© Drs. Frans Langenkamp.
This text appeared first in Dutch in 2001.
Was updated and improved in 2019 by the author.
Translated into English by Thea Smeets, Jagatsevak Cotton
and the author himself in 2020.
Printed by BoD – Books on Demand GmbH, Norderstedt, Germany.
ISBN: 9783752601121
Ekam Sat
vipra bahudha
vadanti
The Truth is one,
the wise speak about it
in many ways
~ Rig Veda ~
Satyan nasti
paro dharmaha
There is
no higher
spirituality
than the Truth
~ Mahabharata ~
Yoga karma
su kaushalam
Yoga
is skill
in action
~ Bhagavad Gita ~
Rite
Gyanat
na Muktihi!
No Liberation
without Self Knowledge!
~ Brihadaranyaka Upanishad ~
Maharishi Patanjali
Just as our body needs food to function, so our soul needs her daily food in order to be happy. We provide our body with healthy and varied food every day, preferably from organic cultivation. We should do the same for our souls. Every day our soul longs for a good portion of wisdom, insight and love, preferably prepared on the basis of common sense. She really needs that!
But where do we find these old-fashioned “fare”?
Where can we find reliable and universal knowledge about life? Is spirituality compatible with common sense? Is there such a thing as a common basis for all religions? Who among us is sometimes not discouraged by the lack of clear, universal, non-sectarian knowledge about the nature of life?
And is there such a thing as a universal truth?
There is only one God, at least that has always been my understanding. Throughout my life I have searched for true, reliable, universal yet practical knowledge about life. I looked for it in the church, in the university, in the knowledge of “primitive” cultures, and I looked for it in astrology, yoga and meditation. When I now look back at this odyssey, I see that in all those areas I have found some valuable truths that have brought me closer to my goal. In particular, the ancient Vedic knowledge, preserved in India, has shown me that deeper truths can only be understood when our state of consciousness is relaxed and blissful. In order to have a comprehensive Insight into Reality, our consciousness must be free from any internal, psychological restrictions and afflictions.
One of the many branches of Vedic wisdom is the philosophy of Yoga. In India, only three textbooks are considered truly authentic texts about Yoga. These are:
For more than forty years I have been an admirer of the Yoga Sutra of Patanjali. I have come to understand it as a marvelous text that clearly and systematically reveals the nature and scope of human consciousness.
Over the centuries, the Yoga Sutra has been a source of inspiration for seekers in both east and west. Throughout this time, it has received a stamp of approval from the sages of each and every generation. It has become a very authoritative text.
In writing this new translation and a new commentary on the Yoga Sutra, I hope to show that spirituality is essentially very simple. I hope to show that spirituality is really just a matter of common sense!
My intention is to take a close look at this Vedic masterpiece and to penetrate it so deeply that its essence clearly comes to light. I chose Patanjali’s text because it expresses itself very scientifically, systematically and universally. It clearly shows that the essence of what life is all about is, as it were, up for grabs.
Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra is a universal science and technology of consciousness. It describes the nature and scope of our consciousness. And it gives clear directions for what we can do to unfold the full potential of our consciousness.
Patanjali details the kind of experiences that occur on the way to the ultimate goal – spiritual enlightenment and liberation. He describes in clear terms the end result of the full development of our consciousness; the highest possible state of human awareness, which we can call “unity consciousness”.
Patanjali calls his explanation “Ashtanga Yoga” – “The Eight Limbs of Yoga.” Limbs is such a suitable term because everyone knows that they all develop at the same time. You cannot cultivate your arm without your head having to evolve with it! Yet even here, on this simple point, a lack of common sense has struck mercilessly. To this day, almost every translation of the Yoga Sutra – and thus almost every yoga school in the world – speaks of eight stages of yoga that you must successively master as a student, instead of eight aspects of the wholeness of life, which all develop simultaneously as soon as you start practicing the philosophy of Yoga – the philosophy of Oneness.
This distortion of Patanjali’s teachings has become fateful for many sincere seekers. They were told that they first had to master “step” one before they could continue with step two, three and so on. This has had a confusing effect on candidate-yogis throughout the centuries! Yoga, which literally means unity or unification, is explained by most translations and commentaries as if it could only be achieved with an almost superhuman discipline. One should turn one’s back on social life, forget about sex and personal love, and submit to an iron daily routine that requires a tremendous effort to be able to climb to “the higher forms of Yoga.”
