An open library in progress. Explanations are editorial drafts, with sources for further study. Translations await specialist review. How to read our labels.
Background reading · This supporting article retains its own setting and sources. It is not a separate main tradition category on Fire Yoga.
A place to begin
The Yoga Sūtras invite close attention to the distinction between the seer and the activities of mind. A useful beginning is to read the opening sūtras alongside the account of the eight limbs in 2.29. Keep this framework distinct from modern posture classes and from nondual interpretations.
Reading source: Yoga Sūtras of Patañjali ↗
Original Sanskrit; see 1.1–1.3, 2.29 and 4.34. Our English renderings are provisional editorial translations.
Its own map of the person
Puruṣa is distinct from prakṛti; Īśvara is a special puruṣa. Puruṣa, the seer. Citta and its vṛttis belong to the field of nature.
Body, breath and transformation
Prāṇa appears, but energy is not the definition of puruṣa. No standardized seven-centre ladder defines this system. Discernment and the stilling of mental activity.
Reading source: Yoga Sūtras of Patañjali ↗
Original Sanskrit; see 1.1–1.3, 2.29 and 4.34. Our English renderings are provisional editorial translations.
What freedom means here
Kaivalya, the independence of the seer. Liberation is not a promise of biological immortality. Ethical restraints and observances; devotion to Īśvara.
A distinction to carry with you
Kaivalya is not simply Advaita’s account of identity with Brahman.
These short notes are a starting framework for study. A fuller account needs particular passages, attributed translations and the tradition’s internal debates. The source above is a reading entry point, not a claim that every statement here has completed scholarly review.
Reading about practice
Eight limbs; sustained practice and dispassion. This site offers educational descriptions. Intensive breathing, retention, bodily locks and advanced energy practices require qualified guidance.