Sacred Texts

From determining our lifespan to influencing how we think and act, our karmas (past actions and their fruits) powerfully shape our current experience. In the third session (sutras 2:10–2:17) of the Practice of the Yoga Sutra Book Club, Ishan Tigunait explores how the karmic wheel works and how the spiritual seeker can meaningfully engage with it. Find out how to harness its momentum and transform it into a force of liberation. To prepare for the next session, please read sutras 2:18–2:27 in Pandit Tigunait’s The Practice of the Yoga Sutra: Sadhana Pada. As you study, don’t forget to submit your questions to bookclub@yearlongmeditation.org. Ishan will be answering as many of them as possible in our capstone session. Format: .mp3 audio file with download Length: 1 hr 5 mins

Knowledge is power: understanding our suffering empowers us to free ourselves from it. In the second session (sutras 2:3–2:9) of the Practice of the Yoga Sutra Book Club, Ishan Tigunait delves into the five fundamental afflictions (kleshas) that stand between us and true fulfillment. Learn what they are and what you can do to rise above them. To prepare for the next session, please read sutras 2:10–2:17 in Pandit Tigunait’s The Practice of the Yoga Sutra: Sadhana Pada. As you study, don’t forget to submit your questions to bookclub@yearlongmeditation.org. Ishan will be answering as many of them as possible in our capstone session. Format: .mp3 audio file with download Length: 1 hr 3 mins

We seek peace and freedom with a disturbed mind and limited body. How do we move ahead? In the first session (sutras 2:1-2:2) of the Practice of the Yoga Sutra Book Club, Ishan Tigunait explains how kriya yoga—the threefold force that unlocks the dynamic power of yoga—propels our practice forward, enabling us to transcend our limitations and experience our unbounded potential. To prepare for the next session, please read sutras 2:3-2:9 in Pandit Tigunait’s The Practice of the Yoga Sutra: Sadhana Pada. As you study, don’t forget to submit your questions to bookclub@yearlongmeditation.org. Ishan will be answering as many of them as possible in our capstone session. Format: .mp3 audio file with download Length: 57 mins

To wrap up our Secret of the Yoga Sutra Book Club, Ishan Tigunait answers questions submitted by listeners as we moved through the sutras. How do we practice non-attachment and meditation to grow, expand, and feel embraced by higher reality? How did we lose our awareness of higher reality in the first place? From practical advice to philosophical insights, Ishan’s answers to seekers’ questions will guide you and inspire you to bring the Yoga Sutra into your daily life. For key terms and self-study questions, download the PDF Study Guide. Format: .mp3 audio file with download Length: 42 mins

Now at the last chapters of our Secret of the Yoga Sutra Book Club, Ishan Tigunait addresses the ultimate stages of our yoga practice. As we continue to unveil our core being and the intuitive wisdom pouring from it (prajna), our self-identity grows more and more expansive. Learn how rich, liberating, and deeply fulfilling the journey home can be. For key terms and self-study questions, download the PDF Study Guide. As you study, don’t forget to submit your questions to bookclub@yearlongmeditation.org. Ishan will be answering as many of them as possible in our capstone session. Format: .mp3 audio file with download Length: 1 hr 8 mins

The practice of yoga is a life-long journey toward ultimate freedom and fulfillment. In Session 7 (sutras 1:37-1:44) of the Secret of the Yoga Sutra Book Club, Ishan Tigunait explains the progressive stages of spiritual absorption (samapatti). Learn how deeper dimensions of peace, clarity, and subtlety unfold as you persevere in your inner quest. To prepare for the next session, please read sutras 1:45–1:51 (and review sutras 1:17-1:18) in Pandit Tigunait’s The Secret of the Yoga Sutra: Samadhi Pada (for key terms and self-study questions, download the PDF Study Guide). As you study, don’t forget to submit your questions to bookclub@yearlongmeditation.org. Ishan will be answering as many of them as possible in our capstone session. Format: .mp3 audio file with download Length: 1 hr 7 mins

The Yoga Sutra introduces the techniques for cultivating a peaceful, inward flow of awareness. In the study of sutra 1:36, Ishan Tigunait unpacks the method that is the culmination of all the other practices: entering the lotus of our spiritual heart. Learn about the core of your being—a space devoid of sorrow (vishoka) and full of light (jyotishmati)—and how you can gain access to it. To prepare for the next session, please read sutras 1:37–1:44 in Pandit Tigunait’s The Secret of the Yoga Sutra: Samadhi Pada (for key terms and self-study questions, download the PDF Study Guide). As you study, don’t forget to submit your questions to bookclub@yearlongmeditation.org. Ishan will be answering as many of them as possible in our capstone session. Format: .mp3 audio file with download Length: 1 hr 18 mins

