The Yoga Sutras of Pantanjali

by Satchidananda, Patañjali (Contributor)

This valuable book provides a complete manual for the study and practice of Raja Yoga, the path of concentration and meditation. This new deluxe printing of these timeless teachings is a treasure to be read and referred to again and again by seekers treading the spiritual path. The classic Sutras (thought-threads), at least 4,000 years old, cover the yogic teachings on ethics, meditation, and physical postures, and provide directions for dealing with situations in daily life. The Sutras are presented here in the purest form, with the original Sanskrit and with translation, transliteration, and commentary by Sri Swami Satchidananda, one of the most respected and revered contemporary Yoga masters. In this classic context, Sri Swamiji offers practical advice based on his own experience for mastering the mind and achieving physical, mental and emotional harmony. 

Genres: Spirituality, Nonfiction, Philosophy, Religion, Health, Self Help, Hinduism

263 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 400

About the author

H. H. Sri Swami Satchidananda (Sri Gurudev) born C. K. Ramaswamy Gounderis respected worldwide as one of the major pioneers of the interfaith movement and as one of the most respected Yoga Masters of our time. Sri Gurudev's teachings and spirit guide us toward a life of peace and to religious harmony among all people. Invited to come to the West in 1966, Sri Gurudev was quickly embraced by young Americans looking for lasting peace during the turbulent 1960's. In 1969, he opened the Woodstock Festival. The peaceful atmosphere that prevailed throughout the event was often attributed to his message and blessings.

Sri Gurudev founded and is the guiding light for Integral Yoga® International. Integral Yoga, as taught by Sri Gurudev, combines various methods of Yoga, including Hatha Yoga, selfless service, meditation, prayer, and a 5,000-year-old philosophy that helps one find the peace and joy within. Integral Yoga is the foundation for Dr. Dean Ornish's landmark work in reversing heart disease and Dr. Michael Lerner's noted Commonweal Cancer Help program. Today more than 50 Integral Yoga Institutes and Integral Yoga Teaching Centers throughout the United States and abroad offer classes and training programs in all aspects of Integral Yoga.

In 1979, Sri Gurudev was inspired to establish Satchidananda Ashram—Yogaville®. Based on his teachings, it is a place where people of different faiths and backgrounds can come to realize their essential oneness. Yogaville is the home of The Light Of Truth Universal Shrine (LOTUS). This unique interfaith Shrine honors the Spirit that unites all the world religions, while celebrating their diversity. People from all over the world come there to meditate and pray.

For more than fifty years, Sri Gurudev sponsored interfaith worship services and conferences. His teachings advocate respecting and honoring all faiths and he was invited to share his message of peace with many world leaders and dignitaries. Over the years, Sri Gurudev received many honors for his public service. Among recent awards: the 1994 Juliet Hollister Interfaith Award presented at the United Nations and in April 2002 the prestigious U Thant Peace Award. In addition, he served on the advisory boards of many world peace and interfaith organizations.

Sri Gurudev is the author of many books, including Integral Yoga Hatha, To Know Your Self, The Living Gita, and The Golden Present. He is the subject of three biographies, Apostle of Peace, Portrait of a Modern Sage, and Boundless Giving.

In August 2002, Sri Gurudev entered Mahasamadhi (a God-realized soul's conscious final exit from the body). Chidambaram, his Mahasamadhi shrine in Yogaville is open for prayer and meditation.

“Swami Satchidananda enriched the lives of  countless others and his efforts made a positive difference to our world and our future.”
—President and Mrs. William Jefferson Clinton

“I have met some truly great men in my life, but none greater than Swami Satchidananda, for his life is dedicated to service and the cause of peace--both individual and universal--and to fostering religious harmony among all people.”
—Dean Ornish, MD

“Swami Satchidananda has been and continues to be our great teacher and God’s special messenger.”
—The Very Rev. James Parks Morton

“I consider Swami Satchidananda one of the greatest spiritual teachers of our time.”
—Richard Gere

“There are teachers who guide their students to mystical experience.  There are others, too, who inspire their students to loving service.  What I admire in Swami Satchidananda is the consistency with which he bonds these two together.”
—Br. David Steindl-Rast, OSB.

Reviews

[Liz Rosenblum · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't recall a time in my life where a "required" reading has changed my life immeasurably.

The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali as explained by Swami Satchidnanda is a mandatory part of most yoga teacher trainings, and thankfully it was for mine. This is not a book that you read from cover to cover like a novel, but it is something that you pick up, read, absorb, think about, put into practice, and then read some more.

