Patañjali’s Yoga Sūtra provides a systematic account of yoga and contains a wide range of Jain, Buddhist, and Brahmanical influences. Take a close look at the philosophy, goals, and practices of Patañjali’s text with Vyāsa’s commentary, and appreciate some of the nuanced scholarly debates regarding the text’s intended meanings and outcomes. Also understand the historical conditions that allowed the Yoga Sūtra to take on a new life as the canonical text of modern postural yoga, where its authority continues to inform contemporary yoga practice into the present.
Learning Objectives
• Learn the classical yoga of Patañjali’s Yoga Sūtra and Vyāsa’s Bhāṣya
• Take time to reflect on and incorporate Patañjali’s principles into daily life
• Learn the text's Sanskrit vocabulary in depth to penetrate its deeper meaning
• Understand the Yoga Sūtra’s ancient as well as modern colonial history
Required Reading
• The Yoga Sūtras of Patañjali with commentary of Vyāsa (translation of your choice)
• David Gordon White’s Patañjali: A Biography
• Mark Singleton’s article “The Classical Reveries of Modern Yoga: Patañjali and Constructive Orientalism”
Course Length
10-hour modular self-study + 10 Fridays of Live Zoom Discussion with Professor Miller, 8:30AM – 9:15AM PT from 9/4 – 11/6/2026
Course Details
• Additional readings offered as support material.
• Professor also available by appointment.
Learning Area

Yoga, Self-care and Spirituality
Instructor

Christopher Miller, PhD
Christopher Jain Miller, the co-founder and Vice President of Academic Affairs at Arihanta Institute, completed his PhD in the Study of Religion at the University of California, Davis. He is Professor of Jain and Yoga Studies at Arihanta Institute, Visiting Researcher at the University of Zürich's Asien-Orient-Institut, and Professor of Engaged Jain Studies at Claremont School of Theology. Christopher's primary fields of research interest are Yoga Studies and Engaged Jain Studies, and he currently serves as the co-chair of the Yoga in Theory and Practice Unit at the American Academy of Religion as well as on the steering committees for the Dharma Academy of North America (DANAM) and the Yoga Darśana Yoga Sādhana conference. Christopher is the author of "Embodying Transnational Yoga: Eating, Singing, and Breathing in Transformation" (Routledge 2024) and the co-editor of "Engaged Jainism: Critical and Constructive Studies of Jain Social Engagement" (SUNY 2025) as well as "Beacons of Dharma: Spiritual Exemplars for the Modern Age" (Lexington 2020).