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RELIGIOUS STUDIES / EASTERN THOUGHT CHAPPLE In Yoga and the Luminous, a book that emerges from more than thirty years of practice, CHRISTOPHER KEY CHAPPLE study, and refl ection, Christopher Key Chapple addresses the need for an accessible explanation of Yoga’s diffi cult philosophy and its applications in daily life. Yoga practice takes an individual on an inward journey, and through Yoga, one enters a rarefi ed state of consciousness, a transparency and luminosity described by its great Yoga and the Luminous philosopher Patañjali as being “like a clear jewel.” Exploring Yoga through the prism of practice, Chapple begins with a historical overview of the many Yogic traditions in Indian religions. He continues with Yoga practice and the philosophy of Samµ khya,| and Lum then, in step-by-step fashion, he brings the reader to an understanding of the ethics the in of Yoga, the role of movement and breath, and the processes of concentration and d o meditation. Finally, building on the root metaphor of luminosity and light, Chapple n u explains the applications of Yoga in daily life. a Yoga and the Luminous also includes a word-by-word translation of Patañjali’s a s Yoga Suµtra, the foundational text of Yoga philosophy and a system of ethical practice g and bodily purifi cation. The translation is accompanied by an analysis that traces key o ideas through the text, such as the reversal of mental and sensory outfl ows and the Y theme of spiritual discernment. Chapple also gives special attention to the feminine in the description of Yoga practices. “Yoga and the Luminous is a welcome addition to the growing literature on Yoga. This excellent book will be of great value to scholars, practitioners of Yoga, and those in- terested in how Yoga can be applied to some of the important issues of our time.” — Gerald James Larson, Tagore Professor Emeritus, Indiana University at Bloomington, and Professor Emeritus, University of California at Santa Barbara “This book is based not only on a deep understanding of the Yoga Suµtra in its Jaina and Buddhist intellectual context but also on a lifetime of practicing the text. The result is a combination of intellectual insight and practical understanding written in clear English that communicates effectively to a wide range of readers.” — Harold Coward, author of The Perfectibility of Human Nature in Eastern and Western Thought Å Patanjali’s Christopher Key Chapple is Doshi Professor of Indic and Comparative Theology at Loyola Marymount University. He is the author or editor of many books, includ- ing Reconciling Yogas: Haribhadra’s Collection of Views on Yoga and Ecological Prospects: SPIRITUAL PATH Scientifi c, Religious, and Aesthetic Perspectives, both also published by SUNY Press. TO FREEDOM SUNY SUNY PRESS state university of new york press www.sunypress.edu CMYK Yoga and the luminous yoga AND THE LUMINOUS Patan˜jali’s Spiritual Path to Freedom Christopher Key Chapple State University of New York Press Published by STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK PRESS, ALBANY © 2008 STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission. No part of this book may be stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means including electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission in writing of the publisher. For information, contact State University of New York Press, www.sunypress.edu Production and book design, Laurie D. Searl Marketing, Susan M. Petrie Photographs courtesy of Nicole DePicciotto Yoga models: Trampas Thompson (cover), Nicole DePicciotto, and Jeff Horne Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Chapple, Christopher Key. Yoga and the luminous : Patañjali’s spiritual path to freedom / Chistopher Key Chapple. p. cm. English and Sanskrit (also romanized). Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978–0-7914–7475–4 (hardcover : alk. paper) ISBN 978–0-7914–7476–1 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Yoga. 2. Patañjali. Yogasūtra.I. Patañjali. Yogasūtra. English & Sanskrit.II. Title. B132.Y6C555 2008 181'.45—dc22 2007036976 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 to Dylan Edward Chapple and Emma Catherine Chapple CONTENTS Preface ix Acknowledgments xiii Abbreviations xv 1 The Yoga Tradition 1 I THE PRACTICE OF YOGA 2 Sāmkhya Philosophy and Yoga Practice 19 ˙ 3 Precepts and Vows in Yoga and Jainism 31 4 Imitation of Animals in Yoga Tradition: Taming the Sacred Wild through Āsana Practice 49 5 Patañjali on Meditation: Undoing the Thinking Self 61 II YOGA AND LIBERATION 6 Luminosity and Yoga 71 7 Living Liberation in Sāmkhya and Yoga 83 ˙ VII VIII CONTENTS III PATAÑJALI’S YOGA SU¯TRA 8 Approaching the Yoga Sūtra 103 9 The Yoga Sūtra of Patañjali: Continuous Text and Translation 115 10 Translation Methodology and Grammatical Analysis 139 11 “Samādhi pāda” 143 12 “Sādhana pāda” 163 13 “Vibhūti