Ian Whicher is Deputy-Director of the Dharam Hinduja Institute of Indic Research at the University of Cambridge.

• Acknowledgments Abbreviations Introduction One Selected Background Material on the Development of Yoga in Early Hindu ThoughtThe Term "Yoga"Yoga in the VedasYoga in the UpanisadsYogic Themes in the Bhagavadgita and the MoksadharmaYoga and SamadhiThe Pedagogical Dimension of Yoga: (i) The Practitioner (Yogin) and the Commitment to PracticeThe Pedagogical Dimension of Yoga: (ii) The Spiritual Guide or Preceptor (Guru)Concluding RemarksTwo The Yoga -Sutra : Introduction and Metaphysical PerspectiveIntroduction to Patañjali and the Yoga -SutraDistinguishing Samkhya and Yoga, and the Transition to the Yoga -SutraPrakrti as Viewed in the Yoga -SutraThe Purusa -Principle in the Yoga -SutraThree The Mind (Citta ). Its Nature, Structure, and FunctioningCittaAn Introduction to Karma, Samskara, and VasanaIntroduction to Yoga EpistemologyVrttiKlista- and Aklista-VrttiSamyogaTheory of Reflected Consciousness in YogaA Closer Look at "Perception" in the Yoga-SutraFour Nirodha, Yoga Praxis, and the Transformation of the MindNirodha : The Foundation of Yogic PraxisNirodha (Cessation): Annihilation/Negation or Transformation of the Mind?Abhyasa (Practice) and Vairagya (Dispassion)A Preliminary Look at the Meaning andPractice of SamadhiPreparation for SamadhiAn Overview of the Astanga -YogaFive Cognitive SamadhiSamadhi : The Heart of Patañjali's Soteriological MethodologyAn Analysis of Yoga -Sutra I.41Vitarka -SamadhiVicara -SamadhiAnanda -SamadhiAsmita -SamadhiA Further Look at Cognitive SamadhiSix From Knowledge to the "Aloneness" of the KnowerThe Soteriological Role of Samskara in YogaEnstasy (Asamprajñata -Samadhi )"Aloneness" (Kaivalya ):Implications for an Embodied Freedom-A Final Analysis and Assessment of the Yoga-SutraConclusion Notes Bibliography Index

"A superb piece of work, this book provides an original, constructive, and insightful interpretation of the Yoga system. Whicher provides a helpful hermeneutic for understanding this key philosophical and practical tradition. By suggesting that Yoga upholds both consciousness and activity, Whicher corrects the mistaken notion that Yoga condemns the world, suggesting that Yoga seeks to purify and improve the individual and his or her relationship with the world."— Christopher Key Chapple, Loyola Marymount University"Recently there has been a great deal of interest in the Yoga-Sutras of Patanjali. Scholars and general readers have been looking for a clearer presentation of the material, and this work fulfills this need." —Ashok Malhotra, State University of New York, Oneonta