Demystifying Patanjali

What happens as we grow spiritually? Is there a step-by-step process that everyone goes through—all spiritual seekers, including those of any or no religious persuasion—as they gradually work their way upward, until they achieve the highest state of Self-realization? About 2200 years ago, a great spiritual master of India named Patanjali described this process, and presented humanity with a clear-cut, step-by-step outline of how all truth seekers and saints achieve divine union. He called this universal inner experience and process “yoga” or “union.” His collection of profound aphorisms—a true world scripture—has been dubbed Patanjali's Yoga Sutras. Unfortunately, since that time many scholarly translators with little or no spiritual realization have written commentaries on Patanjali's writings that have succeeded only in burying his pithy insights in convoluted phrases like “becomes assimilated with transformations” and “the object alone shines without deliberation.” How can any reader understand Patanjali's original meaning when he or she has to wade through such bewildering terminology? Thankfully, a great modern yoga master—Paramhansa Yogananda, author of the classic Autobiography of a Yogi—has cut through the scholarly debris and resurrected Patanjali's original teachings and revelations. Now, in Demystifying Patanjali, Swami Kriyananda, a direct disciple of Yogananda, shares his guru's crystal clear and easy-to-grasp explanations of Patanjali's aphorisms. As Kriyananda writes in his introduction, “My Guru personally shared with me some of his most important insights into these sutras. During the three and a half years I lived with him, he also went with me at great length into the basic teachings of yoga. “I was able, moreover, to ask my Guru personally about many of the subjects covered by Patanjali. His explanations have lingered with me, and have been a priceless help in the [writing of this book].”

Bhakti is a remarkable feature and tendency of human existence having to do with one's devoted involvement with a person, object, deity, or a creative project. Bhakti and Philosophy aims to trace the larger meanings and roles of bhakti as it historically emerged in some of the well-known thought systems of India, such as Vedanta and Buddhism.

Human life requires a myriad of tools to manifest its full potential. In Mastery of the True Self -- The discipline of Love through Sadhana, Aradhana, and Prabhupati, you will learn how discipline can support you in your journey of self-manifestation and self-realization as a unique human being. Discipline becomes a tool for self-evaluation, self-acceptance, and self-projection. A tool that can produce substantial, predictable, and repeatable changes in your physiological systems and in your consciousness. Learning to view yourselves under the lens of discipline helps you to unveil those things that keep you from being truly who you are and living a conscious, healthy, and happy life. Understanding discipline is a prelude to exploring Sadhana, Aradhana, and Prabupati -- the three facets of the path towards your highest Self. In this study, Sadhana Singh invites us to delve deeper into the reasons why the human being, already perfect in creation, needs discipline to experience the true Self and be able to live life freely, with love and happiness. In this perspective, we expose ourselves to constant training in order to make our expression more effective, our communication more sophisticated and our true essence express itself. Led by Sadhana Singh's writings and experience, we come to understand that developing ourselves is a form of spiritual training that provides us with a clear and complete perception of ourselves, of our own personal circumstantial reality, and of our Infinite Reality. Mastery of the True Self: The Disciple of Love through Sadhana, Aradhana, and Prabhupati explores bit by bit the elementary parts of the gradual process of building a solid foundation for igniting our awareness and manifesting our true highest Self.

Agaram Bagaram is an indefinable word Swam Prakshananda used to describe himself, meaning hodgepodge, down to earth and humorously self-effacing. Nevertheless, he was regarded as jnani, a self-realized being acknowledged by both seekers and saints. This small book consists of a short biography of Swami Prakashananda (58 pages) plus a lot of parables he told as his way to answer to requests of his pupil.

Instructor Swami Omkari Devananda presents a compilation of teachings that have been part of the Shambhava School of Yoga for years. Hatha yoga is beneficial in two ways. It improves the health of every bodily system and spiritually speaking, helps with the process of opening within and achieving a state of deep awareness. Each of the fivechapters offer a different levelof postures starting with the easiest and gradually increasing in difficulty. Each section has poses, meditation exercises, breathing exercises and daily gratitude practices.There are also specific recomendations for beginners, practitioners, teachers, and meditators, and those who are in recovery or need to recondition their bodies. Beautiful, full-color photos accompany each pose. Beginners to instructors will find yogic inspiration in these pages.

Well-known contributors from the world of yoga celebrate the life and work of the great yoga pioneer B. K. S. Iyengar in this collection. Iyengar, who celebrates seventy years as a yoga teacher this year, is an Indian yoga master, revered as the single most influential person in spreading the teachings of yoga throughout the world. Iyengar was recognized in Time magazine’s 2004 list of the one hundred most powerful and influential people in the world. This collection of essays, stories, and interviews celebrates the life and great influence of renowned yoga teacher B. K. S. Iyengar and features an international and diverse group of well-known contributors. These writings offer a deep understanding of the man, as well as his unique approach to yoga and the human mind and body. Contributors include: • Baron Baptiste • Beryl Bender Birch • T. K. V. Desikachar • Alan Finger • Lilias Folan • Richard Freeman • John Friend • Sharon Gannon • Dona Holleman • Gary Kraftsow • Judith Hanson Lasater • David Life • Manouso Manos • Chuck Miller • Aadil Palkhivala • Shiva Rea • Erich Schiffmann • John Schumacher • Patricia Walden • Joan White • Rodney Yee

Thomas Weber's book comprises a series of biographical reflections about people who influenced Gandhi, and those who were, in turn, influenced by him. Whilst previous literature tended to focus on Gandhi's political legacy, Weber's book explores the spiritual, social and philosophical resonances of these relationships, and it is with these aspects of the Mahatma's life in mind, that the author selects his central protagonists. These include friends such as Henry Polak and Hermann Kallenbach, who are not as well known as those usually cited, but who left a deep impression nevertheless, and motivated some of Gandhi's major life changes. Conversely, the work of luminaries such as E. F. Schumacher and Gene Sharp reveal the Mahatma's influence in arenas which are not traditionally associated with his thinking. Weber's book offers intriguing insights into the life and thought of one of the most significant figures of the twentieth century.

Discover the Supreme Joy in the original roots of yoga! In modern society, yoga has become an unstoppable avalanche. The well-being it brings is enormous, but this becomes even greater if we immerse ourselves in its essence, in its very core, in its original roots. And who better to guide us than Patanjali, the father of yoga? His Yoga Sutras are the way towards supreme happiness, step by step, day by day. Patanjali, however, lived centuries ago and it is not always easy to see how to apply his valuable teachings in an effective and relevant way. In these pages you will receive help from one of the great spiritual masters of our times, Paramhansa Yogananda, author of the wellknown spiritual classic, Autobiography of a Yogi. Thanks to Yogananda’s commentaries, you will find yourself able to apply each of Patanjali’s first thirty-one Yoga Sutras to your daily life, to your meditation, to the yoga asanas and to understanding yourself. Through an imaginary dialogue between Patanjali and one of his disciples, you will be presented with: Each sutra in the original Sanscrit with an English translation An explanation of the sutra’s deeper meaning Hints for experimenting with it in your meditations Instructions for applying it to the yoga asanas Inspiration for applying it to your daily life A guide for self-analysis for each sutra.