Patanjali was a sage in ancient India who was considered the author of a number of Sanskrit works. He compiled a collection of aphorisms that serve as a guide for spiritual seekers. These writings have become known as the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali and are considered a foundational text of Yoga. In this article, we will share with you 33 wise Patanjali quotes to help you understand the yoga philosophy more deeply and attain inner peace.
33 Patanjali Quotes
#1
“Undisturbed calmness of mind is attained by cultivating friendliness toward the happy, compassion for the unhappy, delight in the virtuous, and indifference toward the wicked.” ~ Patanjali
#2
“Every morning put your mind into your heart and stand in the presence of God all the day long.” ~ Patañjali
#3
“When you are inspired by some great purpose, some extraordinary project, all your thoughts break their bonds: Your mind transcends limitations, your consciousness expands in every direction, and you find yourself in a new, great and wonderful world. Dormant forces, faculties and talents become alive, and you discover yourself to be a greater person by far than you ever dreamed yourself to be.” ~ Patanjali
#4
“Here is, in truth, the whole secret of Yoga, the science of the soul. The active turnings, the strident vibrations, of selfishness, lust, and hate are to be stilled by meditation, by letting heart and mind dwell in the spiritual life, by lifting up the heart to the strong, silent life above, which rests in the stillness of eternal love, and needs no harsh vibration to convince it of true being.” ~ Patanjali
#5
“A mind free from all disturbances is yoga.” ~ Patanjali
#6
“Aversion is a form of bondage. We are tied to what we hate or fear. That is why, in our lives, the same problem, the same danger or difficulty, will present itself over and over again in various prospects, as long as we continue to resist or run away from it instead of examining it and solving it.” ~ Patanjali
#7
“There is always a light within us that is free from all sorrow and grief, no matter how much we may be experiencing suffering.” ~ Patanjali
#8
“The way to eliminate ignorance is through steady, focused discrimination between the observer and the world.” ~ Patanjali
#9
“Just as the pure crystal takes color from the object which is nearest to it, so the mind, when it is cleared of thought-waves, achieves sameness or identity with the object of its concentration.” ~ Patanjali
#10
“Asanas bring perfection in body, beauty in form, grace, strength, compactness, and the hardness and brilliance of a diamond.” ~ Patanjali
#11
“The longest journey begins with a single step.” ~ Patanjali
#12
“Yoga is the settling of the mind into silence. When the mind has settled, we are established in our essential nature, which is unbounded Consciousness. Our essential nature is usually overshadowed by the activity of the mind.” ~ Patanjali
#13
“This is true of the physical powers, and of those which dwell in the higher vestures. There must be, first, purity; as the blood must be pure, before one can attain physical health. But the absence of impurity is not in itself enough, else would many nerveless ascetics of the cloisters rank as high saints. There is needed, further, a positive fire of the will; a keen vital vigor for the physical powers, and something finer, purer, stronger, but of kindred essence, for the higher powers. The fire of genius is something more than a phrase, for there can be no genius without the celestial fire of the awakened spiritual will.” ~ Patanjali
#14
“If you can control the rising of the mind into ripples, you will experience yoga.” ~ Patanjali
#15
“The heart and mind can find peace and harmony by contemplating the transcendental nature of the true self as supreme effulgent life.” ~ Patanjali
#16
“In deep meditation, the flow of concentration is continuous like the flow of oil.” ~ Patanjali
#17
“When you are steadfast in your abstention of thoughts of harm directed toward yourself and others, all living creatures will cease to feel fear in your presence.” ~ Patanjali
#18
“The activities of the liberated soul transcend the pairs of opposites.” ~ Patanjali
#19
“The wisdom obtained in the higher states of consciousness is different from that obtained by inference and testimony as it refers to particulars.” ~ Patanjali
#20
“Success is nearest to those whose efforts are intense and sincere.” ~ Patanjali
Patanjali Quotes
#21
“Yoga takes you into the present moment, the only place where life exists.” ~ Patanjali
#22
“Sloth is the great enemy — the inspirer of cowardice, irresolution, self-pitying grief, and trivial, hairsplitting doubts. Sloth may also be a psychological cause of sickness. It is tempting to relax from our duties, take refuge in ill-health and hide under a nice warm blanket.” ~ Patanjali
#23
“The cause of suffering is that the unbounded Self is overshadowed by the world.” ~ Patanjali
#24
“Egotism is but the perversion of spiritual being. Ambition is the inversion of spiritual power. Passion is the distortion of love. The mortal is the limitation of the immortal. When these false images give place to true, then the spiritual man stands forth luminous, as the sun, when the clouds disperse.” ~ Patanjali
#25
“When the mind is clear, empty of memories and knowledge, things are seen exactly as they are.” ~ Patanjali
#26
“Life cannot be known by the “mind,” its secrets cannot be learned through the “mind.” The proof is, the ceaseless strife and contradiction of opinion among those who trust in the mind. Much less can the “mind” know itself, the more so, because it is pervaded by the illusion that it truly knows, truly is.” ~ Patanjali
#27
“When one is confirmed in celibacy, spiritual vigor is gained.” ~ Patanjali
#28
“The Mind is not self-luminous, since it can be seen as an object. This is a further step toward overthrowing the tyranny of the “mind”: the psychic nature of emotion and mental measuring. This psychic self, the personality, claims to be absolute, asserting that life is for it and through it; it seeks to impose on the whole being of man its narrow, materialistic, faithless view of life and the universe; it would clip the wings of the soaring Soul. But the Soul dethrones the tyrant, by perceiving and steadily affirming that the psychic self is no true self at all, not self-luminous, but only an object of observation, watched by the serene eyes of the Spiritual Man.” ~ Patanjali
#29
“It is not enough to have intuitions; we must act on them; we must live them.” ~ Patanjali
#30
“OM: the symbol of the Three in One, the three worlds in the Soul; the three times, past, present, future, in Eternity; the three Divine Powers, Creation, Preservation, Transformation, in the one Being; the three essences, immortality, omniscience, joy, in the one Spirit. This is the Word, the Symbol, of the Master and Lord, the perfected Spiritual Man.” ~ Patanjali
#31
“Nothing in all creation is so like God as silence.” ~ Patanjali
#32
“Victory over mind and its modifications can also be gained through complete surrender to God, the inner guide.” ~ Patanjali
#33
“The purpose of life, therefore, is the realizing of that prophecy; the unveiling of the immortal man; the birth of the spiritual from the psychical, whereby we enter our divine inheritance and come to inhabit Eternity. This is, indeed, salvation, the purpose of all true religion, in all times.” ~ Patanjali
We hope you are inspired by these Patanjali quotes as much as we are!