The Secret of the Yoga Sutra (Samadhi Pada)

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Samadhi Pada he Yoga Sutra is the living source wisdom of the Yoga tradition. Using it as a guide, we can unlock the hidden power of Yoga and experience the promise of Yoga in our life. The Yoga Sutra is as fresh today as it was 2,200 years ago when it was discovered by the sage Patanjali. By applying its living wisdom in our practice, we can achieve the purpose of life—lasting fulfillment and ultimate freedom.

The Secret of the Yoga Sutra: Samadhi Pada is the first practitioneroriented commentary that is fully grounded in a living tradition. It shares the essence of Pandit Tigunait's rigorous scholarly understanding of the Yoga Sutra through the filter of experiential knowledge gained through decades of advanced yogic practices and enriched by the gift of living wisdom he received from the masters of the Himalayan Tradition.

“The Yoga Sutra's message is simple and straightforward: Remove the veil of darkness and allow your intrinsic luminosity to illuminate both your inner and outer worlds. Be free here and now, and experience, your everlasting, self-luminous joy. The goal of Yoga is nothing less than that. In this light, I present this commentary to you.”

—Pandit Rajmani Tigunait The Secret of the Yoga Sutra: Samadhi Pada

PANDIT RAJMANI TIGUNAIT, PhD, is a modern-day master and living link in the unbroken Himalayan Tradition. He is the successor of Sri Swami Rama of the Himalayas and the spiritual head of the Himalayan Institute. As a leading voice of YogaInternational.com and the author of 15 books, his teachings offer practical guidance on applying yogic and tantric wisdom to modern life. Over the past 35 years, Pandit Tigunait has touched innumerable lives around the world as a teacher, humanitarian, and visionary spiritual leader.

V Vhen I was a teenager I had a vivid experience—from every direction and in every respect I was embraced by a reality bigger than my soul, my mind, and the world of my faith and conviction.This experience freed me from doubt and fear and transported me to a state of joy untainted by want and need. But it did not last. I studied the scriptures, sat at the feet of masters, and undertook spiritual practices in an attempt to reclaim this experience. But only when I practiced what is described in Yoga Sutra 1:36 did I find what I had lost.

I grew up steeped in the ideals of the sages. I revered Buddha and Mahatma Gandhi, and was certain I had no animosity and no enemies. I had no reason to fear anything or anyone. But this conviction was shattered early one morning when a gang of bullies knocked me down and threw me into a compost pit. The bullies— my distant uncles—were trying to get a disputed piece of land by terrorizing my family. They slapped my mother and hurled me into the compost pit. Enraged and shouting at the top of my lungs, I climbed out only to be thrown back in. This happened repeatedly.

Very quickly, the people from the village formed a ring around my uncles and me. These were our neighbors—my friends and friends of my family—so when no one came forward to protect me, let alone defend justice, I was overcome by a torrent of anger and sadness. Everyone seemed like my enemy. All I could think of was to destroy everything and everyone, even myself. At this point, my uncles picked me up and hurled me into the pit again.

With this, something shifted. Lying in the bottom of the pit, I thought, “They have bamboo sticks. What is preventing them from beating me and killing me? Why don't I have any broken bones? Who's protecting me from serious injury?” These questions drew me into a state I had never known before. I saw myself—a lonely and helpless fellow hoping for others to protect me. I saw my conviction and my lack of it. I saw the feeling of animosity inside me and the enemies outside. I saw the element of fear, as well as its source. I saw my mind drowning in sorrow. Yet right next to my afflicted mind, I saw a luminous being and instantly recognized it as my own essence—my inner Self. It is the Divinity in me. I looked at my mind through the eyes of this Divinity and found it as pure and bright as the Divinity itself. I was overcome by a joy that had no trace of sorrow. My fear and feelings of animosity vanished. I did not need anyone or anything to protect me. I was not lonely, for I was embraced by the luminous Divinity who spontaneously emitted the light of discernment and profound joy.

I atanjali's Yoga Sutra is firmly rooted in the insight and experience of the sages: A human being is an island of excellence. We are born to excel. We are surrounded—from every direction and in every respect—by the intrinsic power and creativity of the Divine. Our core is Pure Consciousness; luminosity is our essential nature. Our most distinctive attribute is our ability to know our own essence—our own intrinsic divinity. Life is a priceless gift, for life endows us with everything we need to experience our grandeur. Discovering the intrinsic divinity at our core is the highest achievement; dying without experiencing it is the greatest loss.

The Yoga Sutra is a manual for experiencing our intrinsic divinity and becoming firmly established in it. The text opens with an indisputable truth: practice is the key to success, for practice leads to a direct experience of our inherent grandeur. How successful we will be in our practice depends on the quality of our mind. A clear, one-pointed, and confident mind will accelerate our quest and enable us to fulfill life's purpose; a confused and self-doubting mind will block and subvert that purpose. This stark dichotomy emerges because the mind has two sets of attributes—one innate and the other acquired.

The Inherent Power of Mind

Self-luminosity is the minds innate attribute. It empowers the mind to discern, decide, and act. Because of this virtue, the mind has the capacity to unveil the boundless mysteries of life and become master of the world within and without. This inherent luminosity is the source of all human ingenuity, creativity, and confidence. Our self-contained and self-guided inner radiance manifests as genius and empowers us to excel in life. It has enabled us to unravel the mysteries of the forces of nature and mold the natural world to serve our purposes. Our inner luminosity is also the ground for spiritual revelation, including the revelation of our relationship with the immortal Divine Being. Our self-luminous mind pulled us out of the Stone Age and allowed us to build endlessly diverse civilizations. The torchbearers of the human race have emerged from this luminous mind.

The mind's most significant innate attribute is its ability to know both itself and its creator and guide. It also has the innate ability to know the objective world. The mind can navigate through time and space and comprehend the long chain of cause and effect. When directed outward, the mind unveils the mysteries pertaining to the external world: we become scientists. When directed inward, it unveils its own mysteries and sees the Seer within: we become sages.

**Contents and Sample Pages**