Yoga Sutras Primer

The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali is the most concise formulation in history of the mechanics of the growth of consciousness from the Waking State to the highest degree of human consciousness, Unified Consciousness. This ancient manuscript presents a systematic and complete understanding of the psychological, emotional and physical transformations that occur as an individual develops full enlightenment. This process of development is called Ascension, or rising beyond the boundaries of ignorance.
What we use for the meaning of the word “Yoga” in America is very different than it’s original meaning. Most Americans think of yoga as just set of physical exercises.
Yoga (in its truest sense) is an extremely practical methodology for systematically expanding the conscious mind. Said another way, Yoga is the Science for overcoming the self-destructive and limiting beliefs and internal programs that keep individual life bound to the experiences of the Waking state of Consciousness -- the state in which life is alternately happy and sad, loving and hating, healthy and sick -- in short, dual. Yoga provides a systematic ladder for climbing beyond the often painful experiences of the Waking State of duality into the state of non-changing full human consciousness.
Yoga is the Science of Union. The union of what with what? Yoga is the science of joining together the individual lower self with the universal higher Self, the indivisible spark of God that resides within everyone. As the growth of consciousness proceeds, every area of life develops -- heart, mind, body, environment. Yoga, properly understood, is not a system of giving up life. It is a system of adding to life.
The Science of Yoga begins and ends in the present moment. Everything to be understood about the transformation of life from suffering to permanent happiness, from failure to success, from ignorance to enlightenment is to be found in the present instant of time. Life in freedom is the result of learning to turn from the imperious demands of our past experience. Nothing can be done for the past, it is over; nothing can be done for the future, for it never comes; all that can be done is to make the present Ideal. Then the future will take care of itself. Perfection of the present instant is at once the goal and the means of the Science of Union.
“Stilling the movements of the mind leads to Union,” and Union leads to the stilling of the movements of the mind.” Yoga or Union is both the path and the goal.
When the constant chattering of the internal dialogue is stilled, Union with the higher Self is natural, for this is the normal state of the nervous system. It is the constant activity which is abnormal - the mind hammering out its 100,000 thoughts a day, most of them the same as yesterday’s, many of them self-contradictory.
Systematically quieting down the mind is the purpose of the Science of Yoga. It is not only natural, it is extremely easy. There are only three requirements. There must be 1) a functioning nervous system, capable of thought. There must also be 2) a suitable vehicle for the mind to follow in this process of stilling, a vehicle which naturally and effortlessly pulls the mind inward to ever deeper levels of silence, until even the faintest level of activity is Ascended and the conscious mind experiences its true form, the higher Self. And there also needs to be 3) competent guidance to ensure the necessary feedback that verifies the correctness of the practice. Thus it is extremely difficult for tapes or books to teach techniques validly, for the third requirement is missing. Even if the prospective student is proceeding completely correctly, how would he or she ever know without verification from a qualified instructor?
The yoga sutras have been misinterpreted as the means to walk down the path to enlightenment. They are not. They are a description of the nature of enlightenment. The yoga sutras included no actual techniques of Ascension or Yoga in this text. His descriptions of the mechanics of enlightenment are so brilliant and clear, however, that many of the sutras have been widely misunderstood as actually being the techniques themselves.
Above was excerpted from Enlightenment! The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, translation and commentary by MSI.
As MSI makes clear in his commentary, the Yoga Sutras does not contain the actual techniques toachieve enlightenment. Rather, it describes what happens when proper tools are correctly applied. The tools themselves, the Ascension Attitudes, have always been passed on through personal instruction, one enlivened heart to another. Without instruction and feedback from a qualified Teacher, the ego much too easily fools itself into believing it is doing well, when in fact no real progress is being made. Even though the techniques themselves are simple, if they were printed in books or given in audio recording, much time would be wasted by individuals making their best guesses about correct practice, missing the experience of expanding awareness.

To learn the simple techniques of Ascension you will need to find a qualified teacher. MSI taught the Art of Ascension to hundreds, many of whom now teach the Ishayas’ Ascension all over the world and offer a variety of websites for further information.

If you would like to read MSI’s translation and commentary of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, you can download the ebook for free at www.theishayatradition.org/books/ebooks/Enlightenment.pdf or for a complete listing of books, ebooks and audio books, go to www.theishayatradition.org/books.