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Shambhala Guide to Yoga

Georg Feuerstein

Shambhala Guide to Yoga Georg Feuerstein Amazon Price: $10.20
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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 6 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Like the others said, great introduction to Yoga! 5 out of 5 stars.
15 of 16 people found this review helpful.

When looking for books on Yoga, I had no idea where to start and I didn't want to read some...American trying to cash in book. I saw this book and it seemed real. Wow, I'm glad this is the first book I read on Yoga. Georg Feurstein fully knows and understands the essence of Yoga. The book touches on everything from the history of Yoga to a Yogi's diet. I like how Feurstein always refers back to the old Sanskrit texts of Yogi practices. However, if you are looking for a book where you actually do the postures then look for another book because this book doesn't satisfy that. You should read all you can about Yoga before attempting it, I know my presumptions on Yoga have been changed from reading this book.

Editorial Review:

This overview of the essentials of Yoga is meant to both broaden and deepen the understanding of beginning students. It covers all the basic elements of this ancient discipline and philosophy of India and includes newly translated excerpts from the scriptures. Special attention is given to branches that are of great interest to Western students but are often badly misunderstood.

On Relationship

Jiddu Krishnamurti

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Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

A refreshing, piercing look at the dynamic of relationships 5 out of 5 stars.
15 of 15 people found this review helpful.

This a great book for anyone who wants to take a look at the nature and dynamics of any relationship in a way that goes refreshingly, and piercingly beyond the tiresome slew of self-help books or long, PhD club diatribes on the subject. It is a truly mystical look at relationships -- it sometimes uncomfortably yet always enlighteningly shows what we do with them.

Editorial Review:

In 1950, Krishnamurti said: "If we are concerned with our own lives, if we understand our relationship with others, we will have created a new society; otherwise, we will but perpetuate the present chaotic mess and confusion."

Providing a far-reaching basis for solving many of the world's crises, On Relationship brings together Krishnamurti's most essential teachings on the individual's relationship to other people and institutions. The renowned teacher makes clear that the way we handle personal crises and relationships links us to the problems of all people and has a larger, global meaning. Ending the causes of war, for instance, cannot truly begin until we perform simple, but often ignored, tasks such as reconciling with estranged family members, keeping our homes in order, and respecting others.

The Psychology of Kundalini Yoga

C. G. Jung

The Psychology of Kundalini Yoga C. G. Jung Amazon Price: $13.57
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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 3 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

"Kundalini yoga presented Jung with a model of something that was almost completely lacking in Western psychology--an account of the development phases of higher consciousness.... Jung's insistence on the psychogenic and symbolic significance of such states is even more timely now than then. As R. D. Laing stated... 'It was Jung who broke the ground here, but few followed him.'"--From the introduction by Sonu Shamdasani

Jung's seminar on Kundalini yoga, presented to the Psychological Club in Zurich in 1932, has been widely regarded as a milestone in the psychological understanding of Eastern thought and of the symbolic transformations of inner experience. Kundalini yoga presented Jung with a model for the developmental phases of higher consciousness, and he interpreted its symbols in terms of the process of individuation. With sensitivity toward a new generation's interest in alternative religions and psychological exploration, Sonu Shamdasani has brought together the lectures and discussions from this seminar. In this volume, he re-creates for today's reader the fascination with which many intellectuals of prewar Europe regarded Eastern spirituality as they discovered more and more of its resources, from yoga to tantric texts. Reconstructing this seminar through new documentation, Shamdasani explains, in his introduction, why Jung thought that the comprehension of Eastern thought was essential if Western psychology was to develop. He goes on to orient today's audience toward an appreciation of some of the questions that stirred the minds of Jung and his seminar group: What is the relation between Eastern schools of liberation and Western psychotherapy? What connection is there between esoteric religious traditions and spontaneous individual experience? What light do the symbols of Kundalini yoga shed on conditions diagnosed as psychotic? Not only were these questions important to analysts in the 1930s but, as Shamdasani stresses, they continue to have psychological relevance for readers on the threshold of the twenty-first century. This volume also offers newly translated material from Jung's German language seminars, a seminar by the indologist Wilhelm Hauer presented in conjunction with that of Jung, illustrations of the cakras, and Sir John Woodroffe's classic translation of the tantric text, the Sat-cakra Nirupana.

Indian Philosophy: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)

Sue Hamilton

Indian Philosophy: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions) Sue Hamilton Amazon Price: $9.56
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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 6 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Mentions Bhagavad Gita on Numerous Occasions 3 out of 5 stars.
16 of 22 people found this review helpful.

Contrary to what another reviewer wrote, the book mentions the Bhagavad Gita as one of the canonical texts of certain Indian transitions. Prof. Hamilton warns against taking the positions of a particular strand of Indian thought and saying "this is true Hinduism."

