The Essential Yoga Sutra Ancient Wisdom for Your Yoga

by Roach, Geshe Michael; McNally, Lama Christie

• ISBN13: 9780385515368
• ISBN10: 0385515367
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-12-27
• Publisher: Harmony

Summary

The Yoga Sutra of Patanjali is a classic Sanskrit treatise consisting of 195 "threads," or aphorisms, describing the process of liberation through yoga. Although little is known about Patanjali (most scholars estimate that he lived in India circa 200300 b.c.), his writings have long been recognized as a vital contribution to the philosophy and practice of yoga. This new, expert translation of the original Sanskrit text of Patanjali's best-known work presents his seminal ideas and methods in accessible, plain-language English. Patanjali organized the sutra into four parts: Samadhi (absorption), Sadhana (practice), Vibhuti (supernatural powers), and Kaivalya (liberation). Each represents a step in breaking free of our limited definition of consciousness and training the mind to achieve oneness with the universe. Geshe Michael Roach, one of the most respected teachers of Tibetan Buddhism in America and a renowned scholar of Sanskrit, provides authoritative commentary on each of the sutras. His notes and clarification are straightforward and highly readable, untainted by obscure, academic terminology or New Age jargon. The first edition of the Yoga Sutra to present a Buddhist perspective, this paperback original will be welcomed by students and spiritual seekers alike.

Author Biography

GESHE MICHAEL ROACH is a fully ordained Buddhist monk and has been a teacher of Buddhism since 1981. He is also a scholar of Sanskrit, Tibetan, and Russian, and has translated many works in these languages into English. He founded the Asian Classics Institute and the Asian Classics Input Project and has been active in the restoration of the Sera Mey Tibetan Monastery, where he received his training. He lives in New York and Arizona.

Table of Contents

Foreword

Yogi, Dancer, Thinker, Doctor

The Chapter on Meditation

It Begins with Meditation

The Power of Humility

To Become Whole

The Seer

A Day in the Mind

Right Seeing

A Leaf in the Road

Pictures in the Mind

Approaching the Door

The Power of Daily Practice

Attachment to Distraction

Attachment to Illusion

Meditation Traps

Bombs that Never Explode

The Five Powers

The Four Stages

The Master

Serving

The Highest of Prayers

Beginning Obstacles

Ultimate Obstacles

Inner and Outer

The Four Infinite Thoughts

Bright and Clear

Freedom from Selfishness

The Deeper Powers

Path of the Diamond

Remember What You Saw

Approaching the Goal

Beyond All Fear

The End of the Seeds

The Chapter on the Way

Reaching to Reach

The True Enemy

The Four Mistakes

The Beginning of Me

Is It Wrong to Like Things?

Fixing the World

Where the World Comes From

Where Pain Comes From

Why Things Fall Apart

Why Good People Suffer

Everything We See

The Two Realities

The Loneliness of Seeing

Who's in Control?

To See the Illusion

The Eight Limbs

Self-Control

A Code for All of Us

Commitments

Destroying Old Bad Karma

The Four Forces

In Your Presence

Where Money Comes From

How to Succeed in Relationships

Simply Clean

How to Be Happy

Finding Your Guardian Angel

Body Yoga

The Lie of Choices

The End of Breath

How to Breathe

Breathing to a Single Point

Ending the Tyranny of Stimulation

The Chapter on Practice

Focus and Stay

The Clear Light

The Eye of Wisdom

The End of Thoughts?

How Things Begin and End

How Things Neither Begin Nor End

The Power to Save the World

Reading the Minds of Others

The Power of Invisibility

Where It All Leads

The True Source of Power

The Channel of the Sun

The Channel of the Moon

The Channel of the Polestar

Chokepoints and Chakras

Everything from Understanding

Know Thyself

When Two Is One

The Rainbow in a Prison

The Five Primary Winds

The Three Skies

The Four Bodies

The Last One Left

The Body of All-Knowing

Herein Lies Total Purity

Respecting Our Destiny

The Final Moments

All Things in All Ways

The Chapter on Total Purity

We Must Become as Gardeners

The Destruction of the Storehouse

Gaining Control of Our Lives

The End of Limits

Dropping the Borders of Time

Beyond but Not Beyond the Mind

How We Hear Ourselves Think

Knives Don't Cut Themselves

The Apparent Self-Awareness

How We Project the World

Learning from Seeing

The End of Seeds

Debts Never Paid

Stepping over a Puddle

And So We Must See

Index of Important Ideas

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