Patañjali's classical yoga
Explanation
Classical Yoga is systematised in Patañjali's Yoga Sutras (c. third century BCE - fourth century CE, dating debated), a brief work of 196 aphorisms condensing a body of practice and philosophy probably much older. It shares the Sāṃkhya cosmology (puruṣa-prakṛti dualism) and adds something crucial: a detailed practical path for attaining liberation, based on mental, bodily and ethical discipline. The term yoga here means union, but also discipline, yoke.
The famous definition of Yoga appears in the second sutra: yogas citta-vṛtti-nirodhaḥ, Yoga is the cessation of the modifications of the mind. The mind (citta) in its ordinary state is agitated by a constant flow of thoughts, emotions, images, reactions (vṛttis). When that agitation is stilled, pure consciousness (puruṣa) can be recognised in its nature. The purpose of yoga is therefore to still the mind in order to reveal the witnessing consciousness.
Patañjali describes the eightfold path (ashtanga yoga): yamas (ethical restraints such as non-violence, truthfulness, non-stealing, continence, non-possessiveness), niyamas (observances such as purity, contentment, discipline, study, devotion), āsana (postures), prāṇāyāma (regulation of breath), pratyāhāra (withdrawal of the senses), dhāraṇā (concentration), dhyāna (meditation) and samādhi (absorption). Each stage prepares the next, integrating ethics, body, energy and mind.
Samādhi has several degrees. Samprajñāta samādhi: absorption with content, where the mind is fixed on an object with total clarity. Asamprajñāta samādhi: absorption without content, where even subtle objects dissolve. The culmination is kaivalya, definitive liberation in which puruṣa is recognised in its original nature, without confusion with prakṛti. The path is not seen as an acquisition, but as a cleansing of obstacles to what one already is.
For the theory of consciousness, Yoga offers a detailed psychology and an experimental method. Patañjali describes precisely the types of vṛttis (perception, error, imagination, sleep, memory), their causes and strategies for stilling them. The system is comparable to a psychological science of mind, developed over millennia, with reproducible protocols and results verifiable by any sufficiently disciplined practitioner. Contemporary contemplative psychology takes much from this tradition.
The influence of Yoga has been vast and continues to expand. Each branch (physical hatha yoga, mental raja yoga, devotional bhakti, active karma yoga) has given rise to schools and lineages. Modern figures such as Krishnamacharya, Iyengar, Pattabhi Jois have adapted yoga to global contexts. Today millions of people practise something called yoga in the world, although often in secularised or partial form. Returning to classical texts such as Patañjali allows us to recover the conceptual and practical depth that goes far beyond the physical aspect.
Strengths
- Detailed and replicable practical system.
- Phenomenological cartography of meditative states.
- Partial validation by contemplative neuroscience.
- Global influence on practices of well-being and consciousness.
Main critiques
- Contemporary commercialisation dilutes depth.
- Some claims (powers/siddhis) controversial.
- Sāṃkhya metaphysical framework questionable.