Indeed, she questions whether Hinduism is a useful concept for discussing the historic traditions of India. Various forms of what we call Hinduism are very much at odds with each other and have different sources for their beliefs. For some the Vedantas are the core of Indian spirituality, for others it is the Gita.

Editorial Review:

India has a long, rich, and diverse tradition of philosophical thought, spanning some two and a half millennia and encompassing several major religious traditions.
In this intriguing introduction to Indian philosophy, the diversity of Indian thought is emphasized. It is structured around six schools of thought that have received classic status. Sue Hamilton explores how the traditions have attempted to understand the nature of reality in terms of inner or spiritual quest and introduces distinctively Indian concepts, such as karma and rebirth. She also explains how Indian thinkers have understood issues of reality and knowledge--issues that are also an important part of the Western philosophical tradition.

The Heart of Awareness: A Translation of the Ashtavakra Gita

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 10 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Beautiful 5 out of 5 stars.
6 of 6 people found this review helpful.


I would say if you are a follower of Advaita Vedanta -- then this is an essential purchase.

I am not a Hindu, and neither am I any kind of "expert" in the field. Rather, I have devoted myslef to Theravada Buddhism for about 23 years, studying the earliest Suttas/Sutras and meditation techniques. However, I have always felt a tremendous pull towards Advaita Vedanta, and can see so many similarities with Buddhism, and indeed, the wider contemplative tradition exemplified by people like Meister Eckhardt , St Francis and some of the Islamic poets/theorists/artists, such as Rumi and Khayyam -- this book's philosophy sits perfectly , beautifully, comfortably next to those thinkers.

This book to me, also has a remarkable similarity to essential core Theravada texts such as "Sutta Nipata" ( The Saddhatissa, somewhat liberal translation that is ) and The Udana.

Lovers of Emily Dickinson, Alan Ginsberg, Kerouac and Walt Whitman will no doubt be drawn to this book too.


A remarkable, extraordinary book, and I do not say that lightly.

Editorial Review:

The Ashtavakra Gita conveys with beauty and simplicity the essential teachings of Advaita Vedanta, the most influential of the Hindu philosophical systems. Composed by an anonymous master of the school of the great sage Shankara, it is a book of practical advice for seekers of wisdom as well as an ecstatic expression of the experience of enlightenment. In this simple, aphoristic version, the translator conveys the clarity and lyricism of the Sanskrit original with fluency and precision.

Integral Yoga: Sri Aurobindo's Teaching & Method of Practice

Aurobindo

Integral Yoga: Sri Aurobindo's Teaching & Method of Practice Aurobindo Amazon Price: $10.17
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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 6 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Yogic Ways to Conquer the Battle Called Life! 5 out of 5 stars.
17 of 19 people found this review helpful.

This book is for those who want to conquer their everyday problems for ever and not seek an escape from them. Unilke his other books, the selections in this book are in easier prose.

You could open this book when Tylenol fails to bring sleep after a bad day, and pillow yourself with a good dream. Or you can read it first thing in the morning and allow yourself a great day ahead!

It is not a typical book that you must begin on its first page. It is a compilation of paragraphs and pages selected from his other writings, outlining the solutions arrived at by Sri Aurobindo after his experiments with Integral Yoga. Depending on what area of your life you are seeking to deal with on a given day, you can jump to the topic directly.

Whether you are seeking a higher peace or running away from your lower order problems, it is a book for you, for your spouse, for your child and for your parent. If you want to raise your purpose in this life to a higher possibility then this book is your waiting chance.

Editorial Review:

One of the foremost Indian philosophers of the twentieth century, Sri Aurobindowas also a political activist, a mystic and a spiritual leader. Between 1927and 1950, Sri Aurobindo remained in seclusion while perfecting a new kind ofspiritual practice he called the Integral Yoga. During this period he gavedetailed guidance to disciples and seekers, responding to thousands ofinquiries. This correspondence constitutes a major body of work on the practice of yoga-sadhana. The present volume brings together a comprehensive selectionof Sri Aurobindo's letters, organized by area of interest. An idealintroduction to his work and vision, it will also serve as an invaluable dailyhandbook for seekers of all paths - beginners and experienced practitionersalike. Glossary.

Shambhala Encyclopedia of Yoga

Georg Phd Feuerstein

Shambhala Encyclopedia of Yoga Georg Phd Feuerstein List Price: $30.00
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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 9 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

     This comprehensive desktop encyclopedia gives an authentic portrayal of a rich and highly complex spiritual tradition of India, with its history, its many approaches, schools, and teachers, its scriptures, and its technical terminology. The book is arranged and written so that, in spite of the wealth of detail provided, it will inform rather than overwhelm the lay reader, while at the same time offering valuable references for the professional researcher and historian of religion. Among its unique features:
      Each entry has cross-references providing pertinent conceptual links.
      Entries are in English alphabetical order, unlike
     comparable reference works that follow Sanskrit alphabetical order, which is difficult for the lay reader to follow.
      Orientational entries furnish an overview of central aspects to the Yoga tradition, such as history, psychology, and major branches.
      Many entries cite or even quote original sources, shedding light on how a given term is used by traditional Yoga authorities.
      The Shambhala Encyclopedia of Yoga is a thoroughly updated Edition, expanded with 400 new entries, of Dr. Feuerstein's Encyclopedic Dictionary of Yoga , which received the Outstanding Academic Book of the Year Award for 1991 from Choice magazine.

