School of thought
Yoga Philosophy
School
Classification
- Period
- c. 150-500 CE
- Regions
- South Asia (origin)
- Domains
- Philosophy of Mind, Philosophy of Religion
Overview
Yoga Philosophy, systematized by Patanjali in the Yoga Sutras, defines yoga as 'the cessation of the fluctuations of the mind' (chitta vritti nirodha). It sets out a practical path of eight limbs — from ethical precepts through meditation to the highest state of absorption (samadhi) — and introduces Ishvara (God) as a special, ever-free consciousness.
Key ideas
- Chitta Vritti Nirodha: Yoga is the stilling of mental fluctuations. When the mind ceases its restless activity, pure consciousness (purusha) is revealed in its own nature.
- Eight Limbs (Ashtanga): The path proceeds through: ethical restraints, observances, posture, breath control, sense withdrawal, concentration, meditation, and finally samadhi (absorption).
- Samadhi: The highest state of consciousness — complete absorption in which the distinction between knower, known, and knowing dissolves, revealing the true Self.
Key figures
Patanjali · Vyasa
Methods used
Influenced by
- Classical Samkhya
Vyāsa's commentary on the Yoga Sūtras draws on the Sāṃkhya teachers whose system Īśvarakṛṣṇa's Kārikā summarizes, which is the school's documented contact with the classical school; the dualism of puruṣa and prakṛti that Patanjali's sūtras already presuppose belongs to the older Sāṃkhya current that predates it.
- Vedic Philosophy
References
- Edwin F. Bryant, The Yoga Sūtras of Patañjali (North Point Press, 2009), Introduction, which places the sūtras shortly after the turn of the Common Era (c. 1st–2nd century CE) and argues that the later fourth- and fifth-century datings are all problematic
- Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, §§1.a–b — Formation: Patanjali's systematization within the philosophical and meditative traditions of ancient India.
- Edwin F. Bryant, The Yoga Sūtras of Patañjali (North Point Press, 2009), Introduction (the sūtras' Sāṃkhya framework and Vyāsa's commentary)
- Gerald James Larson, Classical Sāṃkhya (Motilal Banarsidass, 1979), on the Sāṃkhya teachers cited in the Yoga commentary tradition
- Edwin F. Bryant, The Yoga Sūtras of Patañjali (North Point Press, 2009), Introduction
- Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Yoga Sutras of Patanjali
- Yoga Sutras of Patanjali — Patanjali (trans. Edwin Bryant)
- The Yoga Tradition — Georg Feuerstein