Tantra of the Yoga Sutras: Essential Wisdom for Living with Awareness and Grace by Alan Finger and Wendy Newton

On its own, citta does not have any form or movement.  It is the energy field or matrix in which all of the mind's movements arise.

Yoga is the process of becoming aware of the fact that we're in a movie theater looking at a screen with projections on it. 

The word "klesha" is often translated as "error, distortion, or mental affliction".  In fact, the word comes from a Sanskrit root meaning "to twist", and it refers to what happens to the mind as it comes to be exposed to the world of the senses.  The "affliction" is the twist the mind puts on experience that confuses our awareness of ourselves as pure consciousness.  Avidya is when the mind starts to think that its own "twisted" perception of reality is all that is.

Karma works by a pattern of chain reaction. The kleshas ["twisted" perceptions] motivate actions, and the resulting reactions are experienced in this life or a future life, generating new kleshas.

All life's experiences create suffering.  This is because all experiences in life are subject to the constant shifting of the gunas, the primary forces of nature.  Our experiences create reactions in us, and these reactions, which are the vritti [activity of the mind], lead us back into the cycle of consequences.

When the buddhi loses touch with Spirit for whatever reason, it can get stuck in repetitive, reactive patterns that are caused by memory and the ego's need for stability.  This is called dukkha.  Dukkha is what we call "suffering", and it is optional because we have the potential, through yoga, to reconnect with Spirit.

Asana prepares the body for working with the breath; quiet and controlled breath helps us to withdraw the senses, which helps us focus the mind.

The eight limbs [of yoga] are both a sequential system and a holistic practice.

The yamas are principles of self-regulation that help us to deprogram the habitual patterns that mind develops in its misguided attempts to find security.

When you recognize a challenge and accept it as your karma, you can stop struggling with it and start living in alignment with your dharma. 

"Karma" refers to the activities and experiences of your life.  It is all the challenges you face and the actions you take in response to those challenges.

"Dharma" refers to the structure of your life, including your family, nationality, cultural milieu, national skill set, and other circumstances, all of which give rise to your path and purpose in life. 

Discipline without surrender only leads back to struggle.

Pranayama has three phases:  the inhale, which brings energy into the body; the exhale, which moves energy out of the body; and retention or pause, which develops energy within the body.

The ego has to let go of the thought that it is in charge of things, including the practices and the effects of the practices.  As soon as we say, "I meditate, I receive the benefits, I am powerful because of the practice," we have lost our connection to the experience, and we are just doing tricks for show.

We do not own the power of what arises in this most subtle aspect of the yoga practice.

By doing samyama on udana vayu (the type of energy that flows up and out , away from the earth), one becomes light and gains the ability to walk over mud, thorns, and objects of that nature.  This leads to the possibility of levitation.

By doing samyama on samana vayu (the type of energy that creates heat, fire, and metabolism), one develops tejas, a protective magnetic radiance around the body. 

Samyama is the pathway by which we harness and focus that power back into our psychic centers, the chakras, to transform the patterns that bind us.

When we are in a state of samadhi, everything is perceived as it is, without any influences from mental activity.  It is natural, in samadhi, to perceive this reality as a succession of moments and possibilities.  When we practice samyama or these moment-to-moment changes, we perceive our own background consciousness, and at the same time, we witness the moment when actions start to arise. 

The stories that arise in our lives are the karma that we are here to experience.

Samskaras, or karmic impressions, that are linked with memory persist and manifest at some point in the future, whether in a different time or place or even in a different life.

Karma exists outside of time and creates the samskaras that drive us in time.

As long as there are samskaras, there will always be the desire for life to manifest.

Karma motivates consciousness to manifest as life, so if we are living, we have karma to work out.

Chakra Yoga: Balancing Energy for Physical, Spiritual, and Mental Well-being by Alan Finger and Katrina Repka

The chakras are where we receive, assimilate, and distribute our life energies.  And through external situations (the pressures of life) or internal habits (poor physical alignment or self-destructiveness), a chakra can become imbalanced.

