Article on Yoga Sutras of Patanjali by Annette Ananda

Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras are a kind of self help manual showing us how to dissolve our ignorance, gain true wisdom and find joy in living. Within the text is an 8 stage plan to achieve liberation, which forms the framework of the Ashtanga system (meaning 8 limbs).

To be truly Yoga each “limb” needs to be operative!

1. Yama 2. Niyama		Ethical & Spiritual practices
3. Asana 4. Pranayama		Physical practices
5. Pratyahara 6. Dharana 7. Dhayana 8. Samadhi		Meditation practices

The Yamas (recommendations of how we should restrain our behaviour towards others) and Niyamas (recommendations concerning how we behave towards ourselves) are so often disregarded or just given lip service by teachers and students in the West. This is probably because they are concerned with personal morality, ethics and spirituality (a bit too close and personal for many!) Society is clearly suffering as it turns away from such “old fashioned” values which we could equate to the 10 commandments given to Moses in the bible. Consider the Yamas and Niyamas like a set of 5 “Do’s” & 5 “Don’ts” (unlike the 10 commandments which are mostly “Don’ts”) but they are advisory rather than dictatorial and show us how we can avoid the karmic consequences of wrong doing.

Showing compassion and putting the welfare of other before our own creates “good karma” and when this is fully understood we aim to cause the least possible amount of harm to others. We all share consciousness so pain felt by one being (human or animal) is felt by all. There is such suffering in the world because there is so much violence, and the Sutras tell us that future suffering should, and can, be avoided by the practice of the first of the Yamas - Ahimsa (non-violence). It seems to me to be the only attitude that can heal our ailing planet and is as relevant today as it ever was.

Mahatma Gandhi modelled his life and his political programme on Ahimsa, together with the second Yama - Satya (truthfulness) , and his success in gaining India’s independence without conflict or “spin” proved that it can work. Each of the recommendations apply equally to our actions, words and our thoughts so we would do well to base our entire conduct upon them. Sadly many adults in society resent any restraint being imposed upon their so called freedom, however this system is a self discipline rather than an imposition.

The Niyamas are a clear set of guidelines on how best to approach aspects like personal hygiene, purity and devotion in order to sustain a healthy body and mind. Polluting ourselves with tobacco, alcohol, recreational drugs and negative thinking is harmful to what was once called “the temple of the Soul”! When we have self respect we are unable to do things which are harmful because we also respect life itself. Contentment and serenity can be attained if we let go of our destructive habits and take full responsibility for our lives. Little miracles begin to happen when we love and approve of ourselves as we are, and start trusting the whole process of life. With self acceptance we recognise that all our past “blunders” were simply steps to guide us to this realisation and a necessary part of our evolution.

Ideally the first three stages of Patanjali’s “action plan” are learned from early childhood, with pranayama and meditation practices being introduced before our teens, but most often we have come to Yoga later in life. Growing up in any faith based family unit is likely to have instilled a sound code of living where qualities like truthfulness, consideration etc are second nature. However, if that early guidance was missing or we have received mixed messages, some re-evaluation will be necessary at some point if we are to thrive. I love the Hindu attitude which truly embraces all faiths and accepts that any approach which leads us towards God is valid.

I won’t expand upon asana and pranayama practice here as there is such an abundance of written material by far more learned scholars than I, and my approach to meditation is to be found on the meditation page

The text takes the form of 196 sayings or “aphorisms” giving us “food for thought“ and, although they are not ambiguous, the exact meaning of the Sutras seems to be in layers (the word “sutra” means “thread” like the linking of thoughts, as in when we say “I lost the thread”). In addition to setting out the eight fold path to liberation, much advice is to be found on how to follow it by being very diligent. We must keep an even mind, in success or failure, and beware of the many obstacles like ignorance, self importance, anger, hatred and excessive attachment. The “siddhis” or psychic powers one may glimpse in the deeper states, are a potential distraction and liable to lead students away from the true path.

It is important to realise that this work is in effect a compilation of already existing ideas and philosophies rather than the origin of Classical Yoga which we are told dates back over 5,500 years.

Little is certain about the origins of the Sutras since Indian history is so rich in legend and mythology and mostly passed on by word of mouth with no means of dating events. Hindu legend tells us that Lord Vishnu the Preserver, resting on his couch, the serpent Adisesha, noticed that people on earth were losing their way. He instructed Adisesha to incarnate as a sage and codify the method of attaining Samadhi for the people to be saved. Adisesha chose a yogini called Gonika to be his mother and first appeared to her as a serpent before taking human form. Indian iconography depicts Patanjali as half human - half serpent.

A Sanskrit grammarian called Patanjali produced books on the holistic medical science of Ayerveda as well as Sanskrit grammar somewhere between 200 - 400 A.D. but whether or not this is connected to the Patanjali of the Sutras will never be known. Other schools of thought suggest that the Sutras were compiled by a succession or council of sages and rishis in a kind of academy of Yoga but, as they were originally passes on through an oral teaching tradition - memorised and recited as mantras, one can speculate ad infinitum. (I suspect that it is only possible to perceive the truth during our meditation.)

March 2006

Yoga Sutras of Patanjali

Ancient Wisdom for the Present day