As a result, Patanjali’s perfect description of how to develop one’s consciousness effortlessly and naturally was transformed into a self-contradictory and therefore impractical teaching. The ultimate goal of Yoga – unity consciousness – has been (and still is) described as attainable only through an extremely complicated, mystical, occult and difficult path, which can only be accomplished by a select few who persevere. The goal is usually depicted as having a degree of difficulty comparable to becoming an astronaut! Although the popularity of Yoga is increasing worldwide, it still does not enjoy the good name it actually deserves. After all, it is not so long ago that Pope John Paul II banned Yoga!
By translating and commenting on the Yoga Sutra, I want to show that while life is infinitely complex on the outside, it is absolutely simple on the inside! On the surface, life consists only of differences. But in the depth, we all participate in the same universal process called life. If only we can think, perceive and feel deeply enough, we will unanimously realize that we all are essentially equal. My essence is identical to your essence. In essence, we are all one!
According to the ancient Vedic wisdom, everything that exists and everything that lives, is made from one and the same non-material substance called conscious-ness.
How do the ancient Vedic texts, including Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, define the concept of consciousness?
According to the Vedic paradigm (a beautiful word for frame of reference, overarching theoretical framework or world view), conscious-ness is simply the ultimate reality; it is the essence of all that exists. Vedic philosophy speaks of consciousness as the non-material substance of which everything and everyone is made. This means, among other things, that consciousness is primary and the soul-mind-body system is secondary.
It is consciousness that makes us live, think, speak and act. It is consciousness through which we are aware of ourselves, the world and the universe. It is consciousness with which we have created philosophies, religions, sciences and arts. One might wonder whose conscious-ness I am actually talking about. The answer is: our consciousness! Our common consciousness.
According to the Vedic view, there is only one consciousness in the entire universe, and that is the consciousness from which we have all emerged, which gives us life and of which we are literally the embodiment.
Many will need some time to get used to the far reaching consequences that this Vedic paradigm will have on their current worldview.
Ordinarily one does not see consciousness as absolute, omnipresent, eternal and immortal, and as the source of all that exists. Who nowadays regards consciousness as the source of creation and that it has the complete knowledge within itself that created this entire universe? Modern physics comes to our aid by confirming this ancient under-standing of the essence of creation. The old materialistic worldview is beginning to show cracks and in fact can no longer be maintained in the light of modern discoveries in quantum mechanics.
It looks like humanity is awakening and that more and more people are spontaneously recognizing the Consciousness Paradigm of reality as an expression of simple, eternal and universal truth.
This all-encompassing truth can be realized and experienced by a human being through the effortless and natural techniques handed down to us by the ancient Vedic seers and yogis. By using the practical and scientific knowledge of consciousness, contained in Vedic textbooks such as Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra, we can expand and unfold our own consciousness.
As a result, we will be increasingly able to utilize our innate potential. By acquiring this comprehensive, experience-based knowledge, we spontaneously begin to recognize that we are the embodiment or manifestation of consciousness. Since our soul-mind-body system is an integrated part of creation – and as such is nothing special – we auto-matically come to understand that not only our soul-mind-body system is the product of consciousness, but also that of all other human beings and in fact the entire creation is a manifestation of consciousness.
This all-encompassing view of reality, this universal point of view, is the essence of what I would call the paradigm of the new millennium. The great Copernican revolution of this millennium will be humanity’s understanding that all material creation is the manifestation of a single omnipresent, universal substrate, which we can best describe as consciousness. The ultimate reality, about which we have told each other stories in churches, temples and mosques for a few thousand years, in the form of parables and poetic religious representations, turns out in this new and more enlightened millennium to be nothing other than that one universal, absolute and eternal consciousness!
Over the centuries, numerous names have been given to this intuitively understood and sensed omnipresent consciousness. Often with a poetic feeling and religious respect. Usually the ultimate reality is described in terms of analogies and allegorical representations. You probably know them: an old man with a beard, a man with his son seated on a throne, a woman with eight arms, a man with four heads, a half man/half woman, an old man with a raised finger, a merciful woman with a blessing gesture, a man meditating on a mountain, a woman sitting on a tiger, the light of light, the light of countless suns, et cetera. All these images are the expression of the human imagination that wants to represent a certain spiritual truth in a relatable form.