It has lessons about yoga, lessons about life and lessons about being a good person. Patanjali's writing about yoga is undeniably thought-provoking and deep, but Satchidanda explains each sutra with words and stories that anyone can relate to.

It's also one of those books that each time you read it, you'll find something different depending on where you are in your own personal journey.

The Yoga Sutras are a must-read for anyone studying or practicing yoga and meditation and seeking for a higher state of bliss and acceptance.

[Ebony · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am a skeptic about all of the things. The Sutras start with “the restraint of the modifications of the mind-stuff is Yoga” and I think, I like my mind. It’s a beautiful, creative, ever-expanding entity that has served me well until present day. The Sutras state that humans are Spirits inhabiting bodies with minds yet we are neither. I think, I like my body too. What’s with the self-deprecation? There’s redemptive suffering for days here. I’m still too close to how Christianity wielded that weapon against me to buy in. The arguments about happiness being a choice completely omit oppression can be interpreted as letting victimizers off the hook. Personal responsibility over everything is practically a mantra which I have issues with. See above. Readers are implored to rid themselves of desire. I like a little of my ego. I like fulfilling my desires. I grew up with lack and am just now starting to appreciate nice things. After all these years, I’m not about to let the desires I just gave myself permission to have go. There’s talk of transcendence and surrender and accomplishments and absoluteness and that’s where I drew my line. I am totally okay with not being fully enlightened in this lifetime. It’s not that I’m afraid of the work, I honestly, just don’t want to. I’m a black American woman. My whole existence is about less. Why would I want to follow a practice that seems to want me to have less of less? After I took the pressure off, I really enjoyed the book. Satchidananda is funny. His modern examples are easy to understand. His explanations of the three types of karma were fascinating. I dug every nature metaphor or reference. Once I gave myself permission to take what I needed and leave the rest, the world of The Sutras really opened up to me. I’m actually looking forward to reading it again in 10 years so that Ebony can meet the sutras from a completely different vantage point.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good introductory translation. Excellent for first-time readers of the Sutras. If you want to dive deeper in, though, I suggest Edwin Bryant's translation. If you'd like a Buddhist perspective, check out Chip Hartranft's.

[Abby · Rating 5 out of 5]

The very first sutra sets up the book so well, “If the restraint of the mental modifications is achieved, one has reached the goal of yoga.” (pg. 3) I like this because it shows that even though a person may not be able to move through all the asanas perfectly, they can still perform yoga by controlling their mind. If we can learn that the entire outside world is our own projection, then we can control our attitude. “Things outside neither bind nor liberate you; only your attitude towards them does that.” (pg 5) I have felt many times in my life a lack of control. By learning to control my attitude, I can control a situation that may seem out of control. We also need to learn to detach ourselves from the identifications of “mother,” “wife,” “tall,” “child,” etc. If we take these titles away, we are all the same. Then we will have achieved the union of yoga.

I identified with his teachings of the way that we expect things of others. If we expect someone to love us, sometimes we experience jealousy, unhappiness, and pain. This is because we have placed an expectation on the person that we love. This is selfishness. He says in order to be happy, we need to bring happiness to others. We learn to develop positive thoughts and thereby remove the negative ones. He says that it is ok to desire things because pure, selfless desire has no expectation and so it knows no disappointment. I love this statement, “When you make someone happy, you see his or her happy face and you feel happy yourself.” (pg 24) You will then look for the opportunities to create this happiness again.

In closing, I will work to remember these four attitudes: friendliness, compassion, gladness, and indifference. In encountering others, I can choose one of these four “keys” with which to approach them. In this way, my inner peace will not be disturbed and nothing in the world can affect me. The goal is to keep a serene mind and The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali offers many tools in which to do so.

[Daniel Prasetyo · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is the best translation of Patanjali's works that I found. It is because the author is living with the wisdom of The Yoga Sutras. This book contains the the translations of The Yoga Sutras, and the explanation about the meaning and the goal of each sutras, and Sri Swami Satchidananda's explanation is a very easy read, even if you never know the yoga philosophy before. Just read 1 sutra each day and practice it, you will see a dramatic changes in your life. If you just read 1 book about The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, this is the book, period!

[Monica Perez · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book showed me that coming to the end of external knowledge about God is actually the beginning of the journey to look inward and know His nature. Made me interested in the early Christian Gnostics who believed we could know God through his reflection in ourselves. Also introduced me to the concept that the question of the existence of God is unanswerable and irrelevant--you can't prove it or disprove it, and no matter what, the path to contentment in this life is the same as the path to contentment in the next life: freeing yourself from the cycle of desire. Find the path and live it--if you do, you will maximize happiness and fulfillment in this life whether or not there's an afterlife and if there happens to be an afterlife, you will be well-prepared for it.

