Yoga Sutras

Представлене видання дає можливість сучасним дослідникам і практикам йоґи глибше зрозуміти йоґічну медитацію — дг’яну. У монографії досліджується процес становлення й розвитку філософських засад дг’яни в історичній перспективі. Автор ретельно вивчає та ілюструє різноманіття поглядів та визначень, що формують поняття «дг’я- на» у ведійський, епічний, класичний та гатха-йоґічний періоди. Для відображення уявлень кожної із зазначених епох, уперше зроблено український переклад нових фрагментів санскритських першоджерел. Показано, як зміни в значенні поняття «дг’яна» впливали на розвиток вчення йоґи, практику йоґінів та по-різному формували уявлення про таке звичне для сучасної людини поняття, як «мислення».
Монографія, як ґрунтовне комплексне дослідження, спонукає до подальшого вивчення інтелектуальних тенденцій у розвитку йоґи та її взаємодії з іншими філософськими та езотеричними вченнями. Книга адресована науковцям, викладачам, аспірантам, студентам, усім, хто цікавиться історією індійської та західної філософської думки, прак- тикам йоґи.

За останнє сторіччя Йоґа як і пов’язані з нею практики медитації, психотехніки стали невід’ємним атрибутом західної культури. Десятки мільйонів людей практикують асани й пранаями, беруть участь у йоґа-семінарах, навіть, не помічаючи цього, використовують терміни йоґи в повсякденній мові. Однак, будь-яка популяризація має й зворотну сторону — спрощення. На жаль, цей процес повною мірою торкнувся і Йоґи. У свідомості західної людини терміни Йоґи втратили свою початкову глибину, Йозі приписали масу поглядів і концепцій, породжених швидше західною, а не індійською культурою. Сама Йоґа стала сприйматися як канонічне, монолітне вчення, позбавлене відтінків, історії, внутрішньої динаміки. У зв’язку з цим виникла потреба в справжньому науковому осмис- ленні Йоґи, яка й привела в останні два десятиліття до появи Yoga-studies у провідних світових центрах наукового сходознавства. Одним із піонерів цих досліджень у нашій країні став Дмитро Данилов — автор цієї монографії.
Книга написана в дуже сучасному жанрі історії та деконструкції ідей. Об’єктом досліджень став термін «дг’яна», який, як показав автор, покриває безліч досить різнорідних психопрактик, і неодноразово змінював своє значення. Таким чином, і це дуже відрадно, досліджуючи це вчення, Дмитро виходить за рамки сприйняття Йоґи як чисто тілесної практики й звертається до її глибини. Думаю, ця монографія буде цікава не тільки сходознавцям, але й філософам, психологам, а також усім, хто дійсно глибоко цікавиться йоґою. Андрій Сафронов. Президент Української федерації йоґи

Свого часу М. Еліаде відніс йоґу до одного з чотирьох базових і взаємозалежних понять, до однієї з чотирьох «кінетичних ідей», які ведуть в осердя індійської релігійно-філософської думки. Минає понад півсторіччя і в світі з’являється різнопланове зацікавлення йоґою, а індійське явище стає впливовою і помітною світовою тенденцією. Уявити сучасний глобалізований культурний, релігійний
і науковий ландшафт без йоґи вже неможливо.
В останні роки історико-філософські дослідження йоґи не тільки істотно пожвавились, а і стали помітним напрямком в індологічній гуманітаристиці. Активно розвивається і міждисциплінарне (трансдисциплінарне) осмислення феномену йоґи. При цьому підвищене зацікавлення спрямоване не тільки на індуїстську йоґічну думку, а і буддійську, джайнську. Водночас не вся основна йоґічна термінологія, включаючи дг’яну, встигла стати предметом окремих розвідок. Тому запропоноване Дмитром Данило- вим монографічне видання, присвячене окремо узятому поняття, тобто дг’яні, є беззаперечно актуальним та відо- бражає світові тенденції в сучасних студіях з індійської філософії.
Автору вдалось не тільки зосередитись на одному з ключових понять йоґічної думки, а і належно проаналізу- вати його трансформацію, залучивши для цього необхідне коло першоджерел. Саме дослідження побудоване так, що аналіз вживання дг’яни здійснюється у досить широкому часовому діапазоні: від ведійських витоків (наприклад, Ріґведа cамгіта, Каушитака, Шветашватара, Майтрі упа- нішади) й епічних текстів (наприклад, «Мокшадгарма», «Бгаґавадґіта») до йоґа даршяни (наприклад, «Йоґа-сутри» Патаньджалі) і середньовічних гатха-йоґічних текстів (на- приклад, «Гатха-йоґа-прадипіка»). У результаті, вдалося помітити важливі трансформації в розумінні дг’яни, які відбувались у різних площинах: гносеологічній, сотері- ологічній, трансцендентній, тілесній. При цьому аналіз поняття дг’яна здійснюється у контексті, який передбачає звернення до різних даршян, включаючи неортодоксаль- ні. Це дало змогу доречно вказати на ті конкретні впли- ви у змінах значень дг’яни, які мали місце в індійському діалогічному історико-філософському процесі. У разі необхідності, Д. Данилов обстоює свої погляди, дискуту- ючи з провідними дослідниками йоґічної філософської спадщини (не тільки згаданим раніше М. Еліаде, а і Дас Ґуптою, Дж. Маллінсоном, Ф. Маасом та іншими).
З позиції історико-філософської індології в Україні запропонована монографія Д. Данилова зберігає не тільки вищеокреслену актуальність. Вона вирізняється ще і но- ваторством, оскільки є першим завершеним досліджен- ням, присвяченим історико-філософським аспектам йоґи. Завдяки автору до вітчизняної науки і культури вводиться не тільки цікава та значуща проблематика, а і відповідні фрагменти санскритських текстів у перекладі українською мовою.
Будемо сподіватись, що монографія знайде свого заці- кавленого читача і сприятиме відновленню та пожвавлен- ню вітчизняних досліджень, присвячених непересічному феномену йоґи.
Юрій Завгородній, доктор філософських наук

