Back to the Source: A Plug for Patanjali

Nov 22, 2016 | Yoga Sutras of Patanjali | 3 comments

Patanjali is featured in this quote: yoga is the practice of quieting the mind.

Patanjali as source

I wonder how many yoga teachers talk about the meaning of yoga in their classes. It’s taken me a long time to acknowledge the importance of doing this, and, to do it.

My reason for not communicating on this topic? Remarkably, I thought it wasn’t what people came for. They came for a workout, for relaxation, for community, but not for talking philosophy.

There’s another reason I’ve avoided talking about the meaning of yoga. I haven’t always understood it. It’s been a slippery edge for me. Sometimes I think I’ve got it, then it’s gone. 

As an older yogi, hopefully with a broader perspective now, I’m rethinking my approach. These days, there’s a plethora of styles of yoga, a profusion of teachers and trainings, and the huge popularity of yoga. Navigating the yoga scene seems, at times, like hacking one’s way through a thicket. It’s more important than ever to get back to the heart of the matter.

Read, chant, reflect

A few years ago, I decided it was time to study Patanjali. For many, he’s the source of the meaning of yoga. So, I read all of his 196 Yoga Sutras. I tried to figure out how they related to my daily life. And then, I wrote about the Sutras, one by one, for ‘Yoga with Eve Grzybowski’. 

I can’t say absolutely that Patanjali, the old sage and writer of the Sutras, is the source of all things yogic. But, he does come across as smart and succinct. He says some good stuff and sets out some profound practices that we can follow to this day. 

Patanjali gets to the nub of the matter: the swirling, sometimes murky waters of our minds. He sets out the aim of yoga in the second Sutra of the first chapter. (Click here to see my spin on Sutra number two.) 

Lately, I’ve been focussing on just the first three Sutras, chapter one, chanting the Sanskrit words.  I feel a growing affection toward these particular aphorisms. They are becoming familiar to me.

The saying goes, you teach what you most need to learn. Maybe one day that slippery edge won’t be so slippy.

3 Comments

  1. Interesting Eve – I’ve just been listening to Christopher Hareesh Wallis who is offering a year-long study of the Yoga Sutras. One thing he stressed in Sutra 1.2 is that in Patanjali’s day the word ‘yoga’ almost always referred to a state of being, not a practice. So the sutra would translate as “Yoga is the state in which mental and emotional fluctuations have become still.”Later, the word yoga came by extension to refer to a practice.Hareesh says that what Patanjali is saying is that if you do the practices, the ones he gives us, you will find that the mind spontaneously becomes still and tranquil more and more frequently. Must be a Patanjali day!!

    Reply
  2. HI Eve; I followed your Sutra A Day blog avidly, and loved all your thoughts. I reckon you could put them into a little book – I would buy that! Thanks for your ongoing and very authentic presence on the yoga scene…

    Reply
    • Hi Cherise,
      It was a great project “A Sutra A Day”. I’m so glad you enjoyed reading my posts.
      In fact there was a book made from my interpretations of the Sutras. Sandy Edwards
      on the occasion of my 70th birthday, presented me with a hardcover book comprised
      of my writing. And on the facing pages of each Sutra, a photograph of one of my old
      students in a pose.
      Because the books were produced on demand, I think they sold for well over a hundred dollars.
      A beautiful indulgence!
      Namaste!

      Reply

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