Author: Swami Bhaskarananda
Publisher: Sri Ramakrishna Math
Year: 2002
Language: English
Pages: 253
ISBN/UPC (if available): 8171209912
Description
This work is a handbook for every one eager to realize the higher values of life and attain life's fulfillment. Read the book and discover how meditation restores to us the peace that is our birthright.
After clearly explaining why we should meditate, the Swami underlines the need for a Guru. Then he details the eight steps that constitute Patanjali's system of Yoga. He takes care to point out the road-blocks in the path to the Supreme Goal and sheds much light on Kundalini Yoga, Samadhi and Mantra Japa. The fringe benefits of meditation in the form of stress-relief are also dwelt upon.
REVIEWS
I have gone through Swami Bhaskarananda’s book, Meditation, Mind and Patanjali’s Yoga. The manuscript is wonderful. Very clear and very well presented. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I myself would buy it and would recommend it to my students too.
-Prof. John Grimes
Dept of Religious Studies
Michigan State University
The book provides a clear, interesting, and comprehensive survey of the Yoga system, from ethics to meditation. Not only does it competently summarize Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, it explains in details the basic concepts of Samkhya philosophy, particularly the three gunas, and the fundamentals of Kundalini Yoga, most notably the seven Chakras. Examples of Yogic practice are given from the experiences of Swami Bhaskarananda, supplemented with stories from the lives of Sri Ramakrishna and other Hindu saints. This book provides a gentle introduction to the spirituality of India in a manner accessible to everyone, regardless of ethnicity or religious background. It has been a pleasure and inspiration to read this book!
-Christopher Key Chapple
Professor of Theological Studies
Director, Asian and Pacific Studies
Loyola Marymount University
It is a wonderfully rich and mature treatise on meditation and growth in the spiritual life, with many fine observations which should help beginners-and more advanced practitioners as well-to advance along the spiritual path. It is not only a clear exposition of yoga, but it is also a book about integral spiritual development which is reasonably well attuned to life in America today. It deserves serious notice and wide reading.
He speaks from a tradition with good common sense and a sense of rootedness. It is a strength of the book that it is focused concisely on Yoga and Yoga works.
-Francis X Clooney, S J
Professor of Theology
Boston College
Contents
List of Illustrations and Diagrams
Preface
Pronunciation Guide
Introduction
Why We Should Meditate
Teacher and Student Relationship
Steps to Yoga
Yama
Niyama
Asana
Pranayama
Pratyahara
Dharana
Dhyana
Obstacles to Meditation
Hazards in Meditation
Kundalini Power and the Six Chakras
The Sankhya Theory of Creation
Samadhi
What Happens after Samadhi
Japa
Judging Our Own Spiritual Progress
Stress Relief
Concluding Remarks
Appendix A
Appendix B
Glossary
Index
About the Author