Psychology of the Yoga Sutras

By Vedanta Society, San FranciscoReligion & Spirituality Spirituality Hinduism

Psychology of the Yoga Sutras episodes

April 12, 2021 21 – Vibhuti Pada Verses 1 - 5 | Samyama 2
-“Tremendous power of concentration with self-mastery is Dharana and Dhyana.”
-“You are understanding things properly, comprehensively, in all aspects, and also in pristine purity - that is called Prajna.”

-deśa-bandhaḥ cittasya dhāraṇā (Vibhuti Pada 1)
-देशबन्धः चित्तस्य धारणा
-tatra pratyaya-ikatānatā dhyānam (Vibhuti Pada 2)
-तत्र प्रत्ययैकतानता ध्यानम्
-tadeva-artha-mātra-nirbhāsaṁ svarūpa-śūnyam-iva-samādhiḥ (Vibhuti Pada 3)
-तदेवार्थमात्रनिर्भासं स्वरूपशून्यमिवसमाधिः
-trayam-ekatra saṁyamaḥ (Vibhuti Pada 4)
-त्रयमेकत्र संयमः
-tajjayāt prajñālokaḥ (Vibhuti Pada 5)
-तज्जयात् प्रज्ञालोकः
-Lecture by Swami Tattwamayananda on April 11, 2021. Cosponsored by the Stanford Hindu Students Association and South Bay Lecture Series on Vedic Scriptures.
1 hr 23 min
April 05, 2021 20 – Vibhuti Pada Verses 1 - 4 | Samyama 1
-“The spiritual seeker, when he completely transcends, when he is able to outgrow all forms and when only the essence alone remains then, all the svarupa, all the external things completely disappear, then it is called samadhi.”
-deśa-bandhaḥ cittasya dhāraṇā (Vibhuti Pada 1)
-देशबन्धः चित्तस्य धारणा
-tatra pratyaya-ikatānatā dhyānam (Vibhuti Pada 2)
-तत्र प्रत्ययैकतानता ध्यानम्
-tadeva-artha-mātra-nirbhāsaṁ svarūpa-śūnyam-iva-samādhiḥ (Vibhuti Pada 3)
-तदेवार्थमात्रनिर्भासं स्वरूपशून्यमिवसमाधिः
-trayam-ekatra saṁyamaḥ (Vibhuti Pada 4)
-त्रयमेकत्र संयमः
-Lecture by Swami Tattwamayananda on April 4, 2021. Cosponsored by the Stanford Hindu Students Association and South Bay Lecture Series on Vedic Scriptures.
1 hr 17 min
March 28, 2021 19 – Sadhana Pada Verses 52 - 55 | Pratyahara and Dharana
-“When you get established in yama, niyama, pranayama, pratyahara, etc, then senses will follow the mind.”
-tataḥ kṣīyate prakāśāvaraṇam (Sadhana Pada 52)
-ततः क्षीयते प्रकाशावरणम्
-dhāraṇāsu ca yogyatā manasaḥ (Sadhana Pada 53)
-धारणासु च योग्यता मनसः
-svasvaviṣayāsamprayoge cittasvarūpānukāra ivendriyāṇāṃ pratyāhāraḥ (Sadhana Pada 54)
-स्वस्वविषयासम्प्रयोगे चित्तस्वरूपानुकार इवेन्द्रियाणां प्रत्याहारः
-tataḥ paramā vaśyatendriyāṇām (Sadhana Pada 55)
-ततः परमा वश्यतेन्द्रियाणाम्
-Lecture by Swami Tattwamayananda on March 27, 2021. Cosponsored by the Stanford Hindu Students Association and South Bay Lecture Series on Vedic Scriptures.
1 hr 25 min
March 21, 2021 18 – Sadhana Pada Verses 47 - 52 | Asana and Pranayama
-“Once you meditate on the transcendental, you actually transcend the awareness of this body.”
-prayatnaśaithilyānantasamāpattibhyām (Sadhana Pada 47)
-प्रयत्नशैथिल्यानन्तसमापत्तिभ्याम्
-tato dvandvānabhighātaḥ (Sadhana Pada 48)
-ततो द्वन्द्वानभिघातः
-tasmin sati śvāsapraśvāsayorgativicchedaḥ prāṇāyāmaḥ (Sadhana Pada 49)
-तस्मिन् सति श्वासप्रश्वासयोर्गतिविच्छेदः प्राणायामः
-bāhyābhyantarastambhavṛttiḥ deśakālasaṃkhyābhiḥ paridṛṣṭo dīrghasūkṣamaḥ (Sadhana Pada 50)
-बाह्याभ्यन्तरस्तम्भवृत्तिः देशकालसंख्याभिः परिदृष्टो दीर्घसूक्षमः