[Jung · Rating 5 out of 5]

** World Yoga Day **

International Day of Yoga JUN21

complete https://notes.io/qtzGg

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Learn the true meaning of yoga.

When you hear the word “yoga,” what’s the first thing that comes to mind? If you’re from the modern West, it’s probably an image of someone stretching.

But if you dig into yoga’s ancient Eastern roots, you’ll find that it’s much more than just a form of physical exercise. Dating back thousands of years, it’s a spiritual philosophy and practice that promises self-transformation and encompasses a wide range of topics: mind and body, morality and ethics, and metaphysics and psychology, to name just a few.

As a philosophy, yoga can seem a little esoteric at times. But as a practice, it’s pretty down-to-earth. It lays out a straightforward, step-by-step path to achieving inner peace and happiness, teaching you how to overcome the obstacles you’ll encounter along the way.

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Sri Swami Satchidananda interprets the Yoga Sutras in a way that makes them open to people of any spiritual background.

Sometime between 500 BC and 300 AD, an Indian spiritual teacher named Patañjali described the core principles of yoga in a series of 196 aphorisms, which are called sutras in Sanskrit. The result became known as the Yoga Sutras of Patañjali.

This is one of the main ancient texts about yoga, so if you want to learn about yogic philosophy and practice, it’s a natural place to start. There’s just one problem: the way it’s written.

Each sutra is a short, dense, often cryptic sentence or sentence fragment. Many don’t even have clear subjects and predicates. Some believe that’s because they’re just shorthand notes Patañjali’s students jotted down as reminders of what he said in lectures. As a result, the sutras require thoughtful translation and interpretation.

Enter twentieth-century Indian yoga master Sri Swami Satchidananda.

As a young adult, Satchidananda studied agriculture, science, and technology, but he grew dissatisfied and eventually gave them up to devote himself to yoga. For years, he regarded the Yoga Sutras as the guiding text of his spiritual journey. In the late 1970s, after becoming an internationally renowned yoga master, he decided to write his own translation and interpretation of the Sutras in order to bring it to a religiously diverse modern audience.

Now, the Sutras are considered a Hindu scripture, but Satchidananda didn’t identify himself as belonging to Hinduism or any particular religion. He saw yoga as just one of many ways of expressing, understanding, and applying the same basic truths contained in other religions and spiritual philosophies, such as Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

Consider the word yoga itself. In Sanskrit, “yoga” means “union.” In practicing yoga, you’re trying to achieve union – which raises an obvious question: Union with what? Like the world’s many different spiritual traditions, Satchidananda calls it many different names: God, Puruṣa, Atman, Īśvara, the Seer, and the cosmic mind, among others. But to him, the name isn’t the important thing; it’s the underlying truth that matters.

And what is that truth? Well, ultimately, it surpasses the limits of language, but it’s the idea that there’s some sort of spirit, substance, principle, consciousness, being, or force lying beyond and manifesting itself within the material universe.

Call it what you will. The point is to recognize it, connect to it, and let its power transform you.

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The practice of yoga produces results that you can verify for yourself through experience.

If you have a purely scientific outlook, you might be put off by all this talk of God, the cosmic mind, or whatever else some yogi wants to call the mysterious something supposedly underlying the universe.

But consider this: If a scientist told you that everything is ultimately just energy manifesting itself in various ways, would the idea of something underlying the universe seem more reasonable?

If so, and if the word “energy” resonates with you, go with it. Satchidananda doesn’t ask you to subscribe to any particular vocabulary, doctrine, or set of concepts for describing, explaining, or understanding the world. He simply invites you to use yoga as a tool for changing yourself and your relation to that world. And here, as in science, one thing ultimately matters most: producing verifiable results.

In Satchidananda’s view, the philosophical ideas and scriptures of yoga exist only to satisfy the intellectual side of the mind. They’re attempts to express the ultimately inexpressible truth about the self and the universe. But according to those same ideas and scriptures, that truth cannot be apprehended by simply thinking or reading about it. It can only be fully grasped through direct experience.

That’s where the practice of yoga comes in. It has eight components: the practice of abstinences, observances, posture control, breath control, sense control, concentration, meditation, and contemplation. We’ll go into each of these components later, but for now, the point is simply that the practice of them is supposed to either produce or prepare you to produce experiences of the truth.