La Via tradizionale richiede di essere direttamente sperimentata come processo evolutivo concreto, del quale abbiamo testimonianze precise:
“..vi sono sempre stati e vi sono degli esseri che hanno svelato, in quanto lo vivono, e non teoricamente o illusoriamente, questo asserto di verità tradizionale, cosicché la verità è provata sperimentalmente.”
La grandezza dell’Opera è anche l’essere uno strumento a disposizione di tutti coloro che intraprendono la via dello Yoga:
“L’insegnamento della Gītā può essere valido ed essenziale per tutti: occorre meditarlo profondamente, perché lo Yoga di qualunque  forma e grado non può prescindere dalla meditazione. Dalla  corretta meditazione nasce il riconoscimento della retta azione.”
Via di illuminazione dalle molteplici prospettive contenute Tradizione, :
“La Gītā costituisce una Dottrina sintetica (non sincretica) che conduce dalle tenebre alla luce, dalla morte alla vita, dal divenire all’essere, dall’avidyā allo jñāna, dal relativo impermanente all’assoluto incondizionato, dall’apparenza a ciò che é.”
Da cui il sottile ma saldo legame che unisce gli Yogasūtra alla Gītā visibile se ci si pone in modo fattivo nella prospettiva dell’insegnamento tradizionale:
“La Tradizione, con le sue varie scienze, indica la via dell’assoluto e degli universali che va investigata seriamente ed esperita. Lo Yoga è scienza e filosofia, è teoria e pratica, è mente e azione.”

Bozza preliminare dal testo:
Dall’Uno della Tradizione ai Sistemi Aperti
Patañjali Yogasūtra – Il ‘punto di vista’ Yoga Vol I -Yama e Niyama, i Doveri (astensioni e osservanze) III^ ed. in corso di preparazione.
dal Capitolo: I commentatori moderni degli Yogasūtra

“The true devotees love the world, the society and everything around because they perceive each and every manifestation of the artful Prakrti (Supreme Creative Power) with one universal spirit. They also love the finite, since it is also a portion of the Universal. They perceive worldly pleasures as divine bliss varied by time, place and person. They keep their mind-stuff absorbed in the eternal currents of the divine flow. Such devoted aspirants are the only true enjoyers or rasika and their object of enjoyment is the Supreme Brahma (God).” Shrii Shrii Ánandamúrti (1921-1990) was a Tantric guru in the tradition of Shiva and Krishna. He introduced the empowered universal spiritual mantra “Baba Nam Kevalam”, composed a collection of 5018 spiritual songs called Prabháta Saḿgiita, and founded the socio-spiritual movement Ananda Marga (“the Path of Bliss”).  –  Richard Gauthier, Department of Chemistry and Physics, Santa Rosa Junior College, Santa Rosa, California, USA, August 18, 2021.

Con questo breve intervento, destinato ai lettori italiani, riportiamo uno stralcio in bozza tratta dal testo, in corso di redazione:
Dall’Uno della Tradizione ai Sistemi Aperti, Patañjali Yogasūtra. Il “punto di vista” dello Yoga Vol I -Yama e Niyama, delle astensioni e delle osservanze.
I. K. Taimni ha scritto numerosi testi sulla filosofia Hindū, tra i quali quello sugli Yogasūtra di Patañjali. Si tratta, anche in questo caso, di un testo basilare la cui lettura è fonte di spunti di riflessione e meditazione di grande respiro. Molti dei Significati più complessi degli Yogasūtra sono indagati in profondità, descritti in modo chiaro e incisivo. Abbiamo pertanto ritenuto doveroso sviluppare un contributo adeguato, facendo riferimento diretto all’edizione originale in lingua inglese . Nella traduzione delle citazioni, riportata in nota, si è cercato di restare aderenti al testo originale, inserendo tra parentesi quadra chiarimenti ritenuti utili, indirizzati soprattutto a chi presta attenzione alla Via iniziatica tradizionale. Ci si è sentiti autorizzati a praticare tale metodo da quanto scritto da Taimni nell’introduzione dove, dopo aver rammentato le recenti scoperte scientifiche e la loro coerenza con i principi già enunciati dallo Yoga nell’antichità, fa un richiamo al concetto ermetico “Come in alto così in basso”. La lettura integrale del testo di Taimni, che confidiamo i lettori siano stimolati a compiere, si ritiene particolarmente fruttifera per ogni ricercatore che ha intrapreso la Via Tradizionale, specificatamente quella del ramo Occidentale. E’ una lettura istruttiva che, pur nel rispetto integrale delle peculiarità e scevra da ogni facile suggestione di sincretismo, pone domande profonde su molti degli aspetti maggiormente critici dell’attuale situazione di diffuso degrado.

Various yoga  asanas photos taken in Montpellier, France in 1982 while doing research on my PHD thesis on Anquetil-Duperron, his role and his place in the Oriental Renaissance(1986).
My personal autobiography , thanks to yoga, can be downloaded on Academia.com    ON the road to Heaven's Door: An Encounter with the Ultimate Reality .

Sri Tirumalai Krishnamacharya (1888 - 1989) is widely acknowledged as the father of Modern Postural Yoga.  This paper carefully analyzes one of his few major works, the 1934 Yoga Rahasya, . The book reveals the depth of Krishnamcharya's dialog with the received tradition as well as his desire to promulgate a modern yoga focused on numerous complex asanas, yoga for the householder and yoga for women.

La comprensione del secondo sūtra di Patañjali è oggetto di una particolare attenzione sia da parte dei ricercatori eruditi del mondo accademico che di coloro che percorrono la Via Iniziatica.
Esiste inoltre una copiosa letteratura “divulgativa”, che  oltre ad essere manifestamente priva dei requisiti di serietà, coerenza e spesso buona fede,  è assolutamente priva di qualsiasi elemento d’interesse, sia accademico-scientifico che iniziatico.
Delimitato il campo d’indagine, è innegabile che siamo di fronte ad un tema complesso,  aperto  e per alcuni aspetti forse irresolubile. Tema da affrontare con mente ed animo sgombri da preconcetti, pronti a recepire tutto ciò che c’è di positivo, anche in ciò che appare a volte distante dal nostro sentire.

