Patanjali quote (fwd)

[Elizabeth De Michelis]

I am staggered at how this 'non-Patanjali Patanjali', or 'modern yoga  
Patanjali' is being quoted as representative of the Yoga Sutras. I  
did a quick Google search and that was enough to reveal extensive  
quotation of this sentence in many 'yoga'  and some non-yoga fora -  
including by the President of India who should definitely know  
better, or have persons around him who do!  I do not know to whom  
exactly this extremely free paraphrase (if that) may be attributed,  
and the guesses brought forward by Gary Tubb and Kengo Harimoto may  
well provide actual answers.

In a more general sense, however, the quote is too commonplace to be  
attribuable to anyone purely on the basis of vocabulary and content,  
and it could have been written by 'anybody'. It is pure 'New Age /  
self-help / inspirational modern yoga style' of the lightest kind,  
rather than 'Patanjali' in any meaningful sense...

My guess is that this passage may have been (extremely freely)  
inspired by Vyasa's commentary on Yoga Sutra 4.3, in which the famous  
'farmer' metaphor is elaborated. Dermot Killingley wrote an article  
on Vivekananda's interpretation of this passage (along with YS 4.2):

'Yoga-sūtra IV, 2–3 and Vivekānanda's interpretation of evolution'
Journal of Indian Philosophy
Volume 18, Number 2 / June, 1990 :151-179

DK translates Vyasa's commentary to YS 4.3 as follows:

"As a farmer who wishes, by filling it with water from one field, to  
flood another field on the same level, or [the next] below, or lower,  
does not carry the water away with his hands, but breaks the barrier  
holding the water, after which the water spontaneously floods the  
second field; in the same way dharma breaks the barrier holding the  
prakrtis - namely adharma - after which the prakrtis spontaneously  
fill up their respective effects (vikara)."

Or I may be wrong- it may simply be a statement in relation to the  
whole of Pada 3 on Vibhutis (siddhis), to some other passage  
discussing 'mind', or to YS as a whole!

Needless to say, Patanjali/Vyasa's discussion is altogether different  
from the quotation in question, whether in terms of vocabulary,  
semantic content or philosophical context. It just goes to show,  
however, how pervasive modern yoga 'ideology' is becoming - and  
anyway it may be worth pointing out that the present instance may not  
be all that different, mutatis mutandis, from the ways in which  
earlier forms of yoga may at times have been 'processed' at popular  
level, i.e. adapted to contemporary temper and vocabulary.


Dr Elizabeth De Michelis
Oriel College, Oriel Square,
Oxford, UK         OX1 4EW
Tel: 01865-276550
email: elizabeth.demichelis at oriel.ox.ac.uk
http://www.oriel.ox.ac.uk/content/290


On 8 Jul 2007, at 22:21, Gary Tubb wrote:

> In forwarding this question to the list I forgot to add my own  
> attempt at an answer, which is as follows:
>
> I suspect this little summary was originally composed by Wayne W  
> Dyer. It is featured prominently in his 1998 book _Wisdom of the  
> Ages_ (where he attributes it to Patanjali) and is very much in the  
> style of his other paraphrases.  It's possible he took it from  
> someone else, but it sounds so much like Dyer himself that I take  
> it to be his own synopsis of the Yogasutra.  In any case it has  
> since been attributed directly to Patanjali in many books (e.g.,  
> _Ignited Minds_, a 2002 motivational book by the President of  
> India, APJ Abdul Kalam).
>
>
> On Sun, 8 Jul 2007, Gary Tubb wrote:
>
>> A colleague has asked to have the following question posed to the  
>> list.
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Stig Toft Madsen [mailto:Stig.Toft.Madsen at nias.ku.dk]
>> Sent: 26 June 2007 20:12
>> To: INDOLOGY-request at liverpool.ac.uk
>> Subject: Patanjali quote
>>
>> To the Indology list
>>
>> Is there any way I can post the query below on your list?
>>
>> yours sincerely
>> Stig Toft Madsen
>>
>>
>> ________________________________
>>
>> Fra: Stig Toft Madsen
>> Sendt: ti 26-06-2007 14:47
>> Til: Indology
>> Cc: stig.toft.madsen at nias.ku.dk
>> Emne: Patanjali quote
>>
>>
>>
>> I am looking for the origin of the following quotation:
>>
>> "When you are inspired by some great purpose, some extraordinary  
>> project, all your thoughts break their bounds. Your mind  
>> transcends limitations, your consciousness expands in every  
>> direction, and you find yourself in a new, great, and wonderful  
>> world. Dormant forces, faculties, and talents come alive, and you  
>> discover yourself to be a greater person by far than you ever  
>> dreamt to be."
>>
>> In books and at websites this quotation is ascribed to Patanjali  
>> and his Yogasutras. To me it sounds decidedly modern. I wonder who  
>> authored it and how it has reached the internet.
>>
>> I was suggested by a colleague to ask you all for help and  
>> assistance (at email-address: Stig.Toft.Madsen at nias.ku.dk). Can  
>> anyone recognize this quote?
>>
>> Stig Toft Madsen
>> Senior Researcher
>> NIAS - Nordic Institute of Asian Studies
>> Leifsgade 33, DK-2300 Copenhagen S. Denmark
>>
>