-bāhyābhyantaraviṣayākṣepī caturthaḥ (Sadhana Pada 51)
-बाह्याभ्यन्तरविषयाक्षेपी चतुर्थः
-tataḥ kṣīyate prakāśāvaraṇam (Sadhana Pada 52)
-ततः क्षीयते प्रकाशावरणम्
-Lecture by Swami Tattwamayananda on March 20, 2021. Cosponsored by the Stanford Hindu Students Association and South Bay Lecture Series on Vedic Scriptures.
1 hr 23 min
March 14, 2021 17 – Sadhana Pada Verses 41 - 46 | Yamas and Niyamas 4
-“Vyasa says before the happiness or joy or the tranquility of mind, that you feel when you have no desire at all to fulfill, before that supreme happiness, the happiness of fulfilling worldly desire is nothing.”
-sattvaśuddhi-saumanasyaikāgryendriyajayātmadarśana-yogyatvāni ca (Sadhana Pada 41)
-सत्त्वशुद्धि-सौमनस्यैकाग्र्येन्द्रियजयात्मदर्शन-योग्यत्वानि च
-santoṣādanuttamaḥ sukhalābhaḥ (Sadhana Pada 42)
-सन्तोषादनुत्तमः सुखलाभः
-kāyendriyasiddhiraśuddhikṣayāttapasaḥ (Sadhana Pada 43)
-कायेन्द्रियसिद्धिरशुद्धिक्षयात्तपसः
-svādhyāyādiṣṭadevatāsaṃprayogaḥ (Sadhana Pada 44)
-स्वाध्यायादिष्टदेवतासंप्रयोगः
-samādhisiddhirīśvarapraṇidhānāt (Sadhana Pada 45)
-समाधिसिद्धिरीश्वरप्रणिधानात्
-sthirasukhamāsanam (Sadhana Pada 46)
-स्थिरसुखमासनम्
-Lecture by Swami Tattwamayananda on March 13, 2021. Cosponsored by the Stanford Hindu Students Association and South Bay Lecture Series on Vedic Scriptures.
1 hr 22 min
March 06, 2021 16 – Sadhana Pada Verses 37 – 41 | Yamas and Niyamas 3
-“When you're totally free from any kind of desire, then what you avoid, what you don't want, that comes to you.”
-“If there is total transparency between what we feel within and what we express outside, there is less scope for tension and conflict and anxiety. Saumanasya is the word used here. It means pleasantness of feeling - a kind of deep sense of inner serenity and tranquility that comes as a result of observing internal purity or mental purity, purity at the level of attitudes, emotions, feelings, and impulses.”
-asteyapratiṣṭhāyāṃ sarvaratnopasthānam (Sadhana Pada 37)
-अस्तेयप्रतिष्ठायां सर्वरत्नोपस्थानम्
-brahmacaryapratiṣṭhāyāṃ vīryalābhaḥ (Sadhana Pada 38)
-ब्रह्मचर्यप्रतिष्ठायां वीर्यलाभः
-aparigrahasthairye janmakathantāsaṃbodhaḥ (Sadhana Pada 39)
-अपरिग्रहस्थैर्ये जन्मकथन्तासंबोधः
-śaucātsvāṅgajugupsā parairasaṃsargaḥ (Sadhana Pada 40)
-शौचात्स्वाङ्गजुगुप्सा परैरसंसर्गः
-sattvaśuddhi-saumanasyaikāgryendriyajayātmadarśana-yogyatvāni ca (Sadhana Pada 41)
-सत्त्वशुद्धि-सौमनस्यैकाग्र्येन्द्रियजयात्मदर्शन-योग्यत्वानि च
-Lecture by Swami Tattwamayananda on March 6, 2021. Cosponsored by the Stanford Hindu Students Association and South Bay Lecture Series on Vedic Scriptures.
1 hr 26 min
February 28, 2021 15 – Sadhana Pada Verses 33 – 37 | Yamas and Niyamas 2
-“We get transformed according to our own samskaras - for that we had to work - but there's a tendency for us to practice non-violence in the presence of a person who is fully established in the practice of non-violence. That's the implication of the 35th Sutra.”

-“Respect for teachers - some kind of sense of respect, humility, to somebody who has given you something without expecting anything in return - that's the beginning of contentment.”

