Patanjali |
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Patanjali, a famous Indian sage, was active around 200 B.C. and authored
important texts on medicine, grammar and yoga among others. His 196
verse ‘Yoga Sutras’ is possibly one of the most well-known of all yoga
texts and is widely studied.
Georg Feuerstein, a modern day authority on historical yoga, has this to say:
“Patanjali, who is by the way often wrongly called the “father of Yoga,” believed that
each individual is a composite of matter (prakriti) and spirit (purusha). He understood
the process of Yoga to bring about their separation, thereby restoring the spirit in its
absolute purity. His formulation is generally characterized as philosophical dualism. This
is an important point, because most of India’s philosophical systems favour one or other
kind of non-dualism: The countless aspects or forms of the
empirical world are in the last analysis the same “thing”—pure
formless but conscious existence”.
With his ‘yoga sutras’, Patanjali is also credited with presenting the
modern form of the famous ’eight-limb’ (ast-anga) path of classical
yoga.
Astanga Yoga (Pathabi Jois' popular Astanga Vinyasa school includes this system but
Astanga is not exclusive to his school)
This system is perhaps the most well-established and formalized dualistic Yoga path. Adepts
of Astanga Yoga may be said to be following the Classical Yoga path. Prior to Patanjali’s time
their existed an earlier ‘six limb’ path. (ṣaḍaṅgayoga)
The eight limbs or ‘arms’ are:
1 Yama – Community, social and ethical codes of conduct.
2 Niyama – Personal moral and ethical codes.
3 Asana – Posture training
4 Pranayama – Breath training
5 Pratyahara – Sense withdrawal.
6 Dharana - Concentration
7 Dhyana – Meditation
8 Samhadi – Merging of our perception with the chosen object of concentration. In Yoga this
object is Atman. Universal consciousness or if you prefer, God.
1) Yama and its complement Niyama, represent a series of "right living" or ethical rules
within Hinduism and Yoga. The five yamas of Patañjali's classical yoga system are
commitments that affect the yogi's relations with others and himself.
Ten yamas are listed in many texts including the Hatha Yoga Pradipika. Then as many as
sixty yamas are listed in still more old Hindu, Buddhist and yoga texts.
The five yamas listed by Patanjali in his yoga sutras are:
1. Ahimsa: non-violence or non-harming other living beings and oneself.
2. Satya: truthfulness, non-falsehood within oneself and to others.
3. Asteya: non-stealing.
4. Brahmacara: loyalty to one spiritual purpose.
5. Apharigraha: non-avarice non-possessiveness.
2) Niyama
The second limb of Patanjali’s eight-limbed yoga system contains the five internal practices
of Niyama (observance). These practices extend the ethical codes of conduct provided in his
first limb, the Yamas, to the practicing yogi’s internal environment of body, mind and spirit.
The practice of Niyama helps us maintain a positive environment in which to grow, and
gives us the self-discipline and inner-strength necessary to progress along the path of yoga.
1. Shaucha (purification) Sacred Spiral Yoga places the emphasis on impurity being a
divided condition of body, soul, mind and spirit.
2. Santosha (contentment) is not craving for what we do not have as well as not
coveting the possessions of others.
3. Tapas (asceticism) is a yogic practice of intense self-discipline and attainment of will
power.
4. Svadhyaya (self-study) is the ability to see our true divine nature.
5. Ishvara Pranidhana (devotion) is the dedication, devotion, and surrender of the fruits
of one’s practice to a higher reality.
3) Asana
Asana commonly refers to yoga posture. This is usually understood as the practice of
physical exercises within the hatha yoga context. Interestingly, one of Hatha Yoga’s
important texts the Hatha Yoga Pradipika by Svatmarama, includes only a handful of
actual yoga postures as being important. (less than twenty). Eighty four postures is a
commonly found number, while other exponents have come up with many hundreds
of poses.
Patanjali defines 'Asana' as 'to be seated in a position that is firm, but relaxed'.
Patanjali further mentions the necessity to be able to sit for extended periods.
By far the most fascinating comment by Patanjali is his method for gaining Asana . . .
'to relax and merge one’s attention with endlessness'
Sanskrit: आसन āsana 'sitting down’
4) Pranayama is the art of yogic breath and energy development. Generally practiced in a
sitting position but some can be done standing or lying down.
Pranayama if practiced regularly, increases lung function and capacity with the direct result
of enhanced oxygenation of vascular systems. As with Asana, some Pranayamas have a
calming effect and others stimulate us.
