Links to Related Resources & Longer Articles:

• T Krishnamacharya Yoga Sūtra Study Quotes Collected and Collated
• TKV Desikachar Yoga Sūtra Study Quotes Collected and Collated
• Paul’s Yoga Mālā – A Thread of Pearls from Patañjali’s Yoga Sūtra
• Paul’s Yoga Sūtra Study Keywords – Collected & Collated into Chapters
• Paul’s Yoga Sūtra Study Questions – Collected & Collated into Chapters
• Sound – A Means Beyond Āsana and Prāṇāyāma……

Collated Related Short Posts & Quotes:

“The first type of Pramāṇa, Pratyakṣa, arises from the continuous active link,
through the mind and senses, between Jīva and the object it perceives.
The second type, Anumāna, is when present perception is
based on what has been seen in other situations in the past.
For instance, when I see dark clouds, I think that it may rain.
With the third type, Āgamā, undistorted words from
a reliable source are the basis for perception.
The Veda are Pramāṇa by virtue of their source.
The sage Āpastamba proclaimed that the Veda are Pramāṇa for Dharma.”
– T Krishnamacharya on Yoga Sūtra Chapter One verse 7

“In Sūtra 1.10 Patañjali defines Nidrā as a
Citta Vṛtti or, a specific type of cognition, one
where Tamas is the object, to the point where
the mind’s link with external stimuli is cut off.
How do we discern between states such as
Pratyāhāra as a disengagement, or Samādhi,
where one is as if empty of one’s own character,
and what is seen as the experience of Tamo Nidrā?”
– Paul Harvey on Yoga Sūtra Chapter One verse 10

“Anubhūta is the change that
occurs in one’s state of mind
when it is related to external objects
through the involvement of the senses.
This is also known as experience.”
– T Krishnamacharya on Yoga Sūtra Chapter One verse 11

“When this relationship becomes strong through repeated encounters,
a unique power develops in the mind which is linked to Jīva.
This power is Saṃskāra and from it arises memory or that aspect of understanding
where objects can be comprehended without being physically present.
Based on previous experiences of objects, Saṃskāra gives rise to understanding
and in order for this to happen, Jīva must be linked to the mind.
This ability to remember, known as Asaṃpramoṣa, stays with us for a very long time.”
– T Krishnamacharya on Yoga Sūtra Chapter One verse 11

“Memory is what we retain as
experience of sensory objects.”
– Paul Harvey on Yoga Sūtra Chapter One verse 11

“In Sūtra 1.11 Patañjali defines Smṛti as
the retention of the experience of an object.
How do we know whether Smṛti is Pramāṇa,
given the presence of Viparyaya and Vikalpa
within our parti pris shaping of an experience?”
– Paul Harvey on Yoga Sūtra Chapter One verse 11

“In this Sūtra Patañjali states that there are two ways
to discipline the five types of mental activity.
They are Abhyāsa and Vairāgya.
Abhyāsa is practice.
Vairāgya is to disconnect or sever the link
between the Citta and external objects.
These two, Abhyāsa and Vairāgya,
always go together as a pair.”
– T Krishnamacharya on Yoga Sūtra Chapter One verse 12

“Different factors affect the mind and
whatever affects the mind affects me,
since we are linked to the mind.
The mind is always in some relationship,
even silence, Maunam,
will become an object for the mind.
So, if we can look at
something auspicious,
I will not be affected.
This is the notion of Īśvara.
However, when such a possibility
doesn’t exist and a person cannot
link with undivided attention,
we require some other means.
e.g. Arjuna doubts Kṛṣṇa
Therefore, we have to accept some other means.
So while Īśvara Praṇidhānā is the highest,
the reality is that other means need
to be offered to quieten the mind.
Here it is Citta Prasādanam.”
– TKV Desikachar on Yoga Sūtra Chapter One verse 33

“This Sūtra is proposing not one Bhāvana,
but four Bhāvana on four sensory objects,
each of which is distinctly appropriate to
each one of the four situations outlined.”
– Paul Harvey on Yoga Sūtra Chapter One verse 33

“From this, the role of senses and sense objects
in causing a ground for disease becomes evident.
They are chiefly responsible for creating disturbance in the mind.
Hence the value of Vairāgya insisted as an aid to help the student.
Otherwise the whole system is sure to reach a state of chaos
because of the erratic movement of vital energy all over the body.
To put it another way, disease results from excess of contact
with objects not conducive to the individual system.”
– T Krishnamacharya on Yoga Sūtra Chapter One verse 34

