Living the Yoga Sutras through stories from the Mythology

When: Sunday Jan. 4, 2026 from 7:30 AM-8:30 AM PST

What: A few profoundly insightful stories from the Puranas and Itihasas (Mythology) illustrating the essence of Yoga philosophy - Birth, karma, the travels and travails of the Jīva (individual), enlightenment and Liberation.

Cost: Free

Registration Link for next Sunday's class

Reference: The expanded Yoga Sutra Study series (ongoing)

The hidden gems of profound wisdom in the stories from the Puranas and Itihāsas.

Traditionally, Indian children imbibe stories from mythology early in life, as these narratives possess a unique power to engage the imagination. It is only later that they may understand the subtleties behind the various characters in the story. Very often those characters are various aspects of our own self. In fact, very few people read the more abstruse texts. The ease of following various scriptures is shown below from the most difficult to the least difficult.

Needless to say, the Yoga Sutras, like the other sutras (eg: Brahman Sutras) rank at the top in terms of the difficulty of understanding. For this reason, the Yoga Sutras may feel like a dry and torturously boring text to read. This Expanded Yoga Sutra study series, is a unique opportunity to learn the Sutras in a easy fashion using numerous stories from the Mythology as well as numerous analogies.

In this class we will see 'The Story of "You" ' and a few stories which highlight the core of Yoga Philosophy. This will be followed by a Q&A session.

The Story of You

Have you ever wondered how it would feel to have your own life-story enacted out in front of you ? Moreover, it is not just this life, but past lives as well. This is the story told by Rishi Narada to a pious and ritualistic king named Prachinabarhi, who spends all his life performing rituals so that he can attain the heavens and in that process slaughters a huge number of animals as sacrificial offerings.

Sage Narada tells him about the futility of his act and gently exposes his ignorance through a powerful story. The story has a climax which gives goosebumps.

The Yoga Sutra Study - combining traditional commentaries with stories from the mythology

The on-going Expanded Yoga Sutra study is the first time, to the author's knowledge that a traditional interpretation of the Yoga Sutras based on the commentaries of Vyasa and sub-commentaries of Vachaspati Mishra and Swami Hariharananda Aranya are combined with stories from the mythology to make the abstruse subject easy to understand. More information on the study can be found here. Recordings for the 3 misssed classes will be provided.