If you are wanting to get into the more philosophical, intellectual, or spiritual aspects of Yoga, another book you might want to look into is "God Talks With Arjuna: The Bhagavad Gita" by Paramahansa Yogananda. It is a very insightful and extensive commentary on the Bhagavad Gita, which is pretty much one of the "essential" texts in Hinduism. The first couple chapters may be a bit "stiff" and hard to get through, but it seems to go a lot smoother after that.

One might ask, "What does Hinduism have to do with Yoga?" As Janaki said, there is a lot more to Yoga than just the physical exercises. What we usually see in the west as "Yoga" (physical exercises, breathing techniques, some daily meditation) is really only a fraction of "the real thing". Yoga comes from Hinduism and to better understand Hinduism is to better understand Yoga. To me, it seems as if Yoga and Hinduism are two sides of the same coin. One deals with the more practical, "scientific" and bodily matters, while the other deals with the more philosophical, intellectual, and spiritual side of things. They are very closely connected.

Of course, you don't have to "become a Hindu" or anything like that, but the book has a wealth of insightful knowledgde that can be applied on many different levels for just about anyone.

Tata for now!
--James



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If you are wanting to get into the more philosophical, intellectual, or spiritual aspects of Yoga, another book you might want to look into is "God Talks With Arjuna: The Bhagavad Gita" by Paramahansa Yogananda. It is a very insightful and extensive commentary on the Bhagavad Gita, which is pretty much one of the "essential" texts in Hinduism. The first couple chapters may be a bit "stiff" and hard to get through, but it seems to go a lot smoother after that.

One might ask, "What does Hinduism have to do with Yoga?" As Janaki said, there is a lot more to Yoga than just the physical exercises. What we usually see in the west as "Yoga" (physical exercises, breathing techniques, some daily meditation) is really only a fraction of "the real thing". Yoga comes from Hinduism and to better understand Hinduism is to better understand Yoga. To me, it seems as if Yoga and Hinduism are two sides of the same coin. One deals with the more practical, bodily matters, while the other deals with the more philosophical, intellectual side of things. They are very closely connected.

Of course, you don't have to "become a Hindu" or anything like that, but the book has a wealth of insightful knowledgde that can be applied on many different levels for just about anyone.

Tata for now!
--James

ff,

I would be curious to know more about how they describe the "seat of knowledge" in the Iyengar tradition. As I understand, in all yoga traditions God is understood as occurring within. We do these practices in order to align the higher, "god self" with the lower, perhaps "material self". How is it possible to be an atheist if "God" is understood as occurring within ourself? I don't actually use the word "God" much, but "divine", since "God" is a barrier for some. I don't see how the idea of "God", or an external "creator" would be reinforced as something external in any conceivable translation of the sutras. I don't have mine in front of me but I'll take a peek later.

Pranams,
Ashera