The best analogy I have encountered so far regarding the universal consciousness underlying all phenomena, is that of the wave and the ocean. All relative manifestations are like a wave on an ocean. All you see is the temporary expression of an eternal ocean of consciousness. Whether a wave is large or small, whether it has foam on its top or not, whether it moves fast or slow, whether it moves east or west, it is essentially nothing but water. Through and through water.
A human being can also be compared to a temporary wave on the eternal ocean. Although in some ways we are a special kind of wave. A human being differs from many other waves in that he or she has the ability to reflect on his or her own origin. A human being has the potential to become aware of his or her origin – of his or her essence!
An arbitrary wave that learns to look inwards, and forgets for a moment its outer shape and its outer activities, automatically comes to the conclusion that it consists entirely of water, regardless of its size, direction, speed, etc. When it looks inside, it sees nothing but an unfathomable mass of water! Then it knows – maybe for the first time – “Wow, I am the expression of an unfathomably deep and endless ocean. When I settle down again there will be no problem, I will become one with my essence – the unlimited ocean!”
You can imagine how enthusiastic this wave will be because of this discovery. When he comes out from his reflective state, and looks around and sees his brother and sister waves rolling around him, he spontaneously realizes that all of them also consist only of water: “All of my fellow waves are the temporary, natural and playful expression of the same ocean, which is also my being, my essence!” Thus he comes to the conclusion that he is essentially one with all his fellow waves, wherever they move on the limitless ocean.
The outer differences and the differences in functions, which until recently dominated his perception, are now seen and understood in terms of the ocean as a whole. The external differences in form and function are now seen for what they are: superficial, temporary appearances that no longer dominate and therefore overshadow the insight into the essential unity. Deep in his heart, the wave knows: “I am essentially one with the ocean!” What a wonderful realization, what a broadening of awareness. Moreover, the wave knows: “In essence, my brothers and sisters are also one with the ocean, whether they know it or not.” The wave has become “enlightened”, as it is called in many spiritual traditions.
And as soon as he gets the opportunity, he whispers to his neighbor’s wave: “Hey amigo, look inside ... turn your attention inside for a moment and tell me what you see!” The neighbor accepts his suggestion and carries out the same natural and simple experiment, and turns his attention inwards. Inevitably, he too comes to the discovery that he is nothing but water. And from this simple and obvious fact he will conclude that he is essentially one with his neighbor. Luckily, waves are playful and curious by nature and learn from each other the habit of taking an occasional “dive” inside.
This happy message spreads spontaneously like wildfire all over the ocean and, in no time, every wave knows that it is essentially more than just a temporary wave ... every wave knows itself to be one with the ocean and – as a consequence – one with all its fellow waves. In this way, the ocean becomes a united, happy and pacifistic ocean. Until recently, out of ignorance of their common nature and essence, the waves were fighting each other. Now they are learning to live and let live. Whereas they used to be conditioned to a “fight or flight” reaction pattern, now they learn to enjoy a “stay and play” reaction pattern.
Common sense started to prevail over ignorance.
Every wave enjoys the simple but profound realization which is so often referred to in Vedic texts: “Aham Brahmasmi” – “I am the totality”, everything I see is an expression of my infinite nature. Everything I see ... is a part of my unbounded Self!
Dear reader, the above analogy contains the whole nature, scope and purpose of life and therefore also of the Yoga philosophy. If you continue to cherish this analogy in your heart – which does not require any effort at all, but comes by itself as soon as you have understood its beauty and deep meaning – then you are on the highway to unity consciousness.
You can now close the book and perhaps pass it on to your neighbor. Maybe he or she too will see the beauty of this analogy. Then you are together on the highway to unity consciousness, and maybe you will be an inspiration to each other. If you have read and understood the above analogy, you have already achieved the goal for which you took up this book … Congratulations!
You don’t have to do anything else. You don’t even have to read this book. Simply relax. Enjoy life! You’re free! Slowly but surely get used to the fact that you are essentially one with all that exists. You found the key! You passed the Yoga Initiation Exam. The light of unlimited consciousness shines brightly in your mind. You have reached the goal of your incarnations. Enjoy it and live your life as you wish, follow your bliss and are aware of your inherent perfection.