And what exactly are those experiences and that truth? Well, this goes back to the meaning of the word “yoga”: the act of coming into union with God, the cosmic mind, or whatever you want to call the mysterious something underlying the universe. That union is the experience. And the existence of that underlying something is the truth.

According to Satchidananda, Patañjali, and other yogis, the experience of that truth will bring you transformative joy and peace, and the practice of yoga is just a way of gaining that experience. But you don’t have to take their word for it: just try it and see for yourself.

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The philosophy of yoga teaches you to stop identifying yourself with external things – including your mind and body.

But to understand the practice of yoga on an intellectual level, it helps to know the philosophy behind it. Now, depending on your background and sensibilities, that philosophy might seem a bit arcane – but don’t get hung up on it. Think of it like a ladder: it’s useful for getting to the top of something, but once you arrive where you want to go, you can leave it behind.

The point of the philosophy of yoga is to help you embrace the practice.

The easiest way to get a handle on the philosophy of yoga is to start with yourself. Who or what are you? All sorts of answers might come to mind. “I’m a man or woman, mother or father, lawyer or doctor. I’m short or tall, rich or poor, black or white,” or whatever the case might be.

But here’s the thing. All these words express ideas your mind has about certain aspects of your body, your life, or your relationships with other people or things.

In saying things like “I am a parent” or “I’m rich,” people are essentially identifying themselves with their ideas about those other things. However, in and of themselves, they aren’t those things. A mother isn’t her child. A rich man isn’t his bank account. These identifications are therefore false.

If you get rid of all your false identifications, what does that leave you with? “Well, then I’m just my body or my mind,” you might say. But notice your language here: my body, my mind. These are things that belong to you – a body and mind you can observe. But to whom, exactly, do they belong? And who’s observing them?

Well, you are! That means you can’t be your body or your mind either, so there must be something else that’s the real you.

But what’s left?

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The True Self is spirit, and the same spirit is inside everyone and everything.

Think about it like a math equation: Subtract your body, your mind, and everything else that’s external to you – things like your job, wealth, gender, and so on. What remains? Well, there’s just you. To put it more philosophically, all that’s left is the pure “I,” cleansed of all false identifications with everything that’s not your self – that is, non-self. Let’s call this pure “I” the True Self.

But wait a minute – if the True Self of both you and your neighbors is just a pure “I” that can’t be distinguished in terms of anything you’d normally use to identify people, how can you draw a distinction between you and them?

Well, you can’t – that’s precisely the point!

If the True Self underlying your mind and body can’t be differentiated from the True Self underlying everyone else’s mind and body, they must be the same thing. The nature of that thing defies language, but to talk about it, we need to give it a name. “True Self” is one. “Spirit” is another.

Now, the same argument can be extended further to all living beings and even inanimate objects. Take anyone or anything in the universe, subtract the qualities with which your mind falsely identifies it, and eventually, all you’re left with is another True Self or spirit, which cannot be differentiated from any other.

Thus, the same spirit pervades everyone and everything in the material universe – from humans to dogs to rocks. Beneath all of their outward appearances of difference, all these things and beings are essentially the same True Self.

In the Sanskrit terminology of yogic philosophy, the totality of the material universe is called Prakṛti. It includes everything you’d normally describe as matter, like everyday objects and bodies. But it also includes your mind, which yogic philosophy sees as simply the product of matter taking on an especially subtle, complex form.

The True Self or spirit underlying Prakṛti, in turn, is called Puruṣa. The relationship between Prakṛti and Puruṣa is at the heart of yogic philosophy. And as we’ll see, it’s also the point at which that philosophy turns into practice.

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As Prakṛti, the mind is a distorted, egoistic reflection of Puruṣa.

“But wait,” a skeptic might object. “That still doesn’t answer the question, ‘What is the True Self?’ Sure, it can be given other names, like ‘spirit,’ and it’s the same spirit in everything and everyone – but what exactly is it?”

To answer these questions and resolve this apparent paradox, you need to delve into one of the deepest layers of yogic philosophy.

Something similar happens to the mind. Negative thoughts, emotions, desires, attachments, and false beliefs fill the mind with turbulence and impurities. These make the mind’s “mental water” murky and wavy, leading to distorted reflections of reality.

But here’s a question that brings you to the crux of the matter: If the mind is like a mirror, who is looking at it? The answer is Puruṣa, or the True Self. But if the True Self is looking at a distorted mirror, the result will be a distorted reflection of the True Self. And we can give that distorted reflection a well-known name: the ego.

As we’ll see, the ego is at the root of all people’s woes – and the point of practicing yoga is to help overcome it.

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Ignorance of the True Self leads to egoism and suffering.

