[Exploring Life] Introduction to the Yoga Sutras: The Yoga Sutras written by Pantanjali in 2nd century B.C. is consider to be a foundational yoga text. The word Yoga is derived from Sanskrit root yujir meaning to join or to unite. A second meaning is derived from the root yuj meaning to contemplate. Yoga means to join, unite, and to contemplate. A sutra is an aphorism, or terse statement, designed to embrace a deep insight, keen observation or a general truth about life. Pantanjali’s Yoga Sutras are therefore his insights and observations into both the nature of unity and contemplation of life.
Today the word yoga commonly conjures images of people placing themselves into all kinds of contorted postures (asanas) that reveal an incredible level of physical control, strength, and flexibility. That is not to say that modern day yoga practice has been completely reduced to physical fitness, but to some extent it does seem to have lost connection with its basic aim and purpose as described in the Yoga Sutras. Returning to one the original source documents allows us to explore the original intent and purpose of yoga in order to see what we might wish to retrieve and revive in modern practice. My interest here is to explore the Yoga Sutras for perspectives and insights about the nature of contemplation and how it can play a role in enhancing our lives.
Minding the Yoga Sutras: I use A Sourcebook in Indian Philosophy (Radhakrishnan and Moore, Princeton University Press, 1957), which is a primary, essential,exemplary, and definitive resource for anyone interested in examining a broad range of Indian Philosophy. Translating of the Yoga Sutras from Sanskrit (the original language of the Yoga Sutras and one of the oldest Indo-European languages, dating back to approximately 1500 BC) into English is a challenging task. Concepts fluidly expressed in one language may be exceedingly difficult to express in another. Further, a concept common to one language may have no direct correlation in another language. Thus, the mind that thinks in English is clearly challenged to comprehend the Yoga Sutras since the underlying concepts are often completely unfamiliar to us. In this sense, learning the Yoga Sutras means we create new concepts and ideas within our minds, rather than adding to, building, or extending concepts and ideas we have some familiarity with.
Yoga, according to Pantanjali, is a methodical effort to attain perfection, through the control of the different elements of human nature, physical and psychical.
(Radhakrishnan and Moore 1957)
The Yoga Sutras are the foundation for building a Yoga practice. The meaning embedded within a sutra is illusive and requires that we constantly examine and test our understanding of it in the light of our own experience. To do this we must increase our capacity for contemplation, meditation, mindfulness, concentration, and reflection. To comprehend a sutra means that we perceive its purpose and relevance in relation to our own experiences in life. In this way, the Yoga Sutra is a strategy for interpreting and transforming our experiences in life. The Yoga Sutras, like the Bible and other sacred texts, are sources of inspiration that encourage people to contemplate the deeper questions about life in order to secure a state of equanimity and contentment.
We are living in a time of excessive communication, and the informational pollution that surrounds us is often noxious. The Yoga Sutras, for example, have been interpreted and reinterpreted untold times by individuals seeking to clarify them for others. While there is some benefit to this it is secondary – even reading this entry I am writing can only be of secondary benefit to you – the essential task is to go the primary source for ourselves, examine it, and find direct evidence of its meaning, purpose and benefit relative to our own situation and circumstances in life. Of course, we may also be interested in exploring different translations since there is variation here as well, but I recommend choosing only one credible translation in the beginning and using it exclusively before exploring others. In this way we are not merely reading the Sutras, we are actively and energetically contemplating them in the midst of our own thoughts, emotions, strengths, weaknesses, suffering, joy, pain, gratitude, needs, and desires. In other words, mere literacy is not (and never has been) enough.
Basic Structure of the Yoga Sutras: In the Yoga Sutras (Radhakrishnan and Moore 1957) there are 196 sutras divided into four chapters: 1) Concentration (51 sutras); 2) Methods (55 sutras) 3) Power (54 sutras); and 4) Absolute Independence (34 sutras). Concentration explores the realm of the mind and its various states, and is perhaps one of the most striking examples of profound psychological investigation available to us. Methods explores practices and processes that lead to the attainment of concentration described in chapter one. Power originates in the inner discipline of samyama, which is the combination of concentration, meditation, and trance. Finally, Absolute Independence is the fruition of Yoga and is a state of freedom from affliction and the power of consciousness becomes established in its natural and pure state.