Con il secondo sūtra, infatti, Patañjali dice ciò che è lo Yoga.
Il presente lavoro è una bozza di tentativo di dialogo, contributo aperto e non dogmatico alla comprensione della quarta parola del sūtra: nirodhaḥ.
Esigenza che nasce dalla constatazione delle opinioni differenti al riguardo, quindi di interpretazioni e traduzioni dalle quali, necessariamente, discendono prospettive che influenzano l’intera opera.
Ai due limiti estremi delle interpretazioni possiamo individuare approcci apparentemente distanti, ma che riteniamo non inconciliabili, con la Speranza di poter arrivare a far si che “le parallele, all’infinito, s’incontrino”.
Riconoscendo e rispettando sia la Visione di coloro che percorrono la Via Iniziatica, quindi interpretano a partire dall’esperienza vissuta direttamente, come “stato di coscienza” trascendente (oltre le dimensioni percepibili ed osservabili con strumenti profani), sia i contributi di coloro che accostandosi ad un testo innegabilmente ‘iniziatico’,  contribuiscono con la visione di coloro che applicano,  con serietà e buona fede, gli strumenti razionali più sofisticati messi a punto nell’ambito dell’ermeneutica .
E’ un contributo ed un invito ad essere “sistema aperto”, abbattendo i confini che dividono, nel tentativo di separare lo spesso dal sottile, tendendo se non ad una possibile quanto difficile convergenza positiva, almeno ad un reciproco rispetto, oltre le dualità.

Do we live in an information universe, a “Matrix,” in which what we experience – whether waking or dreaming - has little or no direct correspondence to what actually takes place?

This workshop will present a series of brief overviews of various theories and concepts that look at reality in a radically different way than the materialist-reductionist worldview, as well as both waking and dreaming experiential exercises designed so that participants can better understand them through direct experience.  Participants will have an opportunity to explore the possibilities and potentialities of our living in an information universe through phenomenological exercises, thought experiments, and meditations while both mindfully awake and when lucidly asleep.

“Shivashaktyátmakaḿ Brahma” -- The Cosmic Entity is the composite of Shiva (Consciousness) and Shakti (Operative Principle). Thus begins Ánanda Sútram, meaning “aphorisms leading to ánanda, divine bliss.” The eighty-five sútras of this book serve, with breathtaking conciseness, as a framework for a new Cosmic ideology. In this book, the author has in a few vivid strokes presented humanity with original concepts of metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, and macro-history. He has also set out for the first time a socio-economic approach conceived in the light of spiritual philosophy, blending subjective approach with objective adjustment, that offers the world a progressive social system based on economic justice. Shrii Shrii Anandamurti (1921-1990), or Prabhat Rainjan Sarkar, was a spiritual guru and social philosopher who propounded PROUT (Progressive Utilization Theory) and founded the socio-spiritual movement Ananda Marga (“the Path of Bliss”). Richard Gauthier, Department of Chemistry and Physics, Santa Rosa Junior College, Santa Rosa, California, USA, April 22, 2021.

A commentary on the classic Yoga Sutras of Patanjali.

What you need to know to actually make progress in meditation.

"Complete Instructions on Enlightenment" There are many commentaries on The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali but most are by people with no real experience of meditation or enlightenment. Author taught by Swami Satchitananda and Zen Master Hogen Daido Yamahata. Here are real descriptions of the sanskrit terms by one who meditates using these, "Complete Instructions on Enlightenment".

Viveka or Dis-crime-ination is the process of purification of Trauma and Pain from Energy Blockages or Vrittis, Bijas, Samskaras.

Samyama - the Ninth limb of Yoga - is the ultimate technique for the removal of energy blockages creating Dharma Mega Samadhi and Nirbija (No Energy Blockage) Samadhi or Enlightenment. My teacher Swami Satchitananda Yogiraj of Swami Sivananda of Rishikesh, said, "The ego is just a mass of energy blockages" E-Go!

yogas citta vritti nirodha - Yogas from Yuj, the yoke - the connection between you and your Soul - Enlightenment comes from the removal of energy blockages.

"Then the Seer (Self) abides in His own nature" - We become Soul Infused beings.

Energy Enhancement Meditation including Level 1 Alchemical VITRIOL to Ground Pain and Trauma from Memories and the Energy Enhancement Level 2 Samyama Seven Step Process to remove Energy Blockages is THE complete way of processing and integrating Bijas to create Nirbija Samadhi - ENLIGHTENMENT!

Almost two thousand years ago, the Indian sage Patañjali, an inheritor of several of these maps, and a noted master navigator of consciousness, composed an integrated set of aphorisms that describe in great detail the structure and dynamics of consciousness within the human being. More than simply a description, however, Patañjali's Yoga Sūtra provides a theory-practice continuum which includes "... effective definitions, explanations and descriptions of key concepts and terms relating to theoria and praxis in Yoga." This paper is an attempt to sketch a pragmatic map of consciousness for a modern techno-digital culture by describing Patañjali's model of the structure and dynamics of consciousness in the languages of science.  The model will be shown to be supported by recently hypothesized theories of consciousness put forward by the Cambridge molecular biologist Johnjoe McFadden , the New Zealand neurobiologist Susan Pockett,  and the Stanford physicist Frank Heile. 
The model presents human consciousness as operating in two distinct modes: 1.) as a fluctuating process of time-based organic memory and symbolic reasoning within the constraints of the physical neuronal systems, and 2.) as a nexus of electromagnetic energy flux aligned axially within and radiating outward from resonant cavities within the human body. I will describe how this model parallels and is supported by Patañjali's description of 1.) the human mindstuff (citta) and its relation to 2.) radiant consciousness (puruṣa).

