Learning Area

This course provides an in-depth exploration of yoga and meditation as understood within ancient and classical Jain scriptures. In Part 1: Ancient Jain Yoga, students will be introduced to foundational concepts such as āsana, or physical postures, as a tool for purification and meditation. Drawing from early Jain texts, including the Uttarādhyayanasūtra and the Daśavaikālikasūtra, students will learn how restraint of the body, mind, and speech formed early Jain definitions of yoga.  Part 2: Yoga and Meditation in Classical Jain Philosophy, transitions into an examination of the Tattvārthsūtra and its commentaries, where yoga is described as the inflow (āsrava) of karma—representing an obstacle to spiritual liberation. Students will explore the key to liberation through correct worldview, knowledge, and conduct, as well as the role of dhyāna (meditation) as both an austerity (tapas) and a means of wearing away (nirjarā) karma. Through a discussion of virtuous (dharma) and pure (śukla) meditation, the course will highlight how advanced meditation practices lead to spiritual purification and the elimination of karma, providing a comprehensive understanding of Jain yoga's ultimate aim of mokṣa, or liberation. This is designed as a two-week course that will take approximately 4 hours to complete, and includes readings and a series of 10 lectures to guide you through the intricacies of ancient and classical Jain definitions of Yoga. Learning Objectives:Learn the role of āsana (physical postures) in ancient Jain yoga as a tool for purification and meditation.Discover how restraint of body, mind, and speech formed early Jain definitions of yoga, with guidance from key ancient texts.Explore the classical Jain philosophical view of yoga as the inflow (āsrava) of karma, and see how this concept is discussed in the Tattvārthsūtra and its commentaries.Understand how meditation (dhyāna) serves as an austerity (tapas) to wear away karma (nirjarā) and how virtuous (dharma) and pure (śukla) meditation practices lead to spiritual purification and liberation (mokṣa).

Take a journey within, to understand better your values, beliefs and desires. Everything in the universe has a rhythm, the sun rises and sets, the phases of the moon, the ebb and flow of tides, the changing of seasons, similarly human life has ups and downs, delight and despair, love and loneliness, health and disease, abundance and lack and so on. But we forget this and at times we feel stuck in our suffering, or we question our own self-worth, we feel lost, disconnected with our inner resources and guidance and life starts feeling like it has gotten off course. The Rhythm of Life program offers you a space to reflect, learn and discover your own rhythm and take charge in your life to experience greater fulfilment, connection, healing, restoration, and harmony in life.The program is based on the Jain principle “Jina- Be a Conqueror of the self” applied to a householder lifestyle. With better understanding of our true self, we can evolve, overcome ourobstacles and limiting beliefs, and take charge of our overall well-being and happiness. There are 4 main modules in this course, which bring together various Indian philosophical traditions with a special emphasis on Jain philosophy, modern scientific research, and real life experiences.Learning Objectives:1. Develop a toolkit to lead a happier and holistic life.2. Understand human suffering and its purpose in our lives.3. Become more conscious of values-based living.4. Redesign beliefs to harmonize your inner and outer worlds.5. Create new habits to become the best version of yourself.

One of the primary questions students of modern yoga seek to answer is precisely how the forms of contemporary yoga practiced today are connected to pre-modern forms of yoga developed in India. To begin to answer this question and to formulate new questions, this course will trace some of the historical continuities and discontinuities between pre-modern and modern yoga practices, demonstrating that modern yoga is a complicated, transnational cultural product. We will explore the legacy of the first yoga teachers who brought yoga to America and Europe as well as yoga’s development from a historical, social, and political perspective.Students will thus take into account current scholarly debates regarding the relationship of transnational yoga to categories such as capitalism, neoliberalism, orientalism, racism, speciesism, gender, cultural appropriation, biopolitics, nationalism, and colonization. Doing so will encourage yoga practitioners to adopt new methodologies concerning the critical study of modern yoga, and will also give them an opportunity to confront and unravel saṃskāras, or acquired mental impressions and social conditionings, related to their inherited beliefs regarding the origins, history, and contemporary practice of yoga. The course is thus simultaneously intellectual as well as, from a yogic perspective, transformational.

