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The Philosophy of Yoga
At Susquehanna Yoga, we believe that
understanding and studying the ancient philosophy behind the practice of
Yoga helps our students get the most benefit out of their class time. For
this reason, we include the ‘Philosophy of Yoga’ Lessons in
sequential order in our newsletter. All lessons are also
archived for reference and are
available on this page.
Yoga is prescriptive - IF you do this, then that will happen. Yoga teachers sometimes describe to their students how certain poses should
feel, or what happens to their body in a particular posture. But students
must learn to listen to their own body and find their own way.
Classic Yoga instruction takes out the descriptive and is solely
prescriptive, and is therefore the most direct route to the center.
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The Philosophy of Yoga (Yoga
Sutra 1.31)
1.31- duhkha daurmanasya angamejayatva svasaprasvasah viksepa sahabhuvah
The practitioner is beset with many obstacles toward his Union with the
Supreme One. In addition to obstacles, the practitioner must also be tested
by many distractions, which try to lure him away from focus and ultimately
his goal. The four causes of distraction are sorrow, despair, tremor of the
body and labored breathing. These become agitations to mind and
consciousness.
These distractions are split into three genres: self-inflicted (adhyatmika),
imbalances of elements of body (adhibhautika) and problems from karmic
doings such as genetic defects (adhidaivika).
These distractions can be mastered and one can stand like the mighty lion
while the frogs of distractions leap and bound around his feet.
1.32- tatpratisedhartham ekatattva abhyasah
Yoga offers a solution. The impediments can be removed and their occurrence
ceased by the following described methods:
Most of the human race has believed the illusion of the five senses. And as
a result, have given their power to the physical. Therefore, the concept of
ekatattva (devotion and surrender to God, which siphons the energy from
senses and disempowers all of its illusionary limitations) cannot be grasped
by the average person and simply becomes a fantasy, an idealogic theory
living only in the ancient texts. If ekatattva would be implemented,
Pantanjali would not have needed to elaborate on other methods of conquering
these impediments. Onlya few righteous souls, such as Ramana Maharsi, Sri
Ramakrsna Paramahamsa, Mahatma Gandhi, Jada Bharata and the great acaryas of
the past, for example, could be so certain in God that any illusion of the
five senses would dissipate into ethereal nothingness.
But total certainty in God is a fruit beyond the reach of most of humanity
as they crawl at the base of the tree of good and evil; forever entwined in
pleasure and pain, joy and sorrow and success and failure, in other words,
duality. For these tired souls, meditation helps to minimize their
impediments. But to conquer all the obstacles the practitioner must follow
the eight stages of yoga. Then the fruit of self-realization will be theirs
to taste.
It is only when the ego is silenced and the need to receive for the self
alone is banished can the practitioner surrender completely to God. This is
the surrender of the highest order; high on the tree of life and beyond the
average individual. Nevertheless, there it waits to be harvested; as it has
been since the beginning of time.
Paraphrased from:
Light on the Yoga Sutras of Pantanjali
B.K.S Iyengar |
Philosophy of Yoga Archives:
Invocation Chant
Yoga Sutra 1.13
Yoga Sutra 1.15
Yoga Sutra 1.16
Yoga Sutra 1.17
Yoga Sutra 1.18
Yoga Sutra 1.19
Yoga Sutra 1.21 & 1.22
Yoga Sutra 1.23 - 1.26
Yoga Sutra 1.27
Yoga Sutra 1.28
Yoga Sutra 1.29 & 1.30
Yoga Sutra 1.31
Yoga Sutra 1.33
Yoga Sutra 1.35 & 1.36
Yoga Sutra 1.37
Yoga Sutra 1.39
Yoga Sutra 1.40
Yoga Sutra 1.41 & 1.42
Yoga Sutra 1.43
Yoga Sutra 1.44
Yoga Sutra 1.45
Yoga Sutra 1.46
Current Yoga Sutra
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