Think about your own life.  Have you ever had days when you felt "rushed off your feet" or "a little off center"? We use these expressions without really thinking about their meaning, but they imply that Muladhara chakra is out of balance.

Each chakra corresponds to a specific part of your foot. The bone of your heel corresponds to Muladhara chakra and is your solid base.  The outside flesh of the heel links to Svadhishthana chakra, which is motivation and movement.  Manipura chakra is the outer arch of the foot, related to the lumbar curve.  Anahata chakra is the ball of the foot, which lifts you as a you move through the air.  Vishuddha chakra is in the toes that launch you forward into space.

Anahata, which means "unstuck sound", is the spiritual center of the heart.

Manipura is the home of your fire element and literally means "city of gems". 

The second chakra, Svadishthana, means "the favored place" or "the place of sva", the place of self.

Muladhara is the base of our being and the center of our physical world. 

From the moment your first cells divide, nadi exists, even before the beat of your heart.

Vishuddha chakra is the center of extreme purification.  When it is in balance, it purifies all of the chakras and brings harmony into your being.

Ajna chakra controls the chakras and oversees the management of the elements (earth, water, fire, air, and space)…. Ajna chakra holds universal intelligence, Mahat, which is the blueprint for creation. Following Mahat's blueprint, Ajna mixes karma with the elements to bring each of your chakras to life.

Karma, derived from the root kri, means "action"; it is a mass of energy that is the impetus for your existence and your motivation for growth.

There are three types of karma: sancita karma (past karma): the accumulation of karma from past lives that is seeking expression.  Prarabhda karma (present karma): karma that is happening in the present  moment. It works off the debts of the past and projects into the future.  Agami karma (future karma): karma acquired in the present lifetime that will come to fruition in the future.

Sahasrara directs prana into Ajna chakra, where it is combined with karma and the elements and distributed through all of the other chakras to be used in life.

Sanskrit evolved as a language with a purely spiritual purpose…. Each term in Sanskrit has such a profound meaning that it is very difficult to find its equivalent in English.  Translating a word from Sanskrit is like opening a folder in your computer: inside there are more folders containing more information.

Yoga for Life by Alan Finger

All quotes from Alan's book

Remind yourself that at any given moment you are exactly where you need to be.

Acting consistently is much harder than acting radically.

The law of karma makes sure that we never miss the lessons we are due to get; we will always get a second, third, or forth opportunity -- however many it takes -- to learn the lessons that we need. 

If you are like most people…you are accustomed to feeling uncomfortable, and you cannot begin to remember what true relaxation, stillness, and peace feel like.

Practice a new vision: learn to greet the onset of stress positively, because it signals a situation that is causing you discomfort, giving you an opportunity to break old, harmful patterns of through and behavior and consciously create healthier new ones.  The key is self-examination.

Practicing yoga is not a cure-all; nor is it insurance against the onset of future illness. It can, however, shift your attention away from the illness and help you redefine yourself, so that illness never defines you.

Asanas are not exercises that need to be perfected.  They are tools for self-exploration.

The more clarity (the Sanskrit word is viveka) you can bring to your relationships, the less stressful they will be. The more you fine-tune your awareness of your emotional connection to others, the more you will be able to approach every relationship in your life as if it were a mirror reflecting back valuable information about where you stand spatially, physically, emotionally, spiritually, and philosophically from moment to moment.

When an action remains incomplete -- when it has not been rectified, made right, or amended, when it has not come full circle -- it does not simply disappear into a void somewhere…. The universe has made a record of your action and intention, called a samskara, and that samskara lodges itself deep in your unconsciousness.  You will eventually come back to this action in the future, even if you have momentarily erased it from the forefront of your memory.

Your body and your unconsciousness are virtual storehouses for your unfinished actions. 

We have been put here in order to love.  The foundation of the universe is unconditional love -- it is made of harmony and nonconflict.