This course builds on the understanding of modern yoga as a set of historically evolved body-mind practices and discourses that developed into an effective, late-modern self-care. Based on this definition, contemporary yoga – inspired by both pre-modern practices, such as āsana and prāṇāyāma as well as more modern practices, such as mindfulness, body awareness or relaxation techniques – can be defined as a highly efficient tool for self-care. It continues to evolve by adapting to contemporary needs and contributes to the health of late modern societies.In 1946, the World Health Organization defined “health” as complete physical, mental, and social wellbeing. Thus, cultural studies can and have to contribute to such a holistic understanding of health with their view on humans as biological, but likewise social, ritual, symbolic and deeply interconnected beings, very much so via their bodies.But how can this insight be brought into practice? The course examines theories on embodiment and body knowledge and enriches our existing, individual yoga practice with additional, accessible, and highly efficient tools for self-care. It helps developing a more elaborate and sophisticated language as well as a deepened understanding for embodied processes. This includes the knowledge and training of our external and internal senses, getting to know our individual body image and understanding that how we talk to ourselves matters. We investigate the body scheme, understand the importance of touch, flow-states, relaxation, and other techniques that we can employ for both, getting to know but also to transcend ourselves as well as to understand ourselves as fully interconnected beings. Knowing one’s own body in such elaborate ways can, in a yogic manner, help to unlearn embodied habits and conditioning and to gain distance from them whenever needed.

This class seeks to bring the conceptual framework of the textual tradition of Jain Yoga to life by engaging in contemplative practices that have been practiced since ancient times across Dharma Traditions.

"Yoga is more than āsana" is a phrase we commonly hear in the contemporary yoga world. But what does this actually mean in practice? In this course we will explore the ways yoga practitioners engage in the practice of eating, singing, and breathing. We will learn about these three transformative, yet understudied embodied yoga practices: yogic diet, music, and breathing techniques. While embracing philosophical, philological, and historical approaches to the study of these practices, this course also presents novel cultural approaches for understanding each following the methodology in Professor Miller’s book, Embodying Transnational Yoga: Eating, Singing, and Breathing in Transformation.   Students will move through three contemporary sites of yogic practice where they will learn about the social-historical and cultural forces that both shape and enable particular ways of yogic eating, singing, and breathing therein. By combining the field of yoga studies with Indian Ocean Studies, Food Studies, Ethnomusicology, and Pollution Studies, they will learn that when they embody their own yoga traditions’ transformative practices, they are also simultaneously embodying other unseen cultural and social-historical influences. Students will therefore also learn how to perform research in their own yoga tradition or community to better understand and communicate to others the often unrecognized and complex histories, social contexts, and philosophies comprising their embodied yoga practices.   Professor Miller will take students through a systematic approach for performing yoga research to help each participant identify their own key research questions concerning their yoga tradition’s embodied practices and techniques. They will also be inspired to develop their own research methods that will help them to answer these critical questions, thereby becoming a scholar of their own yoga tradition. The only prerequisite for this course is a sincere curiosity to learn about the historical sources and cultural influences shaping contemporary yoga practices whether they are eating, singing, breathing, or another transformative yogic technique of special interest.  This course is offered in collaboration with Yogic Studies