Okay, so let’s recap: there’s the mind, which is like the surface of a lake. There’s the True Self, which is reflected on that surface. And then there are things like negative thoughts and emotions making the surface distorted. As a result, the mind produces the ego, which is a distorted reflection of the True Self.

Now, if you look at the surface of the lake – in other words, if you look at your own mind – what do you see? Who’s there? “Well, it’s me,” you might say. But it’s not really you. It’s the ego, rather than the True Self.

But in looking at the surface and saying, “That’s me,” you’re ignoring the True Self and identifying with the ego – and the word for that is egoism, which can land you in all sorts of trouble.

By looking at your mind’s distorted reflection of the True Self and saying, “That’s me,” you’re not only identifying with the ego, but with all the baggage that comes with it. After all, what do you see in the reflective surface of your mind? A distorted reflection of your True Self, yes – but remember what’s distorting it. Everything you’re seeing on the surface of your mind’s “mental lake” is getting tinted and rippled by the negative thoughts, emotions, desires, attachments, and false beliefs that are contaminating and agitating it.

What you’re seeing in the ego – in your distorted reflection of the True Self – is therefore a reflection of these mental impurities and disturbances that are producing the ego. In identifying with the ego, you’re also identifying with them.

For example, if you have a desire for wealth, an attachment to possessions, or a belief that you are your body, you’ll identify with that desire, attachment, or belief, as well as the things that they’re about. As a result, if something bad happens to them, you’ll interpret it as something bad happening to you, rather than to them – that is, rather than to things that exist outside of yourself, as part of the non-self, which is what they really are. And even if nothing bad happens to them, you’ll worry about all the bad things that could happen to them.

Either way, you’re now suffering because of how you view yourself and the world around you, thanks to the distorted – and distorting – mirror of your ego.

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Practicing yoga makes your mind calm and clear so you can behold the True Self.

So how do you transcend your ego and escape your suffering?

Well, it’s simple – at least in theory: make the turbulent, tainted “mental water” of your mind calm and clear. Then you’ll see the truth: an accurate reflection of your True Self. Replaced by this reflection, your ego will then disappear from your mind, along with your egoism and the suffering it produces.

If you want to make water calm and clear, you have to start by removing the things that are stirring it up and contaminating it. The same goes for the mind and its “mental water.” That means getting rid of all your negative thoughts, emotions, desires, attachments, and false beliefs.

Of course, that’s much easier said than done. Where do you even begin?

Well, in yoga, the answer is to begin by practicing a set of five abstinences and five observances called yamas and niyamas, respectively. The five yamas are to avoid stealing, lying, greediness, lustfulness, and violence. The five niyamas are to dedicate yourself to purity, contentment, acceptance of pain, the study of spiritual texts, and service to God, the Supreme Being, or whatever you want to call it.

By practicing these abstinences and observances, you begin to turn away from the external, material world and start to focus on purifying your mind. How? By improving your moral and ethical conduct, loosening the hold of bodily desires and worldly attachments, ceasing to look for truth and happiness outside yourself, and beginning to look for them within yourself. Or, to be more precise, you start looking for them in the True Self – the spirit inside you.

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Yogic practice contains a variety of physical and mental exercises that help you reach a spiritual state called Samādhi.

The moral and ethical principles of the yamas and niyamas might seem easy to follow. For instance, unless you’re a pathological shoplifter, stealing doesn’t seem that hard to avoid.

But this is a simplistic, overly literal understanding of what it means to steal. Stealing is more than just running off with an item from a store. It’s taking away anything that doesn’t or shouldn’t belong to you, misusing it, or keeping it to yourself.

Do you own more possessions than you really need? That’s stealing from other people who lack the things they need. And unless you’re using your every breath to do good deeds, even your breathing could be considered a theft of air from the world.

Point being, unless you become a saint, you will always have room for moral and ethical improvement. In the meantime, there’s plenty of other work for you to do to make your mind calm and clear, so it can behold the True Self.

You’re probably familiar with one way of calming and clearing your mind: meditation. But if you’ve ever tried it, you also know it’s not as easy as it looks. It’s hard to focus on one thing – especially when your body aches, your mind’s aflutter, and various unwanted thoughts, sensations, and emotions keep popping into your awareness.

The physical and mental exercises of yoga are meant to counteract these obstacles to meditation. Posture control exercises help you train your body to keep still for an extended period. Breath control exercises help you gain the ability to produce the slow, steady, balanced breathing that both accompanies and encourages deep focus and mental tranquility. Sense control exercises help you to tune out distracting sensations. And concentration exercises help you to strengthen your ability to focus your mind on simple, everyday things, sensations, images, qualities, and ideas.

