Raja Yoga

Rājayoga

Vivekananda's influential presentation of Patanjali's yoga, with lectures on practice and his own rendering and commentary on the Yoga Sutras.

Modern expositionSource not yet ingested

Tradition: Modern expositions · Yoga (Patanjala)
Difficulty: beginner → intermediate
Attribution: Swami VivekanandaSwami Vivekananda
Period · language: Published in 1896, based on classes given in New York in 1895–1896 · English
Themes: Meditation · Mind · Concentration · Breath

Why read this?

It was one of the books that introduced yoga to the West, and it shaped how meditation and yoga were understood for decades. Read it as a modern interpretation of the Yoga Sutras, with its own emphases on psychology and science.

Questions it answers

?How does concentration work?
?Can meditation be studied like a science?
?What is the relation between breath and mind?

Key teachings

Editorial overview

Yoga as a science of mind

Vivekananda presents raja yoga as an experimental method: its claims are to be tested by practice rather than accepted on faith.

The eight limbs

He explains Patanjali's eight limbs, from ethics and posture to concentration, meditation and samadhi.

Prana and the subtle body

He discusses prana and the subtle channels, blending Patanjali with hatha and tantric ideas, a blend characteristic of his interpretation.

Structure

Part 1: lectures on practice
Part 2: the Yoga SutrasVivekananda's rendering and commentary

Source not yet ingested

The text of the Raja Yoga is not part of this version. What you see here is an editorial overview with passage references. No verses have been reproduced or invented. The architecture is ready for the text to be added.

Concepts

ConceptयोगYogaJoining or disciplining — a path of practice toward freedom.Conceptचित्तChitta — mind-fieldThe whole field of mind, with its thoughts, memories and latent impressions.Conceptप्राणायामPranayamaRegulation of the breath and the life-force (prana).Conceptध्यानDhyanaMeditation: an unbroken flow of attention toward one object.ConceptसमाधिSamadhiComplete absorption of the mind in its object, or beyond any object.Conceptमनस्Manas — mindThe mind that receives, coordinates and desires — restless by nature.

Textयोगसूत्रYoga Sutras of PatanjaliThe classical text it interprets Textहठयोगप्रदीपिकाHatha Yoga PradipikaSource of some of the subtle-body ideas it draws on

Thinkers

Thinkerस्वामी विवेकानन्दSwami Vivekananda1863–1902 CE (modern).Thinkerपतञ्जलिPatanjaliThe Yoga Sutras are placed by scholars anywhere between about the 2nd century BCE and the 5th century CE; many recent scholars favour a date around the 4th–5th century CE.

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Traditions

आधुनिकModern expositions योगYoga (Patanjala)

Source type: Modern exposition. Overview text on this page is editorial.