Some of the common pranayama’s are:
Nadi Shodana – alternate nostril breathing
Ujjaya – three stage (complete) – ujjaya means ‘victorious’ or ‘flying up’
Viloma – interrupted breathing (against the hair)
Bastrika – bellows breath, breath of fire
Sitali – tongue manipulation breathing
The traditional posture for Pranayama is sitting and the chin lock (Jalandhara Bandha) is
usually applied to control energy surges into the head and maintain the general flow of
energy around the mid-section of the body. To perform Jalandhara Bandha we tuck the chin
into the small cleft hollow at the head of the sternum and lift the chest up to meet it. The
chin lock is naturally performed in Plough pose. (Halasana)
5) Pratyahara or the 'withdrawal of the senses' is the fifth limb of the eight stages
of astanga yoga. It is also the first stage of the six-branch yoga (ṣaḍaṅgayoga) of the
Buddhist Kālacakra tantra, where it refers to the withdrawal of the five senses from external
objects to be replaced by the mentally created senses of an enlightened deity. This phase is
roughly analogous to the physical isolation (kāyaviveka) phase of Guhyasamāja tantra.
For Patanjali, it is a bridge between the bahiranga (external) aspects of yoga namely the first
four limbs and the later four limbs, the antakaranga (internal) yoga. Having actualized
the pratyahara stage, a practitioner is able to effectively engage into the practice of
Samyama (last three limbs)
At this stage of pratyahara, the consciousness of the individual is internalized in order that
the sensations from the senses of taste, touch, sight, hearing and smell don't reach their
respective centers in the brain and takes the sadhaka (practitioner) to next stages of Yoga,
namely Dharana (concentration) and Dhyana (meditation), and Samadhi (mystical
absorption), being the aim of all Yogic practices.
Pratyahara is derived from two Sanskrit words: prati and ahara, with ahara meaning food,
or anything taken into ourselves, and prati, a preposition meaning away or against. Together
they mean "weaning away from ahara", or simply ingestion.
Types of Pratyahara:
Withdrawal of Senses or Indriya Pratyahara
This involves withdrawal of senses, or sensory inputs into our physical being, coming
from our five senses, namely organs creating a sensory overload, and hence hinders
collection of the mind, as in Dharana, the next stage of Yoga.
Withdrawal of Prana or Prana Pratyahara
Control of our senses requires mastery over the flow of prana, as that is what drives
the senses. To stop the scattering of valuable vital energy of the body or prana, we
need to seek control over its flow, and harmonize it. This is done through various
practices including bringing the entire focus to a single point in the body. (Ekagrata)
These two lead to the subsequent two types of pratyahara, the Control of Action or
'Karma pratyahara', which entails not just control of motor organs, but also right
action or work, and Karma Yoga, surrender of every action to the divine and
performing it as an act of service. This leads to the final form of pratyahara - the
Withdrawal of Mind or 'Mano pratyahara', which is practiced by consciously
withdrawing attention from anything that is unwholesome or distracting for the mind
such as withdrawing attention from the senses, and directing it towards ones chosen
object.
Article resource
6) Dharana - The Sixth limb of Astanga Yoga.
Dharana is the practice of Concentration. Most minds lack Dharana to a greater or lesser
degree and thus are scattered, agitated, distracted, foolish or dull. Without the ability to
concentrate and focus, nothing meaningful can be achieved.
Once Dharana has been learned, the mind becomes closely attentive and the mental
faculties are focussed upon a single point. Such a person has superior mental powers, and
knows his desires.
The two most commonly used techniques for achieving Dharana is concentration upon the
symbol AUM, and upon the breath using the optional silent mantra of So-Ham with each
breath.
Article Resource
7) Dhyāna means ‘meditation’, which is a deeper awareness of the inherent unity of
everything, inclusive of perception of body, mind, senses and surroundings, yet remaining
unidentified with it".
Dhyana is the natural progression in ones development on the astanga path paves the
way to the last limb, Samadhi.
Meditation as such, is the extended ability to concentrate (dharana) upon one’s chosen
obect. This may indicate long periods of silence as our consciousness is absorbed into a
unity of perception with our object.
8) Samādhi is the last stage of astanga yoga and is the ultimate stage of meditative
absorption.
Samādhi is ‘oneness’ with the object of meditation. There is no distinction between act of
meditation and the object of meditation. Samādhi is of two kinds: with and without support
of an object of meditation.