Living Yoga

George Feuerstein

Living Yoga George Feuerstein Amazon Price: $11.53
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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 6 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

A modern classic 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

This book covers all the bases and gives you everything you need to know about yoga philosophy and tradition. With all the offshoot yogas around today, it's so nice to find a book that describes traditional yoga philosophy and practice in an inviting, easy-to-read way. I like that it's a collection by dozens of different writers. You get lots of points of view, but not contradiction. I love this book and refer to it time and again.

Basic Introduction 3 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

This is a basic introduction to various yoga paths (hatha yoga, jnana yoga, karma yoga, etc.). I would not call it "comprehensive" or a "guide to daily life." Rather, it's an anthology of Yoga Journal articles that are fine, but more valuable for the beginner.

Editorial Review:

A masterful exploration of the major schools of yoga, published on the 100th anniversary of yoga in America. With this book, readers will discover the wisdom of the millenia--and learn to live yoga. Topics include the yoga approach to diet and nutrition, meditation as an antidote to stress, the yoga of love and devotion, and more. Photographs and illustrations.

The Secret Teachings of the Vedas: The Eastern Answers to the Mysteries of Life Volume One

Stephen Knapp

The Secret Teachings of the Vedas: The Eastern Answers to the Mysteries of Life Volume One Stephen Knapp Amazon Price: $14.95
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Total reviews: 18 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

This book provides answers and details about how the universe was created that are not available in any other traditions, religions, or areas of science. It also provides insights into the spiritual purpose of this creation and what we are really meant to do here. It presents the oldest legends of the creation process from the Vedic texts of the East. It will also give any theist more information and understanding about how the universe is indeed a creation of God.

Every culture in the world and most religions have their own description of the creation of the universe, from where we came, and what we should do. Unfortunately, these are often short and generalized versions that lack details. Thus, they are often given the same regard as myths. However, there are descriptions that give more elaborate explanations of how the cosmic creation fully manifested, which are found in the ancient Vedic Puranas of India, some of the oldest spiritual writings on the planet. These descriptions provide the details and answers that other versions leave out. Furthermore, these Vedic descriptions often agree, and sometimes disagree, with the modern scientific theories of creation, and offer some factors that science has yet to consider.

Now, with this book, we can get a clearer understanding of how this universe appears, and if there is a way out of here. Some of the topics included are:

* Conditions in the spiritual world before the material manifestation

* How the Supreme Being exists before and after the material creation

* The ultimate foundation and cause of the universe is based on compassion of the Supreme. How the agitation of the modes of nature cause the appearance of time

* Detailed descriptions of the dawn of creation and how the material energy developed and caused the formation of the cosmos

* The Vedic description of the evolutionary development of the various forms of life

* The manifestation and purpose of the Vedic literature, the blueprints for the cosmos and life within

* Deep insights into the primal questions of, "Who am I? Why am I here? Where have I come from? What is the purpose of this universe and my life? Why the creation exists?"

* What is the primary source of the material as well as spiritual elements

* The many incarnations and expansions of the Supreme Being in the material creation

* How everything is but an expansion of the Absolute, and much more.

This book will provide some of the most profound insights into these questions and topics.

To add some adventure, there is also a special travel section to the holy places of northern India, and to some of the locations that are directly connected to the Indian legends of the universal creation and ancient history. With this tour is included rare descriptions and over 70 photographs of templs and Deities, ancient holy sites, the Himalayas, along with sages and people of the region. The book is over 300 pages, trim size of 6" x 9", with Index, References, and Glossary. Published by The World Relief Network, P. O. Box 15082, Detroit, MI 48215-0082.

Other books by Stephen Knapp that readers have enjoyed include,
"The Secret Teachings of the Vedas,"
"The Universal Path to Enlightenment,"
"The Vedic Prophecies: A New Look into the Future,"
"Toward World Peace: Seeing the Unity Between Us All,"
"Facing Death: Welcoming the Afterlife," and
"Proof of Vedic Culture's Global Existence."

The Shiva Samhita

James Mallinson

The Shiva Samhita James Mallinson Amazon Price: $10.17
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Total reviews: 3 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Nice contemporary translation of a famous work 5 out of 5 stars.
4 of 4 people found this review helpful.

