Path to the Awakened Heart: The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali

Event Details

Dates and registration:

• September 15
• September 29
• October 6
• October 20
• November 3
• November 17
• December 1
• December 15

Times: Thursdays, 7:00 – 8:30 pm Eastern. The link to Zoom, which is used for all sessions, are emailed the day before the first session.

Time zones: Times listed are in the Eastern Time Zone (Ann Arbor, MI, USA). To convert to a different time zone: Use Time Zone Converter

Suggested donation: $120 – $400
No one will be excluded for financial reasons. Contact om@deepspring.org to make arrangements.

All are welcome. No experience necessary.

Registration is closed, this class is in session.

Description

Year two of the Yoga Sutras course will begin this September. It will be open to everyone. We’ll do some refreshing of year one for new folks. The best thing about the Yoga Sutras is that they can be studied in any order. Thus year two will be new for everyone. The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali is an ancient text that is a guidebook for walking the spiritual path. Taught by Robert Jacobs, the course considers the Sutras from the point of view of Tantric Yoga, particularly the North Indian school of Kashmir Shaivism. This is a non-dual school that emphasizes that everything is an expression of Divine Awareness. Along with studying the text, we will practice tantric forms of meditation to help us understand the Sutras, focusing on mantra, the breath, visualizations, the opening of the central channel, and the chakras. Some of the areas we discussed in year one were: finding emptiness within the mind; seeing how the mind forms various types of thoughts; what renunciation means for people living in the world; what constitutes “enough” practice; what is samadhi; who is “God;” what it means to surrender; and what mantra is and how it aids meditation. The course is both theoretical and practical and provides a slightly different point of view than the Buddhist teachings we’re familiar with from Aaron, Barbara, and John.

Robert studied the primary scriptures of Indian yoga for many years under two well-known spiritual masters: Swami Muktananda and Gurumayi Chidvilasananda. His studies were always undertaken in conjunction with his practices so that the teachings were never merely speculative. Robert believed the true way to study yoga is through both understanding and practice. This is how Robert constructed the course.

Study tools will be provided as well as assignments for each class.

Facilitator

Robert Jacobs

About the teacher

Questions?

Contact Robert Jacobs at awakenedheartmeditation@gmail.com with any questions.

Dana

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