Why History Matters – Philipp Maas

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N.B. for more on this topic, see this article.

What if the text known as the Yoga Sūtra never existed – at least not to start with? Philipp Maas is a scholar of Patañjali’s yoga, whose work suggests its teachings were originally transmitted as part of a larger philosophical text with explanations.

We discuss how this accompanying commentary (bhāṣya) interprets the sūtras, and reflect on the broader significance of studying history for modern practitioners. We also consider the distance in time and space between yogic texts and their uses today. Among other topics, our conversation explores:

* The evidence for Philipp’s conclusions on Patañjali

* What studying another culture reveals about our own

* Whether scholars of yoga ought to practise its methods

* The risks of colonising history for political purposes

* Recent critical comments by Shyam Ranganathan

You can find out more about Philipp’s research at academia.edu, where his work is downloadable (free registration needed). This recent overview is a helpful place to start. It covers much of what we discuss, including several layers of commentary.

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