The Taproot of Yoga

The Sanskrit for Patanjali's Yoga Sutras has existed unchanged for more than 2000 years. No authentic, accurate, and reliable translation of it exists. Purported 'translations' and interpretations do exist, but they are robustly entangled with and distorted by personal beliefs and the continually evolving accumulated teachings of religions and yoga cultures. This book is an unentangled personal translation using definitions contemporary with Patanjali. It includes detailed explanations of the differences between the original Yoga Sutras and eight 'Modern Yoga Sutras' books. The true sutras are, for example, non-religious, free of the mystical 'powers' orientation that flows through many of the books, and unencumbered by teachings of any modern yoga culture. The sutras of the original gravitate around a meditative core tied to interconnecting threads not known of today. Chapter One in this translation describes the nature of yoga, what it is and is not, its history and that of the underlying Samkhya philosophy, among other topics. Chapter Two presents the 196 translated sutras and uses captions to highlight the beauty and logic of their structural flow. Chapter Three explains each sutra in easy to understand terms. Volume 2 encourages and supports critique by describing the actual translation of each sutra and the comparative mistranslations in the Modern Yoga Sutras books.

The Sanskrit for Patanjali's Yoga Sutras has existed unchanged for more than 2000 years. No authentic, accurate, and reliable translation of it exists. This original Yoga Sutras book now provides that truly authentic translation, documenting the meanings of the 196 individual sutras as they were at about 250 BCE. Revealing the foundation of all yoga, it is a unique and valuable world book. Purported 'translations' and interpretations available today are robustly entangled with and distorted by personal beliefs, and by the continually evolving accumulated beliefs of religions and yoga cultures. Over 2000 years, adaptation, alteration, and reinvention have aggregated to form the 'Modern Yoga' existent today and reflected in those books. This book is a different work with different goals, filling an unoccupied niche by recovering a lost treasure. As part of his research, the author appraised seventeen 'Modern Yoga Sutras' books, finding patterns of translation difficulties. The problems were inevitable; the authors were each deeply involved with their varied 'Modern Yoga' cultures; they had no choice but to interpret the sutras within that view and representation of yoga. Having taught Modern Yoga for forty-five years, this author experienced the unyielding peer and institutional pressure to support and convey only the current forms, but disconnected from it for researching and writing. This original translation is hugely different from the Modern Yoga Sutras versions. The author is alone in knowing the difference and absorbing the fullness, wisdom, and beauty; he wants to share this key element of spiritual history. Volume 1 of the book has three chapters. Chapter One provides perspective for understanding the other chapters. It discusses key parts of yoga, its history, the history of the underlying Samkhya philosophy, the eight limbs, karma, and what root yoga is and is not. Portions on enlightenment, the spiritual and physical aspects of living beings, life paths, and the search for Truth are part of the perspective. Chapter Two contains the 196 pure and concise sutras, with boxed captions that bring out the flow. Chapter Three discusses the meaning of each sutra. Volume 2 is the intellectually and ethically obligated documentation of how each sutra was translated. It openly shows the translation of every word and sutra. Without naming authors, it analyzes the differences in the books of the authors of Modern Yoga versions. Where possible, it shows how the authors arrived at their interpretations. As two examples of difference, the available versions frequently focus on the Hindu concepts of a male god and on eight mystic powers, neither of which is in the original Yoga Sutras.

Beck Anamin's upstate New York life began in 1936. After family life and education, he earned a bachelor's degree in Geology and a master's degree in Management. With a family to support, he was fortunate to be offered a job programming first generation computers, beginning a 38-year career in information technology. In 1970 a huge change came about in his personal life after experiencing several spontaneous spiritual events. Already yearning for that spirituality, he now knew it was possible to attain, and began study and practice of Integral Yoga at Swami Satchidananda's nearby ashram. Two years later, he began what would become 45 years of yoga teaching. Over time additional teaching accreditation and advanced training in pranayama and meditation accumulated. His teaching programs expanded from the core Integral Yoga program, to include meditation, pranayama, and the Yoga Sutras. After retiring in 1998 from his twenty-year job as manager of a large Information Technology Center, he bought a house on a pond in New Hampshire. By then alone, the setting enabled further settling into what he calls 'No One's Land,' a personal mind space free of outside influences where no one owns people, viewpoints, or the truth. He became further absorbed in his passion for research and writing of three books providing the truths hidden by substantial misrepresentation of the Yoga Sutras, meditation, and evolution. Final editing of each took place in 2017.