Leading up to this article, I did three preliminary studies to solve some of the issues related to the Yogasūtra of Patañjali. In this article I finally describe the complete eightfold path and explain the concept of samāpatti. For the study of the Yogasūtra I use a directive that I have taken from Frits Staal: "The study of Indian philosophy in general loses much of its importance if one does not pay attention to the methodology used."

The methodology that Patañjali used is related to the style of literature he chose for his work, the Sūtra style. A Sūtra explains itself to someone who has an eye for the way the sūtras are connected like threads forming a net. The nodes of the Yogasūtra are formed by the repetition of words, the use of synonyms and contradictions, parallel structures, and the use of analogies and metaphors. Following this guideline, I came up with completely new interpretations of key sūtras such as the sūtras 1.41 (samāpatti), 2.20 (pratyaya) and 3.35 (svārtha). In this work I reject Monier-Williams' translation of the compound 'tatsthatadañjanatā' as 'assuming the colour of any near object', Woods' translation of the word 'pratyaya' as presented-idea, and the understanding of the word 'svārtha' as 'the purpose of the other [puruṣa]'. The reconsiderations of these sūtras shed a whole new light on the Yogasūtra with far-reaching implications for the translations of other sūtras. For example, the compound 'jalapaṅkakaṇṭakādi' in sūtra 3.39 does not mean 'water, mud, thorns, etc.,' as generally assumed, but 'urine, feces, hair & nails, etc.', i.e. the waste products of the body.

My conclusion is that the Yogasūtra describes a suicide ritual. The first chapter describes why it is performed, the second chapter how it is performed, and the third chapter how it is experienced by the performer. This interpretation of the Yogasūtra is in agreement with what is already known about pre-Buddhist yoga practices. Despite this, Patañjali refers to many Abhidharmic concepts to explain his practice, probably to challenge the Buddhists. The role of the fourth chapter is discussed in the appendix.

In the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries, prominent Indian religious leaders such as Swami Vivekananda and Swami Sivananda developed systems of yoga based on Patañjali's Aṣṭāṅgayoga and called them Rājayoga. They have promoted the Yogasūtra as the most authoritative source on Rājayoga. In contrast to this, there are modern Indian systems of Rājayoga which have very little to do with Pātañjalayoga, such as the one taught globally by the Brahma Kumaris. It is generally accepted that Rājayoga refers to types of yoga which are based more on meditation than physical techniques such as postures (āsana), yet very little research has been done to explain why there are variations between modern systems of Rājayoga. Also, the term rājayoga (literally, ‘king-yoga’) implies superiority, usually, over Haṭhayoga, but this raises the question of whether there was ever a justifiable basis for this claim of superiority, which I address here through examining the history of Rājayoga.

Update to  February 19th 2022
In our time of degeneration and dissolution of  Kaliyuga, maintaining firmness in the roots of Sanātana Dharma is a complex but indispensable duty. The decay attempts to overturn the legacy of Tradition by reducing it into unrecognizable fragments, almost a parody of the original foundations. One of the areas particularly affected is Yoga. Of the eight inseparable parts that make up Yoga (aṣṭāṅga), prāṇāyāma constitutes a component in many respects unique in importance, to which to approach with great respect and caution. For this reason, in the development of the site dedicated to the Yoga of Tradition (https://loyogadellatradizione.com/pranayama/ ) it was decided to add a series of live teachings by a great Master as a general introduction to the classical texts. Making them available and offering them to attention is our welcome duty. With the hope that they can be received and therefore can give precious fruits not only to those who approach this luminous scientific discipline for the first time, but also (we would be tempted to say above all) to practitioners of Yoga and scholars who study it at academic level. In the certainty that anyone will have the determination and constancy to follow them, they will certainly benefit from them in terms of clarity and awareness of the profound meaning conveyed by the prāṇāyāma.

This paper will explore the intersection between contemporary eastern (Hindu) traditions and their interaction with subtle body models.  In exploring Pattabhi Jois’s system of ashtanga yoga and determining the lineage through which subtle body models find their textual authority from ancient to modern representations/understandings may provide a useful scholarly framework from which to navigate different essential concepts of this Hindu tradition.  The concept of spiritual heat (known as tapas) and its relationship with the nectar of immortality (deemed amṛta), display itself through the understanding and manipulation of both the gross and subtle body.  This overview will provide an interpretive framework of what Pattabhi Jois is doing in terms of subtle body and techniques, but will focus more on the techniques and historical sources from which Ashtanga draws from.  While a narrow understanding of tantra will play its part in this paper it will not be heavily focused on so much as to show how Modern ashtanga yoga has been informed by tantric ideology.  Smith informs us that Pattabhi Jois’s philosophies come out of medieval hatha yoga, and the focal point here will be on the capability of ascetic ardor and spiritual energy to transform an individual and their life an immortal.  Playing up against these notions is a deep undercurrent of yoga’s alchemical properties.  However without the self, there would be no object for transformation and yoga thus practiced in this way makes itself out to be a self-transformative process.  In some ways yoga has the physical property of installing longevity to the gross body, but this is described in relation to transformations happening in the subtle body.  Longevity installed in this way is focused on modifying a body such that one could achieve enlightenment/liberation in this lifetime As such is the case a very  minor exploration of how subtle body is understood will occur to provide the widest scope of this as I can, all to describe in detail the process of “Detoxification” and “spiritual and bodily transformation” taking place in the generation of tapas.  Hopefully this will also shed light on the mantle of “The Guru” in a way that shows them to be skirting the thin line between innovation and tradition.

Foreword The theme is extremely complex and deserves a study in its own right, aimed at the clarification of the relationship between the two paths, identifying both points of contact and divergence, mostly with regard with the final aim. Currently, it is easy to verify with reference to available texts, the two paths are often mixed together, as if they were part of the same vision of tradition. And is not for sure they share the same goal. A critical edition, in this case, is foreseen as a priority.