“According to my teacher,
trying to calm the agitations of the mind by reflecting on external objects
is like trying to get milk from the wattles hanging from the neck of a goat.
All seekers of truth are therefore advised to focus,
instead, only on objects that are in the realm of the divine.”
– T Krishnamacharya on Yoga Sūtra Chapter One verse 35

“Sometimes we should examine how
we relate to objects through the senses.
This can produce a stability of the mind.
Basically, how to steady the mind
through observation and reflection on
how the senses influence the mind.”
– TKV Desikachar on Yoga Sūtra Chapter One verse 35

“In this particular Sūtra, along with the following
three verses, Patañjali offers different approaches,
all of which appeal to those with different needs.
All propose that a steadying of the mind can arise
from utilising a Jñānam approach of inner inquiry.
In this verse, the inquiry is directed towards the
relationship of the mind with the internal sources
of sensory processes. Rather than their externalised
role in gathering and presenting objects to the mind.
Knowing how the senses can easily distract the mind,
inquiry into their both their external activities and
internal processes can help to sustain a steady mind,
within the external pull of unhelpful sensory pathways.”
– Paul Harvey on Yoga Sūtra Chapter One verse 35

“When you begin to observe the habitual pull
of the mind along a particular sensory path
towards an object, you can cultivate a choice.
In that, rather than being habitually drawn
towards the external object of the senses,
you can instead choose to turn the mind
back and inwards towards experiencing
the root and source of a particular sense.
This can serve both as an object to bind the
mind, out of which, steadiness can arise.
As well as being an inquiry into both the
role and sources of the senses, which in
turn can help us to more fully understand
how we choose to relate to our environment.
Also, a steady mind can offer a means by
which you can sense, perceive and process
experiences more deeply, more subtly.
However,
it is also very possible to have a subtle perception,
but an unsteady mind.”
– Paul Harvey on Yoga Sūtra Chapter One verse 35

“Instead of focusing on what is more
usually seen as an object of the senses,
focus instead on, what is more unusually
seen as, a source for each of the senses.”
– Paul Harvey on Yoga Sūtra Chapter One verse 35

“There are stages to this coming together.
The first stage in meditational unity
is deliberation on a gross object,
intermixed with words, purpose,
knowledge and imagination around
the object. This is called Savitarkā,
or unrefined gross deliberation.”
– Paul Harvey on Yoga Sūtra Chapter One verse 42

“The next stage in meditational unity is
to refine the deliberation on a gross object.
This arises when the memory is purified, and
is as if empty of its own content, so that only
the true nature of the gross object shines forth.
This is called Nirvitarka or refined gross deliberation.”
– Paul Harvey on Yoga Sūtra Chapter One verse 43

“Pratyāhāra is not feeding the tendency of the Citta
to automatically form a positive, negative, or neutral
identification with whatever stimuli the senses present to it.
From that, we can begin to understand how their external gathering
activities stimulate our conscious and especially, unconscious choices.
From this, we can begin to understand how the impact
of this sensory knowing can lead us to travel in different directions
and trigger different levels of response, often without us being really
conscious of how deeply their input stimulates our psychic activities.
From these responses, there will be the inevitable re-actions,
again quite possibly unconscious and multilevelled,
according to our psychic history in terms of our memory,
habit patternings and deeper memory processes.
From those initial insight, we can begin to understand
and interact in how we can resist unconsciously slipping
into the trance states that can so often culminate with
the  Kleśa manifesting fully in the entrancing dance of
Udārā Rāga, or Udārā Dveṣa, or Udārā Abhiniveśa,
the potent and profligate children of Avidyā.”
– Paul Harvey on Yoga Sūtra Chapter Two verse 54

“Since Dhyāna cannot occur without an object of concentration,
there must be an area where you fix your mind.
So, first you have to fix or bind your mind
on a particular place, a chosen object;
this is known as Deśa Bandha.
And second, the mind should establish
a relationship with this object which
should last, at least, for a moment.”
– TKV Desikachar on Yoga Sūtra Chapter Three verse 1

“Dhāraṇā is the process of ‘holding onto’ the object.
Dhyānā is the process of ‘linking with’ the object.
Samādhi is the process of ‘integration into’ the object.”
Paul Harvey on Yoga Sūtra Chapter 3 verses 1-3

