YOGA = SAMĀDHI

Patañjali defines yoga as samādhi - a special state of mind, which happens when mental activity stops.

It is associated with a profound feeling of peace, clarity and bliss (sat-cit-ānanda).

Patañjali continues by saying, that when the mind is in this state - consciousness (the Self/our true nature) is experienced in its pure (true/unconditioned) form.

Whereas, when the mind moves, it seems as though consciousness moves with, or is modified by it.

It is generally assumed that such states of yoga are not accessible to ordinary people, but yogis suggest that Samādhi is a natural phenomenon that all human beings are able to experience.

In fact, they assert, a human being should experience Samādhi on a regular basis: it is just as important for our good health, as the three other natural states of consciousness - the waking, dreaming and deep sleep states.

According to yogis, every human being experiences Samādhi in utero. We have a dim memory of this deep state of peace and bliss, and our drive to satisfy desire or to avoid discomfort in life is nothing but the craving to recover this natural state of peace.

The bliss of Samādhi is accessible through yoga practices, and cultivating this is a central theme of our course.

TEACHING METHODOLOGY  

“Yoga is the practical field of knowledge” * Śrī BNS Iyengar

Kṛṣṇamācārya and his students were critical of book learning - they used to point out that you cannot understand yoga just through reading about it, you can only properly understand it through practice.

Just as the study of cookery will not provide one with delicious and nourishing food, unless you also actually cook and eat your meal, the study of yoga will not produce any desired results without reflection and practice.

Yoga makes no sense without practice: one cannot understand or appreciate it abstractly. It only makes sense through experience. This applies equally to āsana, prāṇāyāma, meditation and using the analytical mind (viveka/discrimination).

Why a Transformational Journey?

While the “state of yoga” is known as samādhi, the practice of yoga, which is required if the state of yoga/samādhi does not happen naturally, must be something that changes us. Yoga is a transformative practice.

Exploring yoga philosophy is a practice that should transform the mind, just as āsana practice transforms the body. And this transformation is necessary because the subtle truth cannot be grasped intellectually.

By definition, samādhi happens when the mind stops. If the mind has stopped, what can be said about our experience? How can one speak about or conceptualise such experiences (if there are no thoughts/feelings/perceptions)?

So words cannot describe samādhi, they can only point us in a certain direction. After that, one has to meditate on what those words are indicating in order for the meaning/understanding to sink in.

A Three Part Process

For this purpose we apply a timeless three part methodology, first described in the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad, which involves first hearing about the truth, then reflecting on what one has heard and finally understanding the truth in depth through meditation.

आत्मा वा अरे द्रष्टव्यः श्रोतव्यो मन्तव्यो निदिध्यासितव्यः ।

ātmā vā are draṣṭavyaḥ śrotavyo mantavyo nididhyāsitavyaḥ

“To see the Self (ātmā) you should hear the exalted truth, reflect on it and then meditate on your reflections”
- Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad 2.4.5

This is the method we will follow.

COURSE STRUCTURE

This eight month course is subdivided into the study of the four "pādas” (chapters) of the Yoga Sūtra (Samādhi, Sādhana, Vibhūti and Kaivalya Pādas). We will dedicate around two months to each of the first two chapters, with a one month break between. Then the third and fourth chapters, which are shorter and have less commentary, will be taught together over a 10 week period.

The Yoga Darśana, which is represented by Patañjali’s teaching, is one of six systems of Indian philosophy, all of which base their teaching on the Vedas. Other Darśanas include Sāṃkhya and Advaita Vedānta - two world views that we shall explore in some depth.

Yoga emerged alongside these other systems of philosophy and our sūtra study will be complemented and enhanced by exploring some of these other sources.

Each week we will explore one section of the Sūtras in depth, looking at important commentaries and then we will also look at another text that can shine more light on our studies.

Two lectures will be recorded per week - one will be a commentary on 4-5 sūtras, the other will be a talk based on a relevant essential reading from one of these texts.

Students will have access to source texts and will be guided by several questions to research deeper. Then we shall meet on Saturday to discuss. After discussion we will set aside time for prāṇāyāma and meditation.

We will focus on the original Yoga Sūtra commentary of Vyāsa and on that of Hariharānanda Āraṇya. I will also share my own reflections based on my studies with various teachers in India, mainly from my studies with Dr KL Śaṅkaranārāyaṇa Jois.