But wait a moment; you’re also free to enjoy the little waves of the ocean that are described in the rest of this book! Once you have a vision of the whole – and are able to stay in this awareness – it is a great joy to take a closer look at the constituent parts that make up the whole. When we have identified ourselves with the whole – and we did this spontaneously by understanding the analogy of the wave and the ocean – then the study of each part of the whole will be a feast of recognition. How great is the joy of the ocean to see its essence expressed in each and every individual wave!
How great will be your joy when you see your essence expressed in each of Patanjali’s 195 sutras!
You see how simple unity consciousness is! It is already structured in your consciousness before even getting acquainted with the Yoga Sutra. If Patanjali could see you now – and there is much to say that he can – then he would be very happy with you. Indeed, it will be a feast of recognition for you when you see your essence confirmed in each of the sutras. You will know that you have found a healthy source of nutrition for your soul.
By playing with Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra, you will notice that you spontaneously receive insights that for thousands of years were considered to be very hard to get! Unity consciousness – the awareness of the essential unity of all existence – is the only natural and relaxed state of consciousness. No wonder nobody ever achieved it when striving for it with effort! “It is just a matter of Knowing”, as my good mother used to say. If one does not know how to get to the moon, it is impossible to make it happen. If one does have insight into the mechanisms involved, then it is just a matter of pressing a button that brings the rocket in the right direction and everything goes along by itself.
That’s why I say: “Insight is everything!” I sincerely hope that you feel and understand how cosmic this slogan is and that you, like me, can enjoy the eternal and universally applicable wisdom expressed in Patanjali’s concise aphorisms!
“Insight is everything” implies, among other things, that insight is much more essential than willpower when it comes to making our lives on earth more ideal. Insight into our own essence should be at the basis of all our actions.
Once the insight into the true nature of our consciousness is established at the source of our thoughts and feelings, we will automatically start to harness our full innate human potential. By cherishing insightful intentions at the source of our thoughts, we humans will be able to gradually transform our battered world into a hospitable and inspiring meeting place for the countless souls who come to learn their life lessons and to carry out their creative life-plans here on earth.
Finally, some specific words about the content of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra. It is generally assumed that the great seer Patanjali lived in the fourth or fifth century B.C. It is sometimes said that he was the spiritual teacher of Shankara, another great light from the fourth or fifth century B.C. The Yoga Sutra dates from that period. It is divided into four chapters containing 51, 55, 55 and 34 sutras respectively. So, in total there are 195 sutras; succinct statements commonly referred to as “aphorisms.” Sutra literally means “thread.” The idea is that the knowledge of Life is a cloth woven with many threads. Each thread contributes to the creation of the cloth as a whole. The 195 sutras form the main threads of insight that together constitute the total insight into Life. The whole philosophy of Yoga is formulated so holistically that every sutra refers to Life as a whole. Please, do not lose sight of this fact while reading!
The four chapters build upon each other.
Chapter one provides a definition of what yoga practice actually means and what it is intended for. Five types of mental activities are discussed, some of which are painful and others that are not. Patanjali tells us how to achieve a state of mental peace and integration. Nine obstacles to self-realization are categorized and many tips and techniques are given to overcome these obstacles. The different stages of mental absorption (samadhi) are systematically explained and a state of consciousness is described that naturally recognizes the truth in everything.
Chapter two discusses the five mental and intellectual afflictions that cause human suffering. Also, the means to get rid of these afflictions and disorders are dealt with extensively. Then the eightfold path of Yoga is explained. Each of the eight aspects of the Wholeness of Life is explained in detail.
Chapter three (which together with chapter four forms part two of “Insight is Everything”) deals with the supernormal abilities that come to us when we have expanded our consciousness to such an extent that we can successfully apply the technique of mental absorption (samadhi). What this technique entails is explained step by step and with many examples.
Chapter four provides a consideration of some metaphysical principles that need to be well understood if we are to truly gain a comprehensive understanding of Life. Deep insights into time, space, karma, rein-carnation, mind, soul and our common true Self are provided. This chapter also sheds light onto the nature of reality in general and the role of the three modes (the so called gunas) and the five elements of nature in particular. Finally, Patanjali gives us a vision of what the state of spiritual unification entails. He explains that it is a state of absolute freedom and that our subjectivity is then established in its true nature.
