We encourage readers to study the “Index of Important Ideas” at the end of this book, so that you know immediately where to look for help on any personal needs or interests you may have.

To help those who might want to chant the Yoga Sutra in its original language, we have included the Sanskrit here in the closest English pronunciation possible without special marks or spellings not found in normal English. Please note that the combination a-a should be read as one long ah sound. Divisions like this are made wherever two words are joined, but only if it would not change the pronunciation or meter in chanting.

The authors would like to acknowledge the kind assistance of the Asian Classics Input Project and its director, John Brady, for access to its database of several thousand ancient Asian manuscripts for completing this translation of the Yoga Sutra.

We would also like to thank Dr. M. A. Jayashree and Dr. M. A. Narasimhan, of the University of Mysore and University of Bangalore, India, for sharing with us their research on alternate readings from early handwritten and palm-leaf manuscripts of the Yoga Sutra. Ven. Brian K. Smith, PhD, a professor who teaches these materials at the University of California, Riverside; Loyola Marymount University; and Diamond Mountain University, carefully collated for us the variations of the Sanskrit text.

Finally, we would like to express infinite thanks to our many teachers from India, Tibet, and the West, who have spent thousands of hours patiently passing these teachings on to us.