The Philosophy of Classical Indian Yoga

This course will introduce the history of the ancient Indian texts and ideas that came to provide the philosophical foundations of the classical school of Indian Yoga. We will examine the oldest evidence for yoga in the ancient texts of the Vedas, the Jainas, and the Buddhists. We will watch it take clear shape in the Upanishads and in texts of the Mahābhārata, especially the Bhagavad Gītā. We will conclude the course by reading the classical exposition of Indian Yoga, Patañjali’s Yogasūtras. This course is a philosophy course, not an introduction to the practice of yoga.