A Sutra a Day: III-14 – Recommended Reading

Oct 18, 2012 | Wisdom, XSutras, xTmp, Yoga practices, Yoga Sutras of Patanjali | 1 comment

I’ve been going along with my blog theme A Sutra a Day now for five months. Picture me every night sitting down at my messy desk, thumbing through up to eight Patanjali Sutra texts by various translator/commentators.
After reading each interpretation, I think about what I’ve read and then overlay a map of my life to see if there are any points of intersection. Sometimes I’m lucky and, bingo, the fit is serendipitous. Other times I feel like I’m trying to pull on a too-tight jumper shrunken in the wash.
Why am I doing this to myself? I started out thinking I wanted a challenge. I also wanted to make myself sit still and study Patanjali; it was about bloody time, I thought.
How’s it going? Yes, it is challenging. More than that, it’s been rewarding. Some of the wisdom is coming in via osmosis. Hang around with enough brilliant writers and something is bound to come through.
I don’t even mind that I’m just scratching the surface. I remember my first exposure to Patanjali was more than a decade ago. A traveling yoga teacher named John Evans asked if he could lead a few discussions group sessions on the Sutra at my Sydney centre. He told the story of how he studied with a group of 25 participants that dwindled down to only 3 stalwarts after five years. Five years!
Well, what else might I be doing? Playing tennis or bridge or bike riding. Been there. Now I’m thinking wouldn’t it be great to learn to chant all the Sutra.

Santa-udita-aavyapadesya-dharma-anupati dharm

One substratum contains past, present, and future characteristics.*
*The Essence of Yoga – Reflections on the Sutras of Patanjali, Bernard Bouanchaud.

1 Comment

  1. Very encouraging, Mischa. You now have a life-long companion!

    Reply

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