pāda” 183 14 “Kaivalya pāda” 203 IV INTERPRETING YOGA 15 Reading Patañjali without Vyāsa: A Critique of Four Yoga Sūtra Passages 219 16 The Use of the Feminine Gender in Patañjali’s Description of Yogic Practices 237 17 Contemporary Expressions of Yoga 249 Notes 261 References 279 Index of Sanskrit Terms 287 Index 295 PREFACE hy another book on Yoga? Beginning over a century ago, sev- W eral fi ne books have been published on the Yoga tradition, including Raja Yoga by Swami Vivekananda, Yoga as Philosophy and Religion by Surendranath Dasgupta, Yoga: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy by Mircea Eliade, The Yoga Tradition by Georg Feuerstein, and The Integrity of the Yoga Darśana by Ian Whicher, among many others. This particular book takes a fresh look at some aspects of Patañjali’s Yoga system that have been previously over- looked and reexamines some well-worn themes. It begins with a historical overview of Yoga practice and its place within the context of the religions of India. The book discusses the sequence of practices outlined in Patañjali’s eightfold system, taking a close look at its relationship with Sāmkhya philo- ˙ sosphy. It includes a word-by-word translation of Patañjali’s Yoga Sūtra fol- lowed by an exploration of how some sequences of sūtras might be interpreted in light of text-critical and feminist methodology. The book concludes with a sociological assessment of Yoga’s growing popularity and its prospects for the future. Yoga has deep roots within the Śrāmanical side of religiosity in India, meaning that Yoga emphasizes interior experience, meditation, renuncia- tion, and ethical alacrity, in contrast with the Brahmanical traditions, which speak more emphatically of ritual, the nondual nature of ultimate reality, and full participation in the mores and taboos of Hindu society. Yoga holds closer affi nity with Jainism and Buddhism than with its Vedānta and Bhakti cousins. It profoundly infl uenced the articulation of the Sikh religious faith and captured the imagination of the Muslim world as well. Yoga is now widely practiced by Jews and Christians. Yoga practice takes an individual on an inward journey. It begins with taming one’s impulses through the cultivation of ethical precepts and IX X PREFACE molding a positive outlook through the application of virtues. It requires the harnessing of the energy generated within one’s body and breath. It culmi- nates in a threefold interiority of concentration, meditation, and becoming whelmed or enraptured. Through Yoga, one enters a rarefi ed state of con- sciousness, a transparency and luminosity described by Patañjali as being “like a clear jewel.” By looking word by word at Patañjali’s text, one detects a rhythm and fl ow that returns like a spiral to the Yoga’s central theme: overcoming negative karma and obtaining freedom from affl iction. Patañjali celebrates numerous styles of Yoga and holds tightly to a metaphor that fi rst appears in the Rg Veda: “Two birds sit on the same tree. One eats sweet berries, while ˙ the other merely observes.” For the Yoga tradition, this signifi es the two states of life, referred to in Buddhism as the relative (samvrtti) and the absolute ˙ (paramārtha). In Sāmkhya, the realm of prakrti, associated with the feminine, ˙ ˙ constantly changes, while the witness consciousness or purusa merely gazes, ˙ remaining inactive. Vedānta attempts to confl ate the two into a united state, claiming the former to in some way be deceptive or unreal. Yoga proclaims that both really exist in all their complexity and that only through experienc- ing the pain associated with change can we feel our freedom. Consequently, Patañjali celebrates the feminine gender, both grammatically and practically, acknowledging that through the power of awareness one comes to see and gain mastery over this complex relationship and engage the manifest world, deemed as feminine, through a process of purifi cation. This book emerges from more than thirty years of practice, study, and refl ection. Meditation and Yoga fi rst entered my life during my teen years, when I interviewed Philip Kapleau, author of The Three Pillars of Zen, began to sit, and initiated an āsana practice. In 1972, I joined Yoga Anand Ashram, where under the tutelage of Gurāṇi Añjali (1935–2001), I embarked on a systematic process of Yoga training. Simultaneously, I began undergraduate and graduate studies in Indian philosophy, Sanskrit and Tibetan languages, the history of religions, and theology. Some passages in this book were writ- ten more than twenty years ago. The translation emerged from a seven-year joint study project at Yoga Anand Ashram that extended from 1981 to 1989. Numerous people contributed to the translation, including Eugene Kelly (for a while known as Yogi Anand Viraj), Yogi Anand Satyam (formerly known as Sal Familia), Roy Mitchell, Glenn James, Bill Bilodeau, Tom Aff atigato, and Kathe Jeremiah.