In modern yoga, mantras are ubiquitous. It is often the case that they are repeated numerous times as part of a practice commonly known as japa. Indeed, already the Pātañjalayogaśāstra (c. 4th cent. CE) defines japa as a means of focusing the mind. The use of the verb jap in Vedic texts, however, shows that it had not always involved repetition. How and when did this practice emerge? In my talk, I put forward the hypothesis that the practice of repetitive mantra recitation in yoga has its origins in the repetitive recitation of certain Vedic mantras in the Brahminical tradition, most prominently among them OM and the Gāyatrī-Mantra (Ṛgveda 3.62.10, also known as Sāvitrī). Finnian M. M. Gerety recently demonstrated (2021) that the yogic practice of repeating OM has its roots in late Vedic ritual. The Gāyatrī-Mantra, on the other hand, was, to my knowledge, the first text mantra to be repeated in the context of an individual practice, namely the Sandhyā. The main purpose of this daily ritual originally was the maintenance of the social identity and ritual purity of the person initiated with that mantra. Repeating it presumably became popular because new initiates in general, as well as those who would never learn many other Vedic texts, were not even capable of reciting any other mantra. I argue that it was above all the practice of repeating the Gāyatrī-Mantra that inspired the repetition of completely different, non-Vedic mantras, such as the Brahma-Mantras in the yoga of the Pāśupatas.

One of the common notions about the Yogasūtra is that it describes a number of yogic methods or meditations. The central question of this research is whether this notion is true or false. In other words, did Patañjali describe a number of yogic meditations, which can be practiced separately, or are all the techniques he described integrated in one yogic method. To find the answer to this question I investigate the concepts of saṃprajñāta and 'asaṃprajñāta' mentioned in the Yogasūtra and Yogabhāṣya respectively.
As a starting point I take a work of Maas in which he endorses Oberhammer's conclusion that the Yogasūtra describes four forms of yogic meditation. After considering the meaning of the word 'nirodha' I end with Bronkhorst who has expressed several concerns regarding the sūtras 1.17 (saṃprajñāta) and 1.18 ('asaṃprajñāta'). On the basis of a brief investigation of Vyāsa's commentary I show that Bronkhorst's concerns are easy to refute, that is, if we accept some assumptions about the meaning of several concepts from the Yogasūtra.
In the second part of this research I conduct a systematic investigation of the Yogasūtra and the Yogabhāṣya in order to examine whether these assumptions should be accepted or not. This investigation shows some issues in Vyāsa's commentary that have to be solved.
In order to solve the noticed issues I give my own commentary on the Yogasūtra, especially on the concepts of saṃprajñāta & 'asaṃprajñāta' and 'bīja'. From this commentary it seems that Patañjali was heavily influenced by Buddhism. This notion has already been expressed about a hundred years ago by Émile Senart and Louis de La Vallée Poussin. What's new in this research is that I show the exact parallels between Buddhist meditation and yogic meditation as described in the Yogasūtra. One of these parallels is the parallel between the five Buddhist skandhas and the four accompanists of saṃprajñāta (vitarka, vicāra, ānanda, and asmitā) in the Yogasūtra. This parallel elucidates a great deal of the obscureness that has been created in medieval and contemporary commentaries. However, hints to this parallel were already given in the commentaries of Vācaspati Miśra and Vijñānabhikṣu, but the full implication of it has never been expressed before.
The common notion is that there is a parallel between saṃprajñāta and the four Buddhist Dhyānas. This notion however results in the observation that several parts of the Yogasūtra do not fit together. The obvious conclusion from this observation is that the Yogasūtra is a collection of sūtras taken from different contexts (1). From this research I conclude that the Yogasūtra is a coherent (2) scripture which describes only one form of yogic meditation, and that is the so-called yoga of suppression. This of course cannot come as a surprise since Patañjali states: "yogaś cittavṛttinirodhaḥ." But surprised you will be, if not completely stunned.

1. Bronkhorst, 1993, p. 47.
2. Although I do not rule out that some sūtras are added in a later period.

https://www.academia.edu/49028738/Yoga_and_cultural_appropriateness_An_info_graphic
In this dark age of the Kaliyuga many of the Sacred principles of the ONE Tradition are questioned, distorted, denigrated, considered useless or no longer 'in keeping with the times'. What is happening, on the planetary level, does not surprise that much the sincere seekers who have set out on the long journey of self-knowledge and the search for Harmony with the Universe, beyond the profane domain of dualities. The awareness of a reality wider than that perceivable by the material senses, free from the constraints of the ego, brings with it the awareness of a higher dimension, beyond the manifestation of names and forms, beyond time and space. This perennial reality, perceived and experienced by the Wise and Adepts who 'saw' it, has different names that allude to the same ONE REALITY. Reality fully understood within the Sanatana Dharma, therefore in Yoga which constitutes a significant component.
Without falling into an easy syncretism (from which one must always keep one's distance), but as a simple aid in understanding and respecting in its integrity every form of Traditional Wisdom, what is closest to the essence of Sanatana Dharma, in the West is the " Prisca Philosophia ". The current profanation of the sacred which denies the roots and essence of the Western Tradition finds a parallel and analogous profanation of the Sanatana Dharma. One of the areas where this degenerative and desecrating process manifests itself with greater virulence is Yoga. Distorting Yoga, its unique, unitary and inseparable essence is a particularly widespread action that manifests itself at all levels. However, being aware of it is not enough. It is necessary, remaining firm in the principles of detachment and discrimination, to contribute to rebalancing the flow of concatenation of events. In this action of conscious and detached discrimination, contributions of great wisdom lived like this by Sri Acharya Anandaji are of help and comfort for all. For those who continue their journey in the wake of Tradition, but also for those who, often in good faith, have a relationship with Yoga that is not consistent with its eternal and immutable essence.


