PART 14 – Chapter 1: Verses 23-29: Yoga Sutras of Patanjali

28/02/09 – @ Asheville Yoga Center
PART 14 – Chapter 1: Verses 23-29: Yoga Sutras of Patanjali

Prompted by verses 23-29, ch.1 of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, Ryan sets out to both shed light on how one can authentically develop in their spiritual practice, as well as on some common trappings throughout the process. Here is a dot-pointed summary of the key ideas, themes and discussion points:

• The aim of your life ought to be about being fully present, to wake up, and to calmly enjoy what is going on. Trying to achieve things or objectives always leads to dissatisfaction. Being present without surging towards an imagined future is key.

• There is nothing other than what you are experiencing right now. Trying to experience something is missing the point, because it is already here right now.

• Let God, the Eternal Self take care of your life. By doubtlessly allowing whatever internal indicators regarding your ‘right course of action’ to arise, you allow yourself to live a natural and spontaneous life contentedly. Here the likelihood of you making up more unnecessary problems for yourself via excessive thought is reduced.

• The Eternal Self is not restricted or influenced by karma, it’s omniscience is unsurpassable. Realizing yourself as the Eternal Self allows for your liberation from karma. Meditating on yourself as the Self, beyond the karmic tendencies of your personality, allows for profundity of progress.

• The Eternal Self is evident in the sound or vibration ‘Aum’. This vibrational tone is accessible via meditating on it. The more you meditate on it the more you are attuned to it, and the more you merge into the Eternal Self. In this way, Aum being an evidential aspect of the Eternal Self, offers itself as a pathway to the source of all experience or the Divine. Meditating on Aum is an excellent mantra for clarifying one’s consciousness.

This discussion is by Ryan Kurczak during the ‘Yogic Scriptures and Meditation Group’ at ‘Asheville Yoga Center’. Ryan is Kriya Yoga Teacher in the lineage of Roy Eugene Davis and Paramahansa Yogananda.

For a complete discussion on the Yoga Sutras in the light of Kriya Yoga, please see:

26-Hour Downloadable Yoga Sutras Course

and the book: Kriya Yoga: Continuing the Lineage of Enlightenment.