Cover of Rāja-yoga

Rāja-yoga

by Swami Vivekananda · first published 1920

17mentions
8recommended by
13HN commenters
2011–2025first – last mentioned

62% recommend38% neutral

Why HN recommends it

An accessible overview of Patanjali's Raja Yoga and its Samkhya basis. It serves as a starting point for newcomers before deeper study of the Yoga Sutras.

Summarised by Claude from recommending comments

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Mentions per year

30 2007: 0 mentions2008: 0 mentions2009: 0 mentions2010: 0 mentions2011: 1 mention2012: 1 mention2013: 1 mention2014: 1 mention2015: 0 mentions2016: 0 mentions2017: 1 mention2018: 0 mentions2019: 1 mention2020: 1 mention2021: 2 mentions2022: 1 mention2023: 3 mentions2024: 0 mentions2025: 2 mentions2026: 0 mentions200720172026

What Hacker News says

  • kr4 · Dec 15, 2014 · Recommends

    …universe, it cannot explain consciousness. There is, however, a science, which asserts that every human being can understand consciousness and experience it as separate from the matter if he attempts. Read Raja Yoga by Swami Vivekananda if you are really curious.

    on “A New Physics Theory of Life” ↗
  • rramadass · Apr 15, 2021 · Recommends

    …(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoga_Sutras_of_Patanjali#Trans...) To see how succinct they are, read Bon Giovanni's translation at https://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/yogasutr.htm If you are new to the subject start with Swami Vivekananda's Raja Yoga which is a very loose but accessible overview. For a detailed study with notes from various commentaries, see The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali trans. by Edwin Bryant. The above two should give you a solid…

    on “Images of Hatha Yoga from the Joga Pradīpikā (19th Century)” ↗
  • rygxqpbsngav · May 8, 2022 · Recommends

    Have you checked BiteCode_dev's response? And still think meditation is a "scientifically quantifiable practice"? Swami Vivekananda has a dedicated book on "Raja Yoga" in detail. I recommend - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.abdula.pra... app. I am a subscriber for years and this one has the authentic breathing patterns.

    on “Emerging evidence that mindfulness can sometimes increase selfish tendencies” ↗
  • andremendes · Mar 6, 2013 · Recommends

    I would suggest the lecture of Raja Yoga by Swami Vivekananda. I remember in the beggining of the book, it touches this topic in a way that I can't describe using my English habilities.

    on “How to Create a Mind - Book Review” ↗
  • m0d · Nov 7, 2023 · Recommends

    You should try Raja-Yoga. I suggest you start small - with Vivekananda, for example and then, if that brings you joy, read the whole plethora of interdependent teachings.

    on “Ask HN: Comment here about whatever you're passionate about at the moment” ↗
  • omarchowdhury · Nov 22, 2011 · Recommends

    I recommend Patanjali's Yoga Sutras: http://www.theosociety.org/pasadena/patanjal/patanyog.htm A simpler approach: http://www.movingintostillness.com/meditation.html Keywords: Raja Yoga, Kundalini Yoga, Hatha Yoga, Laya Yoga, Mantra Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Jhana, Samadhi

    on “Tuning out: How brains benefit from meditation” ↗
  • kr4 · Dec 15, 2014 · Recommends

    …science itself is an abstract term. Here by matter or material includes even ideas and inference because they all stem from mind and mind is built of subtlest matter (as per Samkhya philosophy upon which Raja Yoga is based). The method to experience of consciousness in Raja Yoga is not consequence free – direct experience of ones own consciousness is the best experience a man can have, and it transforms him thereafter…

    on “A New Physics Theory of Life” ↗
  • Cozumel · May 14, 2017 · Recommends

    Read anything by Mouni Sadhu as a good start, avoid anything 'western' like 'meditating to music' etc and all that 'guided meditation' nonsense. The branch of Yoga dealing with the mind is Raja Yoga and I can recommended http://www.yogebooks.com/english/atkinson/1906-09rajayoga.pd... it might take you several lifetimes to get through it all, but it's worth it!

    on “The Purpose of Life Is to Be a Nobody” ↗
  • bakul · Aug 30, 2025 · Recommends

    Read the author’s “Raja Yoga Revisited”.

    on “Lisp from Nothing, Second Edition” ↗
  • …Personally, I think Book 4, Part 1[2] is one of the best explanations of what Crowley was about. It's essentially an argument for meditation, and will be very familiar to anyone who has read Swami Vivekananda's Raja Yoga. It helps a lot that it was a collaboration between him and Mary d'Este Sturges rather than a solely 'Crowley' writing. [1] https://hermetic.com/crowley/magick-without-tears/index [2] https://www.sacred-texts.com/oto/aba/aba1.htm

    on “Aleister Crowley and William Butler Yeats Get into an Occult Battle” ↗
  • rramadass · Jun 22, 2023 · Mentions

    …Science/Technology. Structured Computer Organization by Andrew Tanenbaum - Instrumental in teaching me the layering of abstractions by which something complex can arise from more simpler and detailed components. Raja Yoga by Swami Vivekananda and The Science of Yoga by Swami Sivananda - Instrumental in introducing me to Hindu philosophy. Bruce lee's fighting method (3 vols) - Instrumental in introducing me to Martial…

    on “Ask HN: Which book has had the most meaningful contribution in your life?” ↗
  • swayvil · Feb 1, 2025 · Mentions

    >Can you please site some... I think I read it in Swami Vivekananda's "Raja Yoga". I'm more of a Zennist. Thought and knowledge are overrated. Study and cultivation of awareness is where it's at.

    on “ADHD Didn't Break Me–My Parents Did” ↗
  • nilsocket · Jul 29, 2020 · Mentions

    We Hindus don't just consider it as breathing, our world view is different. Breathing techniques in India are called Pranayama which means controlling prana. This is an excerpt from chapter-3 of Raja yoga by Swami Vivekananda. Pranayama is not as may think, something about breath. Breath indeed has very little to do with it if anything. Breathing is only one of the many exercises through which we get…

    on “One hour of slow breathing changed my life” ↗
  • …religions on earth were created by people, though. They were, but they were based on people who had real experiences of god or the spirit or what have you. Swami Vivekananda said it better than I can in Raja Yoga (1896): > Religion, as it is generally taught all over the world, is said to be based upon faith and belief, and, in most cases, consists only of different sets of theories, and that is the reason why…

    on “Ask HN: What is your spiritual practice?” ↗
  • emilchacko · Jun 27, 2012 · Mentions

    …several other religions.Just reading their literature can give enough insight on reincarnation.For those interested: Astavarka Gita : - https://docs.google.com/open?id=1IJWnCEJupB1VHxyheLwnvsnMzxq... Raja Yoga :- https://docs.google.com/open?id=1b9b6uO51isx8fKfuvDC_ftvaatE... Tao Te Ching :- https://docs.google.com/open?id=1NbIyjE_phiigwpR-jRlOc0u_n1-... The above books are not directly related to reincarnation.…

    on “Hacker irked by reincarnation” ↗

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