Two birds, who are companions and friends, nestle on the very same tree. One of them eats a tasty fig; the other, not eating, looks on. Śvetāśvatara 4.6.

This workshop will explore the Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad which is closely associated with the articulation of yoga in the centuries preceding the Common Era. It contains ideas worked out within the classical systems of Sāṁkhya and Yoga, as well as establishing the doctrine of one god. In this it is close to the thought of the Bhagavad Gītā. This Upaniṣad includes clear practices on how yoga should be practiced.

The workshop will be framed with a little chanting, will situate the text in its historical period, set out the main concepts of the Upaniṣads, and look in detail at the text of the Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad. The format will be a combination of lecture and discussion. Tea and snacks are provided. All are welcome, no prior knowledge is required. All you need to bring is inquisitiveness.

When earth, water, fire, air, and ether have arisen together, and the body made up of these five becomes equipped with the attribute of yoga, that man, obtaining a body tempered by the fire of yoga, will no longer experience sickness, old age, or suffering. Śvetāśvatara 2.12.

Please email me if you would like me to send you a copy of the text. Alternatively get hold of Roebuck, Valerie (1996). The Upaniṣads. Penguin: London or Olivelle, Patrick (1996). Upaniṣads. Oxford University Press: Oxford.