Charles Johnston

The sutras of the great sage Patanjali, which together constitute a landmark text in yoga spiritualism, are available here in this classic translation by theosophic scholar Charles Johnson. Historically the most translated of all ancient Indian texts, Patanjali's sutras since the beginning of the 20th century enjoyed audiences within and outside India. The translator Charles Johnson was one of Ireland's celebrated theosophists, with a great interest in the religious and philosophical texts of old. This edition originally appeared in 1912, and introduced yoga to Western audiences. The sutras explain the tenets of various yoga, and how the yogi is able to absorb energy and strengthen thereby. The means of gradually attaining a serene mental state known as Kaivalya as a precursor to the blissfulness of samadhi is detailed. The constant practice and disciplined honing of the bodily senses, and the differing forms of yoga used to achieve a state of perfection in each pillar of the practice.

The sutras of the great sage Patanjali, which together constitute a landmark text in yoga spiritualism, are available here in this classic translation by theosophic scholar Charles Johnson. Historically the most translated of all ancient Indian texts, Patanjali's sutras since the beginning of the 20th century enjoyed audiences within and outside India. The translator Charles Johnson was one of Ireland's celebrated theosophists, with a great interest in the religious and philosophical texts of old. This edition originally appeared in 1912, and introduced yoga to Western audiences. The sutras explain the tenets of various yoga, and how the yogi is able to absorb energy and strengthen thereby. The means of gradually attaining a serene mental state known as Kaivalya as a precursor to the blissfulness of samadhi is detailed. The constant practice and disciplined honing of the bodily senses, and the differing forms of yoga used to achieve a state of perfection in each pillar of the practice.

The metaphysics of Patanjali is built on the same dualist foundation as the Samkhya school. The universe is conceptualized as two realities in Samkhya-Yoga schools: Puruṣa (consciousness) and Prakriti (mind, cognition, emotions, and matter). It considers consciousness and matter, self/soul and body as two different realities. Jiva (a living being) is considered as a state in which puruṣa is bonded to Prakriti in some form, in various permutations and combinations of various elements, senses, feelings, activity, and mind. During the state of imbalance or ignorance, one of more constituents overwhelms the others, creating a form of bondage. The end of this bondage is called Kaivalya, liberation, or moksha by both Yoga and Samkhya schools. The ethical theory of Yoga school is based on Yamas and Niyama, as well as elements of the Guṇa theory of Samkhya.Patanjali adopts the theory of Guṇa from Samkhya. Guṇas theory states that three Gunas (innate tendency, attributes) are present in different proportions in all beings, and these three are sattva guna (goodness, constructive, harmonious), rajas guna (passion, active, confused), and tamas guna (darkness, destructive, chaotic). These three are present in every being but in different proportions, and the fundamental nature and psychological dispositions of beings are a consequence of the relative proportion of these three Gunas. When sattva guna predominates an individual, the qualities of lucidity, wisdom, constructiveness, harmony, and peacefulness manifest themselves; when rajas are predominant, attachment, craving, passion-driven activity, and restlessness manifest; and when tamas predominates in an individual, ignorance, delusion, destructive behavior, lethargy, and suffering manifests. The guṇas theory underpins the philosophy of mind in the Yoga school of Hinduism.

The Yoga Sutras of PatanjaliThe Book of the Spiritual ManPatanjli MaharishiAn Interpretation by Charles Johnston The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali are in themselves exceedingly brief, less than ten pages of large type in the original. Yet they contain the essence of practical wisdom, set forth in admirable order and detail. The theme, if the present interpreter be right, is the great regeneration, the birth of the spiritual from the psychical man: the same theme which Paul so wisely and eloquently set forth in writing to his disciples in Corinth, the theme of all mystics in all lands.We think of ourselves as living a purely physical life, in these material bodies of ours. In reality, we have gone far indeed from pure physical life; for ages, our life has been psychical, we have been centred and immersed in the psychic nature. Some of the schools of India say that the psychic nature is, as it were, a looking-glass, wherein are mirrored the things seen by the physical eyes, and heard by the physical ears. But this is a magic mirror; the images remain, and take a certain life of their own. Thus within the psychic realm of our life there grows up an imaged world wherein we dwell; a world of the images of things seen and heard, and therefore a world of memories; a world also of hopes and desires, of fears and regrets. Mental life grows up among these images, built on a measuring and comparing, on the massing of images together into general ideas; on the abstraction of new notions and images from these; till a new world is built up within, full of desires and hates, ambition, envy, longing, speculation, curiosity, self-will, self-interest.The teaching of the East is, that all these are true powers overlaid by false desires; that though in manifestation psychical, they are in essence spiritual; that the psychical man is the veil and prophecy of the spiritual man.The purpose of life, therefore, is the realizing of that prophecy; the unveiling of the immortal man; the birth of the spiritual from the psychical, whereby we enter our divine inheritance and come to inhabit Eternity. This is, indeed, salvation, the purpose of all true religion, in all times.Patanjali has in mind the spiritual man, to be born from the psychical. His purpose is, to set in order the practical means for the unveiling and regeneration, and to indicate the fruit, the glory and the power, of that new birth.

The present work, in four volumes, represents all "theosophical" articles from the pen of Charles Johnston that have been located to date. These are drawn largely from Theosophical periodical magazines between the years of 1886 and 1932. The articles have been arranged by subject matter, and the volumes organized to reflect certain overarching themes.Volume IV contains a miscellany of writings, beginning with several biographical articles; followed by a fascinating exploration of ancient speech and writing (including several articles treating of the Sanskrit language); a series of rather poetical articles drawn from the Irish Theosophist; and concluding with miscellaneous articles and translations.