सम्यग्दर्शन: जैन दर्शन की मूलभूत अवधारणा का दार्शनिक विश्लेषण जैन दर्शन भारतीय दार्शनिक परंपरा का एक अत्यंत सूक्ष्म, तत्त्वनिष्ठ एवं आत्मसाक्षात्कारोन्मुखी दृष्टिकोण है, जिसकी मौलिकता आत्मा के स्वाभाविक शुद्ध स्वरूप की पुनःप्राप्ति में निहित है। इसके अनुसार, जीव के बंधन का मूल कारण अविद्या, राग, द्वेष, और मिथ्यात्व है। इन बंधनों से मुक्ति प्राप्त करना ही मोक्ष है, जो जैन मत में जीवन का चरम और परम लक्ष्य है।मोक्ष की सिद्धि सम्यग्दर्शन, सम्यग्ज्ञान, और सम्यक् चारित्र — इन त्रिविध साधनाओं से होती है, जिन्हें सामूहिक रूप से "रत्नत्रयी" कहा गया है। इनमें सम्यग्दर्शन को प्रवेशद्वार का स्थान प्राप्त है। इसका तात्पर्य आत्मा की प्रकृति, तत्त्वों की वास्तविकता, और जीवन के लक्ष्य के प्रति श्रद्धायुक्त स्पष्ट दृष्टि से है। उपयोगिताछात्र सम्यग्दर्शन के शास्त्रीय, व्यावहारिक, और आध्यात्मिकपक्षों को स्पष्ट रूप से समझ पाएंगे।वे मिथ्यात्व के लक्षणों को पहचानकर आत्म-निरीक्षण कर सकेंगे।सम्यग्दर्शन की प्राप्ति की प्रक्रिया को समझकर अपने साधना पथ को सुस्पष्ट बना सकेंगे।सम्यग्दर्शन के आधार पर मोक्षमार्ग का सारगर्भित चिंतन कर सकेंगे।  Samyag-darśana: A philosophical analysis of the foundational concept in Jain philosophy Jain philosophy is a profoundly subtle, truth-centered, and self-realization-oriented perspective among the Indian philosophical traditions. Its fundamental conviction is in the re-attainment of the soul’s intrinsic pure nature. According to Jain thought, the root causes of the soul’s bondage are avidyā (ignorance), rāga (attachment), dveṣa  (aversion), and mithyātva (deluded perception), and elimination of these bondages leads to mokṣa itself, which is regarded as the greatest and ultimate goal of human life in Jainism. The attainment of mokṣa is made possible through the triad of samyag-darśana (right perception), samyag-jñāna  (right knowledge), and samyag-cāritra (right conduct), collectively known as the ratnatraya (Three Jewels). Among these, samyag-darśana is accorded the status of the initiator. Its attainment implies a reverence-filled unblemished perception of the nature of the soul, unwavering belief in the tattvas (fundamental principles), and the true purpose of life. Learning Objectives:• Understand the importance of samyag-darśana in the spiritual journey.• Identify forms of mithyatva (false beliefs) and their classifications.• Define samyag-darśana and explore its various types.• Learn about the sequence of attaining samyag-darśana and the concept of granthibheda (breaking of knots of delusion).• Explore the aṅgas (eight limbs) of samyag-darśana.• Analyze the dūṣaṇa (offenses) and bhūṣaṇa (ornaments) of samyag-darśana.• Recognize samyag-darśana as the foundational step in the path of self-realization.• Understand the relationship between samyag-darśana and svānubhūti (direct self-experience).

JYST 8001/9001 is a graduate-level seminar offered by Claremont School of Theology (CST). Foundations of Jain Yoga Studies provides students with the historical and philosophical foundations for engaging in the study of Jain yoga. Students will learn about the history of yoga broadly, while also learning core methodologies used to study yoga in the field of Yoga Studies. With this new knowledge and skillset, students will learn how to study Jain yoga and see how it emerged in engagement with other yoga traditions since ancient times and into the present.  Upon successful completion of this class, students will be able to:Understand the foundational history and philosophies of yoga.Perform research using core methodologies used in the field of Yoga Studies.See how Jain Yoga emerged in engagement with other traditions using an Engaged Jain Studies methodology.Present their research on Jain Yoga.

JYST 8003/9003 is a graduate-level seminar offered by Claremont School of Theology (CST). The “Haṭha Yoga and Jain Yoga” course carefully considers the development of the haṭha yoga tradition, the medieval forms of yoga that emerged after India’s classical period, and which are the predecessors of today’s forms of physical yoga. Students are offered the opportunity to undertake the postural, breathing, and meditation techniques found in medieval haṭha yoga texts as well as to see how these texts influenced, or were perhaps influenced by, the Jain yoga tradition in particular. Upon successful completion of this class, students will be able to:Understand the historical development and context of haṭha yoga traditions, including their medieval and modern Jain forms.Analyze intertextual engagements between haṭha yoga texts and Jain yoga texts.Engage in primary postural, breathing, and meditation techniques from medieval haṭha yoga texts.Undertake and present their research in the field of Yoga Studies and Engaged Jain Studies with a particular focus on haṭha yoga traditions.