Samyama, the sixth, seventh and eighth arms of astanga yoga, taken together as a process.
This process is employed to attain samhadi.
Sixth limb - Dharana. In dharana, the mind learns to focus on a single object of thought. The
object of focus is called a pratyaya. In dharana, the yogi learns to prevent other thoughts
from intruding on focusing awareness on the pratyaya.
Seventh limb - Dhyana. Over time and with practice, the yogin learns to sustain awareness
of only the pratyaya, thereby dharana transforms into dhyana. In dhyana, the yogin comes
to realize the triplicity of perceiver (the yogin), perceived (the pratyaya) and the act of
perceiving. The new element added to the practice of dhyana, that distinguish it from
dharana is the yogin learns to minimize the perceiver element of this triplicity. In this
fashion, dhyana is the gradual minimization of the perceiver, or the fusion of the observer
with the observed (the pratyaya).
Eighth limb - Samādhi. When the yogin can: (1) sustain focus on the pratyaya for an
extended period of time, and (2) minimize his or her self-consciousness during the practice,
then dhyana transforms into samādhi. In this fashion then, the yogin becomes fused with
the pratyaya. Patanjali compares this to placing a transparent jewel on a colored surface:
the jewel takes on the color of the surface. Similarly, in samādhi, the consciousness of the
yogin fuses with the object of focus, the pratyaya. The pratyaya is like the colored surface,
and the yogin's consciousness is like the transparent jewel.
Article reference
The art of Posture and Breath control builds mind/body development and prepares us for
the process of Meditation & Relaxation (sense withdrawal)
Concentration and meditation take us forwards and into ‘absorption’ – in the yogic case,
contemplation and absorption into the supreme consciousness (Ishvara Pranidhana). Yogic
philosophy speaks of a kernel or seed of this universal energy dwelling within our own
hearts (Jivatman). This is not ‘God’ in the western sense of a deity outside of our-selves, but
rather an all pervading consciousness that is within all animate and inanimate things, indeed
throughout the perceivable universe.
Samadhi is the state of attaining a sense of union with this universal awareness. Described
as a state of supreme bliss, (Ananda) it is the outcome of spiritual practice and following the
dedicated astanga path.
important texts on medicine, grammar and yoga among others. His 196
verse ‘Yoga Sutras’ is possibly one of the most well-known of all yoga
texts and is widely studied.
Georg Feuerstein, a modern day authority on historical yoga, has this to say:
“Patanjali, who is by the way often wrongly called the “father of Yoga,” believed that
each individual is a composite of matter (prakriti) and spirit (purusha). He understood
the process of Yoga to bring about their separation, thereby restoring the spirit in its
absolute purity. His formulation is generally characterized as philosophical dualism. This
is an important point, because most of India’s philosophical systems favour one or other
kind of non-dualism: The countless aspects or forms of the
empirical world are in the last analysis the same “thing”—pure
formless but conscious existence”.
With his ‘yoga sutras’, Patanjali is also credited with presenting the
modern form of the famous ’eight-limb’ (ast-anga) path of classical
yoga.
Astanga Yoga (Pathabi Jois' popular Astanga Vinyasa school includes this system but
Astanga is not exclusive to his school)
This system is perhaps the most well-established and formalized dualistic Yoga path. Adepts
of Astanga Yoga may be said to be following the Classical Yoga path. Prior to Patanjali’s time
their existed an earlier ‘six limb’ path. (ṣaḍaṅgayoga)
The eight limbs or ‘arms’ are:
1 Yama – Community, social and ethical codes of conduct.
2 Niyama – Personal moral and ethical codes.
3 Asana – Posture training
4 Pranayama – Breath training
5 Pratyahara – Sense withdrawal.
6 Dharana - Concentration
7 Dhyana – Meditation
8 Samhadi – Merging of our perception with the chosen object of concentration. In Yoga this
object is Atman. Universal consciousness or if you prefer, God.
1) Yama and its complement Niyama, represent a series of "right living" or ethical rules
within Hinduism and Yoga. The five yamas of Patañjali's classical yoga system are
commitments that affect the yogi's relations with others and himself.
Ten yamas are listed in many texts including the Hatha Yoga Pradipika. Then as many as
sixty yamas are listed in still more old Hindu, Buddhist and yoga texts.
