Yoga Sutras and the World of the Human Mind

By Vedanta Society, San FranciscoReligion & Spirituality Spirituality

Yoga Sutras and the World of the Human Mind episodes

February 28, 2019 91 – Prana: Infinite Cosmic Energy | Patanjali Yoga Sutras | Swami Tattwamayananda
Lecture by Swami Tattwamayananda. In order to gain inner contentment, Citta-Prasada, we can practice regulating our human relationships according to friendship, compassion, admiration, and indifference. Another method is Pranayama, breath work, but this must be undertaken with proper ethical disciplines, Yamas and Niyamas. Spiritual concentration without hatred or obsessive like is the natural by-product of Citta-Prasada. Along the way, we may also experience things beyond the psychophysical realm. Verses: I.32, I.33, I.34
59 min
February 28, 2019 90 – Managing Human Relationships: Joy Without Its Opposite | Patanjali Yoga Sutras | Swami Tattwamayananda
Lecture by Swami Tattwamayananda. There is a conflict between what our mind allows us to do and what the intellect wants to do. For this reason, many unexpected mental obstacles appear when we try to progress in spiritual life. We do selfless work to purify the mental stream. Having joy without its opposite or inner contentment is the key to progressing in spiritual life. We should cultivate friendliness with fellow seekers, compassion for those who are trying to progress, admiration for those who are more advanced than us, and indifference towards negative influences. This preserve mental equilibrium, mental energies, and gives us clarity of mind. Prana is described as the sum total of cosmic energy. Breath is only the gross manifestation of Prana. Verses: I.30, I.32, I.33, I.34
54 min
February 28, 2019 89 – Danger of Delusions | Patanjali Yoga Sutras | Swami Tattwamayananda
Lecture by Swami Tattwamayananda. Obstacles inevitably arise when we take to spiritual life. Bhranti Darshana, false experience is a very dangerous one. It can either come in the form of feeling we have made great progress when we have not or feeling we are not making progress even though we are. Also, there is the problem of not being able to retain higher experiences. The mind sometimes swings back down. Purification is required to stay at a higher plane. Active interest in philosophy and scriptures can provide an intermediate safeguard so we do not need to fall all the way to the bottom when the mind comes down. The types of despair and suffering that are the visible symptoms of these obstacles are also described. Verses: I.30, I.31
1 hr 8 min
February 28, 2019 88 – The 9 Psychological Obstacles | Patanjali Yoga Sutras | Swami Tattwamayananda
Lecture by Swami Tattwamayananda. Spiritual practice is bitter at the beginning and sweet at the end. When Japa matures and our mind ascends, we find the obstacles to spiritual practice disappearing. Patanjali gives a comprehensive list of psychological obstacles. Being aware of them clears the way for further progress. A sense of sanctity for spiritual practice, Shraddha, neutralizes most of these obstacles. The first set of obstacles are Vyadhi, Styana, Samshaya, Pramada, Alasya, Avirati – Disease, Languor, Doubts, Carelessness, Lethargy, Pleasure-Seeking. These are the manifestations of the unspiritual Samskaras still in the mind. Verses: I.27, I.28, I.29, I.30
57 min
February 28, 2019 87 – Grace and Self-Effort: A Lamp Lighted | Patanjali Yoga Sutras | Swami Tattwamayananda
Lecture by Swami Tattwamayananda. God in Yoga is omniscient, beyond all sorrow, and the teacher of all teachers. A seeker’s spiritual practices prepare him to receive God’s grace. He can then recognize God’s grace as his grace. A spiritual teacher helps lead him to that stage by removing darkness. The theory of Pratika, symbols, is explained. OM is the symbol for the ultimate transcendental reality. It is the substratum of all sound and therefore that of all thought. When we practice repetition of a Mantra, our realization of its meaning goes from gross to the most subtle. At the highest stage, we become completely identified with the meaning of the mantra. Verses: I.24, I.26, I.27
1 hr 7 min
February 27, 2019 86 – As We Evolve, Our Conception of God Evolves | Patanjali Yoga Sutras | Swami Tattwamayananda
Lecture by Swami Tattwamayananda. With Shraddha, a sense of sanctity attached to spiritual practice, comes complete awareness, Smrti. An example of the development of modern Japan is given to illustrate the intensity of practice. Devotion to God is another option for intensification. In Yoga, God is the teacher of all teachers, not a conventional creator God. By intense devotion, his qualities of purity, knowledge, and dispassion come to you. The difference between him and a liberated soul is his omniscience. In Nyaya, God distributes the results of all actions to everybody. Vedanta accepts all these but goes farther and says that God is present in the world as the indweller. He enters the world and becomes one with his creation. Verses: I.20, I.21, I.22, I.23, I.24, I.25, I.26
1 hr 5 min
February 27, 2019 85 – Returning to Our True Home: Intensification of Spiritual Life | Patanjali Yoga Sutras | Swami Tattwamayananda
Lecture by Swami Tattwamayananda. The great Indian sage Patanjali wrote major treatises on Ayurveda, Sanskrit grammar, and Yoga. From Samprajnata Samadhi, mastery of nature, we ascend to Asamprajnata Samadhi, freedom from nature. Intensification of practice means constant regulation of the intake of positive food, both mental and physical. Mild, medium and intense levels of practice are possible. The mind cannot keep quiet so it must be fed good spiritual food. In Vedanta, we find that spiritual life is returning to our true home. There is no vacation from spiritual life. We return to our home. That is the meaning of intense spiritual practice. Verses: I.21, I.22
57 min
February 27, 2019 84 – This Yoga is My Path: The Characteristic of a Real Yogi | Patanjali Yoga Sutras | Swami Tattwamayananda
Lecture by Swami Tattwamayananda. Smrti, memory, is constant remembrance and awareness. Mindfulness is a modern diluted form of a Buddhist tradition, which practices this Smrti. Shraddha is an untranslatable word, which roughly corresponds to sincerity, dedication, faith, and a sense of sanctity. It allows you to persevere and protects you like a loving mother. It leads to Virya, psychic energy. That leads you to Smrti, a constant remembrance. These are the characteristics of a real yogi. Verse: I.20
57 min
February 27, 2019 83 – All These Delusions Will Vanish | Patanjali Yoga Sutras | Swami Tattwamayananda
Lecture by Swami Tattwamayananda. Good tendencies liberate us from the bad tendencies but they still do not give freedom. In Shunyavada school of Buddhism, the ultimate reality is beyond all description and non-dual. Desire vanishes and the Soul, Atman, is left in its own splendor. The unmanifest-manifest, Ayakta-Vyakta, the theory of cyclicism is reviewed. When we are able to resolve the effect back into the cause we are freed from it. Some yogis merge into nature and become celestial beings. Others reach the ultimate goal. Verses: I.18, I.19, I.20
1 hr 2 min
February 27, 2019 82 – Beyond Good And Evil | Patanjali Yoga Sutras | Swami Tattwamayananda
Lecture by Swami Tattwamayananda. Samprajnata Samadhi is mastery over nature. Asamprajnata is freedom from the senses. In Samprajnata Samadhi, the old vrittis are controlled. In Asamprajnata Samadhi, the old vrittis are no longer able to function. We are freed from past tendencies. We are free from the cycle of birth and death. Having transcended the mind, we transcend ordinary knowledge and are established in transcendental intuition. We go beyond good and evil. We are finally able to completely surrender to God. The example of Kumarila Bhatta is given. Verses: I.17, I.18
1 hr 10 min

