Course curriculum

  • 1

    Getting Started

    • Welcome

    • Reflections on Yoga

    • Map of India

    • Introduction by Georg Feuerstein

    • Further Reading and Listening
  • 2

    Lesson 1: Health Beyond Posture

    • Health Beyond Posture

    • Quiz

    • For Reflection
  • 3

    Lesson 2: The Philosophy of Posture, Posture as Philosophy

    • Toward a Philosophy of Āsana

    • Āsana As a Tool of Nondual Experience

    • A Brief History of Āsana

    • Quiz

    • For Reflection
  • 4

    Lesson 3: What Is Yoga?

    • The Words Yoga, Yogin, Yoginī, etc.

    • Forms and Types of Yoga

    • Is Yoga a Religion?

    • Yogic Focal Point: The Ultimate Reality

    • The Six Major Branches or Types of Yoga

    • Styles of Contemporary Yoga

    • Traditional Yoga

    • Teacher, Disciple, and Initiation

    • The Guru

    • The Spiritual Path

    • Quiz

    • For Reflection
  • 5

    Lesson 4: Ten Fundamental Principles of Yoga

    • The Ten Principles

    • Quiz

    • For Reflection
  • 6

    Lesson 5: In Praise of the Philosophical Life

    • In Praise of the Philosophical Life

    • For Reflection
  • 7

    Lesson 6: Why Study Yoga Philosophy?

    • Why Study Yoga Philosophy?

    • For Reflection
  • 8

    Lesson 7: The Seven Steps of Psychospiritual Maturation

    • Step One: Self-Observation

    • Step Two: Self-Acceptance

    • Step Three: Self-understanding

    • Step Four: Self-discipline

    • Step Five: Self-actualization

    • Step Six: Self-transcendence

    • Step Seven: Self-transformation

    • Further Notes
  • 9

    Lesson 8: A Bird’s-Eye View of the History of Yoga

    • Periods in the Evolution of Yoga

    • Archaic Yoga

    • Preclassical Yoga

    • Classical Yoga

    • Postclassical Yoga

    • Select Resources For Further Study

    • Quiz

    • For Reflection
  • 10

    Lesson 9: The Yoga of the Vedas and Upanishads

    • The Origins of Yoga

    • Yoga and the Indus-Sarasvati Civilization

    • The Solar Yoga of the Vedic Seers

    • Yoga in the Early Upanishads

    • Key Teachings of the Upanishads

    • Transcendental Spirit

    • Spiritual Liberation as Self-Realization

    • Karma and Reincarnation

    • The Five Sheaths

    • The Sacred Syllable OM

    • The Teachings of the Middle Upanishads

    • The Teachings of the Medieval Yoga Upanishads

    • Recent Upanishads

    • Quiz

    • For Reflection
  • 11

    Lesson 10: The Bhagavad-Gītā and Its Teachings

    • The Date of the Bhagavad-Gītā

    • The Mahābhārata Epic and the Bhārata War

    • Who is Krishna?

    • God Vishnu’s Ten Incarnations

    • Who Is Arjuna?

    • The Ultimate Reality

    • The Nature of the Cosmos

    • Krishna’s Integrative Teaching

    • Karma-Yoga

    • Jnāna-Yoga

    • Bhakti-Yoga

    • Liberation

    • Key Verses From the Gītā

    • Quiz

    • For Reflection
  • 12

    Lesson 11: The System of Patanjali’s Classical Yoga

    • The Identity and Date of Patanjali

    • The Composition of the Yoga-Sūtra

    • The Sanskrit Commentaries

    • The Principal Teachings of Patanjali

    • Multiple Transcendental Spirits

    • The Lord: A Special Spirit

    • The Cosmos

    • The Yogic Path

    • Moral Foundations

    • (1) Nonharming

    • (2) Truthfulness

    • (3) Nonstealing

    • (4) Chastity

    • (5) Greedlessness

    • The Ladder of Ecstasy

    • Paranormal Abilities

    • Liberation

    • Key Aphorisms From the Yoga-Sūtra

    • Quiz

    • For Reflection
  • 13

    Lesson 12: Tantra: Revelation for the Kali-Yuga

    • What is Tantra?

    • The Philosophy of Tantra

    • The Tantric Path

    • Mantra Recitation

    • Symbolic Hand Gestures

    • Geometric Representations of Psyche and Cosmos

    • Ritualism

    • The Five "Forbidden" Things

    • Meditation as Visualization

    • Nondual and Spontaneous Ecstasy

    • Liberation in Tantra

    • Quiz

    • For Reflection
  • 14

    Lesson 13: The History and Theory of Hatha-Yoga

    • The Historical Development of Hatha-Yoga

    • What Is Hatha-Yoga?

    • The Principal Teachings of Hatha-Yoga

    • Quiz

    • For Reflection
  • 15

    Lesson 14: The Technology of Traditional Hatha-Yoga

    • The Path

    • The Six Hygienic Practices

    • Breath Control

    • The Three Locks

    • Sealing the Energy

    • Cultivating the Inner Sound

    • Hatha-Yoga’s Rāja-Yoga

    • Quiz

    • For Reflection
  • 16

    Congratulations!

    • Final Notes

    • What's Next?