Layayoga: The Definitive Guide to the Chakras and Kundalini [Paperback]

Shyam Sundar Goswami (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 1999

The most comprehensive guide to chakra meditation and the ancient spiritual science of layayoga ever created. 

• One of the great works on yoga, available for the first time in the United States.

• Full-color plates illustrate each chakra. 

With the growing interest in energy medicine in the West, the ancient Hindu tradition of chakra meditation has become increasingly important to both healers and spiritual seekers. While new to us, the chakras have long been studied in the East, with the spiritual science of layayoga having the profoundest knowledge of these energy centers. The fundamental aspect of layayoga is the arousing of dormant energy within the body through concentration and breathing exercises and the movement of this energy through the chakras to achieve supreme consciousness. Unlike kundalini yoga, which starts with the lower chakras and moves energy upward, layayoga meditation starts with the Sahasrara, the spiritual chakra that crowns the aura, and brings energy down to spiritualize each chakra in turn. Layayoga has long been viewed as the most comprehensive and deeply researched examination of the chakras available in the West. Its detailed, illustrated look at each of the chakras and the various meditations and mantras that go with them makes it a must for serious students of yoga. 

Editorial Reviews

Review

"An extraordinary volume . . . the last word on the chakras and kundalini."
(

Georg Feuerstein, author of Lucid Waking

)

"This book is a testimony to [Goswami's] spiritual stature and tremendous scholarship, but also to the yogic heritage of India.  Nowhere else on earth can one find such profound knowledge about esoteric anatomy and the subtle energetic work necessary to achieve full enlightenment. . . . an extremely valuable gift to all who endeavor to practice authentic Yoga."
(

Georg Feuerstein, International Journal of Yoga Therapy

)

From the Back Cover

YOGA

“An extraordinary volume...the last word on the chakras and kundalini.”
--Georg Feuerstein, Ph.D., Founder-Director of the Yoga Research Center and author of The Shambhala Encyclopedia of Yoga

Tantra--a spiritual tradition centered on the use of the body to find enlightenment--has become extremely popular in the West, but at the heart of Tantra is the little-known practice of Layayoga. Layayoga focuses on the Tantric process of transforming the ordinary human body into a divine body in which every cell is awakened with consciousness. The fundamental aspect of Layayoga is the arousing of kundalini--dormant energy within the body--through concentration and breath exercises, and the movement of this energy through the chakras.

In Layayoga the adept learns not only to raise kundalini power from the base of the spine up through each chakra to the crown of the head, but also to then skillfully guide this power back to its home at the base of the spine. In the process the body becomes suffused with consciousness in a way not found in other types of Yoga. The result of the author's lifetime of yogic experimentation and the Sanskrit scholarship, Layayoga  corrects many misconceptions about the chakras and nadis. Complete with meditations and mantras to accompany each chakra, it will allow serious students of Yoga to realize a previously unimagined level of enlightenment in which they are one with the supreme consciousness.

SHYAM SUNDAR GOSWAMI (1891-1978) was the founder of the Goswami Institute of Yoga in Sweden, the first Indian institution of its kind in that country. He was a disciple of the great yoga master Balak Bharati and also wrote Hatha Yoga: An Advanced Method of Physical Education and Concentration.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Inner Traditions (May 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0892817666
• ISBN-13: 978-0892817665
• Product Dimensions: 0.4 x 0.4 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #128,082 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #41 in Books > Religion & Spirituality > Hinduism > Chakras

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

93 of 98 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Reprint of Goswami's 1980 Publication!, February 2, 2000

By 

"turlowe" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Layayoga: The Definitive Guide to the Chakras and Kundalini (Paperback)

I also highly recommend this book as an excellent and detailed guide to the chakras and to some extent the nadis (of which there is no complete guide in publication). It is of great practical assistance to those interested in kundalini yoga and will particularly assist those who follow unreliable New Age methods.

However, as an experienced librarian, I wish to warn all those interested in this subject that this is not a new title but in fact a reprint of the 1980 publication entitled "Layayoga : an advanced method of concentration". I condemn the publisher Inner Traditions for not clearly indicating this fact prominently on the item as well as including a false "Foreword to the Second Edition" (the writer of which clearly asserts this is simply a reprint) and so deceiving those scanning booklists that they may be unnecessarily purchasing a duplicate.

43 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Layayoga, May 22, 2000

By 

Gaurav Gupta "nachiketa" (Boston, MA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Layayoga: The Definitive Guide to the Chakras and Kundalini (Paperback)

This is an excellent book of reference. The author has done extensive research of the Hindu scriptures for this book and presents the teachings in a very easily understandable language.

This book may disappoint readers who want some nuts and bolts advice about awakening Kundalini as this book, though very detailed, does not really decribe the techniques for kundalini from a user point of view.

44 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Extraordinary! Stunning Insights Into the Truth About Chakras and Kundalini, February 4, 2007

By 

Dr. Richard G. Petty (Atlanta) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Layayoga: The Definitive Guide to the Chakras and Kundalini (Paperback)

There are dozens of forms of yoga, but Laya Yoga (Layayoga) is one of the most accessible for Westerners. It is one of the four great systems of yoga, and deals with the supersensible functions, forces and centers of the inner world of the body. The other three are Hatha Yoga, the most familiar, which deals with the physical body, its power and functions. Hatha Yoga seeks to affect the subtle systems through control of the gross physical body. Mantra Yoga is concerned with the forces and powers outside the body, but which affect it nonetheless. Raja Yoga is the system for disciplining and stilling the mind so that we can unite with and know what lies beyond. The four together comprise Maha Yoga.

Laya Yoga forms the core of Kundalini Yoga, which in turn lies at the heart of Tantra. Why it is one of the most accessible, is that in contrast to systems that teach that the body is an obstacle on the Path to Enlightenment, it teaches that the body is a manifestation of the ultimate Reality and must therefore be fully integrated into our spiritual development.

This book focuses on the process by which the human body can be transmuted into a divine one, in which every organ and every cell is suffused with consciousness and develops capacities far beyond the "normal." These processes underlie some of the documented feats of yogic adepts. The word "Laya" means "dissolution," in the sense of melting away the limitations and karma that have accrued over time. The word can also be used to refer to the absorption and transmutation of the elements that constitute the body. This process occurs when kundalini is awakened and rises from the base of the spine and ascends toward the top of the head.

This book is technical, academic and comprehensive. It truly is a "definitive guide." It draws on over 280 Sanskrit texts and is based not just on words on books, but many years of precise yogic experimentation and ever more subtle realizations.

This is a book for the serious student. It is not a quick guide to raising kundalini or achieving powers. The book also corrects some of the common misconceptions that litter some of the New Age books on chakras and kundalini.

As an example, in most people only some of the chakras are active. It would not be a good idea for someone to learn how to open them all up without having done the necessary preparatory work first. Many health care practitioners have seen the consequences of people doing too much chakra or kundalini work too quickly and without guidance.

If you are interested in spirituality, yoga or the subtle anatomy of the body, this is a superb book that will repay a few hours of study. I have bought extra copies for students who have already covered the basics about yoga, spiritual development and subtle energies, and each has found it to be a treasure trove.

Highly recommended.