Once you’ve got those down, you can move on to meditating on one thing that matters most: the True Self, God, spirit, or whatever you want to call it. At some point in your meditation practice, your mind may become so calm and clear that it will eventually lose any sense of you as a subject meditating on an object. The subject and object will fuse together, and any sense of separation between them will disappear.

At that moment, you’ll have reached the final step of yoga: Samādhi, or contemplation, where the True Self is finally revealed in all its glory.

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Suffering comes from people identifying themselves with their egos. They see their egos as their selves because of a lack of mental clarity and tranquility that derives from negative thoughts, emotions, desires, attachments, and false beliefs. By following the moral precepts, ethical principles, and physical and mental exercises of yogic practice, you can remove these disturbing and contaminating factors from your mind, making it calm and clear. This enables you to see an accurate reflection of the True Self, which will allow you to transcend the ego and achieve inner peace and happiness.

And here’s some more actionable advice:

Be good.

Samādhi may be the final step in yoga, but it’s also just the beginning of the next stage of your spiritual journey. This stage circles right back to where you started: morality and ethics. Once you’ve reached Samādhi, you don’t just sit around like a statue and contemplate the True Self all day. Remember, the True Self is the spirit inside everyone, not just you. So to serve that spirit, you need to serve other people. The more you understand the True Self and see it as the same essence of both you and your fellow beings, the more you stop seeing any distinction between you and them and start to “love your neighbor as yourself.”

[Casey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read one or two sutras before each yoga practice. After finally finishing it, I know I need to go back to it and study the sutras with some intensity. There is much wisdom bestowed in these pages, and there were many moments while reading, I gained clarity on the way I interact and respond with my environment.

Highly recommended for any devoted yoga practitioner, but also for those who are interested in asian philosophy. Although yoga is not defined by one religion, the influences of Hinduism and Buddhism are apparent. I liked how Satchidananda used present day examples to explain the sutras and did not hesitate to incorporate science.

[Jen Schellhorn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Though I cannot sit and read this book in full - I love that I can open to a page and that it makes so much helpful sense.

[Taylor Brimhall · Rating 5 out of 5]

At the end of this book we are told that this book, yoga, scriptures, etc. are not here for the real us (the true self) because our true selves don’t need to study these things. Who we truly are already understand all of this. However, because our egos get in the way of truth and who we actually are, things like this book, scripture, and yoga were created. For that, I’m so grateful.

[Elisabeth Plimpton · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book for my yoga teacher training, and it helped me deepen my understanding of yoga. I could relate the yoga philosophy and practice to my own life. The book fosters deep contemplation about the meaning behind the authors words. It is written beautifully and an eye opening book. (:

[Sarah Thomas Gulden · Rating 5 out of 5]

Satchitananda's translation and commentary on Patanjali's Sutras is the best edition I've read. He makes these often pretty inscrutable ancient texts come alive with great clarity and even occasional humor. I treasure reading and meditating on these often.

[Kate Lumsden · Rating 5 out of 5]

very accessible introduction to the yoga sutras

[Hale Yaman · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would have given 4 stars to majority of the book but there were a few sutras which made me recoil and lowered the rating.

[daemyra, the realm's delight · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great starting point for getting into the Yoga Sutras. Sri Swami Satchidananda's commentary is unique because it was not written down but originated through informal lectures he would teach to his students. It is a recorded conversation in keeping with how the yoga sutras were traditionally passed down through oral tradition. There are great analogies and tangents that reinforce the conversational style of this text. I really loved this commentary and it's made me determined to read a few more commentaries about the sutras. I also read this alongside Desikachar's translations and commentary of the Yoga Sutras found in The Heart of Yoga and it is interesting to note the similarities and the differences. What I found particularly interesting in Sri Swami Satchidananda's commentary was how it was rooted in its time period. There are conversations about bombs and casual sex.

Highly recommend this read. Also, beautiful cover! It is so calming and blue.

[Lui Debono · Rating 5 out of 5]

A yoga classic that contains a lot of wisdom. Must be read carefully 'cause every verse has a very specific meaning and contains a beautiful yogic wisdom. Written 2,000 years ago Patanjali's yoga sutras are still applicable to all the yogis of the present day. A good commentary is a must. I also found that Sivananda Swami version of the book and the OSHO Rajneesh version is a valuable read for the good comparison and understanding of the sutras.

