Blog Posts

The beginning, middle, and end of yoga texts is the Yoga Darshan (Yoga Sutras) of Patanjali. It stands alone as the sole authority on yoga outside the Upanishads and Bhagavad Gita.

At the Atma Jyoti Blog, Swami Nirmalananda Giri has begun a commentary on Patanjali's Yoga Sutras. This commentary is based not only on his own experience and studies, but on the writings of Vyasa and Shankara, perhaps the most qualified writers on this subject. I. K. Taimni, author of the Science of Yoga, is also a strong authority for Swami Nirmalananda.

Here is a sample from the first blog post:

"Yogananda often said: “Yoga is the beginning of the end,” as the capstone of many lives lived in a positive manner, which included a conscious search for God. In this life there must be a continuation of that mode of life to prepare ourselves for the supreme science, the science of the Absolute which we call Yoga. Yoga requires preparation. This is proven by the fact that after over one hundred years of yoga teaching and practice in this country there has been little lasting effect, for few indeed have ascended to higher consciousness. The reason is the lack of foundation upon which to build an effective spiritual life. The yoga peddlers come to town, sell their wares, and move on leaving behind ignorant and confused people trying to get benefit from something completely beyond their capacity. They are not bad people, they are incompetent because they have no background, no preparation, especially in the matter of purification. Patanjali is aware of this, and so his first word in Yoga Darshan is Atha."

Read the rest of the article here.