Yoga is built in eight parts or interconnected limbs, which are often referred to as the eight limbs of yoga.
2-29. Restraint, observance, posture, regulation of breath, abstraction [of the senses], concentration, meditation, and trance are the eight accessories [limbs, parts] of yoga.
- Pantanjali,Yoga Sutras, 2nd century B.C.
These limbs form the integral foundation for the practical discipline of yoga. Isolating or persistently emphasizing one limb over the others is something other than yoga. The third limb, posture [asana], tends to receive far too much emphasis relative to the other seven. This is an example of how returning to the primary source can reveal the original intent and nature of something. In my own experiences with Yoga classes, I found emphasis on postures and to a lesser degree the regulation of breath. The other six areas were rarely a focus and often were presented as an interesting aside. It is unlikely, based on what he has written, that Pantanjali spent his days executing complex asanas ad nauseam. To pursue yoga merely for its physical benefits is superficial.
However, the body, mind, and spirit are intimately and inexorably interconnected. They represent a single unified system, even though we have a tendency to consider then as being separate phenomenon. Postures, or asanas, therefore do play a vital role in any exploration and study of yoga. The practice of yoga requires the disciplined practice of asanas and breath regulation. The other six limbs are, to my thinking, significantly more difficult for our Western minds as they have a foreign, alien, perhaps even mystical quality to them. The word trance alone may immediately conjures up mystical native rituals in our minds and therefore create a sense of unfamiliarity and discomfort. When the unknown or unexpected presents itself, we have an unfortunate tendency to question its validity and worse dismiss it simply because it is unfamiliar.
The first two limbs of Yoga, restraint and observance, refer to the ethical foundation for any practice of Yoga. Both restraint (what to avoid) and observance (what to embrace) are prerequisite to the subsequent six limbs, in other words, there is no real practice of yoga without first establishing its ethical foundations. Posture, or the practice of asanas, is presented as a physical aid to concentration, that is, the purpose of a yoga asana is to train the mind through the use of the body. The regulation of breath promotes relaxation, which is a prerequisite for the abstraction of the senses (i.e. bringing our sensibilities and perception under control). The five preceding limbs of restraint and observance (ethics of yoga), posture and breath leading to abstraction of the senses and often considered to be the “external” aspect of yoga and are essential preparation for the more profound venture into the three inner disciplines.
The three final limbs are considered to be the inner disciplines of concentration, meditation, and trance. I understand this area to be the space in which we explore our own consciousness and how we are unified with everything around us. Here we embark on yoga as a inner discipline designed to contemplate the absolute nature of unity. The word “freedom” is also used in this realm, a freedom from our own suffering through absolute belonging and gratitude.
4-34. Absolute freedom comes when… the power of consciousness becomes established in its own nature.
- Pantanjali,Yoga Sutras, 2nd century B.C.
Yoga is a practical discipline for achieving deep levels of consciousness; yoga is not invested in metaphysical theorizing. Yoga does not subscribe to deities though it may form the basis for a religion. Though Pantanjali’s text was written 2nd century B.C. it seems to have close resonance with the emergence of more recent scientific ventures into consciousness such as quantum mechanics. Perhaps there is a meaningful science of spirituality. The quality and depth of the insights into the realm of human experience presented in the Yoga Sutras is exceptional and unique. It is amazing to consider how much of it remains important if not essential to us today.
To embrace Pantanjali’s Yoga Sutras requires a new kind of “literacy.” Merely reading and remembering his words is completely inadequate to the task. What is required is a kind of literacy that encourages us to fully inhabit the meaning within the Sutras so that we can authentically explore it on a personal level. The Yoga Sutras are really a vast unexplored landscape for us to venture into. In this sense, we don’t really read the Yoga Sutras, we contemplate them and begin a personal adventure toward Pantanjali’s higher consciousness, or what he calls absolute freedom.