[Sydney Martinie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Wow... re-reading this for my yoga teacher training and remembered why I didn’t like it to begin with....
With modern and gender neutral applications of wisdom like “conserve your semen for energy” and “with enough meditation you’ll be able to levitate and enter another body” it’s no wonder so many newly minted yoga teachers finish their trainings confused and with not enough attention to anatomy, asana, and the science of yoga.
I wish Yoga Alliance would encourage a broader and modern curricula.

[Sydra Mallery · Rating 5 out of 5]

The commentary was more accessible than that in the Iyengar version. I am glad to have read both.

[Beth Honeycutt · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book that I read pieces and parts of for my yoga teacher training this weekend. It is one of those books that I will come back to over and over again.

[Sean Helvey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it! Wrote a blog post with my notes here: http://www.seanhelvey.com/notes-on-th... Hope this helps.

[Zoë · Rating 5 out of 5]

I always return to this book to ground me when I lose my way

[Drew Canole · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book, an intro to the yoga sutras, just a bit too esoteric.

I've been doing yoga for years but just the Western exercise/stretch focused version. Some of the instructors blend in some philosophy and spirituality, but I am keen on learning more. Lately I've been using the exercise to develop my breath control, concentration and afterwards my meditation.

The more I learn about mental health the more I think that these ancient Eastern traditions were on to something.

Here's some notes:

-Yoga has eight components: the practice of abstinences (Yamas), observances (Niyamas), posture control, breath control, sense control, concentration, meditation, and contemplation
-the ego is at the root of all people’s woes.
-For example, if you have a desire for wealth, an attachment to possessions, or a belief that you are your body, you’ll identify with that desire, attachment, or belief, as well as the things that they’re about.

- The five yamas are to avoid stealing, lying, greediness, lustfulness, and violence.
-The five niyamas are to dedicate yourself to purity, contentment, acceptance of pain, the study of spiritual texts, and service to God

[Sotiris Makrygiannis · Rating 5 out of 5]

A long time ago, another author tried to create a link between early Hindu religion and Quantum mechanics, written in the TAO of Physics. He claimed that Schrödinger, the famous Quantum scientist, was one of the first to claim that Indian Philosophy inspired him in his quantum theories.

After reading this book, I could say that perhaps I found the reason why such a scientific mind made that claim.

This book is about Yoga, not teaching breathing or the lotus position; it gives the spiritual framework for Yoga. If fast is agnostic from Buddhism, from my point of view, talks about one God but does not have a strong opinion if that God or Son of God is called Buddha, Jesus or Mohammed.

The 195 Sutras are truly agnostic with only the purpose of elevating the human soul by knowing itself, not through dialogues and rational philosophical thinking. The journey to know yourself here starts with meditation, by practising breathing and stillness.

It is sad why other religions didnt copy the text and convert it to their wordings and teach people the foundation of Yoga practice. From all human discoveries, Yoga should be considered the highest innovation to cultivate the body and mind.

Greeks used to say a healthy body equals a healthy mind but never introduced Pantanjali to any of their primary school of thought. A big mistake for me.

[Karan]

Praise be! Read on time for the upcoming teacher training weekend. Well worth the read in this context, some excellent teachings here (from 2000+ years ago), and also some provocation - always good to question rather than accept with blind faith. I understand there's another version from a feminist perspective - I'll search it out. Also, the expansion of final sutra of the final (4th) book reminded me of something I was told in Pikangikum one time, that I absolutely did not get, had to do with being in a particular state, where you were not responsible for your actions. Seeing it here in another context has me rethinking, but still not yet understanding. I wish I could go back to Pik. I suppose I can. A good topic for conversation.

The sutra: Thus, the supreme state of Independence manifests while the gunas* reabsorb themselves into Prakrti**, having no more purpose to serve the Purusa***. Or [to look at it from the other angle] the power of pure consciousness settles into its own pure nature.
* gunas are the three qualities of nature, balance, activity and inertia (sattva, rajas and tamas)
** Prakrti is Nature *** is the divine Self

[Roxanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Yoga Sutras, the key text in the study of yoga, is an ancient text dating back at least 2000 years. The sutras were compiled by the sage Patanjali (pah-TAN-ja-lee). Patanjali didn't invent the concept of yoga, but he made a system of it by bringing together all the existing teachings and traditions and giving them a structure for students to follow. The word "sutra" means "thread" - the text is a collection of almost 200 brief "threads" of wisdom. Patanjali used as few words as possible in each sutra with the idea that students would be learning from an established teacher, who would expound upon each sutra in turn. Sri Swami Satchidananda takes on that role in this translation of the sutras and the accompanying commentary.

