Dr. Edwin Bryant lived for years in India and was trained with traditional pundits. He has a background in Indian philosophy, and his translation and commentary on the Yoga Sutras is dedicated to contributing to the growing body of literature on Yoga by providing...
Yoga and Buddhism’s Common Boundaries
What is the relationship between Yoga and Buddhism? Yoga is often perceived as being focused on the body and Buddhist teachings as emphasizing the study of the mind. In this article, (the late) Michael Stone addresses these issues, explores the connections between the...
Is Yoga Really Universal?
An ongoing debate concerns the subject of the relationship between Hinduism and Yoga. One side argues that westerners have appropriated Yoga and tried to divorce it from its Hindu roots. The other side argues that Yoga predates Hinduism and cannot be contained under...
This is Yoga
What is the definition of Yoga? At the very outset of his Yoga Sutras, Patanjali says, "Yogas Chitta Vritti Nirodhah." That’s the first sutra. What does it mean? "Calming the mind is Yoga." Often, people think that standing on the head is Yoga, that if you don’t know...
The Humble Vegetarian
In this article, Integral Yoga teacher April Gauri Hunziker (pictured here) explores the issue of how a yogi and vegetarian remains humble and avoids self-righteousness while remaining faithful to his or her principles. She poses some hard questions we may want to ask...
A Yogic or Sattvic Diet
To fully understand Swami Satchidananda’s teachings on the relationship between Yoga and diet, specifically, the psychological and spiritual benefits of a vegetarian/vegan diet, it’s important to know something about the three gunas, or the qualities of nature. The...
Four Locks, Four Keys: A Simple Approach to Relationships
When I first studied Raja Yoga, or Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, in my Yoga Teacher Training Class of 2001 at the Integral Yoga Institute, New York City, I clearly remember Swami Ramananda saying something like, “First your mind talked you into eating the ice cream, then...
What Yoga Teaches Us About Emotional Pain
One of Patanjali’s sutras buried in the Second Pada is: "Pain that has not yet come is avoidable" (2.16). This is very similar to, I would even say, exactly, what the Buddha taught: that suffering can end—as stated in the Third Noble Truth—though we hardly seem to get...
Vrittis: A Dive into the Yoga Sutras
If there is one thing we start to see with Yoga practice, it is that thoughts constantly bombard our minds. Remember being in Paschtimottanasana for what felt like forever with a tornado of swirling thoughts, from that embarrassing event 20 years ago to what’s for...
Asana: Steps to Personal Transformation
Robert Butera, Ph.D. studied at the Yoga Institute in Mumbai, India, where Yoga is viewed as a spiritual practice and a total lifestyle. A contributor to Integral Yoga Magazine and presenter at Satchidananda Ashram–Yogaville, Dr. Butera explains how asana is part of...
Jnana Yoga and Vedanta in the Yoga Sutras
We learn from our study of Yoga and Vedanta that their goals are one and the same: realization of the true Self. Both sages Veda Vyasa, and Sri Patanjali, in his Yoga Sutras, taught that by cultivating viveka (discriminative discernment) the cause of suffering...
Yama & Niyama: A Psychospiritual Perspective
Maharishi Patanjali prescribed inner and outer purification as a prerequisite for pursuing the path of Yoga. Yama, or the five abstinences, might be described as enlightened self-control. Niyama, or the five observances, might be defined as self-regulation. In this...
Patanjali’s Raja Yoga
Patanjali’s Yoga system is written in sutras. A sutra is a terse verse. It is an aphoristic saying. It is pregnant with deep, hidden significance. Rishis of yore have expressed philosophical ideas and their realization in the form of sutras only. It is very difficult...
Lessons from Raja Yoga: Viveka (Discrimination)
Patanjali once beautifully said, “Dukham evam sarvaam vivekinaha.” For a viveki, a person with discriminative knowledge, everything is painful. When you realize that everything is painful you cease to develop attachments toward those things. In fact, it is to relieve...
Raja Yoga: The King of Yogas
Raja Yoga is the king of Yogas. It is concerned directly with the mind. The Yogi sits at ease, watches the mind and silences the bubbling thoughts. The Yogi stills the mind, restrains the thought-waves and enters into the thoughtless state or asamprajnata samadhi....
Raja Yoga: The Essence of Yoga
When the word Yoga is mentioned, most people immediately think of some physical postures for relaxing and limbering up the body. This is one aspect of the Yogic science, but actually only a very small part and relatively recent in development. The physical Yoga, or...