In quest'epoca oscura del Kaliyuga molti dei Sacri principi della Tradizione UNA sono messi in discussione, stravolti, denigrati, considerati inutili o non più 'adeguati ai tempi'. Ciò che sta accadendo, sul piano planetario, non stupisce più di tanto i sinceri ricercatori che si sono incamminati nel lungo viaggio della conoscenza di se stessi e della ricerca dell'Armonia con l'Universo, oltre il dominio profano delle dualità. La consapevolezza di una realtà più ampia di quella percepibile dai sensi materiali, libera dai vincoli dell'ego porta con se la consapevolezza di una dimensione superiore, oltre la minifestazione dei nomi e delle forme, oltre il tempo e lo spazio. Questa realtà perenne, percepita e sperimentata  dai Sapienti e dagli Adepti che l'anno 'vista', ha nomi diversi che alludono alla stessa UNICA REALTA'. Realtà pienamente compresa nell'ambito del Sanatana Dharma, quindi nello Yoga che ne costiuisce una componente significativa.
Senza cadere in un facile sincretismo ( dal quale occorre sempre tenere le distanze), ma per semplice ausilio a comprendere e rispettare nella sua integrità ogni forma di Sapienza Tradizionale, ciò che è più vicino all'essenza del Sanatana Dharma, in occidente è la "Prisca Philosophia". L'attuale profanazione del sacro che nega le radici e l'essenza della Tradizione Occidentale, trova una parallela ed analoga profanazione del Sanatana Dharma.  Uno dei terreni dove tale processo degenerativo e dissacratorio si manifesta con maggiore virulenza è lo Yoga. Stravolgere lo Yoga, la sua essenza unica, unitaria ed inscindibile è un'azione  particolarmente diffusa che si manifesta a tutti i livelli. Averne consapevolezza non è però sufficiente. Occorre, restando saldi nei principi del distacco e della discriminazione, contribuire a riequilibrare il flusso della concatenezaione degli eventi. In questa azione di consapevole e distaccata discriminazione, contributi di grande Sapienza vissuta come questo di Sri Acharya Anandaji sono di ausilio e conforto per tutti. Per chi prosegue il viaggio nel solco della Tradizione, ma anche per coloro che, spesso in buonafede, hanno un rapporto con lo Yoga non coerente con la sua essenza eterna ed immutabile.

As a result of the analysis of the sūtras the two key properties of dhyāna in relation to consciousness have been revealed: “integrating” and “transcending”. Dhyāna helps to gather consciousness which is an integrating quality as a practice of counteraction to distraction of mind. It is demonstrated that dhyāna, as an instrument of counteraction to splitting of consciousness, shows its transcending quality contributing to sophistication of consciousness. In the comments on Yoga Sūtras by Vyāsa the first example of “somatization of dhyāna” has been emphasized, thus revealing a semantic transition from a mentally oriented understanding of dhyāna to a body oriented “somatic” concept where the focus of attention in yoga has been displaced from cognition to corporeality.

In this article I deal with a problem that I have been struggling with for almost 20 years: the transition from sūtra 1.16 to 1.17 and the following sūtras. My new interpretation of this passage sheds a whole new light on the origin of the Yogasūtra. In this chapter I will first outline the current academic views on the origin of the Yogasūtra. There are three major issues:
1. Does the Yogasūtra exist independently of the Yogaśāstra;
2. Who was the author of the Yogasūtra;
3. To what extend has the Yogasūtra been influenced by Sāṃkhya and Buddhism?
In regard to the latter question I will show that Patañjali himself has answered this question in the Yogasūtra. I will also show how this answer has been hidden because of Vyāsa's mistaking comments. Finally, I draw a conclusion about the supposed authorship of Vyāsa who would be, according to some, none other than Patañjali himself. My conclusion is that Vyāsa and Patañjali were two different persons.
On the basis of this conclusion the question remains who the writer of the Yogasūtra was? The answer to this question is not simply given in the Yogasūtra itself, but there is an obvious clue that might lead us to the writer and to a better understanding of his philosophy.

Ahimsa es la palabra que en sánscrito designa la no violencia, bási-camente, el no dañar, no herir a ningún ser vivo. En las Leyes de Manu aparece como una cualidad indispensable para llevar una vida recta, y según los Yoga Sûtra de Patáñjali, es el punto de partida de todas las prácticas yóguicas. Aparte de la importancia que tiene dentro del hinduismo, es también el fundamento de la moralidad en otras dos antiguas religiones y filosofías de la India: el jainismo y el budismo. En los tres casos posee el mismo sentido de respeto hacia todos los seres vivos.

In the introduction to his Rājamārtaṇḍa commentary to the Yogasūtras, king Bhoja, the XI sec. philosopher Paramāra ruler, proudly vaunts the terseness and perspicuity of his commentatorial work in contradistinction to the practice of others who, as he remarks with some irony, are wont to obscure what is clear by much unnecessary philosophical prattle, whereas they quickly dispose of what is really in need of explanation with an easy spaṣṭam (“[the sense is] plain”). In reality, Bhoja’s commentary sometimes gives the impression of a certain shallowness as compared to the “standard” commentary going by the name of Vyāsa, and at places it even seems to betray a poor understanding of the root text, or indeed a faulty conception of its philosophical implications. After giving some relevant examples, the paper concentrates on one major instance, where at three different places (II, 6; III, 35; III, 55) Bhoja seems to deny the kartṛtva of  prakṛti, contradicting the basic Sāṃkhya tenet, also shared by Yoga, which ascribes unconscious agency to Nature and idle consciousness to Spirit. The misconception is noticed also in the Kiraṇa subcommentary to the Rājamārtaṇḍa by Śrīkṛṣṇavallabhācārya, who tries to exhonerate Bhoja from blame, albeit with only partial success.

The Yogasūtra is like a wrapped gift which after sixteen centuries still lies in front of us unwrapped. With the wrapping I mean the text with which the Yogasūtra has been handed over to us, namely the Yogabhāṣya of Vyāsa.

I'm not suggesting that nothing has been done with the gift in the past sixteen centuries, on the contrary. The Yogasūtra has been commented upon by several medieval commentators, such as Vācaspati Miśra, Bhoja Rāja and Vijñānabhikṣu. But it is clear that their commentaries are more focused on the Yogabhāṣya than on the Yogasūtra itself.

