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Does yoga really mean union? As Zoë Slatoff explains in this fascinating chat about philosophy and Sanskrit, the simplest answer is probably “sometimes”…

Zoë’s PhD explores how yoga became entangled with non-dual Vedānta, blurring distinctions between the two systems. One important catalyst was the popularity of physical practice, whose aims were framed in terms of oneness. So gnostic teachers adapted its methods, which were slowly combined with Patañjali’s yoga.

We discuss how this happened through the prism of a text the studied (called the Aparokṣānubhūti, on which more here). And since Zoë is also the author of a Sanskrit textbook for yoga practitioners, we talk about the challenges – as well as the pleasures – of learning the language. Even just a little bit can make a big difference.

Zoë has practised yoga since the 1990s, teaching it for much of that time. She's now a professor at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles and offers online courses in Sanskrit via the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies.

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