Ashtanga Yoga Parts One & Two – 10/28/82
Ashtanga Yoga – eight-limbed stages of spiritual growth
Part One
Kriyananda explains that ashtanga literally means “eight-limbed.” These eight ‘limbs’ are stages of growth, like steps in the direction toward spiritual fulfillment. Instead of calling it a ‘system’ it’s more like a ‘way’ of yoga.
He gives commentary on Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras that help us understand how to apply the aphorisms in daily life. He says that there is only one reality in everything, and that we are expressions of that divine reality.
Kriyananda describes rotations of energy in the spine – vrittis, and how karma and the states of consciousness relate to the vrittis.
The original recording of this class begins with the words “You think man….” It sounds like there could have been something before that, but it’s all that we have from the original.
Part Two
This talk is full of inspiring wisdom from Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras. Kriyananda begins the second half of this talk by
addressing the “right question” as he put it, “Who am I?”
The principles in Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras hold a subtle and higher dimension if you view them not just as stages to go through, but apply the principles inwardly to your spiritual life and development.
Kriyananda comments on the sutras. Truthfulness means a willingness to be demonstrated wrong on any point, no matter how precious it is to you. Truthfulness also means to be willing to accept whatever is. One of the greatest problems people face is an unwillingness to face reality.