The five yamas listed by Patanjali in his yoga sutras are:
1. Ahimsa: non-violence or non-harming other living beings and oneself.
2. Satya: truthfulness, non-falsehood within oneself and to others.
3. Asteya: non-stealing.
4. Brahmacara: loyalty to one spiritual purpose.
5. Apharigraha: non-avarice non-possessiveness.
2) Niyama
The second limb of Patanjali’s eight-limbed yoga system contains the five internal practices
of Niyama (observance). These practices extend the ethical codes of conduct provided in his
first limb, the Yamas, to the practicing yogi’s internal environment of body, mind and spirit.
The practice of Niyama helps us maintain a positive environment in which to grow, and
gives us the self-discipline and inner-strength necessary to progress along the path of yoga.
1. Shaucha (purification) Sacred Spiral Yoga places the emphasis on impurity being a
divided condition of body, soul, mind and spirit.
2. Santosha (contentment) is not craving for what we do not have as well as not
coveting the possessions of others.
3. Tapas (asceticism) is a yogic practice of intense self-discipline and attainment of will
power.
4. Svadhyaya (self-study) is the ability to see our true divine nature.
5. Ishvara Pranidhana (devotion) is the dedication, devotion, and surrender of the fruits
of one’s practice to a higher reality.
3) Asana
Asana commonly refers to yoga posture. This is usually understood as the practice of
physical exercises within the hatha yoga context. Interestingly, one of Hatha Yoga’s
important texts the Hatha Yoga Pradipika by Svatmarama, includes only a handful of
actual yoga postures as being important. (less than twenty). Eighty four postures is a
commonly found number, while other exponents have come up with many hundreds
of poses.
Patanjali defines 'Asana' as 'to be seated in a position that is firm, but relaxed'.
Patanjali further mentions the necessity to be able to sit for extended periods.
By far the most fascinating comment by Patanjali is his method for gaining Asana . . .
'to relax and merge one’s attention with endlessness'
Sanskrit: आसन āsana 'sitting down’
4) Pranayama is the art of yogic breath and energy development. Generally practiced in a
sitting position but some can be done standing or lying down.
Pranayama if practiced regularly, increases lung function and capacity with the direct result
of enhanced oxygenation of vascular systems. As with Asana, some Pranayamas have a
calming effect and others stimulate us.
Some of the common pranayama’s are:
Nadi Shodana – alternate nostril breathing
Ujjaya – three stage (complete) – ujjaya means ‘victorious’ or ‘flying up’
Viloma – interrupted breathing (against the hair)
Bastrika – bellows breath, breath of fire
Sitali – tongue manipulation breathing
The traditional posture for Pranayama is sitting and the chin lock (Jalandhara Bandha) is
usually applied to control energy surges into the head and maintain the general flow of
energy around the mid-section of the body. To perform Jalandhara Bandha we tuck the chin
into the small cleft hollow at the head of the sternum and lift the chest up to meet it. The
chin lock is naturally performed in Plough pose. (Halasana)
5) Pratyahara or the 'withdrawal of the senses' is the fifth limb of the eight stages
of astanga yoga. It is also the first stage of the six-branch yoga (ṣaḍaṅgayoga) of the
Buddhist Kālacakra tantra, where it refers to the withdrawal of the five senses from external
objects to be replaced by the mentally created senses of an enlightened deity. This phase is
roughly analogous to the physical isolation (kāyaviveka) phase of Guhyasamāja tantra.
For Patanjali, it is a bridge between the bahiranga (external) aspects of yoga namely the first
four limbs and the later four limbs, the antakaranga (internal) yoga. Having actualized
the pratyahara stage, a practitioner is able to effectively engage into the practice of
Samyama (last three limbs)
At this stage of pratyahara, the consciousness of the individual is internalized in order that
the sensations from the senses of taste, touch, sight, hearing and smell don't reach their
respective centers in the brain and takes the sadhaka (practitioner) to next stages of Yoga,
namely Dharana (concentration) and Dhyana (meditation), and Samadhi (mystical
absorption), being the aim of all Yogic practices.
Pratyahara is derived from two Sanskrit words: prati and ahara, with ahara meaning food,
or anything taken into ourselves, and prati, a preposition meaning away or against. Together
they mean "weaning away from ahara", or simply ingestion.
Types of Pratyahara:
Withdrawal of Senses or Indriya Pratyahara
This involves withdrawal of senses, or sensory inputs into our physical being, coming
from our five senses, namely organs creating a sensory overload, and hence hinders
collection of the mind, as in Dharana, the next stage of Yoga.
