Welcome to the beginning of an on-going exploration of the seminal teachings of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra.

Our reference will be the new Translation and Commentary, The Yoga Sutra of Patanjali, by Chip Hartranft (2003 Shambala Classics). This commentary, written just a few years ago in 2003, reads clearly and as Stephen Cope comments, “combines intellectual precision with emotional accessibility.” This book, along with Stephen Cope’s two giant contributions, “Quest for the True Self,” and “The Wisdom of Yoga,” provide a firm foundation of yoga philosophy that is valuable for any serious student of yoga.

I have experienced why Stephen Cope recommends Chip’s “Sutra” so highly. It reads easily and beckons one on to the stunning, sometimes obtuse territory of this classic road map of human consciousness. I will share blogposts as I move through this commentary on the 196 short aphorisms that demystify how the mind works, and they will be compiled in the literature/study section.

In the very first pages of the introduction Chip lays out these enticing thoughts.

“The Yoga Sutra of Patanjali is one of the most enlightening spiritual documents of all time. It analyzes how we know what we know and why we suffer. It also provides a meditative program through which each of us can fulfill the primary purposes of consciousness: to see things as they are and to achieve freedom from suffering.

The practice of yoga is  meant to… reign in the tendency of consciousness to gravitate toward external things, to identify with them and try to locate happiness in them. Steady practice teaches consciousness how to turn inward toward itself and realize the true nature of its underlying awareness.”

Please join me on this journey of exploring the Sutras by reading along.  I welcome your comments and questions–this will be a journey we take together as yogis and yoginis in pursuit of an understanding of the true self.  If you are interested in purchasing the same version I am studying, you can visit Amazon.com (or click here) to order it new or used.

As an awareness, for next time I will be reading Prakrti and Purusa, pg xi – xiii in the introduction. I am taking this in small chunks. It bears chewing well!