-vitarkabādhane pratipakṣabhāvanam (Sadhana Pada 33)
-वितर्कबाधने प्रतिपक्षभावनम्
-vitarkā hiṃsādayaḥ kṛtakāritānumoditā lobhakrodhamohapūrvakā mṛdumadhyādhimātrā duḥkhājñānānantaphalā iti pratipakṣabhāvanam (Sadhana Pada 34)
-वितर्का हिंसादयः कृतकारितानुमोदिता लोभक्रोधमोहपूर्वका मृदुमध्याधिमात्रा दुःखाज्ञानानन्तफला इति प्रतिपक्षभावनम्
-ahiṃsāpratiṣṭhāyāṃ tatsannidhau vairatyāgaḥ (Sadhana Pada 35)
-अहिंसाप्रतिष्ठायां तत्सन्निधौ वैरत्यागः
-satyapratiṣṭhāyāṃ kriyāphalāśrayatvam (Sadhana Pada 36)
-सत्यप्रतिष्ठायां क्रियाफलाश्रयत्वम्
-asteyapratiṣṭhāyāṃ sarvaratnopasthānam (Sadhana Pada 37)
-अस्तेयप्रतिष्ठायां सर्वरत्नोपस्थानम्
-Lecture by Swami Tattwamayananda on February 28, 2021. Cosponsored by the Stanford Hindu Students Association and South Bay Lecture Series on Vedic Scriptures.
1 hr 24 min
February 21, 2021 14 – Sadhana Pada Verses 29 - 33 | Yamas and Niyamas
- “We should not necessarily speak a truth which is unnecessary for you to make a statement of which is very unpleasant and harmful to others. That we should avoid.”
-“When we are aware of the need to restrain ourselves, then, we should think of the evil consequences, the problems that extreme attraction to wealth, even though we have enough that is necessary – still a blind attraction towards wealth can sometimes torment the mind, then we should remind ourselves, we should remind our own mind of the problems hiding behind whenever these thoughts come: blind pursuit of wealth can lead to tragedies, dissatisfaction disgruntlement, feelings of imperfection, incompleteness, we are never happy, always looking for something fresh, something new, something that attracts our senses.”
-yama-niyamāsana-prāṇāyāma-pratyāhāra-dhāraṇā-dhyāna-samādhayo'ṣṭāvaṅgāni (Sadhana Pada 29)
-यम-नियमासन-प्राणायाम-प्रत्याहार-धारणा-ध्यान-समाधयोऽष्टावङ्गानि
-ahiṃsā-satyāsteya-brahmacaryāparigrahā yamāḥ (Sadhana Pada 30)
-अहिंसा-सत्यास्तेय-ब्रह्मचर्यापरिग्रहा यमाः
-ete jāti-deśa-kāla-samayānavacchinnāḥ sārvabhaumā mahāvratam (Sadhana Pada 31)
-एते जाति-देश-काल-समयानवच्छिन्नाः सार्वभौमा महाव्रतम्
-śauca-santoṣa-tapaḥsvādhyāyeśvarapraṇidhānāni niyamāḥ (Sadhana Pada 32)
-शौच-सन्तोष-तपःस्वाध्यायेश्वरप्रणिधानानि नियमाः
-vitarkabādhane pratipakṣabhāvanam (Sadhana Pada 33)
-वितर्कबाधने प्रतिपक्षभावनम्
-Lecture by Swami Tattwamayananda on February 21, 2021. Cosponsored by the Stanford Hindu Students Association and South Bay Lecture Series on Vedic Scriptures.
1 hr 24 min
February 15, 2021 13 – Sadhana Pada Verses 19 – 29 | Eradication of Our Fundamental Spiritual Ignorance – Duhkha Chaturvyuha (ctd.)
-viśeṣāviśeṣa-liṅgamātrāliṅgāni guṇaparvāṇi (Sadhana Pada 19)
-विशेषाविशेष-लिङ्गमात्रालिङ्गानि गुणपर्वाणि
-draṣṭā dṛśimātraḥ śuddho'pi pratyayānupaśyaḥ (Sadhana Pada 20)
-द्रष्टा दृशिमात्रः शुद्धोऽपि प्रत्ययानुपश्यः
-tadartha eva dṛśyasyātmā (Sadhana Pada 21)
-तदर्थ एव दृश्यस्यात्मा
-kṛtārthaṃ prati naṣṭamapyanaṣṭaṃ tadanyasādhāraṇatvāt (Sadhana Pada 22)
-कृतार्थं प्रति नष्टमप्यनष्टं तदन्यसाधारणत्वात्
-svasvāmiśaktyoḥ svarūpopalabdhihetuḥ saṃyogaḥ (Sadhana Pada 23)
-स्वस्वामिशक्त्योः स्वरूपोपलब्धिहेतुः संयोगः
-tasya heturavidyā (Sadhana Pada 24)
-तस्य हेतुरविद्या
-tadabhāvāt saṃyogābhāvo hānaṃ taddṛśeḥ kaivalyam (Sadhana Pada 25)
-तदभावात् संयोगाभावो हानं तद्दृशेः कैवल्यम्
-vivekakhyātiraviplavā hānopāyaḥ (Sadhana Pada 26)
-विवेकख्यातिरविप्लवा हानोपायः
-tasya saptadhā prāntabhūmiḥ prajñā (Sadhana Pada 27)
तस्य सप्तधा प्रान्तभूमिः प्रज्ञा
-yogāṅgānuṣṭhānādaśuddhikṣaye jñānadīptirā vivekakhyāteḥ (Sadhana Pada 28)
-योगाङ्गानुष्ठानादशुद्धिक्षये ज्ञानदीप्तिरा विवेकख्यातेः
-yama-niyamāsana-prāṇāyāma-pratyāhāra-dhāraṇā-dhyāna-samādhayo'ṣṭāvaṅgāni (Sadhana Pada 29)
-यम-नियमासन-प्राणायाम-प्रत्याहार-धारणा-ध्यान-समाधयोऽष्टावङ्गानि
-Lecture by Swami Tattwamayananda on February 14, 2021. Cosponsored by the Stanford Hindu Students Association.
1 hr 21 min
February 08, 2021 12 – Sadhana Pada Verses 17 – 21 | Eradication of Our Fundamental Spiritual Ignorance – Duhkha Chaturvyuha (ctd.)
-draṣṭṛdṛśyayoḥ saṃyogo heyahetuḥ (Sadhana Pada 17)
-द्रष्टृदृश्ययोः संयोगो हेयहेतुः
-prakāśa-kriyā-sthitiśīlaṃ bhūtendriyātmakaṃ bhogāpavargārthaṃ dṛśyamaḥ (Sadhana Pada 18)
-प्रकाश-क्रिया-स्थितिशीलं भूतेन्द्रियात्मकं भोगापवर्गार्थं दृश्यमः
-viśeṣāviśeṣa-liṅgamātrāliṅgāni guṇaparvāṇi (Sadhana Pada 19)
-विशेषाविशेष-लिङ्गमात्रालिङ्गानि गुणपर्वाणि
-draṣṭā dṛśimātraḥ śuddho'pi pratyayānupaśyaḥ (Sadhana Pada 20)
-द्रष्टा दृशिमात्रः शुद्धोऽपि प्रत्ययानुपश्यः
-tadartha eva dṛśyasyātmā (Sadhana Pada 21)
-तदर्थ एव दृश्यस्यात्मा
-Lecture by Swami Tattwamayananda on February 7, 2021. Cosponsored by the Stanford Hindu Students Association.
1 hr 18 min

