Live as a modern-day yogi for 10 weeks
Master Tranquility & Character Development : Online Classical Meditation Course (Raja Yoga)
Question yourself and unearth insights that resonate with your life journey:
Where are you in your journey of teaching or practicing yoga?
What overwhelming challenges do you face in your life right now?
What aspects do you feel were missing from your Yoga Teacher Training that you wish you had learned?
What kind of knowledge would help you progress further on your journey?
What knowledge would empower you to elevate your life’s purposes?
Which topics are you eager to explore and learn more?
What are your intentions for serving others as a yoga teacher?
What will the course provide you with?
Applying the philosophy and techniques attributed to Classical Yoga frames individual lives to maximise life purpose and meaning. This application is achieved through guiding yoga students (who may feel unfulfilled in their creative potential, satisfaction, or contentment with life) onto the sweetest pathway of their particular lives.
This is achieved by introducing and practicing hidden yoga tools that extend beyond the basic Hatha and Raja Yoga taught in standard yoga teacher training courses. This guidance throughout a year of learning and application will enable each student to live more like a modern yogi/yogini, free from what is experienced as mental and physical suffering. This guidance is personal, inspiring, empowering, and not available anywhere outside Samyama Yoga School.
The methods to live in harmony with your self and to realise that which is the nature of life are described in one of the most lucid and remarkable instructional texts ever compiled. These are the Yoga Sûtra of Patañjali—compiled in India sometime between the third century BC to the fourth century AD. While the Yoga Sûtra is considered among the most authoritative instructional books on yoga, nothing is known about Patañjali the person. Rather than being the ‘originator’ of yoga, Patanjali is regarded as the compiler of a precisely encoded viewpoint of the inherited practices of yoga. (The word Patanjali means ‘scribe’).
The course will be teaching a practical spiritual approach to the meaning of the narrative of the Sutra rather than a religious approach as occurs with most interpretations. There will be emphasis on examining the meaning of the words that authors use to gleen their understanding of the Sutra. Sanskrit words usually have several meanings—depending on the context in which they are presented. More importantly for this type of text, many words can be interpreted in a religious context as well as a context of common usage. Patanjali defined many words when he complied the text, probably to indicate his understanding as opposed to that of the religious hierarchy of his era.
The Yoga Sutra is a Spiritual Narrative
The Yoga Sûtra was not created to be a literary work, rather the assemblage of words are an instructional metaphysical journey to encourage and guide both students and teachers in stages of self-transformation. It was originally created as one-line summaries creating a narrative to motivate and direct both teachers and students on the path to their enlightenment by cultivating through practical rituals and mental theatre: moral values, ethical considerations and the experience of spiritual self-appreciation.
Most Yoga teachers associate the Yoga Ashtanga as a summary of the Yoga Sutra—Yama, Niyama, Asana, Pranyama, Pratyahara, Dharana, Dhyana, to experience Samadhi and achieve Kaivalya. The Ashtanga certainly has value as a summary outline, however there is much more of value in the sutra.
The Yoga Sutra is a Metaphysical-mystical Text
There are six recognised schools of Indian metaphysics which are Vedânta, Nyâya, Vaisheshika, Sâmkhya, Pûrva-Mimâmsâ
and Classical Yoga. Because of its practicality, yoga can be observed in varying degrees in all the Indian philosophical traditions.
It is important to understand that because of the non-religio-intellectual content of the Yoga Sûtra, much of the teachings have been available to people of all faiths—there is freedom for the individual who chooses to practice yoga in their lives to interpret its practicality through the convention of their own philosophy or that of an established religion. The Yoga Sutra guides the student on a spiritual journey—which is not religious.
Which Text Will You Use to Accurately define the Sanskrit Words
How will you know if what is being presented to you is an accurate rendition of the narrative?
The Yoga Sutra was originally written in ancient (Rig) Sanskrit which affords diffferent meanings to each word and thus each sutra than will occur if modern Sanskrit meanings are used. Since there are no standard dictionaries of Rig Sanskrit metaphysical terms available, the closest and most readily available text—that gives the broadest range of meanings to the ancient words and by its rigorous nature of compilation gives the most honest understanding of their associated meanings—is the respected dictionary of the translations of classical Rig Sanskrit words into English, by Sir Monier Monier-Williams first published in 1899 by the Oxford University Press, and now available through Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Private Limited, Delhi. The course will be referring to this dictonary as it’s authority.
As an extra to the course you can purchase my publication on A practical Interpretation of The Yoga Sutra of Patanjali
This book was published in 2004 by Samyama Yoga (Canberra). It has 6 chapters with 169 pages and has illustrations.
Each of the Sûtra is presented in the original Sanskrit with a literal interpretation in English. Further, the individual words are listed with their root derivative and the classical meaning attributed to my understanding of the theme of the Sûtra as well as a range of other meanings attributed to the words—the first meaning is the one used in the interpretation. The spacing between these words reflects their association in the relevant Sûtra—less space indicates a closer association between words. The page number of the M. Monier-Williams Sanskrit to English dictionary in which the word will be found, is listed with each word. This gives the student who does not read Sanskrit, a methodology to compare many facets of the meaning of each word.
