Books on Yoga & Spirituality
THE SPIRITUAL PRACTICE OF READING!
Yoga books are not just those manuals which explain to us how to do Yoga postures. In a sense all of the world's great spiritual classics are Yoga books. We can learn much from those who have gone before. Studying the great traditions of the world makes one thing clear: that the variety of the manifestations of the human quest for well-being is vast. For some, well-being is to be found in going beyond, in some rise or fall into transcendence. For others, it is to be found in the possession of meaning and some belief system with which to structure all aspects of life. For yet others, it is in the immediate. There is much contradiction and opportunity for conflict in all this, and the sad history of the world testifies that this opportunity is often taken. However, if we take it to heart, there is something very useful in our post-modern situation, in our awareness of such a multiplicity of views. It is this: there is nowhere to settle. Of course, this is not new, Buddha knew it, as did Krishnamurti and others. The books recommended taken together will assure you of the multiplicity of views. Furthermore, many of the writers will refuse to allow you to settle. They will topple you into flight. But remember, reading is not enough. You must do it! Don't settle, even with there being nowhere to settle.
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MODERN MASTERS
Jiddu Krishnamurti was the most lucid of speakers and spent his long life trying, perhaps quixotically, to talk others into enlightenment. He is iconoclastic and his freshness and life-affirming approach are inspiring. One of these poetic volumes is worth more than ten dry tomes on Yoga postures. The following titles are a good introduction:
Alan Watts, English bon viveur and one-time Episcopalean priest, was the most lucid writer on Taoism and Zen. Some critics say that Watts did not practise enough and was too fond of the bottle. It seems true that his English upbringing made it hard for him to truely relax. But maybe we should thank Watts for telling us how easy it is to be beguiled by the attractions of asceticism (as surely are his critics) and cajoling us to come to some self-acceptance. Read Watts and let your practice be playful, joyful and the more profound for that!
The Book: On the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are
Chogyam Trungpa In the later phase of his teaching, Tibetan Meditation master Trungpa developed a clarity and sharpness that is simply merciless towards the would-be seeker's pretensions and expectations. He speaks straight to the heart of our post-modern condition, to our alienation within the supermarket crammed with spiritual "bargains". But his books are all the better for that. The book recommended here is a must, whether you have been tempted to settle or not.
Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism
Osho formerly Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh was in his life a spectacularly controversial teacher who attracted hoards of disciples and was at the centre of a scandal in the USA which resulted in his deportation. Maybe, just maybe, he had a screw loose. Nevertheless, he could sometimes talk very good sense. The title recommended here is a commentary on the 112 methods of meditation found in the Vigyan Bhairav Tantra. This text also inspires Zen Flesh, Zen Bones also recommended here. Osho brings out the simplicity, directness and effortlessness of these approaches.
G.I. Gurdjieff wrote the most impenetrable book on matters spiritual of all times. The title recommended here takes a lot of effort and care to read and most people give up. It is written in long, convoluted sentences and littered with Gurdjieff's own peculiar terminology. For all that, it is a masterpiece. If you can read this and digest it, then you can do anything. This is no small thing! The two follow-up books (Meetings with Remarkable Men, Life is only Real then When I am) are easy and entertaining, but Gurdjieff insists that the series is read in order or else the reader will go mad!
Beelzebub's Tales to his Grandson
Idries Shah wrote on Sufism in English for many years. Everything he has written repays close study. The Sufi teaching stories he has collected from far and wide are entertaining, humourous yet at the same time effective in giving the reader something nourishing to digest. These stories simply soak into the bone-marrow and work away there for years. If words can help, then these are the ones.
The Exploits of the Incomparable Mulla Nasrudin
OLD MASTERS
Patanjali codified the discipline now known as Raja Yoga perhaps some three centuries BC (dates are uncertain). The terse aphorisms of The Yoga Sutra indicate a luminous way into meditation without symbolism, with little metaphysics and without mystification. The sutras are, however, on account of the aphoristic form which is highly condensed, open to a very wide range of interpretation. Many translators and commentators mistakenly think that Patanjali says that enlightenment comes about through control and the gradual learning of control. This approach is naive in the extreme and only makes uptight people more uptight. Beware of it! Difficult though it is, the serious Yoga student needs to get to grips with it. Amazon Books have about twenty translations on their list. Two recent and respected ones are recommended here.