Obviously, you can use this Vedic text in many ways. It is certainly helpful and mind-expanding to only read the sutras in their order. Later on you can start reading the comments. But of course, you can also read the sutras together with their comments. As in everything, let yourself be guided as much as possible by your own soul impulses, your intuition!
When making the translation and writing the commentary I used a wonderful Sanskrit dictionary, compiled by one Monier Williams. As far as I know this is the most comprehensive Sanskrit dictionary in the world (also available on the internet). I also had the translations and commentaries of nine different authors at hand. These are mentioned at the back. Anyone who has read a translation of the Yoga Sutra knows how unclear and cryptic the descriptions often are. During all those years that I have immersed myself in the Yoga Sutra, I have not felt happy with those incomprehensible and obscure passages and interpretations. I couldn't recognize myself in it! Knowing how easy it is to see and experience the unity of Life, I felt called upon to bring to paper a clear and insightful translation with a truly useful commentary.
I believe that the ultimate goal of Yoga can be achieved in a simple, natural, effortless, playful and loving way. For this it is necessary that also the path to it is experienced as effortless and natural. Insight makes this possible!
When we start from an understanding of the holistic nature of our own consciousness, we already experience the benefits of the goal before we are fully established in the goal! I hope that by reading this book, and by the inner experiences you will gain from it, you will become convinced of this principle. Together we can introduce a new lifestyle to the world, that will make life on earth, on all continents, a joyful experience.
According to the ancient science of Yoga – masterfully articulated by the great seer Patanjali – man’s innate potential is infinite. According to Vedic wisdom, the potential of a human being to enjoy and to create is infinite. Now that we have a complete manual for that beautiful, incomparable, soft machine called human being, we can jointly start using our full inborn potential that will be able to make humanity truly human.
Remember, dear reader, that I have written the entire book, and each sentence separately, from my heart and I feel that I have expressed a very deep level of my soul. My request to you is to read from your heart too. Let every idea you encounter on paper sink deep into your soul and your blissful Self. Let your being resonate from within with what my being meant when I tried to express the eternal and universal insights and ideas. Let your mortal eyes take in the perishable letters on the paper, but let the immortal eye of your wisdom see the truth that my eye of wisdom also saw when I tried to articulate the sutras in English. And finally, realize that there is only one eye of wisdom and that is the eye of wisdom of our common Self, the self of all beings, the Universal Self.
Realize that Vedic literature is the expression of our common Self. It is the voice of your own, most intimate Self that you encounter in Vedic literature. Your true Self is speaking here and nothing else. Your true Self is at the basis of your mind, intellect and ego.
Use your intellect as a cosmic filter through which you allow the true meaning of Vedic knowledge to sink to the center of your heart. Let your heart resonate in waves of recognition when reading the text. Make your heart realize that it is in conversation with itself. Let your soul rejoice in these daily conversations with its essence, your immortal Self.
By enjoying the timeless knowledge that is expressed in the sutras, you automatically (Atma-matically) enter a state of mind called samadhi in yogic terminology. In a state of samadhi, your soul gets the food it really needs. In this state, the soul comes into contact with its essence and that is what it is eternally seeking. Give this soul-food to yourself daily. Grant yourself this contact with your Self on a daily basis. Visit your Self daily until you feel permanently at home in your Self. When you learn to listen to your deepest soul movements in this way, it becomes very normal to be in deep contact with your true Self. It then becomes very normal to have daily conversations with your true Self, which is the Self of all beings. In fact, you are better off than those fortunate persons who are allowed to have a daily conversation with God, experiencing God as something or someone who exists outside and apart from themselves.
The science of Yoga also cures this subtle but dangerous misunderstanding!
Yoga means Unity. Yoga refers to the unity that exists between the individual soul and the Cosmic Soul. The unity that exists eternally between the individual consciousness and the Universal Consciousness. The study of Yoga removes the veil of illusion from our awareness that leads us to believe that we are isolated mortal dolls. Our bodies are indeed isolated dolls, but the consciousness that makes our soul-mind-body system live is nothing but the Cosmic Consciousness (called God in religions)!