To further the overall understanding of the Sûtra, a concise summary is presented in Chapter 5, while a flowing interpretation in essay form is presented in Chapter 6.
What is the Benefit for You of Doing this Course?
Most yoga teacher courses don’t spend as much time on Raja Yoga as they do on Hatha Yoga. Now is your opportunity to be tutored through a thorough investigation of each line (sutra) to assist your spiritual journey in yoga. The instructional tutoring is intended to give you insight into the arcane secrets behind the text—which you can then incorporate directly into your life as well as present with confidence to your own students.
How are the weekly Zoom Sessions organised?
Each session is 90 minutes. Experience has shown that sessions longer than this can overwhelm most student’s ability to hold the required focus. Students don’t have to know Sanskrit to do this course. Most of the Sanskrit words will simply be spelt not voiced,
One goal of the course is to examine each Sutra with respect to the overall narrative. In each session the teacher will focus on one sutra after another until the whole text has been examined. The teacher will relate the themes of groups of sutra to real life situations he has encounted, both in life and in clinical situations. This helps clarify for each student’s their overall life meaning and purpose.
Another goal is to uncover the narrative that links each sutra to those coming before and those following. This helps students to clarify their spiritual destiny, contentment, life-quality, life values as well as new skills to instill pride and accomplishment as a yoga teacher.
Students will be urged to ask questions about each sutra if they don’t understand the relevance to their understanding.
Your Teacher
Your teacher is Bill Giles who started yoga practice in 1972, eventually formed the Samyama Yoga School in 1989 where he has since taught up to eight classes a week in both Hatha and Raja yoga. At the same time to complement yoga teaching he has worked as a clinical immunobiologist (post graduate degrees in Science from Uni of Qld and ANU) with the Canberra Medical Ecology Centre, focusing on medicines, therapies and lifestyles to address chronic immune-related illnesses.
Bill Joined AMORC (The Ancient Mystical Order of the Rosy Cross located in San Jose) in 1972 and studied the mystical laws for 22 years with this fraternity. He was introduced to Yoga through the Rosicrusians.
He also has practiced martial arts (Judo then Aikedo then Traditional Goju Ryu Karate) since 1962 and is competent in Japanese Bone Setting (Oriental osteopathy), Chinese medicine, acupuncture and Zen shiatsu, These complement his Hatha Yoga teachings.
Bill has also been a clinical hypnotherapist/counsellor for more than 30 years, the techniques of which he uses along with chiropractic NeuroEmotional Techniques, herbal, homoeopathic medicines and flower essences to address mental/emotional illnesses. These complement his practical approach to Classical Raja Yoga.
Yoga Book Publications by Bill Giles
The Elephant and the Child—the mystery of ourselves 2002
Trunk Exercises and Yoga Nidra 2003
The Yoga Sutra of Patanjali 2004
In Search of Yoga 2005
The Yoga of Happiness 2005
The Yoga of Samadhi 2005
The Hatha Yoga Pradipika 2016
This live online course includes:
• Ten Zoom sessions, each is 1.5 hours live contact with your teacher.
• The opportunity to purchase the Samyama Yoga School’s publications
• Free yoga essays
• The opportunity to experience a Raja Yoga retreat on the South Coast of NSW
• Certificate of completion
Which Class Times Would be Suitable for You
Sunday night 7.00pm to 8.30pm
Monday morning 7.00pm to 8.30pm
Monday night 7.00pm to 8.30pm
Tuesday morning 7.00pm to 8.30pm
Tuesday night 7.00pm to 8.30pm
The course will begin when sufficient students have enrolled
Cost $420 for 10 weeks tuition.
To talk with Bill Giles about the course send a text (0437276447) or email (bill@billgiles.com.au) indicating you wish to book an appointment time.
The course will link the Sutra with:
• The historical origins of yoga as a lifestyle philosophy and use this as a reference for the origins the Yoga Sutra and why this is relevant to a modern spiritual journey.
• The origins of Rig Sanskrit for interpreting the cultural connections between tribal groups such as the Vratyas with the Yoga Sutra.
• The political climate between tribes, chieftenships and evolving stateship control in India between 2500 BCE and 200 AD and its connection with duel and non-duel religious and spiritual philosophies that led to the compiling of the Yoga Sutra (and influenced Buddhism and Jainism).
• The interconnectedness of Prakriti, Purusha, Ishvara and Brahman for the focus of the spiritual journey according to the Yoga Sutra.
• The practical techniques associated with the Ashtanga and Kaivalya.
• The understanding of the siddhis (psychic abilities/powers)
• The overall purpose of life according to the Yoga Sutra.
• The Yoga Sutra will be interpreted through modern psychobiology and hypnotherapy theories; introducing the practical Five Social Survival Traits and the Models of Motivation of psychobiology and how they affect every person in their decision making and accomplishments. We will explore the Life Journey between Heaven and Earth and how the Yoga Sutra applies to people’s lives as a practical philosophy.