However, as I have argued in my article On the Origin of the Yogasūtra (2020), the comments in the Yogabhāṣya are not reliable. Based on an analysis of the sūtras 1.19—1.23 and sūtra 3.43, I have demonstrated that the comments in the Yogabhāṣya do not express the actual meaning of these sūtras. On this grounds I have concluded, that Patañjali and Vyāsa must have been two different persons and that the comments of Vyāsa are not as authoritative as most people in the last sixteen centuries supposed.

In this article, I will research another part of the Yogasūtra, namely the section on transformations (pariṇāma; sūtras 3.09—3.15). Again I will demonstrate that the comments of Vyāsa do not agree with the actual meaning of the sūtras.

It is time to finally unwrap the Yogasūtra and discard the packaging material. You might be surprised.

It has been generally recognized that the extremely important philosophical sūtras, most of them the oldest surviving texts of Indian philosophical schools, contain some interpolated material. In this paper the suggestion is put forward that their compositeness is of a far more fundamental nature, i.e. during the period of their formation – that could be half a millennium – they were not texts proper but memory aids for students. They must have been something like our handouts (but purely oral at the beginning), with different additions, deletions and interpretations in different places and times, without any fixed order or set number of contributors. The edited form of these texts that has come down to us derives from a late collector-editor who most probably wrote some sort of commentary as well on the sūtras. This unusual textual history suggests that we cannot really speak about the authors, the time of their writing or even their relative priority. Moreover, often there is no point in speaking about the true meaning of a given sentence or paragraph, as it may have had several ones in different historical contexts, and there is no available standard to establish which interpretation is more fundamental or original.

The paper starts with some textual distinctions concerning the concept of God in the metaphysical framework of two classical schools of Hindu philosophy, Sāṃkhya and Yoga. Then the author focuses on the functional and pedagogical aspects of prayer as well as practical justification of “religious meditation” in both philosophical schools. A special attention is put on the practice called īśvarapraṇidhāna, recommended in Yoga school, which is interpreted by the author as a form of non-theistic devotion. The meaning of the central object of this concentration, that is puruṣa-viśeṣa, is reconsidered in detail. The subject matter is discussed in the wider context of yogic self-discipline that enables a practitioner to overcome ignorance ( avidyā) and the narrowness of egotic perspective ( asmitā), recognized in the Hindu darśanas as the root-cause of all suffering or never-fulfilled-satisfaction ( duḥkha). The non-the¬istic devotion and spiritual pragmatism assumed by the adherents of Sāṃkhya-Yoga redefines the concept of “God” ( īśvara) as primarily an object of meditative practice and a special tool convenient for spiritual pedagogy.

Keywords: Indian philosophy; non-theism; atheism; religious practice; meditation; īśvara; svābhāvika; Sāṃkhya; Yoga; God in Yoga

Everyone who studies Sanskrit deep enough knows the rule of reading a Sanskrit sentence: " first think through the phrase syntactic structure, then proceed to translation of every single word. " And never start interpreting from the first word unless you have comprehended the meaning of the entire sentence. Paradoxically this rule might be also applied for dealing with the whole text, be it translation or commenting on it. You first conceptualize the entire text structure and logic, and then see into separate lines. And never start from the very beginning… In fact, this is a standard rule for reading any complex text in foreign languages. Yet it is somehow omitted when it comes to handling Sanskrit sutras. The Hindu commentary tradition assumes that a text is thoroughly analyzed in the line by line manner from the beginning to the end. The problem of understanding text logic and inner structure, not to speak of its deconstruction, simply goes beyond the scope of established Hindu methodology. While the idea of singling out the text historic " layers " seems to be a blasphemy: a sutra is traditionally treated as a sacred text that has its inner completeness, perfection and harmony (even in case it obviously doesn't), and all we need is to find and comprehend them with the help of various intellectual ingenuities. It thus develops into religiously-scholastic manner of old texts interpretation that " hypnotizes " also European scholars, so that they also start reading a text from the beginning and by default treat it as an integral piece. This principle of text work has considerably predetermined the structure of my blog on Yoga Sutras. I started commenting on the text ab initio, from the first sutra on. However, the farther into the text, the more I realized how confining this approach is. I have already mentioned in the opening articles that Sutras have many discrepancies and inconsistencies, and I could not ignore them any longer. It became necessary to study the structure and inner logic of the text. And quite unexpectedly the issues under consideration have morphed into the question of Sutras authorship and dating… So I shall give a brief outline of this study results. I guess it can take a couple of articles, but it will make a good contribution into the text analysis further progress. And now. What do we expect from any integral text (notwithstanding a cultural tradition), written by a single reasonable person and claimed to give a comprehensive perspective on the subject? 1. Consistency of terms and notions meaning 2. Absence of internal contradictions 3. Narrative continuity 4. Consistency of style 5. Uniqueness of definitions 6. Homogeneity of enumerations 7. Correspondence between the structure of the text and its logical structure.

Contemplative experience is central to Hindu yoga traditions, Buddhist meditation practices, and Catholic mystical theology, and, despite doctrinal differences, it expresses itself in suggestively similar meditative landmarks in each of these three meditative systems.

In Yoga, Meditation and Mysticism, Kenneth Rose shifts the dominant focus of contemporary religious studies away from tradition-specific studies of individual religious traditions, communities, and practices to examine the 'contemplative universals' that arise globally in meditative experience. Through a comparative exploration of the itineraries detailed in the contemplative manuals of Theravada Buddhism, Patañjalian Yoga, and Catholic mystical theology, Rose identifies in each tradition a moment of sharply focused awareness that marks the threshold between immersion in mundane consciousness and contemplative insight. As concentration deepens, the meditator steps through this threshold onto a globally shared contemplative itinerary, which leads through a series of virtually identical stages to mental stillness and insight. Rose argues that these contemplative universals, familiar to experienced contemplatives in multiple traditions, point to a common spiritual, mental, and biological heritage.

Pioneering the exploration of contemplative practice and experience with a comparative perspective that ranges over multiple religious traditions, religious studies, philosophy, neuroscience, and the cognitive science of religion, this book is a landmark contribution to the fields of contemplative practice and religious studies.