JYST 8004/9004 is a graduate-level seminar offered by Claremont School of Theology (CST). Social Justice and Modern Yoga surveys the history and contemporary practice of modern yoga and its intersection with issues of social justice. Students will encounter both the major names and lineages in the history of transnational modern yoga as well as some of the lesser-known figures who have contributed to the development of transnational yoga into the present. The course is structured both historically and thematically, presenting topics including, but not limited to, yoga’s intersections with warrior asceticism, colonization, non-violent social justice movements, nationalism, Orientalism, the carceral system, racism, White supremacy, appropriation, gender, foodways, speciesism, pollution, necropolitics, biopolitics, neoliberal capitalism, and abuse. Students will be trained in the basic methods of writing yoga ethnography and social history and will complete an ethnographic research project on a topic of their choice related to the academic field of Modern Yoga Studies. Upon successful completion of this class, students will be able to:Understand central historical developments of transnational modern yoga.Understand how particular forms of modern yoga are entangled with particular issues of social justice.Perform and present the results of basic ethnographic fieldwork or social historical research pertaining to a contemporary yoga community with particular attention to an issue of social justice.Gain a working knowledge of some of the major issues and questions in the field of Modern Yoga Studies. Student Reviews"Learning from Dr. Miller was an incredible gift. His wisdom and knowledge of these topics are so helpful." — Graduate Student, Claremont School of Theology, 2024 “Dr. Miller is a tremendous resource of information. His style of teaching is helpful, conversational, and inclusive. I appreciate how he asked the class questions and got us thinking in new ways. I would highly recommend this course.” — Graduate Student, Claremont School of Theology, 2024 "The prerecorded lectures that Professor Miller shared before each class were very helpful. For a working professional like me this was a big relief!” — Graduate Student, Claremont School of Theology, 2024  “Dr. Miller's passion for the topics came through in all classes and lectures.” — Graduate Student, Claremont School of Theology, 2024 “It was great to have students from other institutes to learn with. Continuing this is important for global perspectives.” — Graduate Student, Claremont School of Theology, 2024 “Dr. Miller is a tremendous resource of information. His style of teaching is helpful, conversational, and inclusive. I appreciate how he asked the class questions and got us thinking in new ways. I would highly recommend this course.” — Graduate Student, Claremont School of Theology, 2024

Explore the history, philosophies, and many meanings of the popular Jain concept known as “anekāntavāda”. Begin by exploring anekāntavāda’s rich history and understand why this term means much more than just “intellectual ahiṃsā”. Next, appreciate the philosophical complexity of anekāntavāda and its variant applications through nayavāda, syādvāda, saptabhaṅgī, and nikṣepa.Finally, with this philosophy and history in mind, bring your fresh and deeper understanding of anekāntavāda into the present and apply it to one of many important questions of contemporary society.

This course offers an introduction to Jain Studies. Begin with an exploration of key Jain teachings and practices, focusing on the principles of non-harming (ahiṃsā) and non-possession (aparigraha), both central to the tradition. Delve, then, into the Three Jewels of Jainism—right worldview, right knowledge, and right conduct—and examine how these principles shape the foundation of the Jain tradition. Next, investigate the profound connection between Jainism and animal advocacy, exploring the teachings of Mahavira on animals as well as contemporary Jain practices of animal care. Afterwards, explore the Jain perspective on the human body, including the importance of health, the role of karmas in shaping one’s embodiment, and the fine line between bodily renunciation and the need to have good health. Finally, observe how Jainism’s commitment to compassion and social justice is expressed through transformative social initiatives, focusing on the work of Acharya Chandanaji and the global reach of her charitable organization, Veerayatan.  Learning Objectives:Understand the core principles of Jainism, including the practices of non-harming (ahiṃsā) and non-possession (aparigraha).Analyze the Three Jewels of Jainism (right worldview, right knowledge, and right conduct).Evaluate the relationship between Jainism and animal advocacy.Learn the Jain perspective on the human body and its role in spiritual practice.Assess the role of compassion and social justice in Jainism.

JYST 8002/9002 is a graduate-level seminar offered by Claremont School of Theology (CST). Jain Yoga considers Jain yoga from ancient sources to the present. We will study secondary scholarship analyzing Jain yoga from critical perspectives, while reading translations from Sanskrit and Prakrit primary sources describing Jain yoga. Students will also practice and reflect on their experience of various forms of Jain yoga and meditation, experimenting with what it means to embody Jain yoga principles and techniques in their everyday lives in contemporary society. No prior experience is necessary. Upon successful completion of this class, students will be able to:Understand the historical development of Jain Yoga in relationship to the broader historical and religio-philosophical milieus with which Jain authors were engaging.Identify key thinkers in Jain Yoga and understand the particulars of their unique Jain yoga systems.Demonstrate their ability to perform and present basic research and writing in relation to the field of Jain Yoga, Yoga Studies, and Jain Studies.Practice fundamental Jain yoga and meditation techniques and understand how these practices are relevant for their own lives in contemporary society. Student Reviews"Fantastic course to learn about Jain Yoga and its development." — Graduate Student, Claremont School of Theology, 2024 “Dr. Miller's way of teaching is a wonderful way to learn, allowing the information to be relevant to each of the students in their course of study.”— Graduate Student, Claremont School of Theology, 2024 "Excellent teaching, fantastic yoga demonstration videos, and group readings."— Graduate Student, Claremont School of Theology, 2024 "It was very interactive and well-done. I believe that it was very effective the way that it was organized."— Graduate Student, Claremont School of Theology, 2024 "All of the sūtra readings from the rare and no longer published books were most helpful."— Graduate Student, Claremont School of Theology, 2024 “Highlights of the course were the knowledge of the teacher and the students. It was a very powerful learning experience.”— Graduate Student, Claremont School of Theology, 2024 “Dr. Miller is doing excellent work!”— Graduate Student, Claremont School of Theology, 2024