About Yoga Sutras and the World of the Human Mind

From the publisher's feed

Swami Tattwamayananda’s exposition of Patanjali's Yoga Sutras was given at the Vedanta Society of Northern California, San Francisco (founded by Swami Vivekananda in 1900) from October 10, 2014 to…

December 21, 2018 in a series of 111 lectures. These lectures include a mixture of philosophy both Eastern and Western, history, psychology, comparative theology, mysticism, classical parables, and simple everyday examples.

Patanjali was a great Indian sage who wrote major treatises on Ayurveda, Sanskrit grammar and Yoga. The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali contain 195 sutras organized into four chapters. It gives a complete analysis of the mental system, how to transcend mental conflicts by linking the mind to a transcendental spiritual reality and how to become established in our true nature.

The classes are given from the viewpoint of Vedanta, one of the oldest philosophies of the world, which constitute the universal spiritual essence of the Vedas, the foundational scriptures of Hinduism. During the exposition, the Swami has drawn extensively from authentic Sanskrit commentaries and interpretative works like ‘Yoga-Bhasya’ of Vyasa, ‘Tattwa-Vaisharadi” of Vachaspati Mishra, ‘Yoga-Varttika’ of Vijnana Bhikshu, ‘Raja-Martanda’ of Bhoja Raja, ‘Yoga-Sudhakara’ of Sadashivendra Saraswati, with occasional references from ‘Yoga-Maniprabha’ of Ramananda Yati, ‘Patanjala-Yogashastra-Vivarana’ of Sri Shankara, and interpretations of Yoga-aphorisms by Swami Vivekananda and Swami Hariharananda Aranya.

“By the Vedas no books are meant. They mean the accumulated treasury of spiritual laws discovered by different persons in different times.” “The moral, ethical, and spiritual relations between soul and soul and between individual spirits and the Father of all spirits, were there before their discovery, and would remain even if we forgot them." (Paper on Hinduism, Swami Vivekananda, World's Parliament of Religions 1893)

According to this series of classes, the Yoga system of Patanjali reaches its ultimate fulfillment in the conclusions of Vedanta, that there is one all-pervading, immanent, eternal spiritual reality, which is our own true nature.

In the original text of Patanjali the order is 1. Samadhipada 2. Sadhanapada 3. Vibhutipada 4. Kaivalyapada. But in this exposition of the Yoga-sutra the speaker has followed a different order, which seems to be more logical from the standpoint of actual Yoga-sadhana, i.e., 1. Sadhanapada 2. Vibhutipada 3. Samadhipada 4. Kaivalyapada. To help beginners in the study of Yoga philosophy, the basic definitions from the first few aphorisms of Samadhipada are explained at the beginning.

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