression, quench; 7) destruction. Some translators also used the terms “cessation”, “obedience”, “retention”, “containment”, “oppression”. It would seem that they all speak about… Continue reading Sutra 1.2. Nirodha. The problem of emotional content of the practice

So let us come back to reflections about the category of vritti. We have finished at trying to figure out what was that common between the categories of vritti listed by Patanjali and what was the purpose of the phase about vritti being of klesha and non-klesha type. Let us try to answer the first… Continue reading Sutra 1.2. Vritti (continuation)

The composition of Yoga Sutras is quite organic. Neither of sections of this work can be deleted without causing detriment to the whole work since they are interlinked not only by sequence of presentation but also by means of numerous cross-references. The YS sections are arranged in compliance with linear-hierarchical principle, i.e. on the one… Continue reading The Logic of Yoga Sutras Composition

I was surprised and pleased to see so many people interested in the subject. So I will thus without delay publish the next section.   Some traps on the way of classical texts interpretation The trap of religiosity   In terms of almost verbatim reading of Patanjali’a Yoga Sutras one may clearly see that it… Continue reading Some traps on the way of classical texts interpretation

Yoga Sutras of Patanjali by no means comes as the most famous and the most quoted primary source on Yoga. I know about 20 translations of Yoga Sutra into Russian and ca. 50 into English (those who want to see the list may refer to Schedules 1 and 2). The exact dating of YS is… Continue reading The Value of Yoga Sutras