Religiousness in Yoga Study Guide: Chapter Eleven 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 Eleven Theory: Antaraṅga Sādhana – An Introduction to the Last Four Aṅga
– Pages 145-162

1. Question on Prāṇā P145

2. Question on Prāṇā P145-146

  • How do you know Prāṇā is inside the body?

3. Question on Distinguishing Avidyā P146

4. Question on Avidyā and Yama P146-147

5. Question on Watching Things Arise P147

6. Question around Family Life P147-148

7. Question around Changing Environment P148

8. Question around Restraint rather than Reflection P149

9. Question around Doubt and Action P149

  • Doubt, action and Time

10. Question around Doubt and Tension P149-150

  • Looking at a Problem from a higher viewpoint

11. Question around whether Puruṣa acts P150-151

12. Question as to whether Puruṣa is acting or motivating P151

13. Question around Puruṣa being contained P152

14. Antaraṅga and Bahiraṅga Sādhana P152

15. Pratyāhāra P152-153

16. Question around Pratyāhāra and Detachment P153-154

17. Question around Pratyāhāra and Control P154

18. Dhāraṇā P154-156

19. Role of Prāṇāyāma P156-158

20. Question around Relationship of Pratyāhāra and Dhāraṇā P158

21. Question around Sitting and Dhāraṇā, Dhyāna and Samādhi P158-159

22. Question around Pratyāhāra and not responding to stimuli P159-160

23. Question around Pratyāhāra and Perception P160

24. Question around Distinction between Dhāraṇā and Dhyāna P160-161

25. Questions around Writing and Dhāraṇā, Dhyāna and Samādhi P161

  • Orientation, Involvement and Insight

26. Question around Distinction between Dhyāna and Samādhi P161-162

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

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