By studying the Yoga Sutra with heart and soul, you gain knowledge and experience of the universal nature of your own consciousness, of your own Self! Gradually you will get to know your Self through and through. You then become a soulful and divinely inspired person. Thus you acquire the wonderful ability to be yourself in all circumstances. You are then Who You Are. Deep within yourself you then know: “I am who I Am.” Your soul-mind-body system spontaneously becomes the willing vehicle and tool of the divine Self. Your soul-mind-body system becomes a more and more open and frictionless channel through which your wisdom and your love can flow out.
With this view of the wholeness and perfection of your true Self, it is good to turn page after page and enjoy the Vedic expressions of true knowledge. By recognizing the truth and beauty of the sutras, you always recognize a different aspect of your Self. Because – and please never forget – you your self Are the Truth.
We are all one with the Way, the Truth and the Life, in the words of Jesus. We ourselves are the Good, the True and the Beautiful, in the words of Plato. We ourselves are “Sat, Chit, Ananda” – “Truth, Consciousness and Bliss”, as declared in the Upanishads. By feeding yourself daily with universal and Self-referral wisdom, you automatically become soul-food for your fellow human beings.
God has given us
a world, that nothing
but our own folly
keeps from being
a paradise
~ George Bernard Shaw ~
Yoga means unity. Although unity is omnipresent and eternal, we must be reminded of this fact. Due to its transcendental nature, unity cannot be perceived with the senses or with the common sense of the ordinary waking state. The mind has to be cultivated in order to perceive unity.
Unity refers to the common essence of everything and everyone.
Modern science has not yet discovered that there is such a common essence of each and everything! The ancient science of Yoga was designed to reveal the invisible, unmanifest Being that underlies and is the essence of the entire manifest creation. The ancient rishis (seers) in India documented and systematically expressed their subjective experiences. By penetrating deeply into their own minds, they came to know the source of their thoughts. In this way they became acquainted with the nature and the qualities of consciousness as such. They learned to recognize that consciousness is their very essence.
By combining this subjective experience with intellectual considerations, the rishis came to realize that consciousness was not only their essence, but the very essence of everything and everyone else!
They had discovered the unity that underlies all diversity.
This unity, this universal essence, does not exist on the material plane … it can only be found on the plane of pure subjectivity! So it cannot be perceived with the senses, even when it gets amplified a million fold with microscopes or with telescopes ... We are dealing here with the transcendental basis of material creation!
The first thing that Yoga wants to do, is to make us aware of the source of our thoughts and feelings: our consciousness as such. Secondly, Yoga wants us to realize that consciousness as such has an absolute and independent existence of itself. And thirdly, Yoga wants us to realize that consciousness is the source and essence of each and every one – the source and essence of the entire manifest creation.
Yoga wants us to experience the transcendental unity that underlies all relative phenomena.
Yoga is a real science. This means that it has two aspects: theory and practice. Yoga is designed to teach us on a philosophical level and on a practical level as well. The science of Yoga is the prototype of what rightly can be called education. Education means to bring out what is latently present in us (e = out, ducare = to lead). It is education – in the literal and original meaning of the word – that is necessary to cultivate our minds in such a way that we become capable of recognizing, experiencing and expressing the abstract and absolute Consciousness, that is the common essence and source of the infinite diversity of creation.
After all, the subject of “unity” is also very important because it refers to our true Self. The Self is the essence of our soul-mind-body system. It stands for consciousness as such. It is from consciousness as such that we derive our sense of self, our self-awareness, our I-sense. The Self is our essence and the basis of our individuality. Both terms – Self and individuality – refer to that which is whole and indivisible. (“Individual” literally means “undivided”) The Self is one and undivi-dable. The objects in the world are infinitely diverse and dividable. The Self is the knower, the objects are known. The process of knowing takes place in the mind. Without Self-knowledge, without experience and insight into our own Self, the experience of the infinite number of objects has no center, no basis! Our mind then, has no basis, no center.
Yoga reveals that our true Self consists of pure consciousness. Secondly, it shows that the essence of the material world also consists of pure consciousness. Therefore, without real and adequate knowledge of the Self, real and adequate knowledge of material objects is essentially not possible.
unitydiversity!