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The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali

HSF6005 – The Yoga Sutras of Patañjali is a foundational text for understanding the world of Yoga. Today, Yoga has a worldwide following and has become a household word. Some 300 million people practice Yoga in the world, with close to 40 million in the US alone. As it entered the popular consciousness worldwide, the ancient practices of Yoga have undergone significant changes. Yoga’s moorings in deep philosophical insight, and grounding as an indispensable aid in living a Dharmic life, has perhaps receded into the background. It is not widely known that bahiranga yoga is only a small part of the Yoga Sutra text, which deals with understanding the ‘self’ (one’s limited identity and personhood) referred to antaranga yoga, and transcending the self to realize the “Self” known as parama antaranga yoga, in far more detail.  This course will introduce the seeker to the profound insights that Patañjali’s Yoga Sutra has to offer in these realms and lay the foundations for an authentic understanding of the world of Yoga.

Registration for this course is not open yet

Course Code: HSF6005

Credit Hours: 3

Course Level: 600

HSF6005 – The Yoga Sutras of Patañjali is a foundational text for understanding the world of Yoga. Today, Yoga has a worldwide following and has become a household word. Some 300 million people practice Yoga in the world, with close to 40 million in the US alone. As it entered the popular consciousness worldwide, the ancient practices of Yoga have undergone significant changes. Yoga’s moorings in deep philosophical insight, and grounding as an indispensable aid in living a Dharmic life, has perhaps receded into the background. It is not widely known that bahiranga yoga is only a small part of the Yoga Sutra text, which deals with understanding the ‘self’ (one’s limited identity and personhood) referred to antaranga yoga, and transcending the self to realize the “Self” known as parama antaranga yoga, in far more detail.  This course will introduce the seeker to the profound insights that Patañjali’s Yoga Sutra has to offer in these realms and lay the foundations for an authentic understanding of the world of Yoga.

Registration for this course is not open yet

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Description

Course content:

This course will revolve around interrogating the following questions:

  1. What is the Yoga as enunciated by the sage Patañjali?
  2. What is the role that bahiranga yoga (practices like āsana, prāṇāyāma, yama and niyama) have in the scheme of Yoga?
  3. How does the Yoga sutra look at the processes of the mind? How does it approach the practice of mastery over one’s mind?
  4. What is the thread of systematic psycho-spiritual evolution that runs through all the eight limbs of Yoga as enunciated in the Yoga Sutra?

This course will give an authentic understanding of the world of Yoga as described by the sage Patañjali. Since Patañjali’s Yoga Sutra are built on the darśana of Sankhya, this course will start by exploring the worldview of Sankhya. Given that the Bhagavad Gita is a synthesis of Sankhya and Yoga, it will prepare the students for a deeper philosophical understanding of the Bhagavad Gita.

In this course, the student will be able to: 

  1. Gain a traditional understanding of Patañjali’s Yoga Sutra as enunciated by the great master Yogacharya Krishnamacharya.
  2. Develop an understanding of the key practices that enable understanding and mastery of one’s mind and self.
  3. Understand the nuances of psycho-spiritual evolutionary growth that Yoga entails.
  4. Learn about the philosophical foundations on which Yoga is predicated.

Area of Study: Hindu Studies Foundations

Required/Elective:  Required

Prerequisites: Admission into a Program of Study

Faculty/Instructor: Dr. Anand Paranjape; Raghu Ananthanarayanan, Dr. Kundan Singh; & Dr. Anita Balasubramanian

Time: 10.00 am EST to 11.30 am – EST.

Day: Monday and Friday

Start Date: January 15th, 2021

End Date: March 26th, 2021

Quarter Offered: Winter 2021

Additional information

Quarter Offered

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