The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali refers to a document that dates back somewhere between 5th and 4th century BCE. It is important to simplify during our historical discussion here, yet still provide the reader with context. We always strive to represent historical information as relevantly as possible without much scholarly debate. For these reasons, we will not get into too many details, but it is useful to consider that this text, Yoga Sutras, emerged during a very unique period in the history of humanity. Around the time of 500 BCE and over the next several hundred years, there was the emergence of multiple notable spiritual leaders and great philosophers. Buddha, Lao Tzu, Pythagoras, Socrates, and Aristotle are a few of the prominent figures of this time. From the standpoint of human evolution, these humans contributed greatly to the advancement for our ways of being. It is interesting to consider what the spiritual climate was like during this time on Earth. What was happening historically? What was the average life like?
It seems that technology had advanced to a point where humans could settle into areas and start producing legacies known as culture, racial identity, and so on. Technologies such as agriculture and other industrial means which allowed humans to become masterful over natural forces, and also afforded them the ability to stay in one place over longer periods of time. This provided a massive shift in the collective consciousness. The unique shifts in the collective encouraged the blossoming of the mind, and as we turned away from a life of constant fight or flight, our nervous system was able to adapt in a new way. The creative impulses soared, as we can see with the rise of arts, crafts, music, philosophy, and other humanitarian pursuits. As the basic needs were met, on a collective level, we were then able to seek in a whole new way. The spiritual path may be eternal, but our human organism must surely go through steps before a sincere quest for God can arise, no? Very little of our energy can be allocated to answering the question "Who Am I?" when we are worried about whether or not we will have food to eat or the fact that neighboring tribes were coming to kill us. This is very symbolic to our own spiritual path, so please consider history in this context. It seems to have logical correlates to what we are going through today. It's hard to be spiritual when we are worried about bills to pay!
It seems to be a very interesting time indeed. Both now, in the reader's current era, but also then. History is filled with lessons for the curious and open mind! Since it is not our wish to become too engaged with the historical facts, and we only want to provoke the curiosity of the reader, we will circle back to the main topic of discusion - the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. A lot can be said about this document, and surely if one is to do some additional research they can learn so much. For this discussion, we will continue to state simple observations, and leave the interpretations up to the reader. One is that we know that this text emerged near the end of a long era in the Indian subcontinent known as the Vedic period. The word Vedic refers to Veda, which means knowledge in Sanskrit. The Vedas, in specific, refer to a collection of four scriptural texts: Rig Veda, Yajur Veda, Sama Veda, Atharva Veda. Historians argue about the actual date of these texts, but of course we are not interested in scholarly debate. The oldest of these, the Rig Veda, may be 10,000 or more years old. The exact age is indeterminable, as the wisdom in these scriptures comes from the oral traditions of passing knowledge from teacher to disciple via memorizing and chanting thousands of lines of sutras, or lines. Interesting to note that the word suture, as in the context of surgery, is rooted in the Sanskrit word sutra.
If we examine this word sutra further, su = "good" or "easy", and tra = "expansion". Just like when we easily memorize a song because it has a catchy tune and we find ourselves singing along, we find this sense of "good, easy expansion" during the singing. You see, memorizing thousands of lines of scripture would be nearly impossible, but when a specific rhythm and beat are attached to each line, the human brain does a very unique thing where it registers more holistically and memories are formed with much greater solidarity and ease. Some very interesting research has been done using MRI brain scans and observing how the brain functions (optimally) during the process of chanting Sanskrit, the language of the Vedas.
Our tangent is relevant, as when the great sage known as Patanjali began to organize the document known today as the Yoga Sutras, he did so in such a metered and rhythmic fashion. The 196 lines are all strung together in an extremely precise and brilliant way so as to provide the reader the ability to really absorb the wisdom being passed down. It is still unknown whether or not Patanjali actually wrote the document himself, or if one of his disciples wrote it on his behalf, as the oral tradition of transmitting wisdom was still very much alive then. Indeed, it is important to know that this oral transmission of sacred knowledge takes place even now, in our modern era. Why this is so important to consider is related to the actual science of Sanskrit, chanting, and mantra. We won't get into specific details in this post, however, we are now demonstrating with modern instruments in the field of neuroscience, that the sounds produced when chanting or reciting Sanskrit create literal changes in the brain. This is called neuroplasticity, and it has everything to do with spirituality. To be able to produce physical changes the brain will allow us to see the world through a completely different organ (the brain), which is our decoding machine for all the raw data in the Universe.
Circling all the back once more to Patanjali and the Yoga Sutras, this great sage must have known all of this, and more. Encoded in the Yoga Sutras are all of the secrets to the brain and the mind that operates through. It is a truly incredible treatise on the nature of human consciousness, and what to do with it once we understand how it works. There is a reason this document (hopefully) is included in all teacher training manuals for aspiring yoga teachers, and our hope is that in this short write-up we have encouraged the reader to take a deeper look at them.
At BTGY, we intend to explore the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali in depth, and also provide the practical context for how to integrate the philosophy within them. Theory and practice must go hand in hand. Once we have a theoretical basis, we can execute an experiment to prove or disprove our theory. This is the science of self-realization, and it is directly related to the great experiment of our lives. Our reality is dictated by the success and failure of our experiments in life. The more precise and accurate we get with our tests, and the more we are able to integrate our conclusions, the greater degree of freedom and joy we experience. If we keep finding the same results, over and over again, we must change our input, no? How do we change our input? What are the best steps to try? Often the answers to these questions are overwhelming, which then leaves us in the space of returning to what is familiar, even if the "experiment" is dysfunctional. The yogic methodology exists and has been passed to us over thousands of years in order for us to wake up out of this dysfunction and live a life of true peace and harmony.
It is our understanding that the essence nature of our being is one of love and bliss. We are not here to debate this, to be dogmatic about it, or, in any way, claim ownership or superiority over any related teachings. It is simply by the collective observations from many remarkable teachers and masters over the years that we've suspected this great truth, and through practice, have been able to verify it for ourselves. We only wish to continue to pass on this wisdom to those with hungry hearts on the path towards self-realization. Don't take anyone's word for it - practice, and then decide for yourself. This is the way to liberation. This is the way to self-empowerment. This is the way to wisdom.
May all sincere seekers awaken to the truth in their own heart. OM.
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