Religiousness in Yoga Study Guide: Chapter Five Theory

TKV Desikachar teaching at Gaunts House

‘Religiousness in Yoga: Lectures on Theory and Practice’ by the University Press of America,
a transcript of recordings of a one month Yoga Programme in Colgate University in 1976, published in 1980.

Unlike the later redacted edition, re-published in 1995 as the ‘Heart of Yoga: Developing a Personal Practice’, it captures the evolution of the retreat with the days lectures and Q & A dialogues as they alternated between ‘lectures on the principles and purposes of Yoga and discussions related to the practice of Yoga with special reference to the postures and the breathing techniques’.

TKV Desikachar, in his forward to the original version wrote:

“These lectures and discussions, printed words put before persons I might never meet,
are but reflections of that deeper result that grew out of a living face-to-face encounter.
Coming to learn of Yoga only through reading leaves much to be desired.
Yet, something worthwhile about Yoga might be shared through the medium of the printed word.”

A chapter by chapter Study guide is offered below with added verse and word cross-references where possible to support a a deeper linking with the teachings within these lectures and Q & A sessions.

Chapter Five Theory: Duḥkha and the Concept of Saṃskāra – Pages 69-79

1. Review P69-70

2. Question on Sattva Guṇa P70-71

3. Question on Duḥkha becoming valuable P71

4. Question on Clarity and Duḥkha P71

5. Question on Duḥkha and Dreams P71-72

6. Question on Puruṣa and Observation P72-73

7. Question on Puruṣa and Mind P73-74

8. Question on Clarity and Mind P74

9. Question on Duḥkha and Memory P74-75

10. Question on Saṃskāra P75

11. Question on Origins of Saṃskāra P76

12. Question on Positive Saṃskāra P76-77

13. Question on Saṃskāra and Avidyā P77

14. Introducing Saṃyoga and Avidyā P77-78

15. Question on Difference between Saṃyoga and Asmitā P78

16. Question on Difference between Saṃyoga and Avidyā P78-79

17. Question on Difference between Duḥkha and Clarity P79

18. Question on Difference between Duḥkha and Effect P79

Follow this link for a Downloadable PDF version of the Chapter Five Study Guide

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