Religiousness in Yoga Study Guide: Chapter Fifteen 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 15 Theory: The Antarāyāḥ, Obstacles to Progress, Techniques to Overcome them Pages 207-219

1. Any questions on Dhāraṇā, Dhyāna, Samādhi, Saṃyama Kaivalya P207

2. Question on Samādhi as the Seer, the Object and the Relationship between them P207

  • They meet and communicate

3. Question on what happens to the Communication P207

  • At this stage there is no thought
  • Samādhi has different Stages

4. Introduction to how we become stuck and can’t progress P207-208

5. Presentation of Vyādhi or not being well P208

6. Discussion on Styāna P208

7. Presentation of Saṃśaya P208

8. Presentation of Pramāda P208

9. Presentation of Ālasya P209

10. Presentation of Avirati P209

11. Presentation of Bhrānti Darśana P209

12. Presentation of Alabdha Bhūmikatva P209-210

13. Presentation of Anavasthitatvāni P210

14. So also Yoga provides ways to surmount these Obstacles P210-212

15. Question on the relationship between Puruṣa and Īśvara P212

  • Yoga attempts gradually to bring back our real nature, where Puruṣa is the master

15. Question on whether Puruṣa is meant to serve Īśvara P213

17. Presentation on the reasons for the choice or use of OM P213-214

18. Reminder that Yoga does not insist that you accept Īśvara P214

19. Question on Chanting OM and Īśvara P214-215

20. There are other alternatives that might help us to overcome obstacles P214-218

21. Question on what you meant by ‘give the mind some space” P218

  • Space means freedom at the moment when we are stuck

22. Question on Īśvaraaiding the overall betterment of the individual P218-219

  • Whether Īśvara is better than other alternatives depends on the individual
  • We have to give a person what they are prepared to take, not what is necessarily best

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

Follow this Link for Downloadable PDF’s of all the Previous Chapters

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