Yogis, like all people who try to live well, practice the golden rule. In fact, the yoga of kindness is the very first step on Patanjali’s eight-limb path. Kindness, or ahimsa, is referred to as non-harming or nonviolence in the Yoga Sutras. Practicing the Yoga of Kindness I won’t spend time making a case for […]
The yoga sutras teach yoga students to realize our true nature. We become aware of how we spend our lives distracted by things that attract the senses and boost the ego. We learn to still our minds and recognize that our minds are not who we are. Who are we, then? According to Patanjali, we […]
The last few verses of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras remind us what we need to be free from affliction. In short, we need to continue a practice of discriminative discernment. When we catch ourselves clinging to worldly success, craving attention, or worrying about our image (among other things), we can return to our yoga practice to […]
The goal of yoga is to still the mind. Stillness gives us a clear view of our true Self and shows us our connection to all that is. The Yoga Sutras teach us how to get there and offer many tools for dealing with distraction. So, once we’ve practiced with commitment, our minds will be […]
Through much of the Yoga Sutras, yogis learn to still the mind. A busy clouded mind, we learn, gets between us and our true Self. But can our minds ever understand reality? It seems, they can. A yoga mind (as I’m calling it) is not colored by misperception. Rather, it can reflect truth once it […]
The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali are a road map for the journey toward Self-realization. First, the sutras teach to tune in to the many ways in which our minds cloud our ability to see truth. Then Patanjali gives us an idea of how to get around the trap our minds create. The essential point is […]
In the fourth section of the Yoga Sutras, we learn more about finding our true, higher self. As you’ve probably learned by now if you studied the sutras, we need to let go of the small self—the ego—which keeps us stuck. Patanjali explains that vasanas, or personality traits, develop from a lifetime (or many lifetimes) […]
As we become more immersed in our yoga practice, we notice something amazing. Yoga is a tool for removing obstacles! The practice helps transform our lives and teaches us who we truly are. Fear dissipates, we feel calmer and more connected, and we find inner strength. Reverend Jaganath Carerra tells us this transformation is innate […]
The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali are divided into four sections. The first three discuss contemplation, spiritual disciplines, and the divine powers yogis can achieve with practice. The fourth section is about evolution as a yogi, which begins with spiritual insights. You’ve likely learned or read about evolution as a scientific principle. But what is evolution […]
The first three sections of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali lead the yogi to the understanding that yoga practice — especially deep meditation — will give him or her amazing powers. The powers themselves are not the important thing, though. It’s the ability to transcend time and illusion that is a yogi’s true reward. In […]