Patanjali’s Eight Limbs of Yoga

Vedic Worldview - A podcast by Thom Knoles - Mondays

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A quick update that early registration is now open for Thom's upcoming annual retreat in Sedona, Arizona, this Memorial Day weekend from May 22nd to 26.

This is Thom's first retreat in the United States since the epic Maha Kumbha Mela held earlier this year in Prayagraj, India, so Thom has many fascinating new stories to share. The Sedona Rounding Retreat is also your opportunity to gift yourself profound rest and industrial-strength meditation through the daily rounding program.

This is your chance to transcend uncertainty in the ever-changing world and celebrate spring surrounded by nature, supported by community, and immersed in wisdom with Thom. Early registration discounts expire on March 17th, and you can find out more at thomknoles.com/sedona.

Jai Guru Deva.

One could easily spend a lifetime exploring Vedic literature and still barely scratch the surface in terms of the wisdom that’s available to us. Between the four Vedas, Rig Veda, Sama Veda, Atharva Veda and Yajur Veda, the Upanishads, the Brahma Sutras, the six schools of Vedic philosophy, and countless other written and oral texts or translations, there’s no shortage of avenues to explore.

And even if you could absorb them all in a lifetime, you’d probably need to reread them to understand them from a more evolved point of view.

Fortunately, the Vedic worldview is that all this wisdom is experiential, and we can shortcut the process of attaining wisdom through “knowledge of the Knower.”

Thom provides an example of this in this assessment of Patanjali's Eight Limbs of Yoga, a subset of The Yoga Sutras.

Thom clarifies that the piecemeal approach of trying to check off the eight limbs through our actions in order to attain the state of Yoga, is a misguided approach to take, and that practicing Vedic Meditation provides an express route that accelerates our personal evolution.

Episode Highlights:

[00:45] The Yoga Sutras

[02:36] Ashta Anga

[03:44] Yoga - Unification

[06:27] Samadhi

[07:39] The Simultaneous Arrival of Balance

[09:57] 1. Yama and Its Five Qualities

[13:21] Outcomes vs Causes

[15:05] 2. Niyama and Its Five Observances

[20:18] 3. Asana - The Sequential Elaboration of Limbs

[23:32] Asana for Transcendence

[24:51] 4. Pranayama - Administration of Breath