The sutras are traditionally grouped into four books: Book One, Contemplation; Book Two, Practice; Book Three, Accomplishments; and Book Four, Absoluteness. For most students, just reading Books One and Two is sufficient - the last two books contain the more esoteric teachings. For my teacher training we actually started by jumping right in with Book Two, the practical teachings, and this certainly isn't a bad idea. For Patanjali, the physical practice of yoga is simply a means of calming the mind, and the vast majority of the sutras are about the mind; it can be a little easier for the modern student to begin with the practical sutras in Book Two before working on the contemplative sutras in Book One.

This version of the sutras follows a helpful format: for each sutra, the original Sanskrit is given, along with the Sanskrit transliteration, the literal translation, and finally a translation set in readable English prose. This is a helpful structure because it can appeal both to the serious Sanskrit student as well as to the beginning student (who can just skip right to the English). After each sutra follows commentary from Swami Satchidananda. At first I found the commentary to be rather dry, but after journeying through the whole book I came to enjoy his tone and appreciate his stories. Satchidananda's translations of the sutras are very straightforward, and his commentary really elucidates each sutra and gets to the heart of what Patanjali is saying.

Overall, this is a good translation of the Yoga Sutras for beginning students, and for those who have studied the sutras before, Satchidananda's commentary is a worthwhile reason to choose this edition for a re-read.

[Stephanie MacDonald · Rating 2 out of 5]

Many excellent examples of ways to liberate oneself, however as all the "old systems of beLIEf" it teaches "selflessness" and "surrender to outside sources"... This absurd programming of "ego is bad" and do EVERYTHING for others and "God" and not yourself.

None of the old systems are truly liberating, they are just more subtle forms of control to keep the masses disempowered, "less than", and in need of some God or Guru to offer yourself to. This strange idea of "find someone else to blame or find someone else to give credit to" instead of taking FULL responsibility for themselves, is the number one reason why people stay asleep.

Such doctrines that say "THIS" is the way, "THIS" is the seating posture and ritual to perform, etc... All nonsense. All is already within you. There is no path, YOU are the path of YOURSELF.

This is a great book to gain greater perspective, but don't fall for the traps that convince you to ultimately give your power away. We are gods of ourselves. We as "the parts" contain the whole, but the Whole contains all us parts... There is no separation. There is none above or below you, just various manifestations of Source at different levels of awareness and vibration. No need to bow and worship that which you are the literal expression of... We simply nod to our elders in respect. I am sovereign unto myself. We are the angel and the demon, the light and the dark and it is ultimately our personal choice that which we choose to manifest while we are here wearing these temporary meatsuits.

[Justin Chiu · Rating 5 out of 5]

The term sutra means 'thread' and the yoga sutras are a very bare-bones collection of aphorisms/phrases that delineate the practice and philosophy of yoga, of which the asanas or postures(which most people consider to be the entirety of yoga), occupy 1 sentence.

Due to the nature of the sutras, their translation and further elaboration are important in order to gain value from them.

Swami satchidananda intersperses his translation of the sutras with personal examples from his life and philosophy, making them highly understandable and applicable in our daily lives. He avoids the more esoteric verses on yogi 'superpowers' and focuses more on the practical aspects of the practice.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yoga means to ‘Yoke”. The Sutras are the method of yoking yourself to Yoga. The original Hellenistic Greek which was the ‘Lingua Franca” of pre Christian interpretations of the Bible had two definitions of Yoke. One was for Yoga and the other was to yoke two oxen together. Jesus said that his “yoke” was easy. I am convinced that this is a deliberate misinterpretation of the New Testament and the real meaning was that Jesus was referring to “Yoga” or “ My Yoga is easy” which makes more sense in that time frame than to be talking about oxen.

[Steve Lu · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm not sure why this book was rated so highly. I've read a lot of eastern philosophy...Buddhist, taoist, and yes Hindu(upanishads) as well. Most, if not all of those books, were great reads that provided a lot of insight and help in my life.

This book, however, was just too esoteric for my tastes. It was difficult for me to gain anything from it. And let me again say, I've read esoteric... Take the Tao Te Ching for example. That book is not exactly easy to discern what the author(s) are trying to say. But, it comes no where close to this. I had to put it down and not finish it.

[Terri · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the must read for most new yoga teachers. The exploration of Patanjalis guidance for yogis is essential for anyone who wants to teach or deepen their practice. However, I do not personally think this is the only interpretation one should read. I'd recommend also looking at TKV Desikachar and modern thinkers like Matthew Remski to really dig deep into the sutras, and find a way to relate to them.