Reading list

Consciousness and Nature

Sāṃkhya and Yoga: the classical Indian analysis of the witness and everything it witnesses, including the mind.

Intermediate. 6 steps

Orientation

Tradition
Sāṃkhya
The two principles, the twenty-five categories, and the goal of isolation.

Concept
Puruṣa
Pure consciousness, the witness that neither acts nor changes in anything.
Concept
Guṇas
The three strands of nature, which make up the mind as well as matter.

Text
The Sánkhya Káriká
Īśvarakṛṣṇa, tr. Henry Thomas Colebrooke, Horace Hayman Wilson, 1837
Seventy verses: read them whole, then again with the commentary.
Text
The Tattva-Kaumudi
Vācaspati Miśra, tr. Ganganatha Jha, 1896
Vācaspati Miśra’s classic commentary, which explains the verses one by one.

Text
The Yoga-System of Patañjali
Patañjali, tr. James Haughton Woods, 1914
Yoga’s method for realizing the discrimination that Sāṃkhya describes.

Cite this entry

Chicago (bibliography): “Consciousness and Nature.” Reading list. The Library, Unitive Knowledge Society. Last modified November 7, 2026. https://www.unitiveknowledge.org/reading-lists/consciousness-and-nature.
Chicago (note): “Consciousness and Nature,” reading list, The Library, Unitive Knowledge Society, last modified November 7, 2026, https://www.unitiveknowledge.org/reading-lists/consciousness-and-nature.
MLA: “Consciousness and Nature.” The Library, Unitive Knowledge Society, 7 Nov. 2026, www.unitiveknowledge.org/reading-lists/consciousness-and-nature.
BibTeX: @misc{reading-lists-consciousness-and-nature, title = {{Consciousness and Nature}}, howpublished = {The Library, Unitive Knowledge Society}, note = {Reading list. Last modified November 7, 2026}, year = {2026}, url = {https://www.unitiveknowledge.org/reading-lists/consciousness-and-nature} }