PREFACE
Peace be unto all beings!
Adorations unto the Almighty Lord! Homage unto the great Sage Patanjali, the ancient
expounder of the science of Raja Yoga! Salutations to Worshipful Master Gurudev Sivananda at
whose Feet this book is offered in reverence and devotion!
I am happy to give this brief Preface to this little book on the subject of Raja Yoga edited by
Sri Swami Vimalananda, who has been a devoted helper to me in innumerable ways over the past
more than two decades. The matter in this book comprises a series of class lectures given in Beirut
(Lebanon) at the Yoga Shanti Niketan where I had been invited by the Founder-Director, Mrs.
Louisa Raaff, known to her student circles as Mother Shanta and Mother Swami Lalitanandaji, who
generously helped towards this trip. I went to Beirut and stayed for six weeks in the spring of 1973
fulfilling a programme of a series of class lectures, Satsangas, meditation sessions and public
engagements. Two other friends who took great interest in my visit and were very helpful to me are
Sri Omar Mansaur and Jean Pierre Sara, both spiritual seekers taking keen interest in Yoga practice
and meditation. To these wonderful persons I owe a debt of gratitude and take this opportunity of
recording it here.
I must also mention the young student, Panos Tsakalian of the American University at
Beirut who arranged lectures at the University.
These lectures have been given in very simple language avoiding technical terms as far as
possible. They are easy to understand as they were originally addressed to a group of persons who
were strangers to Indian philosophical thoughts and the subject of Yoga-Darshana. It was a new
subject and the field was unfamiliar to their thought-form. As such, these talks were necessarily
made simple for them to grasp. An orderly sequence was attempted at the time of their delivery.
Therefore, this arrangement makes the present volume something in the nature of a primary
text-book on Patanjali Yoga. Hence it is felt that it may be of some value to beginners and would
help them to get a preliminary knowledge of Ashtanga Yoga.
Whatever is helpful and of any value in this volume belongs to Maharshi Patanjali, to whom
I pay homage. Any discrepancies and shortcomings the reader may find belong to me. The entire
project was undertaken in the spirit of Guru-Seva to Worshipful Master Swami Sivanandaji.
My many grateful thanks to each and everyone who has made this volume possible.
Swami Chidananda
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