About Psychology of the Yoga Sutras

From the publisher's feed

“The teachers of the science of Yoga, therefore, declare that religion is not only based upon the experience of ancient times, but that no man can be religious until he has the same perceptions…

himself. Yoga is the science which teaches us how to get these perceptions.” (Swami Vivekananda Raja Yoga, page 15)
The tradition of yoga philosophy in India takes Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras as its fundamental text. The author of these sutras was the ancient sage Patanjali who is also well-known for fundamental contributions in other fields of Indian philosophy. This unique tradition and text give a deep and profound analysis of the human mind, which in yoga philosophy includes the emotions (obsessive attraction, aversion, fear, etc.), memories, the speculative and imaginative faculties, the decision-making faculty, the will, our sense of “I”, etc., which have their sources in our words, thoughts, deeds from this life and in previous life cycles and which determine how we behave and react today. In short, the Yoga Sutras explain the deep mysteries of the experiences that we go through.
A sutra is an aphoristic statement concisely describing fundamental spiritual truths experienced by ancient sages as a result of their spiritual insights and realizations. These sutras have been accepted over the centuries as being authoritative and have stood the test of time.
Because of their brevity, these sutras have over the centuries been repeatedly commented on by qualified spiritual teachers who have transmitted their insights in the form of commentaries on these sutras. In this series of classes Swami Tattwamayananda will be teaching these sutras in the light of the traditional Sanskrit commentaries. It is a new expanded version distinct from the exposition given from October 10, 2014 to December 21, 2018. The recommended text for this lecture series is “Raja Yoga” by Swami Vivekananda.

This series of lectures is co-sponsored by the Stanford Hindu Students Association.
Time: Sundays at 6 pm PST

Vedanta Society of Northern California, San Francisco
Founded by Swami Vivekananda in 1900
A Branch of Ramakrishna Math and Mission, India.
www.sfvedanta.org