The Essential Yoga Sutra: Ancient Wisdom for Your Yoga [Paperback]

Geshe Michael Roach (Author), Lama Christie McNally (Author)

Book Description

Release date: December 27, 2005

The Yoga Sutra of Patanjali is a classic Sanskrit treatise consisting of 195 “threads,” or aphorisms, describing the process of liberation through yoga. Although little is known about Patanjali (most scholars estimate that he lived in India circa 200–300 b.c.), his writings have long been recognized as a vital contribution to the philosophy and practice of yoga. This new, expert translation of the original Sanskrit text of Patanjali’s best-known work presents his seminal ideas and methods in accessible, plain-language English.

Patanjali organized the sutra into four parts: Samadhi (absorption), Sadhana (practice), Vibhuti (supernatural powers), and Kaivalya (liberation). Each represents a step in breaking free of our limited definition of consciousness and training the mind to achieve oneness with the universe. Geshe Michael Roach, one of the most respected teachers of Tibetan Buddhism in America and a renowned scholar of Sanskrit, provides authoritative commentary on each of the sutras. His notes and clarification are straightforward and highly readable, untainted by obscure, academic terminology or New Age jargon. The first edition of the Yoga Sutra to present a Buddhist perspective, this paperback original will be welcomed by students and spiritual seekers alike.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Patanjali's Yoga Sutra is a foundational ancient text that examines the purpose and practice of yoga. Longtime American Buddhist teacher Roach, who holds the distinguished title of geshe (comparable to a Ph.D. in Buddhist religious studies), provides commentary to McNally's fresh translation of this aphoristic text from ca. 250 B.C.E. Yoga means union, and this interpretation unites the ways of Buddhism and yoga, making it useful for students of either practice. Roach's commentary reveals the text's logic and organization, unpacking its density in 108 short sections, each devoted to a few lines of the text. An index of important ideas in the sutra is helpful. Like any classic sacred text, this one is deceptively simple, inviting study, as Roach notes ("Now that you've read this book, you need to use it"). The text is dense and the commentary short, so this is not a book for beginners. The subtitle is misleading: as how-to books go, this is fairly abstract ("Everything we see around us is either at work or at rest"), lacking real anecdotes or examples to illustrate ideas. But for more experienced students and those interested in the intersection between yoga and Buddhism, this is a stimulating presentation of an influential text. (Aug. 16)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Author

GESHE MICHAEL ROACH is a fully ordained Buddhist monk and has been a teacher of Buddhism since 1981. He is also a scholar of Sanskrit, Tibetan, and Russian, and has translated many works in these languages into English. He founded the Asian Classics Institute and the Asian Classics Input Project and has been active in the restoration of the Sera Mey Tibetan Monastery, where he received his training. He lives in New York and Arizona.

Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Three Rivers Press (December 27, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385515367
• ISBN-13: 978-0385515368
• Product Dimensions: 5.4 x 0.4 x 8.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #217,473 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 28 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Clear, Consise, Unbiased September 18, 2008

By Eric Brinkman

Format:Paperback

So this is one of my favorite books in the world--I've taught in yoga centers around the world, and when I give lectures I base them on what's in this book. it's clear (doesn't use technical language), consise (it mainly consists of only 108 pages), and can serve as an excellent introduction to the yoga sutra for people who have been practicing yoga asana for years without ever encountering the Yoga Sutra, the most important book ever written on yoga.

As I feel this is a really important book written at a very important time (20 million yoga practitioners in the US alone can't be wrong :-), I also want to address a few of the criticisms I read in some of the other reviews. Given, this is a short book, so sometimes the ideas or concepts it explains need to be studied further to be fully understood, but it is meant to be an introduction, as the title "Essential" indicates--it is not meant to be a treatise on every aspect of the Yoga Sutra.

That said, I think it is especially unfair to criticize it for not being based on Vedantic philosophy. Claiming that this book is wrong, or misleading, because it's based on Buddhist rather than Vedantic philosophy is the same as a Catholic saying Protestants can't interpret the Bible. The same thing. I think most of us have gone past that kind of argument.

When I recommend this book I tell students to set it by their bed and just before they go to sleep, pick it up and read a page or two to think about something inspiring and uplifting before you go to sleep. Try it, I think you will find it worth your while.

17 of 21 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Don't be fooled by the simple style August 16, 2006

By Muir, Alexander

Format:Paperback

Its easy to be fooled by the simple, straightforward language of this translation. It uses everyday examples to illustrate the principles. But humming beneath the surface is a profound current of authentic metaphysics.

They seem to deliberately steer clear of overly religious ways of presenting the material, so that anyone can read it - you dont have to be a card-carrying Hindu etc.

I've read their other books on yoga (How Yoga Works, The Tibetan Book of Yoga) and heard some of their talks, and in my opinion this book is a successful distillation of the practical wisdom of yoga. If you want a more detailed work, try one of their other books, mentioned above.

Most importantly, it is easy to get into a whole trip and get confused with the externals - for me this book helps me focus on the most important things: how taking care of other people is the very fuel for a successful yoga practice.

52 of 69 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Dumbing Down the Sublime June 7, 2006

By Sravaniya D. Pecoraro

Format:Paperback

An unsolicited copy of this book arrived in the mail sent by a business organizer for Geshe Michael Roach, apparently timed to arrive just before his scheduled appearance - along with his `spiritual partner' Christie McNally - here in Hong Kong. This is clever, not to say even aggressive, marketing. However, Roach's training is in Buddhism, a non-Vedic doctrine, and the Yoga Sutra is one of the six Vedic philosophical schools of India. In this book there are specific instances wherein it is clear that Roach does not understand the principles he is supposedly explaining, and builds certain of his arguments on assumptions in the category of vikalpa (misconception). Beginning students, who seem to be the target audience, are not likely to notice these discrepancies, and I find this unfair and even dangerous for them.

Having studied authentic Sanskrit texts under a guru in a proper lineage and practiced yoga for nearly four decades myself, I would suggest to readers that where one gets spiritual information is as important as what one reads. For many of us, Roach is too controversial to be seen as a reliable reference. Despite his accolades and scholarship, his sophistries seem sentimental and wishy washy, not likely to ignite the fire of tapasya (ardor and austerity) in anyone, although good points do glimmer occasionally through the haze. Those who are content to skim the surface of the ultimate human achievement without any expectation of attaining the real thing have found the perfect user friendly but unfortunately pirated version here.