Self-Study

In Patañjali’s time, self-study meant taking it upon yourself to study the scriptures of your religion to better know your chosen deity. One of the beautiful things about Classical Yoga is its open-mindedness when it comes to religion. The term Patañjali uses to refer to got is ishta-devata, which means “chosen guardian deity” or “favorite god.” The Indian religious tradition is not monolithic in the way of, say, Islam or Catholicism. There is no single god or prophet, nor is there a central text from which all doctrine is derived. There are many gods and goddesses, many theologies and philosophies of mind and of salvation. Yoga is not itself a religion, but Patañjali recognizes and acknowledges the religious impulse here in inclusive terms that allow his system to be acceptable to a larger audience.

Modern yoga master B. K. S. Iyengar, a devout Hindu of the priestly brahmin class, has developed an interesting secularized interpretation of this discipline allowing yoga to be accessible even to atheists. For him self-study means not “self-directed study of scripture” but “study of the self.” A key idea in Patañjali’s work is that of discriminating discernment, by which the practitioner differentiates moment by moment in deep meditation what is real and unreal, what is the true self and what is material and impermanent. For Iyengar this practice can be applied not only at the subtle level but at the most inclusive mundane level. It becomes our mission as yogins to learn and understand every aspect of who we are physically, psychologically and spiritually.


Related Posts:
Yoga in Action
The Great Vow of Yoga
Non-Harming
Truth
Non-Coveting
Continence
Non-Hoarding
The Disciplines
Purity
Contentment
Austere Practices

Tags: Meditation