Psychology of the Yoga Sutras

“The teachers of the science of Yoga, therefore, declare that religion is not only based upon the experience of ancient times, but that no man can be religious until he has the same perceptions himself. Yoga is the science which teaches us how to get these perceptions.” (Swami Vivekananda Raja Yoga, page 15) The tradition of yoga philosophy in India takes Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras as its fundamental text. The author of these sutras was the ancient sage Patanjali who is also well-known for fundamental contributions in other fields of Indian philosophy. This unique tradition and text give a deep and profound analysis of the human mind, which in yoga philosophy includes the emotions (obsessive attraction, aversion, fear, etc.), memories, the speculative and imaginative faculties, the decision-making faculty, the will, our sense of “I”, etc., which have their sources in our words, thoughts, deeds from this life and in previous life cycles and which determine how we behave and react today. In short, the Yoga Sutras explain the deep mysteries of the experiences that we go through. A sutra is an aphoristic statement concisely describing fundamental spiritual truths experienced by ancient sages as a result of their spiritual insights and realizations. These sutras have been accepted over the centuries as being authoritative and have stood the test of time. Because of their brevity, these sutras have over the centuries been repeatedly commented on by qualified spiritual teachers who have transmitted their insights in the form of commentaries on these sutras. In this series of classes Swami Tattwamayananda will be teaching these sutras in the light of the traditional Sanskrit commentaries. It is a new expanded version distinct from the exposition given from October 10, 2014 to December 21, 2018. The recommended text for this lecture series is “Raja Yoga” by Swami Vivekananda. This series of lectures is co-sponsored by the Stanford Hindu Students Association. Time: Sundays at 6 pm PST Vedanta Society of Northern California, San Francisco Founded by Swami Vivekananda in 1900 A Branch of Ramakrishna Math and Mission, India. www.sfvedanta.org