What is Yoga Sutras of Patanjali?Yoga Sutras of Patanjali is one of the greatest ancient Indian scripture of all time, because it codifies in a few pages the essential principles and practices for cultivating the natural process of human spiritual transformation. All scriptures contain elements of the famous eight limbs of yoga described in the Yoga Sutras. But very few scriptures contain all of the limbs. So, besides being an excellent guide on the essentials of spiritual practice, the Yoga Sutras make a pretty good checklist by which the efficacy of any spiritual path can be measured.
The eight limbs of yoga are simple to list:
Yama: Restraints – non-violence, truthfulness, nonstealing, preservation and cultivation of sexual energy, and non-covetousness.
Niyama: Observances – purity/cleanliness, contentment, focus/intensity, spiritual/self study, and surrender to our highest ideal.
Asana: Those yoga postures we all know and love.
Pranayama: Breathing techniques for awakening and cultivating the inner ecstatic energies.
Pratyahara: Introversion of sensory perception – awakening to inner space and beyond, ultimately transcending sensory attachments altogether.
Dharana: Putting attention on an object.
Dhyana: Meditation – natural dissolving of the object in the mind.
Samadhi: Absorption of the object and attention in stillness, inner silence, pure bliss consciousness.
(from The AYP Enlightenment Series Book..
Samyama–Cultivating Stillness in Action,Siddhis and Miracles)
Read more here:
The Eight Limbs of Yoga, and Samyama – Melting the darknessAt the forum:
Swara Yoga and Helping Patanjali
