You already know that practicing yoga can offer a wealth of benefits by way of physical, mental, and spiritual health. Chances are, you’ve already experienced the physical and maybe some of the mental health benefits of the practice.
Since you’re here reading these words, chances are you want more of the mental and spiritual benefits of yoga.
You want to go deeper and experience personal growth as well as spiritual growth and you know that yoga can get you there!
Yes! Yoga sure can. Yoga philosophy and the ancient texts like the Yoga Sutras Of Patanjali and the Bhagavad Gita are essentially handbooks to enlightenment and a life full of bliss and joy.
The only problem is that they’re kind of hard to understand! And it can be confusing which text to tackle first.
In this episode, we get to talk with Hari-Kirtana Das, an expert in yoga philosophy. He explains which order we should read the texts in, how to make them more approachable and how to apply these ancient wisdom to our everyday lives.
About Hari-Kirtana Das
Hari-kirtana das is a yoga teacher, spiritual mentor, online course creator, and the author of 'In Search of the Highest Truth: Adventures in Yoga Philosophy.' He's been practicing yoga for the better part of the last 50 years, has lived in devotional yoga ashrams and intentional spiritual communities, worked for Fortune 500 companies and Silicon Valley start-ups, and brings a wide range of spiritual knowledge and life experience to his classes, workshops, and presentations. He lives in Washington DC.
Understanding Yoga Philosophy at the Highest Level
Hari shares that yoga philosophy at any level is reality distinguished from illusion for the benefit of all. It’s all about pursuing an understanding of our relationships with others, the world, ourselves, and the source of all the world and ourselves. It’s also about taking the theoretical knowledge of yoga and practising it so we can attest that it actually works. Knowledge of the ultimate goal (Why you are practising yoga) is also critical. The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali emphasize practising yoga in a particular sequence and Hari dives into some of the sutras and breaks them down for us so we can understand them better. To learn more from what Hari had to share, go to 07:12.
How Yoga Philosophy Teaches Us Who We Are
Hari highlights the fact that Yoga philosophy describes the characteristics of the true nature of the self with the first characteristic being eternality. This is found in the first instruction from Krishna to Arjuna in the Bhagavad Gita, which teaches us that we are eternal and that we are eternally ourselves. The second characteristic is purity and it refers solely to the absence of influence of a material nature. Hari goes on to talk about the three qualities of material nature that we must be aware of. The practice of Pratyāhāra enables us to discover the third characteristic which is Joy and how it comes from within us and not the outside world. Hari goes on to share more at 09:54.
The Bhagavad Gita: The Song of God
To learn what the Bhagavad Gita scripture encapsulates, Hari says that one has to approach it as looking at the world from God’s point of view. Bhagavad Gita offers us the best way to reach the perfection of Samadhi and this is where Hari advises people to begin. To learn more about this from Hari go to 21:14 in the episode.
The Most Recommended Translation of the Bhagavad Gita
Even as Hari works on his own translation of the Bhagavad Gita, he still recommends the translations by Graham M. Schweig and H.D Goswami. What’s valuable about Graham M. Schweig’s translation is that it retains the poetry of the original Sanskrit and explains why the Bhagavad Gita is a love song. Hari feels that in some areas Graham sacrifices clarity for poetry which H.D. Goswami makes up for in his translation by being more rigorous in the academic studies carried out. Hari emphasizes the importance of putting the two translations together because they complement each other. He also talked about the first edition he ever read about the Bhagavad Gita and shared his insights on what it has to teach us. Tune in for more at 26:03.
The Meaning of Life
Once we get some level of understanding of the Bhagavad Gita, we are able to have a clear view of where we are coming from and where we want to go. At 38:53, Hari points to the desire that we all have to see the universe revolving around us and how that brings up envy and animosity in our hearts towards the person who is actually at the center of the universe. That drives us into material consciousness where we develop the illusion that we can be the center of the universe and so we do everything we can every day to achieve that. Sometimes we achieve it but since it keeps shifting, we keep on breaking our backs to get back there again. That, as Hari explains, is the definition of the false ego (Ankura). The opposite of that is the concept of spiritual consciousness and he demystified it all farther for us in the most insightful of ways, so don’t miss out.
Manifestation in the Modern World
At 49:51, the question was based on how we can work towards fulfilling our desires while also putting everything in the hands of the supreme, and Hari explains that we must dovetail our desires to the desires of the supreme. Manifestation happens when we connect with something bigger than ourselves and let the light of that thing shine through us. But in the modern world, we get frustrated because we believe that the manifestation of our personal desires is achieved from our own efforts.
Key Nuggets:
[7:12] Understanding Yoga Philosophy at the Highest Level.
[9:54] Our true selves. Krishna teaches Arjuna in the Bhagavad Gita that we are eternal and that we are eternally ourselves.
[21:14] Learn what the Bhagavad Gita scripture encapsulates.
[26:03] Recommendations for translations of the Bhagavad Gita and why they’re suggested.
[38:53] What’s the meaning of life? (and Hari actually answers!! That was awesome).
[49.51] How can we work towards fulfilling our desires while also putting everything in the hands of the supreme.
Resources:
For more on Yoga Philosophy, listen to Episode 176: Handbook For Awakening - An Easy Guide To The Yoga Sutras Of Patanjali with Ashley Zuberi
Hari’s recommendations for translations of the Bhagavad Gita:
Bhagavad Gita: The Beloved Lord's Secret Love Song By Graham M. Schweig
A Comprehensive Guide to Bhagavad-Gita with Literal Translation
Bhagavad Gita As It Is By A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Connect with Hari:
Website: hari-kirtana.com
Email: Hari@Hari-Kirtana.com
Take Hari’s online course about the Yamas & Niyamas
As part of the Curious Monki community, you can receive a discount by using the code CURIOUSMONKI
Quotes
“Yoga philosophy is the directions on the label of yoga practice” - Hari-kirtana das
“We are very small and the universe is very big. We revolve around the center of the universe, the universe does not revolve around us” - Hari-kirtana das
“These bodies will come and go, but our spiritual individuality remains” - Hari Kirtana
“The mind reflects a conception of identity back to pure consciousness and pure consciousness under the influence of illusion thinks, “That’s Me” - Hari-kirtana das
“The process of yoga is the process of stilling the fluctuations of the mind” - Hari-kirtana das
“Yoga puts faith and knowledge back together as two sides of the same coin, one informing the other, so that we thus have reasonable faith that is founded on knowledge that reinforces our faith” - Hari-kirtana das
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