Reddit mentions of Yoga Sutras of Patañjali

I'm not sure if that exists. You may have to chase down versions of all the traditional commentaries and read them together. That being said, you may be interested in Edwin F. Bryant's edition of the Yoga Sutras. It offers:

• Sanskrit in Devanagari
  
• Sanskrit transliterated into Latin alphabet
  
• English translation
  
• Insights from the traditional commentaries
  
• Vyasa, Hariharananda, Mishra, etc...
  
• Insights from other seminal texts (Upanishads, Mahabharat, Bhagavad Gita, Puranas, Sankhya texts
  
  Honestly, it's a juggernaut of a text. It's definitely something to refer to again and again. Also, the bibliography has all the classic and modern texts he uses throughout the book, which is an incredible asset in helping you decide which book to read next.

I hear you. I like to explore philosophy with a number of teachers in the lineage; one of my favorite weekend workshops was with Harmony Slater. She’s a joy and a wealth of knowledge.

I am lucky that I get to practice with Eddie. I may be a bit biased, but I really don’t know of any other books that so succinctly ties it all together at the right level of information blending both Eastern and Western schools of thought.

Book recos:

Here is my favorite translation of the Bhagavad Gita.

I also really like this interpretation of the Yamas and Niyamas.

And my favorite Yoga Sutras.

The closest I can think of in terms of modern day explanations is the Yamas and Niyamas book by Deborah Adele. It really is a nice, practical read.

For those who may not know him, Edwin Bryant is a professor of Indian religions probably best known for his well-regarded translation of the Yoga Sutras.

Edit: Here's a link to Part 2 of the Interview.

I highly suggest the practical commentaries that can be found all over the Bryant translation of Patanjali. That book has a lot of great tips and discussion in the commentary sections, and the book totals over 500 pages while the sutra itself might be like 40 pages, 80 pages with added line-by-line translations. So that's hundreds of pages worth of exploration surrounding the Patanjali quotes in that book.

Specifically, the practice ideas about prana-yama were really interesting. If you want any tips, feel free to PM me.

No, some of it is far less esoteric than Western academic philosophy.

I'll say right off the bat, if you're looking for really practical stuff, Buddhism will offer the most plentiful options. There are a lot of smart, evangelizing Buddhists writing for westerners, who know that dense book about the theory of 'Buddha Nature' and 'Void' don't sell, but books about how to be happy do sell. Really though, better than any book, is finding a Buddhist meditation or discussion group. Every decent sized city (in America, at least) has a few. And if you're relatively new to Buddhism, I would suggest looking into what is called Theravada Buddhism, which is the oldest form of Buddhism. Later traditions of Buddhism, that Westerners are more familiar with, like Zen, Mahayana, and Tibetan Buddhism, have the same core of beliefs and ideas, but with a lot of cultural "baggage" (for lack of a better) term added on top. To go along with that, I would recommend the book Early Buddhist Discourses. The Buddha, according to the earliest sources, rarely talked about theory. He would usually say things like "I decline to say that it's this way or that. Just try this meditation, or this practice, and see for yourself if it makes you happier, calmer..." I would also recommend perusing some of these lectures.

As for Daoism, the best original source, in my opinion, is Zhuangzi (Zhuang zi, Chuangtzu--lots of different spellings). His book, of the same name, is really fun to read. It's very strange, but poetic, and a lot of it is told in stories and parables. Hans Georg Mueller is a good scholar to read, but I'm not sure if any of it would be called practical. Westerners had a really weird way of interpreting Daoism for a long time; they thought that there was "philosophical daoism", which were people like Zhunagzi and Laozi (Lau Tsu...), who were contrasted with the "religious daoists", people who practiced alchemy, used the I Ching, etc. It would be like if someone walked into a church and said, "there are intellectual Christians like Aquinas and Augustine, and then there are the normal Christians who drink wine, but think it's blood, and sing at a big letter 'T' on the wall of a pointy building." Something is missing from both of those pictures. It's also rare you'll meet any practicing Daoists outside of China, so it's a little tougher to find practical resources.

As for Hinduism and Vedanta, again your best bet would be to find a good yoga group. But none of that hot yoga, Western workout stuff. Find something run by people with good training, who know the history of the discipline. A lot of serious groups will offer classes or study groups on Patanjali's Yoga Sutras, which are dense and a bit esoteric, but practical with commentary or a teacher. Compared to some of the Buddhism books, I find a lot of Hinduism books to be overly theoretical, and very dense. Although I'm sure there is a lot of good stuff out there.

I'll try and think of any other good practical books on Eastern stuff. Keep in mind too that most professors are happy to answer emails from interested non-specialists. If there are any universities near you, look for Asian philosophy classes or even Asian Studies departments, and check out the faculty. You might find someone who could recommend you some really good stuff.

Hope that helps, good luck!