SCHEDULE DETAILS

This eight month study includes:

28 recorded talks on the Yoga Sūtra (average 75 min each)

28 recorded talks on the Supp Texts (average 60 min each)

28 live meetings (recorded for review) to discuss the texts/practice prāṇāyāma and meditation (2hrs Saturdays)

Yoga Sūtra Text including Vyāsa’s Commentary, digital copies of the supportive texts, where available

LIVE SCHEDULE *

Saturdays
12 PM London
7 AM New York

* All Classes are Recorded for Review

DATES

Samādhi Pāda - December 5 - January 30

Sādhana Pāda - February 27 - April 24

Vibhūti and Kaivalya Pāda - May 29 - July 31

ABOUT MY STUDIES

Having become disillusioned by Western academia, I travelled to South India in the early 90s, to study yoga in a traditional setting. I fell in love with Mysore, which became a second home, and I returned so many times that I lost count.

The approach to study was very different. We would sit on a simple stone floor with the teacher, a small group - often only 5-6 students, and we would go through a text - say the Yoga Sutra - one verse at a time until the whole text was finished.

I was privileged to study with some wonderful teachers, the most important of whom, Dr KL Śaṅkaranārāyaṇa Jois (Ācārya) has been my guide on the path of yoga for over 35 years.

Over the years we studied many texts - Yoga Sūtra numerous times, Haṭha Pradīpikā, Gheraṇḍa Saṃhitā, Upaniṣads, Gītā, Sāṃkhya, the Epics etc..

Pattabhi Jois would always say:

“If you want to understand yoga in depth, you have to study the Yoga Sūtra!”

Considering Ashtanga Yoga to be an integral teaching of the Sūtra, I took this message to heart and for the first decade of my practice I dedicated nearly all my study time to this project…

I read every translation, every commentary, attended every seminar… eventually I was moved to study Sanskrit and make my own translation and dedicate time to chanting the Sūtra every day.

At some point I came across a most wonderful translation and commentary—that of Hariharānanda Āraṇya. It is still the source of inspiration more than thirty years later.

The most important insight I gained from teachers in India is that this experience of Samādhi is a natural phenomenon which is accessible when the conditions are right.

Our intention is to use the text to get deeper and fuller understanding about the nature of Samādhi, which through reflection and meditation can lead towards the cultivation of experience.

We will look at the original text, then by exploring several important commentaries, we reflect on it and we will conclude all our classes with prāṇāyāma and meditation on our reflections.

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“The wise should always be one with that silence wherefrom words together with the mind turn back without reaching it, but which is attainable by the Yogins.”

Śaṅkarācārya - Aparokṣānubhūtiḥ

SUTRA STUDY

The Yoga Sūtra is only around 1250 words - or around 3 pages of text. There are 28 Sanskrit commentaries, with a combined word count of over 1,000,000 words. If you include all the modern interpretations of the text, that number reaches the hundred of millions.

This gives some idea about how much has been written about the 195 Sūtras.

COMMENTARIES

The Yoga Sūtra is composed in a condensed form, which needs to be unpacked. This unpacking, or commentary is essential for one’s understanding.

We will focus on the original Yoga Sūtra commentary of Vyāsa and on that of Hariharānanda Āraṇya. I will also share my own reflections based on my studies with various teachers in India, mainly from my studies with Dr KL Śaṅkaranārāyaṇa Jois.

SUPPLEMENTARY TEXTS

In order to get a deeper understanding of the Yoga Sūtra, it is valuable to study several other texts, in particular, the Upaniṣads, some of the Haṭha texts, some Advaita texts (Gītā and Ādi Śaṅkarācārya’s works) and a study of the Sāṃkhya system.

In this course we will extract some essential readings from the Bhagavad Gītā, Sāṃkhya Kārikā, Sāṃkhya Sūtra, Kaṭha Upaniṣad, Māṇḍūkya Upaniṣad, Taittirīya Upaniṣad, Yogatārāvalī, Dṛg Dṛśya Viveka, Haṭha Yoga Pradīpikā, Yogayājñavalkya Saṃhitā, Yoga Upaniṣads and more…

Many texts contain significant portions which are of a lesser interest. Our purpose will be to extract the sections with deeper significance, to extract the “juice” or “nectar” from these teachings.

I studied many of these texts with Ācārya. Those texts are often cryptic and are composed in a condensed poetic form. Those studies often simply provided a jumping off point for further or deeper teaching.

So the study of the text detail was not so much our main focus. The unpacking or expanding of what it contained was the interesting part.

Readings from the texts will be in English, without reference to the sanskrit original or in depth commentaries.

These talks will be recorded.

TEXTS INCLUDED

COURSE FEES

ONE-TIME FULL PAYMENT
€2415

EARLY BIRD (before November 1)
€2175

BY PADA (3 instalments)

€865 × 3

MONTHLY INSTALMENTS

€356 × 8

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LET ME KNOW IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS