Sanskrit Yoga Sutra translated As people around the world are becoming more health-conscious, yoga centers have been gaining popularity as a way to keep fit and healthy. According to Jini , however, physical health is only half the story. "When most people think of yoga, they think of stretching," Chen says. "They think that is yoga, but it is really only a small part. People don't know the philosophy behind it." Rather, yoga, she explains, is an entire way of living, a lifestyle intended to bring one to a state of peace. Chen
might know a little about it. Never mind yoga has been a significant part of her life for the last 23 years, never mind she has spent years studying with masters of the art, and never mind she has frequented India for research. The essence of yoga, she says, is in the Yoga Sutra, which Chen has translated into Chinese for the first time in known history. The Yoga Sutra is actually a collection of sutras that were written 2,500 years ago in the ancient Indian language of Sanskrit. While the philosophy of Raja Yoga may have been around for more than 5,000 years, the 196 sutras as penned by Patanjali Maharishi is seen as its principle text. While Chen didn't master the Sanskrit language for the job, she translated the late Yogi Sri Swami Satchidana's interpretation, with whom she studied in the U.S. Satchidana, a guru of the art painstakingly interpreted the sutras from Sanksrit into English and added his own commentary to the new version. As the sutras themselves are
merely a few words each, the commentary, Chen says, is essential to understanding them. "The interpretations are very important." Chen came to yoga, or rather yoga came to Chen, in a conspicuous way. Noting that many people start practicing as a result wanting to overcome sickness, lose weight or "have a nice figure," Chen's introduction came from a chance meeting with a local teacher was looking for an interpreter for visiting masters. "I really think that meeting was arranged by God," she says. Initially she just worked the job and didn't join in, but eventually she had to try it. "The way of thinking just pulled me in." That sparked a lifelong search for Samadi, the yoga equivalent of nirvana. Chen started to devour everything she could about yoga and ventured to India, started writing on the subject and sought yogis to study under. Eventually, she came across Satchidana at the Light on Truth Universal Shrine in Virginia in the U.S. Early on, in
front of a group of others, Satchidana, referring to Chen, announced "Molike is going to translate the Yoga Sutra into Chinese." It was news to her. "As soon as he said it, I felt a great responsibility and I knew that I had to do it," Chen says now. At the time, she merely answered "I would be honored." Naturally, it wasn't easy. Chen who is fluent in English and even speaks some Hindi labored over the text for three years, despite the fact it wasn't exceptionally large. She reasoned that she had to do it right to do it justice and ensure it kept its meaning intact. "If there was something I didn't understand, I went to India," she says. She made five trips for the book, each time visiting a master to help fully understand different passages. "I didn't want to make any mistake in the meaning because then people would make mistakes in their thinking." Describing the book, she relates how it is a lifelong journey towards Samadi separated into four parts.
The first part, Samdhi Pada, introduces Samadi which Chen describes as "the most quiet state of your mind where you don't feel your body anymore." Next comes Saphana Pada, which details the "eight limbs" - the steps one takes to get to Samadi. Vibhuti Pada discusses the challenges following completion of the practice and Kaivaiya Pada discusses the final goal of yoga: liberation from worldly inclinations. In addition to translating the original sutras and Satchidana's interpretations, Chen included commentaries of her own. "I want people here to understand what yoga really is," she says. She makes circle with her hands to explain. "Inside the circle there is space, but it is limited. Outside the circle there just space, too, but it is infinite." Yoga helps you break out of the physical world into the infinite, she says. "The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali" launches this weekend. Chen herself will be available at a launch party Sunday at 1 p.m. at the Howard
International House Taipei (No. 30, Xinsheng Road, Sec. 3). |
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