The Influence of The Invocation To Sage Patanjali

Patanjali is widely believed to be the father of Yoga. At the very least, he is certainly the "father" of most of the way yoga is practised today, with the Invocation to Sage Patanjali central to most types of yoga, whether it is openly acknowledged or not. But whether that reflects the way yoga was originally intended, is another thing.

His most famous book "The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali", was written in approximately 300-500 B.C. In 196 sutras or aphorisms, Patanjali states what Yoga is - "the stilling of the fluctuations of the mind"; and what Yoga does - "perfect firmness of the body, steadiness of intelligence and benevolence of spirit".

Yoga practitioners paying respect (and acknowleding their beliefs, lineage, and asscoiations) through the invocation to Sage Patanjali has been likened to musicians earning royalties.

Just as a musician gets paid money by people for the right to use their music, Iyengar Yoga practitioners pay "homage" to Sage Patanjali in return for (in their perspective) benefiting from his teachings and wisdom.

Perhaps the curency is not money, but a quotia of life force energy instead. Iyengar yoga is not the only type of yoga to use the invocation to sage Patanjali, however. Desikachar cites Patanjali as a central influence, and Kriya yoga are fairly quiet about their associations. Iyengar, Desikachar, Ashtanga, and a few other types of yoga came out of Krishnamarcharya's teachings, for whom Patanjali was an important influence.

The teaching of Yoga, according to those adhering to these beliefs,  involves taking the sutras and interweaving them into a readily accessible practice that is initially related to the physical body, but gradually places more emphasis on taking the practitioner "within" (where exactly, I wonder?).  Additionally, the  invocation to sage Patanjali readies the mind and body to practice Yoga (according to these beliefs). Perhaps the invocation to sage patanjali does indeed "ready" the mind and body, but does it really ready it for the frequencies and consciousness that are in alignment with the original intention of Source?

The invocation to sage Patanjali ia like a 'Linguistic Template Reprogramming" Grid. Linguistic Template Reprogramming Grids do prepare the body to accept and hold certain frequencies, whether those frequencies are in alignemnt with the Divine Intention of Source, or hold another agenda. They can be used with alternate works, works that do affirm our inherent spiritual power and capacity, too.

Words are very powerful things - so our self talk, and the intentions we affirm to ourselves by repeating something, have a profound and cumulative effect on the body and mind. Thus, Linguistic Template Re-Progarmming grids like the invocation to sage patanjali , can indeed affect our mental, emotional, physical, and multidimensional aspects. This makes it particularly important to choose the type of Linguistic Template Re-Programming grid that matches what you want to embody and become.

Part of the invocation to sage patanjali that is repeated in some yoga studios involves affirming that you are "prostating" yourself before Patanjali. It implies that he is this being that came to earth to "bestow" his "yogic light" upon the earthlings "to enable mankind to rest in the house of the immortal soul". What this is essentially saying is that mankind does not have its own capacity to access its own soul, that we don't have the "light" to do it, and that therefore we must "pay our obeisance" (ie. obey) some other being to have any spiritual connection.

This is absolutely not true. We have a connection to Source through our own multidimensional family lines - we have our own Avatar level, our own Rishiac level, our own Eckatic level, and our own Self-as-Source aspect. We may not have a conscious connection to those aspects, but we also don't integrate those aspets by denying them and looking outside oursleves to another being for them. Integrating our spirituality, into the 3D aspect that we are now, does not involve giving our power away - ie. prostating, ourselves. Surender to God-Source, to the Divinity within each and every one of us, involves taking our power back and recognising our own essence as Source, and finding ways to be that Divine essence - such as being mindful of our thoughts, our emotions, the way we use our energy and time. The more we act "as if", by using appropriate Linguistic Template Reprogramming grids, that affirm these things that we want to embody, such as the I AM Prayer from www.azuritepress.com below, the more we bring that reality into our current experience. This helps raise our consciousness, our frequency, instead of the opposite.

The I AM Prayer

I AM a Child of the Original ONE,

I AM a Ray of the Original Sun,

I AM Wholeness, I AM Love.

I AM the Truth that Spans the Sands of Time,

I AM the Rainbow of the Very First Shine,

I AM Music, I AM Light.

Let the Light Descend Upon Me,

Guide the Way with Golden Light,

No Other God will Stand Before Me ...

As I Embrace the One True Life I was Born to Live...

By the Will of the Original ONE.

I AM a Face of the Original God,

I AM a Voice of the Original Sound,

I AM a Wave Upon the Ocean of Eternal Light.

I Reach My Arms Up to the Heavens, and say,

I AM THIS I AM.

The Presence of the Ancient One

Springs Forth at My Command.

I AM One With God,

I AM THIS I AM ...

And, as I Decree It, So It Is.

The invocation to sage patanjali has been undeniably influential. But we have the choice in each moment to choose our influences. Just because tradition, a tradition perhaps influenced by many things over time, is aligned a certain way, does not mean that we have to blindly follow suit, just because others may say so, or just because that is the way it has become. Yoga is not a doctrine, and the only thing we should be "surrendering" to is Source, where we exist also.

The I AM Prayer is part of the Freedom Teachings available at www.azuritepress.com

(C) I AM Prayer by A'sha-yana & A'zha-yana Deane; 1999-2007 All Rights Reserved

Reproduced with kind perission of www.azuritepress.com

More information is also available from the Kathara Team.

The views on this site are the author's and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Azurite Press. The reproduction of this technique does not constitute an actual or implied endorsement of this site or anything contained herein by the Azurite Press.