“The state of Dhyānam is possible in a seated posture.
If a person lies down, it may induce sleep.
If a person walks and moves about,
he may be distracted by the objects around him.
This posture must be in a place
where the mind will not be distracted.”
– T Krishnamacharya on Yoga Sūtra Chapter Three verse 2

“To practice Dhyāna
there are two questions
we need to ask,
Can I hold an object?
Can I sustain that hold?”
– TKV Desikachar on Yoga Sūtra Chapter Three verse 2

“How can we distinguish
the actual state of Dhyāna
from infatuation with an object
that pleases and fills the mind?”
– TKV Desikachar on Yoga Sūtra Chapter Three verse 2

“According to TKV Desikachar,
the process of cultivating a
state of meditation involves a
connective triad consisting of:
1. Dhyāta
Or, that which initiates the link,
namely the source of our awareness
as in Cit, Ātman, or Puruṣa, in other
words, something other than the mind.
2. Dhyeya
What it is I choose to link with, as in
the place, point, object or Deśa, as in
the Yoga Sūtra of Chapter Three verse 1.
3. Dhyāna
The activities of the psyche or Citta,
as in that which acts as the link or
connection between, for better
or for worse, the Dhyāta or the
meditator, and the Dhyeya or
that which is meditated upon.
Thus, according to this teaching,
the continuity and quality of the link
between the Dhyāta and the Dhyeya,
is dependent on the consistency
and clarity of the mind which links
the meditator and the meditated.
Hence, acccording to the teachings of
T Krishnamacharya, you must first
change the mind In order to meditate,
rather than trying to meditate in
order to change the mind.”
– Paul Harvey on Yoga Sūtra Chapter Three verse 2

“The state where the mind has no impressions
of any sort and nothing is beyond its reach,
is more complex than the state of
directing the mind towards an object.”
– TKV Desikachar on Yoga Sūtra Chapter Three verse 8

“Ekāgratā is compared to the sharp tip
of the steady flame of a Ghee Lamp
when not exposed to any wind.
In other words,
the mind should not move
anywhere else other than in the
direction fixed for Dhāraṇā.
Obviously the Viṣaya for Dhāraṇā
and Dhyānam should be the same.
The stronger the Dhāraṇā,
the steadier the Dhyānam.”
– T Krishnamacharya on Bhagavad Gītā Chapter Six verse 19

“Until the Dancer (Citta) deeply realises that
the Observer (Cit) of the Spectacle (Viṣaya) is not interested
in the drives (Avidyā) which animate the dance,
the Dancer continues to Dance.”
–  Sāṃkhya Kārikā verse 59

“Dhāraṇā is the contact.
Dhyāna is the communication.
Further, when we become so involved in
an object that our mind completely merges with it,
that is called Samādhi.”
– TKV Desikachar Religiousness in Yoga Chapter Eleven Page 155

“Mystery is always present;
it need not be limited to symbols or God.
It can be found in anything, provided we seek it.
It is in the hands of the seeker, not in the object.
Mystery is always there, everywhere,
provided the seeker is serious.”
– TKV Desikachar Religiousness in Yoga
‘A Session for Questions’
Chapter Sixteen Page 230

“One’s own actions can develop or make one Guṇa prominent.
Thus we can plan or practice Āsana or Prāṇāyāma to promote one Guṇa.
The practice of Yoga can influence the Guṇa.
the room where you practice can affect the Guṇa
by photographs, colour of paint, smell.
Even Mantra are classified into Guṇa.
This needs to be considered when using Mantra for the individual.
Meditation can be related to the Guṇa.
The object of our inquiry must be related or,
in accordance with what we want to produce.”
– TKV Desikachar on Sāṃkhya and Yoga

“Different people explain the cause of disease differently.
In the Yoga Sūtra disease is Vikṣepā, a mind which is unstable.
Mind loses its presence of mind before an object.”
– TKV Desikachar France 1983

“Rāga is attraction to an object
before you are aware of it.
An attraction whether you need it or not.
In its absence you crave for it.”
– TKV Desikachar France 1983

“When an object is invisible,
it is not invisible because it is not there,
but because something hides it.
What you seek may be next door,
but you won’t find it precisely because it is next door.”
– TKV Desikachar Madras 1988