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Title: Religiousness in Yoga by Desikach, Mary L. Skelton, T. K. V. Desikachar, J. R. Carter ISBN: 0-8191-0967-3 Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield (Non NBN) Pub. Date: 31 January, 1980 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $35.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4 (1 review)
Rating: 4
Summary: Fine overview of Patanjali yoga
Comment: This book is based on a Special Studies Seminar on Patanjali yoga held at Colgate University in January, 1976, "an act of sharing a religious undertaking ...now appearing in printed form [vi]." The subtitle aptly summarizes the contents: "Lectures on Theory and Practice" of yoga. In it, the author presents many important facets of the yoga teachings of his father, Sri Krishnamacharya. There is no perfect asana form. We all start where we are. Since the goal is internal and personal rather than external spectatorship, he uses simple drawing of human figures rather than photos of attractive and athletic young people modeling "perfect" asana form. The book is strong on beginning poses, counterposes and the use of vinyasa krama, a sequence of postures building toward an individualized goal [Figs. 19-20b]. The 18 chapters alternate between theory and practice and give an excellent overview of the 8 limbs of classical yoga, including interesting and useful chapters on Samkhya/Yoga philosophy and on overcoming obstacles. The chapters on bandhas and pranayama are very complicated and advanced. Despite appropriate warnings ("Coming to learn of yoga only through reading leaves much to be desired" [ix] and "If you were to study pranayama with me, I would not mention any of those practices for a long time" [176]), advanced practices can still be misused by readers not ready for them and who may thereby harm themselves. Diagrams are used to good effect throughout (for example, Figures 73a-c depict the progression from dharana to dhyana to samadhi). Desikachar's presentation is mostly from the Samkhyan perspective of personal effort; consequently, religiousness in yoga is deemphasized. We are always working to improve ourselves; Ishwara is mainly an effective way to overcome obstacles. Yet yoga differs from Samkhya by the introduction of the chosen deity, Ishwara. Sankara devoted 17 pages of his commentary on the Yoga Sutras to Ishwara. Desikachar explains passage I.23, "Or devotion to the deity," not as love and devotion toward one's deity but as a Samkhyan emphasis on excellence in action. This may be a deferral to those who, like the author, originally came to yoga unwilling to acknowledge a spiritual force higher than one's own ego. (I also suspect the sponsoring Department of Philosophy & Religion needed something tangibly "religious" in the title.) All in all, this is an excellent overview of yoga theory with many keen insights on practice. For beginning a yoga practice, one might better turn to a work by another of Sri Krishnamachaya's students, A.G. Mohan, whose fine "Yoga for Body, Breath and Mind" presents these teachings in clear, coherent and gentle form.
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Title: A Physiological Handbook for Teachers of Yogasana by Mel Robin ISBN: 1587360330 Publisher: Fenestra Books Pub. Date: May, 2002 List Price(USD): $49.95 |
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Title: Yoga The Spirit And Practice Of Moving Into Stillness by Erich Schiffmann ISBN: 0671534807 Publisher: Pocket Books Pub. Date: 01 December, 1996 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
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Title: The Deeper Dimension of Yoga by Ph.D. Georg Feuerstein ISBN: 1570629358 Publisher: Shambhala Pub. Date: 08 July, 2003 List Price(USD): $18.95 |
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Title: Health, Healing and Beyond : Yoga and the Living Tradition of Krishnamacharya by T. K. V. Desikachar, R. H. Cravens, C. Subramaniam ISBN: 0893819417 Publisher: Aperture Pub. Date: 30 August, 2001 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: Asanas: 608 Yoga Poses by Dharma Mittra ISBN: 1577314026 Publisher: New World Library Pub. Date: April, 2003 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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