Table of contents
Table of Figures
Acknowledgments
Note on Transliteration, Spelling, and Translations
Prologue
Introduction
Part One
1. A New Comparative Religion and the Search for Contemplative Universals
2. Recovering the Mystical in the Reign of Constructivism
3. Biological Essentialism and the New Sciences of Religion
Part Two
Introduction to Part Two: Charting the Common Itinerary of the Contemplative Experience 153
4. The Concentrative Itinerary of the Buddhist Jhanas
5. The Concentrative Itinerary of Yogic Samadhi
6. The Concentrative Itinerary of Catholic Unio Mystica
Conclusion
Bibliography
Index

Endorsements
“Kenneth Rose rehabilitates interreligious comparison as a necessary and powerful tool of Religious Studies. Moreover, he shows how comparative work on religious experience benefits from the insights of cognitive science and neuro-physiology without falling into the trap of materialistic reductionism. Studies like his create a constructive and much needed link between Comparative Religion and Interreligious Theology.” –  Perry Schmidt-Leukel, Professor of Religious Studies and Intercultural Theology, University of Muenster, Germany

“Kenneth Rose's Yoga, Meditation and Mysticism breaks through the somewhat stagnant discussion between the impoverished arguments of the perennialist/essentialist proponents of mysticism and the by now predictable rebuttals to these from the constructionists. His project is to recover or rehabilitate religious essentialism, but not, like his perennialist predecessors, based on a search for shared underlying concepts or universal symbols, which are easy targets for constructivist deconstruction, but based on the trans-cultural commonalities of contemplative experiences themselves. Using deeply researched case studies from Buddhism, Yoga and the Christian traditions, Rose identifies five “contemplative universals' or shared landmarks of the meditative journey common to these traditions. In other words, he identifies an almost identical set of meditative experiences accompanying the deepening focus of consciousness in these traditions precisely because they are based in experience rather than preconditioned doctrine. Rose harnesses neurobiology to his cause here (ironically, given it is a field primarily inhabited by materialists convinced of a neurological correlate of consciousness), where meditative states show repeatable, observable neurological chemistry that is shared trans-culturally, and trans-doctrinally and therefore not socially constructed.

Part of Rose's stated purpose is to seek to loosen the all too often dogmatic materialistic presuppositions and reductionistic ideologies that hold sway over the production of much scholarship in the academic field of Religion, and secure a sui generis grounding for the religious life, at least in its contemplative forms, eschewing the pitfalls of previous efforts in this regard. Thus Yoga, Meditation and Mysticism will likely be welcomed by intellectually responsible meditation practitioners who seek a spirituality grounded in a trans-sectarian metaphysics of meditation that resonates with cutting edge research in the emerging field of contemplative neuroscience. And I envision it will certainly be a seminal text for the next generation in the academic study of mysticism.” –  Edwin Bryant, Professor of Hindu Religion and Philosophy, Rutgers University, US and author of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali with Insights from the Traditional Commentators (2009).

See more at: http://www.bloomsbury.com/us/yoga-meditation-and-mysticism-9781472571694/#sthash.pfLWzlqf.dpuf

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Nella sezione: Āsana Vīrabhadrāsana I वीरभद्रासन Āsana in piedi, asimmetrica, energizzante.
Nella sezione: I testi sacri della Tradizione. Il Sāṃkhya e i 25 tattva.
Bibliografia aggiornata.collegamenti aggiornati ai siti sul
Sanatana Dharma e sullo Yoga

ABSTRACT / Toda la tesis de R. Panikkar estuvo dirigida, dada su tradición intelectual multicultural y multirreligiosa, a «un encuentro sincero» entre el cristianismo y el hinduismo; y quizá por eso subtituló este libro («El Cristo desconocido del hinduismo») con el ambicioso reclamo: «Para una cristofanía ecuménica». No obstante, y para no engañar a los lectores sobre el verdadero propósito y los riesgos de la obra, Panikkar dejaba muy claro que toda su formulación relativa al común mediador cristiano e hindú (Īśvara-Cristo) iba a encontrar un escollo difícilmente salvable, si desde el lado cristiano se solapaba el elemento «teohistoriológico» de un hijo de María llamado Jesús, arrebatando el protagonismo y la prioridad al Logos. «Pues no solo el concepto cristiano de historia es, en cierto modo, ajeno al espíritu indio [concluía]. Admitir la idea cristiana de la historia [...], es ya presuponer el concepto cristiano de Cristo. No debemos olvidar que la primera interpretación filosófica de Cristo empieza por un discurso sobre el “Logos” hecho carne y no por un discurso sobre la carne».

Se ci poniamo nell’ottica della Tradizione Una, è possibile verificare che sia Patañjali sia Ādi Śaṅkara pongono alla base del percorso evolutivo (“la liberazione”) una serie di pre-condizioni, di qualificazioni fondanti.
Così come Yama e Niyama costituiscono le basi del percorso Yogico, allo stesso modo le “qualificazioni” descritte da Ādi Śaṅkara rappresentano la premessa per procedere sulla Via che conduce al Brahman-nirguṇa dell’Advaita Vedanta.
Entrambe le Darśana (Visoni) trovano le loro radici comuni nella Śrūti, i cui testi pongono sistematicamente in risalto come la trasmissione della Conoscenza Tradizionale avvenga esclusivamente da Maestro a discepolo, dopo che il primo ha verificato la presenza delle qualificazioni necessarie in colui che aspira alla Sapienza.
Entrambe le Darśana rappresentano sistemi operativi di realizzazione fondati su precisi imperativi etici. Pur con differenti descrizioni e strutture interne, entrambe condividono l’essenza ultima dei Significati ai quali il ricercatore deve, ‘ab-initio’, aderire e realizzare con determinazione.
Principi che costituiscono al contempo la griglia di verifica interiore da parte dell’allievo  per poter “essere pronto” ad iniziare la Via,  e la griglia di verifica esterna da parte del Maestro che lo porta a “rivelarsi”.