This is an ongoing blog about Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras. Patanjali, an Indian sage is said to have written the Yogasutras as early as the 2nd century BCE. While historians argue about the texts and whether they were indeed written by one man or compiled over time, there is little doubt that the sutras themselves hold immense value for researchers in the fields of brain and mind sciences.
Since very little is known about Patanjali himself this blog will not discuss his origins, but instead concentrate on his sutras. A sutra is an aphorism, and was built to encode as much of the original information as possible. These sutras are on Yoga, which is not to be confused with the commonly known (hatha) yoga, and as such deal with modifications of the mind. The original text consists of the following sections:
- Samadhi Pada (51 sutras)
- Sadhana Pada (55 sutras)
- Vibhuti Pada (55 sutras)
- Kaivalya Pada (34 sutras)
This blog will try and analyze each sutra and draw attention to it’s counterpart in contemporary thought. It is helpful to visualize the time period that these texts were written in, just so you are not biased by modern day view points. I do not know Sanskrit, the original language that the sutras were written in, though it helps that I speak modern day Kannada and can recognize some Sanskrit. Because of this I will be using I.K Taimini’s book the science of Yoga. I also have copies of other authors including one by James Haughton Woods which I use to cross check on ambiguous words, though I will primarily use Taimini’s book for reference throughout.
A reference book will definitely help in following the sutras. I’d suggest Taimini’s The Science of Yoga only because of his depth of knowledge of vedic cosmology, though even his book is filled with religious verbiage. I suppose religion cannot be avoided, especially when it comes to Hinduism which is so closely knit to everyday life in India. If you have no access to books then perhaps you can refer to the book online here and here. You can read some more about Patanjali and hear the Sutras being recited here. Take what you see with a pinch of salt because the sutras will definitely be treated as some sort of holy text and so may have misleading references.
It is my belief that Patanjali was very clear about the nature of the yogasutras. The purpose of this blog is to prove that Patanjali had access to information on how the brain could be manipulated at a neuronal level through non-invasive soft procedures such as meditation. It has been consistently proven that meditation does in fact alter electrical activity in the brain. This system of directly working on the brain at a cellular level through thought induced mutations (? or transformations?) displays a very high level of knowledge on the operations of the brain (through the mind.) As you will read later on in the sutras, the change occurs within the entire central nervous system with key activity focused at the end of the spine and at the crown of the head, roughly near the frontal lobe or perhaps specifically the pre-frontal cortex. I have found many references to this physiological activity in the various books on Kundalini arousal that I have in my collection. The time spans between the writing of these books is in hundreds of years so I’m fairly certain that these accounts are consistent and real.
I am aware of how fundamentalists and religious fanatics seize upon the latest scientific discovery and tag a religious notion to it at the slightest chance of similarity between the two. I will try and maintain clear references, and illustrate my rationale with valid examples. In any case I cannot hide behind a publisher, so if you spot a glaring mistake or omission – just comment on the post.
I cannot figure out reverse chronology for the posts so I will have to tag it, name it right and pray that it’s read in the right order. Finally it may interest you to know that this blog started from this post of mine at the mindbind blog. After I wrote that I often wondered where else I would see a connect, so I finally decided to investigate for myself. And Voila – A blog!
I hope you enjoy this.
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