Friends, welcome back—lesson four! How lucky are we to keep walking together?
A quick invitation
For the pilgrims among you who want to share your spirit journeys for the good of all, I’m forming a small intentional sangha called The Caravan (click and scroll down to read more). We’ll meet on the Zoom for six weeks to embody, celebrate, and share the wisdom we’re gathering. Start: Monday, December 29, 2025 at 5pm PT / 8pm ET. Theme: Our Endings & Beginnings. I’m capping it at 8 people—please message me to save a spot and learn more.
And to new subscribers—welcome! You’re legendary. You’ll be able to say, “I remember when…” (and we’ll also remember from Lesson Three that memory is one of mind’s movements—sometimes helpful, sometimes not).
Where we are in the text
In this series, we’re reading, chanting, and learning with Patañjali’s Yoga Sūtra, wandering through the Samādhi Pāda (book of absorption). Today, we look closer at the five mental fluctuations (vṛtti) that can disturb the peace—or support it. That peace of mind? That’s yoga. The poses and breathing may get a lot of attention (and we’ll see how that’s a viparyaya) but here we are, talking mind.
Deep breath… here we go.
Last time, we learned there are five kinds of movements, and each can be kliṣṭa (harmful/binding) or akliṣṭa (non-harmful/spacious): right knowledge, error, imagination, sleep, and memory.
Today we look at how Patañjali defines them:
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