This course offers a close exploration of the teachings and historical contexts of two significant teachers of early Śvetāmbara Jain yoga: Haribhadra Virahāṇka and Haribhadra Yākinīputra.Beginning with an introduction to Haribhadra Virahāṇka’s (ca. 6 th c. CE) hagiography, we will examine how his legendary name reflects the Jain path to liberation (mokṣa), setting the stage for a study of his yoga texts aimed for the same goal: the Yogabindu and Yogaśataka. In addition to looking at the limited historical evidence regarding Haribhadra Virahāṇka’s tentative 6 th c. CE dating, the course will analyze Haribhadra’s categorization of yoga practitioners into three levels, with a focus on the cāritrin (pathgoer), who embodies the path of comprehensive Jain yoga practice. Through a detailed examination of the five types of yoga in the Yogabindu, students will understand how these practices facilitate liberation according to Jain karma theory. Students will also appreciate how the Yogabindu represents Jainism’s first-known exposition of “yoga” as a spiritual path, rather than something that causes the inflow of karma as understood in the preceding classical period.Transitioning to Haribhadra Yākinīputra (ca. 8 th c. CE), the course will delve into his hagiography as well as his distinct contributions to Jain yoga, the Yogadṛṣṭisamuccaya and Yogaviṁśikā. We will investigate how Haribhadra Yākinīputra is historically (and tentatively) dated to the 8 th c. CE, while also appreciating how he both integrates but also simultanesouly critiques various traditions such as tantra, Buddhism, and Brahmanism within his Jain framework. Finally, students will understand how Haribhadra maps his yoga philosophy onto not only Patañjali’s 8-limbed yoga but also Jain concepts including the 14 guṇasthānas.  Students will appreciate how the two Haribhadras put their respective Jain teachings into dialogue with other religious and philosophical traditions, while maintaining a commitment to their own Jain tradition.This is designed as a two-week course that will take approximately 4 hours to complete, and includes readings and a series of 10 lectures to guide you through the intricacies of the yogas of Haribhadra Virahāṇka and Haribhadra Yākinīputra.  It is recommended, though not required, that students complete course 3007 “Ancient and Classical Jain Yoga” before taking this course if they wish to have further background on Jain yoga.  Learning Objectives:1. Learn the histories and hagiographies of Haribhadra Virahāṇka and Haribhadra Yākinīputra to understand how their legendary names were created.2. Understand Haribhadra Virahāṇka’s categorization of yoga practitioners, focusing on the cāritrin and the five types of yoga practices in the Yogabindu, to grasp their role in facilitating liberation through Jain karma theory.3. Learn the contributions of Haribhadra Yākinīputra to Jain yoga, especially hisYogadṛṣṭisamuccaya, and how he critiques and integrates various traditions such as tantra, Buddhism, and Brahmanism within his yoga framework.

This course from the Center for the Study of Jain Yoga, explores Jain Yoga from the 11th to the 17th century CE, often considered the "Dark Age" for Jain Yoga. We will investigate the evolution of Jain Yoga, its interaction with other Indian spiritual traditions, particularly Hatha Yoga and the Bhakti movement, and its role in shaping broader yogic traditions. The course will also examine key texts, including the Yogapradīpa and the Yoga Battīsī, and their commentaries, focusing on how Jain scholars integrated physical, spiritual, and devotional practices into their teachings. Learning Objectives:•   Understand the evolution of Jain Yoga during the medieval period and its relationship with other Indian traditions.•   Analyze the influence of Hatha Yoga and the Bhakti movement on Jain Yoga practices.•   Study the Yogapradīpa and Yoga Battīsī as central texts and explore their impact on Jain spiritual practices.•   Engage with Jain Yoga's approach to atma-paramatma (individual and universal consciousness), and meditation.

