ABSTRACT
Chapter 1 studies the Classical Yoga of Patañjali. The relationships of Classical Yoga to Upanishadic, Buddhistic, Sāmkhyan, and Advaitic ideas are examined. Although Patañjali Yoga is often understood as a sister school to Sāmkhya, due in large measure to common terminology and shared use of a metaphysical dualism, whether the metaphysics in Yoga are literal has been argued. Further explorations include Patañjali’s approach to consciousness, mind, ego, and the transformation of human consciousness. The research reveals that Classical Yoga is a discriminatory science of knowledge mobilizing a radically empirical methodology, which succeeds in reconciling science and religious experience.