The Yoga Sutra of Patanjali: a New Translation and Commentary Translator - Georg Feuerstein
The Tao Te Ching, is the root text of Contemplative Taoism. Written probably some six centuries BC supposedly by the legendary Lao Tzu, this text points to the wisdom of complete relaxation. Lao Tzu is very clever in allowing no settling: "He who speaks does not know; he who knows does not speak." What then is old Lao talking about? How are we to take what he says, especially this particular statement? Amazon have got some seventy plus translations of the Tao Te Ching. It's a good idea to read more than one. I have chosen two of the older ones and a more recent one.
Tao Te Ching - Richard Willhelm
The Chuang Tzu, is the New Testament of Contemplative Taoism. It is more humerous and less laconic than the Lao Tzu and uses stories to put over its wonderfully relaxed perspective on life. Some famous western philosopher (whose name escapes me) described it once as the greatest work of philosophy in any language. It is certainly profound in its insight into the human condition and practical in its advice.
Chuang Tzu - Gia-Fu Feng / Jane English
Zen flesh, Zen Bones, translated by Paul Reps. Funny and crazy stories of the Zen masters and their direct pointing to IT. Also, you will find in the appendix the wonderful and luminous 112 meditations derived from the pre-Zen Vigyan Bhairav Tantra which are easy and direct. These meditations rely on the way IT is present everywhere and at all times and they simply turn your head a fraction so that you can see it. Marvellous!
The Tibetan Book of the Dead Deep meditation, like death, is an extremity. Both are therefore opportunities in that the stale, sleepy mode of seeing in which habit prevails is completely disrupted. In the disruption, a gap is created, and in the gap .... everything you need. Alongside Robert Thurman's translation is also included The Natural Liberation through Naked Vision, Identifying the Intelligence. There is nothing clearer anywhere.
The Tibetan Book of the Dead - Robert A. F. Thurman
Kundalini Kundalini Yoga may be understood as the approach to liberation through the psycho-somatic nuts and bolts of our being. Ajit Mookerjee's explanations are scholarly yet enthusiastic and clear. There are also many illustrations in this book and they give an invaluable sense of the role of art in spiritual life as an aid to meditation, as an inspiration to creativity and as an affirmation of the sensuous.
Verses from the Centre: A Buddhist Vision of the Sublime Stephen Batchelor's poetic rendering of Nagarjuna's Madhyamarkakarika is simply wonderful. Nagarjuna does not attempt to say what cannot be said, what suchness is like, rather, he attempts to show it. He does this by cutting away our conceptualisations of self, liberation, change, existence and more. But this is not mere negation: that is cut away too. He is merciless and that is his compassion. Do not be without this book! Good explanatory introduction too.
Verses from the Center - Stephen Batchelor
HATHA YOGA MANUALS
B.K.S. Iyengar describes 200 postures and many pranayamas (breathing disciplines) in this classic. Many of the postures are very difficult. Mr. Iyengar also arranges the postures and pranayamas into a 300 week course for those who like extreme discipline! The philosophical aspects of the text are dry and ascetic in flavour but the instructions on the postures are detailed and precise and backed up with good photographs.
The Sivananda Yoga Centre keep updating their books and this is the latest. There is enough helpful and well presented material here to keep most people busy for a long time. As usual, the interpretation of Yoga is somewhat ascetic.
Sylva Mehta et al, though inspired by Mr. Iyengar offer a more limited set of postures than he does. Even so, there is enough here for most people, especially if they have busy lives. The text is dry, as unfortunately is the case with most Hatha Yoga books. The descriptions and photos are good.
H. David Coulter has produced a master-work with this large book on Hatha Yoga and anatomy. It would stand alone as a text book of Western anatomy, but there is more. The anatomical aspects of Hatha Yoga practices, including asana, pranayama, and mudras/bandhas are also described and the ramifications for the way we practise are teased out. There is a wealth of detail, but nevertheless the exposition remains clear. There are good illustrations addding to the clarity. Every teacher, student teacher and serious practitioner must have and study this book.
Sam Dworkis, whose site I have recommended on the links page, has done the world a great service with this book on Yoga for people recovering from illness or surgery, or suffering from chronic ill-health. He shows us that Yoga is not only for the athletic, but can benefit everyone. He explains the role of connective tissue in exercise and spells out what this means for practice. He is very clear on how the breath can be used as the way in to improving our condition of life, wherever we are starting from. A must for teachers who work with people with health problems or otherwise requiring a gentle practice. Inspiring.
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