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 19, 2019 31 – The Nature of Awareness and Self-Awareness | Patanjali Yoga Sutras | Swami Tattwamayananda
Lecture by Swami Tattwamayananda. The seer can be found in the waking, dreaming, and deep sleep states. This is analyzed in the Mandukya Upanishad. In Vedanta, that which is changing is not absolutely real. The seen objects change, but the seer does not change. The process of knowing in Yoga and Vedanta has to be divided into the knowledge of an object and knowing that you know the object. In Vedanta, these two processes come together. When we get an intuitive knowledge of the self-awareness after long years of meditation, then we become aware of our nature as the eternal subject. Verse: II.20
1 hr
February 19, 2019 30 – Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas Gunas | Patanjali Yoga Sutras | Swami Tattwamayananda
Lecture by Swami Tattwamayananda. The witness is aware but not a participant. This idea is common to both Buddhism and Vedanta. In the Bhagavad Gita, it is explained that you should be able to see inaction in action. You should see that your senses and mind are engaged in action but that Atman itself is not involved in action. The three gunas – sattva, rajas, tamas – are explained and the process by which we develop more sattva guna is also explained. Verse: II.18
1 hr 6 min
February 19, 2019 29 – The Mind is a Magnet: The Power of a High Ideal | Patanjali Yoga Sutras | Swami Tattwamayananda
Lecture by Swami Tattwamayananda. The lecture begins with the story of how Indra disguised himself as a pig and enjoyed life with a she-pig and children. The other angels came and pierced the body of the pig and he laughed and immediately understood his situation. In the same way, when higher Duhkha comes, there can be a quantum leap in our perspective. We get identified with our body and mind. Vyasa says mind functions as a magnet attracting objects according to its nature. When we purify it and link it to a high ideal we are able to receive and attract a higher percentage of helpful things. Verses: II.15, II.17
54 min
February 19, 2019 28 – Try to Worry About Something Higher | Patanjali Yoga Sutras | Swami Tattwamayananda
Lecture by Swami Tattwamayananda. Culture begins when we start looking for something higher. That is Parinama Duhkha and it is the prerequisite for yoga. We can indeed acquire a new perspective. Life and death are a continuous process of spiritual growth over many lifecycles. The classical example of Jada Bharata, the King who was reborn as a deer and then as a man who had this Duhkha. The cause of this Duhkha is the identification between the seer and the seen. A dog will enjoy a piece of meat more than a human being because its identification with its senses is far greater. As we evolve, our sense of identification also evolves. Verses: II.15, II.16, II.17
58 min
February 19, 2019 27 – Raja-Rishi: Both a King and a Sage | Patanjali Yoga Sutras | Swami Tattwamayananda
Lecture by Swami Tattwamayananda. Duhkha is not a negative philosophy of life, it takes a realistic and complete view. Sankhya philosophy explains the evolutes of material nature both mental and physical. Our difficulty is that we identify with these and forget our transcendental dimension, Atman. We can eradicate suffering by having a comprehensive perspective toward the reality of our life. We break the identification between the seer and the seen. Such a person does not become inactive. Rather, a Raja-Rishi is a person who has the dynamism of a king and the wisdom of a sage. Verses: II.15, II.17, I.2, II.16, I.6
1 hr 10 min
February 18, 2019 26 – The Greatest Bliss is Desirelessness | Patanjali Yoga Sutras | Swami Tattwamayananda
Lecture by Swami Tattwamayananda. The lecture begins with the second topic of Sadhanapada: Duhkha-Caturvyuha. It goes into detail about the nature of suffering. By evolving a higher sense of suffering, we evolve spiritually. At first, we suffer from Samsara-Duhkha, the results of our evil tendencies accumulated from previous lives, and Tapa-Duhkha, the constant fluctuation of the mental system. Parinama Duhkha is the sense that even while surrounded by wealth, friends, and happy situations, they will not last for long. It is related to Atha, the state of being ready for Yoga. Vyasa says the bliss of higher spiritual consciousness is still at most one-sixteenth of the bliss of desirelessness. Though we cannot practice that now, Patanjali helps us to recognize the causes of our obsessive desires. The realization itself reduces the intensity of the problem. Verses: II.15, II.16, II.17, I.1
1 hr 10 min
February 18, 2019 25 – Review: The World of Human Mind | Patanjali Yoga Sutras | Swami Tattwamayananda
Lecture by Swami Tattwamayananda. The lecture begins with a review of the structure of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras. The sutras teach us how to befriend the mind and achieve a state of perfect mental poise. The psychological obsessions of Raga, Dvesa, and Abhinivesa are reviewed. The five stages of concentration are also reviewed. The sum total of all these mental tendencies you have accumulated by action is called your Karmashaya. The Samskaras can come from this life or the previous life. The purpose of yoga is to come out of the rotation of action, impressions, and tendencies. Verses: I.1, I.2, II.1, II.3, II.12
1 hr 2 min
February 17, 2019 24 – The Sensitive Eye of the Yogi | Patanjali Yoga Sutras | Swami Tattwamayananda
Lecture by Swami Tattwamayananda. Viveka means the ability to understand what is real and worthwhile. The first kind of Duhkha, suffering, described in the fifteenth sutra is Parinama Duhkha. It is the understanding that happy and unhappy experiences are changeable. Yudhishthira says in the Mahabharata that the greatest wonder is that every day we see people dying, but we think we will be immortal. This Duhkha is possible only for Yogis and people with spiritual insight. Tapa Duhkha is suffering due to not getting what we want. Buddha’s example of his concern for the welfare of all human beings is given for Parinama Duhkha. It is helpful in spiritual life. Samskara Duhkha comes from actions that create grief prompted from Vasanas from remaining in the Karmashaya. Vyasa says a Yogi develops a sensitive eye and is able to see future suffering before it happens. This is the Heya, the problem to be eradicated. Verses: II.15, II.16
1 hr 15 min
February 17, 2019 23 - Avoiding Future Suffering by Identifying the Source of Suffering | Patanjali Yoga Sutras | Swami Tattwamayananda
Lecture by Swami Tattwamayananda. In Sadhana, the first step is selfless action, Kriya Yoga. The second part of the Sadhanapada discusses the quadrangle of Dukha, suffering. Suffering comes from constant slavery to changeable sensory experiences. Ultimately, the awakening of Viveka-khyati, discerning wisdom, removes the root of this suffering. The ethical disciplines of Yama and Niyama lead us away from pampering the senses. The sixteenth sutra mentions how we are able to avoid future suffering by the practice of such discipline. Verses: II.15, II.16
1 hr 6 min
February 17, 2019 22 - Every Day You Can Start a New Life | Patanjali Yoga Sutras | Swami Tattwamayananda
Lecture by Swami Tattwamayananda. Through selfless action, Kriya Yoga, we begin the process of weakening our obstacles. Through meditation, we nullify their external manifestations. Through Pratiprasava, counter-evolution, we find the subtle causes of our obstacles. Yoga gives solutions and methods for changing your destiny by evolving your Karmashaya, your accumulated tendencies constituting your character. A simple story is narrated to drive the point home. Spiritualizing all of our secular activities, we do not separate out what the intellect wants to do and what our mind actually allows us to do. The nature of dreams is then discussed to illustrate the concept of our subtle mental tendencies. Verses: II.1, II.10, II.12
1 hr 12 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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