With this work newly translated into English, the people at YogaVidya have completed the publication of three of the most historically important but seldom published works of yoga. The other two are Akers, Brian Dana, trans., Hatha Yoga Pradipika; and Mallinson, James, trans., The Gheranda Samhita. Mallinson, who also did the translation here, is to be commended for the clear, contemporary feel of the book and for a worthy introduction that points to the many problems facing the translator of this frankly strange and certainly corrupt work from the 14th or 15th century of the current era.

Some years ago I read a text with the standard translation by Chandra Vasu from 1914, but put it aside as something strangely jumbled and confused. The problem with the Shiva Samhita (and to a lesser extent with the Gheranda Samhita) is a bastardization of two of the traditional yogas, raja/hatha yoga and tantric yoga. (The other three traditional yogas are bhakti yoga, jnana yoga, and karma yoga.) Tantric yoga is the yoga of the left-handed path in which the practitioner attempts to find liberation from the pair of opposites and enter into samadhi by embracing desire or pleasure. This method is in most respects diametrically opposed to the "yoga of discipline" which is the raja/hatha yoga path associated with the sutras from Patanjali from two thousand years ago and mentioned in the Bhagavad Gita.

As he explains in the introduction, Mallinson addressed numerous "variant readings" in an attempt to make as coherent as possible the incongruities of the Shiva Samhita. He writes, "Now it may simply be that we are hearing separate instructions for the two traditional types of Tantric aspirant, namely bubhukshus, those desirous of siddhis, and mumukshus, those desirous of liberation, but the unqualified juxtaposition is jarring, particularly in light of the last verses of the text, wherein the householder is said to be able to obtain siddhis and become liberated by means of the techniques of Yoga--and still have fun!" (p. xiii)

"Siddhas," by the way, are psychic powers, such as levitation and being invisible, etc., which brings us to what may be a problem in Mallinson's translation for the general reader. One of the recurring problems for those who would translate yoga texts from the Sanskrit into modern English is that of deciding which terms to find English (more or less) equivalents for and which to leave untranslated. If you read some of the earliest translations of yogic works into English from say a hundred years ago or so, even the very word "yoga" was rendered by some as "discipline." With such words as "nadis," which are subtle channels in the human body, similar to neurons, but clearly not really neurological in a scientific sense, there is no attempt to find English synonyms because frankly there are none. "Prana" is another word that can be troublesome. It can be translated as "breath" and sometimes this is entirely correct. Most often it is best to just use the term "prana." It appears that Mallinson sometimes translates prana as "wind" as winds in the body. I find this unusual and, not being able to read Sanskrit, am at a loss as to how felicitous his usage might be. (Incidentally, as in the other books published by YogaVidya, the Sanskrit verse appears on the same page along with the English translation.)

On the other hand, Mallinson leaves many Sanskrit words untranslated, and this may also present a problem to the general reader. What do words like "linga," "bhoga," "Maya," "samsara," "nada," etc., mean? In some cases, even though I am relatively familiar with yogic terms, I had to consult a dictionary to get the meaning, and in some cases found none.

The real problem confronting most readers are the contradictions and the exaggerations (!). It is claimed again and again that this practice or that practice cures all disease and even better leads the aspirant to eternal life and power over all and sundry and--in the most ludicrous hyperbole--allows the practitioner to be alive even at the dissolution of the cosmos! Also annoying are the incessant "commercials" for the guru system. Again and again we are told that we have to worship the guru, tend to his lotus feet and treat him as a god on earth (and whatever you do, do NOT sleep with the guru's wife!--that is, unless you have also performed the correct mudra or asana or entered into a sufficient meditation, in which case you are absolved of your sins, all of them).

I think it can be seen by the discerning reader that the Shiva Samhita, for all its historical and literary value, is something close to a parody of the scope and intent of yoga. The gurus for whom it was written clearly were, for the most part, not the spiritually advanced men we would hope for, but profane aspirants themselves, looking for ways to further their individual enterprise as gurus and to establish a kind of shaman-like persona. I might add that some of the practices are dangerous (there is a warning to this effect on the copyright page) and some are well nigh impossible, such as drawing up a woman's reproductive fluids with your linga!

Nonetheless I recommend this fine translation and introduction by Mallinson. The book is splendidly presented and carefully edited and proofread. There is an index and some photos of a graceful and lissome woman named Shipra demonstrating some of the asanas and mudras. What is sorely needed is a glossary.

Editorial Review:

This affordable, critical edition of the Shiva Samhita contains a new introduction, the original Sanskrit, a new English translation, nine full-page photographs, and an index. The first edition of this classic Yoga text to meet high academic, literary, and production standards, it's for people who practice Yoga or have an interest in health and fitness, philosophy, religion, spirituality, mysticism, or meditation. HEA025000; REL032000

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