And Now Yoga

Achariya Fritz Kramer
Speaks on "And Now Yoga"
Sunday, March 8, 2015 at 11:00am

The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali begin with just three words: atha yoga anushasanam. Or, very roughly translated, "Now, after prior preparation through life, the study and practice of Yoga begins." Let us come together this Sunday to meditate upon this great sage, contemplate these inspired words, and consider where we have come from, as well as the path we set off on as each one of us makes the decision, and now yoga.

—Achariya Fritz

From the Gurus and Swamis: AUM

"There flourished in India a great philosopher, Patanjali by name. He collected all the facts, evidences, and researches in psychology and took advantage of all the experiences accumulated in the past...He was followed by many others who took up parts of what he had discovered and made a special study of them."
 
—Swami Vivekananda

“Patanjali’s date is unknown, though many scholars assign him to the second century B.C. His renowned Yoga Sutras presents, in a series of brief aphorisms, the condensed essence of the exceedingly vast and intricate science of God-union — setting forth the method of uniting the soul with the undifferentiated Spirit in such a beautiful, clear, and concise way that generations of scholars have acknowledged the Yoga Sutras as the foremost ancient work on yoga.”

—Swami Yogananda Paramhansa

Noble Thoughts: ("Let Noble Thoughts come to us from all sides." —Rigveda)

"With prayers for divine blessings, now begins an exposition of the sacred art of yoga."

"In the Yoga Sutras, it is the seer or the true Self who is to be discovered and known. Yoga is therefore considered to be a subjective art, science and philosophy."

—B.K.S. Iyengar," Light on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali"

"When the five cognitive faculties are withdrawn in the serenity of mind, and the objectified intelligence retires for subjective illumination, then the path of Self-revelation is opened to the wise. This state of subjective serenity, wherein the senses are poised in the calmness of mind and the intelligence seeks illumination, is called Yoga."

— "Katha Upanishad," translated by Swami Premananda

"If you desire independence, fix your steady thoughts upon the true nature of the Self. In this way, the quality of equanimity is fully cultivated in the individual."

—Kunda Kunda, "Niyama Sara," a Jain text