The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali

Two gripes:First, it's important to be very careful when ordering, I searched for the Shearer translation  The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali (Sacred Teachings)  and commentary and it came up as a hardcover, but with options for a Kindle edition or a soft cover. The soft cover was very inexpensive so I clicked on that option and ordered. What I did not realize was that the soft cover is not the same book. It's not the Shearer but the Charles Johnston. I only realized this once it arrived. I guess I should have been more careful, but this should not be touted on the page for the Shearer edition as a soft-cover alternative. It was cheap enough that I'll keep it for comparison, but it's not the book I wanted and it's a warning to be careful when navigating around Amazon books.Second, the Johnston edition itself is really quite irritating. Each individual sutra is followed by a paragraph of commentary so steeped in the Christian tradition with its doctrines of sin and perversity, salvation, and servility to divine lordship that the connection with Patanjali's own words becomes a total mystery. I probably won't be able to stomach getting through the whole thing.Cheap though!

I have been researching the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali in published format over the past 2 years and physically bought and checked out close to 10 different versions! Many of the translations are not well done (too convoluted and not user-friendly). Others include too many comments with interpretations that are not terribly helpful and often a bit confusing. I keep coming back to this little book by Alistair Shearer. Alistair is quite a renowned British Sanskrit scholar and long-time teacher of transcendental meditation. This little book is just wonderful, and I strongly recommend it. The book first provides an easy concise(!) introduction from a vedic perspective followed by the best translation I have come across. Alistair's writing is very accessible, and I am quite confident most readers will really like it.

I don't like this particular translation/discussion of the Sutras. Somehow the translator managed to convolute short, direct sentences. They introduce foreign terms and seem to go on tangents. I've found myself just reading the direct translation and then googling several other sites which do a much better job of discussing the sentences further, without having to create their own phrasing or concepts. And since you can already find Patanjali's writing online, you're really buying the book for the discussion of the translation.

This is an inept OCR lift, and it seems like the publisher (used loosely) didn't even try to clean up the mess. Bad formatting, incorrect characters make this sacred text unreadable. There are other copies of this translation for the same price that don't have the all the obstacles to reading the Johnston translation of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. Look elsewhere.

I have read several translations of this and I LOVE THIS ONE FOR ITS SIMPLICITY. So many translate with such headie connections, but this one is just pure & simple and helped me reconnect with the heart of the practice again.

If you are "seeking" at all, you will appreciate this little book. I highly recommend this reviewer whose translation and comments are wonderful as viewed by an experienced eye.... The style of the book is appealing and suits the subject matter perfectly. Mr. Alistair Shearer has much to offer. If you are interested, then you are interested! A small treasure....

Translation very approachable.This is the kind of text that makes you wonder if anyone has said anything new about being human in the past 2000 years. Direct, clear, and profound. Not just a set of ideals but ways of thinking and living that will get you there, whether or not you're into yoga.

At times, it was difficult to separate the Sutras from the commentary from the audio version. Also, at times there was clearly mistranslated because the sentence just didn't make sense grammatically. I did get a lot from this audiobook; I just think it has a lot of room for improvement.

Five ninety nine for a 33 page pamphlet - what a total disgrace.It 'starts' on p13, so effectively 20 pages of content- half of which is a standard translation.I'm truly shocked by this.

Simple and easy to understand

I found this a great interpretation and translation, and refer to it. Recommend.

I like this pocket book. Although I haven't finished reading it, the few pages I read really radiates with my path 🙏

Arrived with a creased cover - not great for a new book