Withdrawal of Prana or Prana Pratyahara
Control of our senses requires mastery over the flow of prana, as that is what drives
the senses. To stop the scattering of valuable vital energy of the body or prana, we
need to seek control over its flow, and harmonize it. This is done through various
practices including bringing the entire focus to a single point in the body. (Ekagrata)
These two lead to the subsequent two types of pratyahara, the Control of Action or
'Karma pratyahara', which entails not just control of motor organs, but also right
action or work, and Karma Yoga, surrender of every action to the divine and
performing it as an act of service. This leads to the final form of pratyahara - the
Withdrawal of Mind or 'Mano pratyahara', which is practiced by consciously
withdrawing attention from anything that is unwholesome or distracting for the mind
such as withdrawing attention from the senses, and directing it towards ones chosen
object.
Article resource
6) Dharana - The Sixth limb of Astanga Yoga.
Dharana is the practice of Concentration. Most minds lack Dharana to a greater or lesser
degree and thus are scattered, agitated, distracted, foolish or dull. Without the ability to
concentrate and focus, nothing meaningful can be achieved.
Once Dharana has been learned, the mind becomes closely attentive and the mental
faculties are focussed upon a single point. Such a person has superior mental powers, and
knows his desires.
The two most commonly used techniques for achieving Dharana is concentration upon the
symbol AUM, and upon the breath using the optional silent mantra of So-Ham with each
breath.
Article Resource
7) Dhyāna means ‘meditation’, which is a deeper awareness of the inherent unity of
everything, inclusive of perception of body, mind, senses and surroundings, yet remaining
unidentified with it".
Dhyana is the natural progression in ones development on the astanga path paves the
way to the last limb, Samadhi.
Meditation as such, is the extended ability to concentrate (dharana) upon one’s chosen
obect. This may indicate long periods of silence as our consciousness is absorbed into a
unity of perception with our object.
8) Samādhi is the last stage of astanga yoga and is the ultimate stage of meditative
absorption.
Samādhi is ‘oneness’ with the object of meditation. There is no distinction between act of
meditation and the object of meditation. Samādhi is of two kinds: with and without support
of an object of meditation.
Samyama, the sixth, seventh and eighth arms of astanga yoga, taken together as a process.
This process is employed to attain samhadi.
Sixth limb - Dharana. In dharana, the mind learns to focus on a single object of thought. The
object of focus is called a pratyaya. In dharana, the yogi learns to prevent other thoughts
from intruding on focusing awareness on the pratyaya.
Seventh limb - Dhyana. Over time and with practice, the yogin learns to sustain awareness
of only the pratyaya, thereby dharana transforms into dhyana. In dhyana, the yogin comes
to realize the triplicity of perceiver (the yogin), perceived (the pratyaya) and the act of
perceiving. The new element added to the practice of dhyana, that distinguish it from
dharana is the yogin learns to minimize the perceiver element of this triplicity. In this
fashion, dhyana is the gradual minimization of the perceiver, or the fusion of the observer
with the observed (the pratyaya).
Eighth limb - Samādhi. When the yogin can: (1) sustain focus on the pratyaya for an
extended period of time, and (2) minimize his or her self-consciousness during the practice,
then dhyana transforms into samādhi. In this fashion then, the yogin becomes fused with
the pratyaya. Patanjali compares this to placing a transparent jewel on a colored surface:
the jewel takes on the color of the surface. Similarly, in samādhi, the consciousness of the
yogin fuses with the object of focus, the pratyaya. The pratyaya is like the colored surface,
and the yogin's consciousness is like the transparent jewel.
Article reference
The art of Posture and Breath control builds mind/body development and prepares us for
the process of Meditation & Relaxation (sense withdrawal)
Concentration and meditation take us forwards and into ‘absorption’ – in the yogic case,
contemplation and absorption into the supreme consciousness (Ishvara Pranidhana). Yogic
philosophy speaks of a kernel or seed of this universal energy dwelling within our own
hearts (Jivatman). This is not ‘God’ in the western sense of a deity outside of our-selves, but
rather an all pervading consciousness that is within all animate and inanimate things, indeed
throughout the perceivable universe.
Samadhi is the state of attaining a sense of union with this universal awareness. Described
as a state of supreme bliss, (Ananda) it is the outcome of spiritual practice and following the
dedicated astanga path.