Meditation means transforming ourselves from the inside out and experiencing our most empowered, luminous self. But what happens when obstacles get in the way? In this Secret of the Yoga Sutra Book Club session (sutras 1:30–1:35), Ishan Tigunait explains what the Yoga Sutra calls the nine chitta vikshepa (distractors of the mind), and gives us practical guidance on what we can do to overcome them. Cultivating the four “yogic attitudes,” meditating on an awakened mantra, and practicing a special pranayama called pracchardana vidharana help us nullify our samskaras and transform negativity into clarity, joy, and connection with higher reality. To prepare for the next session, please read sutra 1:36 in Pandit Tigunait’s The Secret of the Yoga Sutra: Samadhi Pada (for key terms and self-study questions, download the PDF Study Guide). (Note that sutra 1:35 will be studied in greater depth in the context of 1:36, “The Lotus of the Heart: Our True Abode,” which is Session 6.) As you study, don’t forget to submit your questions to bookclub@yearlongmeditation.org. Ishan will be answering as many of them as possible in our capstone session. Format: .mp3 audio file with download Length: 1 hr 13 mins

The sages tell us that Ishvara pranidhana—trustful surrender to higher reality—is a highly refined practice and the gateway to samadhi. In the study of Yoga Sutra 1:23–1:29 (the “Ishvara sutras”), Ishan Tigunait demystifies the concept of Ishvara. Listen to this lecture to discover how connecting ourselves to this all-pervading, omniscient field of awareness through mantra japa and related practices is the key to inner transformation. To prepare for the next session, please read sutras 1:30–1:35 in Pandit Tigunait’s The Secret of the Yoga Sutra: Samadhi Pada (for key terms and self-study questions, download the PDF Study Guide). (Note that sutra 1:35 will be studied in greater depth in the context of 1:36, “The Lotus of the Heart: Our True Abode,” which is Session 6.) As you study, don’t forget to submit your questions to bookclub@yearlongmeditation.org. Ishan will be answering as many of them as possible in our capstone session. Format: .mp3 audio file with download Length: 1 hr 4 mins

Why is samadhi easier for some and harder for others? In Session 3 (sutras 1:17–1:22) of our Yoga Sutra Book Club, Ishan Tigunait demystifies the concept of samadhi (the summit and goal of yoga), recasting it in practice-oriented terms. Listen as Ishan explains concepts such as “lower” and “higher” samadhi, the stages of samadhi, and the relationship of abhyasa (practice) and vairagya (non-attachment) to samadhi. You’ll also learn about five ingredients you can cultivate that will help you evolve into a bhava pratyaya yogi, the kind of yogi for whom practice—and samadhi—seem effortless. These are the five principles for self-mastery. To prepare for Session 4, please read Sutras 1:23–1:29 (the “Ishvara sutras”) in Pandit Tigunait’s The Secret of the Yoga Sutra: Samadhi Pada (for key terms and self-study questions, download the PDF Study Guide). As you study, don’t forget to submit your questions to bookclub@yearlongmeditation.org. Ishan will be answering as many of them as possible in our capstone session. Format: .mp3 audio file with download Length: 1 hr 13 mins

Yoga gives us a systematic path to gain self-mastery of our mind and experience the totality of who we are. But where do we start? As Ishan Tigunait explains in Session 2 (sutras 1:12–1:16) of the Yoga Sutra Book Club, the secret is a twofold method—abhyasa (effort-driven practice) and vairagya (non-attachment; decoloring our mind from past attachments and identities, so that our full potential can shine through). Ishan delves into the subtle nuances of these twin cornerstones of yoga and explains how their combined force, when refined, can lead us all the way to samadhi. To prepare for Session 3, please read sutras 1:17–1:22 in Pandit Tigunait’s The Secret of the Yoga Sutra: Samadhi Pada (for key terms and self-study questions, download the PDF Study Guide). As you study, don’t forget to submit your questions to bookclub@yearlongmeditation.org. Ishan will be answering as many of them as possible in our capstone session. Format: .mp3 audio file with download Length: 1 hr

Welcome to the Year Long Meditation Study Online Book Club! In Session 1 (sutras 1:1–1:11), Ishan Tiguanit introduces the concept of yoga as defined in Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra. He describes the building blocks of our mind, and leads us through an exploration of what makes a yogi’s mind different from a non-yogi’s mind. Yoga tells us that our mind is intrinsically self-luminous and filled with joy, and yet we often find ourselves consumed by anger, sadness, fear, and negativity. How can we reclaim our pristine mind and experience samadhi? We’ll explore this theme together in the course of our study. To prepare for Session 2, please read sutras 1:12–1:16 in Pandit Tigunait’s The Secret of the Yoga Sutra: Samadhi Pada (for key terms and self-study questions, download the PDF Study Guide). As you study, don’t forget to submit your questions to bookclub@yearlongmeditation.org. Ishan will be answering as many of them as possible in our capstone session. Format: .mp3 audio file with download Length: 1 hr 5 mins