Religiousness in Yoga Study Guide: Chapter Six 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 Six Theory: Puruṣa and Prakṛti – Pages 81-90

1. Review P81

2. Question on Avidyā P81-82

3. Question on Clarity P82

4. Question on Clarity and Duḥkha P82

5. Question on Duḥkha and Habit P82-83

6. Puruṣa and Prakṛti P83

7. Theory of Evolution P83-85

8. Relationship of Puruṣa and Prakṛti P85

9. Question on Puruṣa and Mind P86

10. Question on Puruṣa and Obsrvation P86-87

11. Question on Origin of relationship of Puruṣa and Prakṛti P87

  • As difficult to explain as death

12. Question on Puruṣa and Death P87

13. Question on Puruṣa and Action P87-88

14. Question on Puruṣa and Decision Making P88

15. Question on Puruṣa and Reincarnation P88

  • Quite a few theories

16. Question on Pariṇāma or Changes of Citta P88-89

17. Question on Puruṣa and Clarity P89-90

18. Question on Mind and Self-perception P90

19. Question on Puruṣa always working through the Mind P90

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

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