This course explores Jain understandings of yoga according to two pivotal Digambar Jain authors, looking at Kundakunda's Samayasāra and Śubhacandra's Jñānārṇava. We begin with Kundakunda's inquiry into the nature of the soul in Samayasāra, examining how his insights contrast with earlier Jain interpretations and broader South Asian philosophical frameworks. Lectures are focused on explicating Kundakunda's understanding of karma, the soul, and his celebrated higher (niścaya) and lower (vyavahāra) viewpoints (naya). The course highlights Kundakunda's critiques of his contemporaneous philosophical systems, providing students with the tools to appreciate his contributions to Jain yoga and South Asian philosophy more broadly.   Transitioning to Śubhacandra's Jñānārṇava, students will explore how the text reflects both Jain principles and practices as well as elements from Patanjali’s 8-fold yoga and even tantric traditions. Students will thereby observe how Jñānārṇava maintains a commitment to the ontological, soteriological, and ethical dimensions of Jainism while incorporating practices such as meditation, posture, and breath control shared by other yoga systems.By the end of the course, students will understand how both texts dialogue with historical traditions and provide rich pathways toward spiritual growth and liberation within the framework of Jain yoga.This is designed as a two-week course that will take approximately 4 hours to complete, and includes readings and a series of 10 lectures to guide you through important dimensions of Samayasāra and Jñānārṇava.It is recommended, though not required, that students complete courses 3007 “Ancient and Classical Jain Yoga” and 3008 “Yogabindu and Yogadṛṣṭisamuccaya: The Yogas of Haribhadrasūri” before taking this course if they wish to have further background on Jain yoga.  Learning Objectives:• Understand Kundakunda's unique interpretations of the soul, karma, and thematerial world in Samayasāra and how they contrast with other Jain and SouthAsian philosophical perspectives• Explore Śubhacandra's Jñānārṇava, identifying how it incorporates elements of Patanjali’s 8-fold yoga and tantra while remaining rooted in Jain ontological and ethical principles• Gain an appreciation for two uniquely Digambara contributions to thedevelopment of Jain yoga

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”

The Yogaśāstra of Hemacandra (1088–1173 CE) stands as one of the most  influential and comprehensive treatises on yoga in the Śvetāmbara Jain tradition. Composed during the rule of King Kumārapāla of the Caulukya Dynasty, whom Hemacandra initiated into the minor vows of a Jain layman, the text emerged from a remarkable historical moment in Gujarat. This course begins with the biography of Hemacandra and then situates the Yogaśāstra within its rich religious and political milieu, tracing both the flourishing of Jainism under Caulukya patronage and the destiny of the tradition in the centuries that followed. With this historical foundation, the course then turns to a careful study of the text itself. Students will discover how Hemacandra crafted a Jain doctrine within a Śaiva and increasingly Muslim social context, incorporating pan-Indic religious influences from Kaśmir Śaivism and medieval siddha traditions while organizing his treatise around the three Jewels of Jainism (ratna-traya) and Patañjali’s eight limbs of yoga. Lessons covering two weeks of class explore the text’s teachings on correct conduct for householders and ascetics, correct knowledge as a path to knowledge of the soul, the cultivation of equanimity through the four contemplations of benevolence, appreciation, compassion, and tolerance, and the Yogaśāstra's distinctive two-fold approach to meditation. Learning Objectives:Know the life of Hemacandra and the historical, political, and religious context of twelfth-century Gujarat under King Kumārapāla in which the Yogaśāstra was composed.Understand the structure and organizing principles of the Yogaśāstra including the three Jewels and Patañjali’s eight limbs, and identify the Jain and non-Jain influences Hemacandra synthesized in the text.Learn the Yogaśāstra’s teachings on correct conduct, correct knowledge, and meditation, including the distinction between householder and ascetic practice and the text’s innovative two-fold classification of dhyāna.    

Unpack the ancient and venerable textual tradition of Jain yoga. Explore the theory behind the psychology and contemplative states of Jain yoga. Study the vocabulary and conceptual frameworks of the Jain yoga tradition.