Customer Reviews

Raja Yoga

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This book is both profound and easy to understand. It is valuable for persons knowledgable and new to Raja-Yoga alike. In progressive chapters beginning with an introduction and the "eight steps" of Raja-yoga, to more complex concepts such as Dhyana and Samadhi, everything is explained with conciseness and ease. The latter half of the book covers an Introduction to the Yoga Aphorisms of Patanjali, here Concentration is explained, both its practical uses and its practice. In conclusion there are also explanations of the Powers of the Mind, Reincarnation and Discipleship. A Pronounciation table and a Glossary are also provided. All of these make this the best book by far on Raja-Yoga. What really sets this book apart however, is the direct manner in which Swami Vivekananda addresses the reader. The prose is concise, yet easy to understand. After reading this you come away feeling that you have had a conversation with a friend who cares about you. A truly excellent book.

Imagine a book that could change your life forever, for so little money. The amount is just secondary consideration, given the concept of Raja Yoga.

About the author:
Swami Vivekananda, one of the few philosophers who lived by what he taught (i dont want to use the word preach here), gives an authoritative commentary on RajaYoga - one of the four main yogas (the others being Jnana Yoga, Karma Yoga and Bhakti Yoga). The other 3 yoga books are basically a series of lectures by SV. But Raja Yoga is more than a lecture. Its roots are actually in Patanjali's Yoga Sutras. There are several good translations of YS, but SV's is the first (translated in mid 1890s when he was in Thousand Islands, NY) and the most comprehensive.

The book:
The first part explains the concept of Raja yoga. The second part is verbatim translation of YS with sanskrit text and additional commentary. The sutras by themselves reveal little meaning to a beginner. But when it is reflected from the minds of great people like SV, they reveal a deeper and significant meaning and suddenly everything becomes clear; the perspective of life has shifted a bit and one gains more confidence.

I can not stress much of the value of the book in a single review, Raja Yoga is a companion to life. It is not limited to any particular person or religion. Anybody, even an atheist or communist can practice it. Raja Yoga is a set of principles that any man can follow to the "ultimate liberation". You dont have to practice all the principles. Just look at the effects of one of the principles - namely Asana (roughly = yogic postures) - yields in ones life. Yoga transforms a man. For eg, SV explains the difference between the "yogic sleep" and ordinary sleep. A thief goes into ordinary sleep and wakes up as a theif. But in yogic state a thief goes into, comes out a sage.

This book is not for reading and adorning the bookshelf, but for thinking for oneself and determining a path of life.

Vivekananda's book, Raja-Yoga, is one of the best books on the subject; beautifully written in a clear and concise manner. Although, like most books on Raja-yoga which discuss philosophies as well as practices, what is most beneficial about Vivekanada's book is his emphasis upon the effects of Raja-Ygoa. According to Vivekananda, when one masters the powers of concentration, then reads the experiences of the enlightened, then one will then take on that same state. When one knows in which direction to go, and can predict the state one is about to enter, then one has mastered concentration.

THIS BOOK CLEARLY DETAILS THE THEORY OF RAJA YOGA. IT'S SURPRSING TO SEE HOW EASY TO UNDERSTAND AND RELIABLE THE BOOK IS CONSIDERING THE PERIOD IN WHICH IT WAS WRITTEN. THIS IS NOT PRACTICAL INSTRUCTIONS IN RAJA YOGA THOUGH, FOR THAT YOU NEED ANOTHER BOOK OR A QUALIFIED TEACHER. I PARTICULARLY LIKE THE SECTION ON THE PRANA AND HOW THE AUTHOR EVALUTES THE VARIOUS RELIGIONS. ALSO, HE BRIFLY MENTIONS SANKARA AND HIS PHILOSOPHY. YOU MAY DOWNLOAD A FREE PDF COPY ON LINE.

PROS: CONTAINS THE YOGA SUTRAS AND COMMENTARY ON SAME. PROVIDES EXCELLENT THEORY THAT PROVIDES A SOLID BACKGROUND IN THE SUBJECT.

CONS: THIS IS MORE OF AN EXPOSITION ON RAJA YOGA INSTEAD OF IT'S ACTUAL PRACTICE.

Raja Yoga is the King of Yogas.
This book really enables you to understand how your mind processes information and how to conquer your own nature to exercise free will.
The author Swami Vivekananda was both an enlightened soul and an elequent speaker. His words are powerfull!

I consider this book by Vivekananda to be a definitive work on the subject of Raja/Ashtanga/Kundalini Yoga. It is a must-read for any serious practitioner of true, spiritual yoga.

The first part of the book is comprised of several lectures delivered over 50 years ago by Swami Vivekananda to his classes in New York, and the second part is, to use his own words, a "rather free translation" of the Aphorisms of Patanjali.

Though Vivekananda's writing style strikes me as rather philosophical and high-minded at times, he does provide an accurate and valuable map of the eight stages of yoga (also called 'ashtanga' yoga). He outlines the correct approach to pranayama and meditation and accurately explains the more advanced meditation practices of Dharana, Dhyana, and Samadhi. The latter is something I've noted other authors tend to either avoid entirely or, if they do attempt to explain it, make mistakes that indicate they don't really know the purpose of such states or what goes on in them.

What I found most reassuring about this book is that Vivekananda makes no mistakes in regard to the functions, methods and purposes of the various stages of yoga. His descriptions and explanations match my experiences completely and I therefore feel he can be relied upon to steer the intelligent reader in the right direction.

What I didn't find helpful were his digressions, primarily in the first part of the book, into what seem to be debates on obscure points of yoga philosophy. He often seems to be debating with unseen opponents, or perhaps trying to distinguish himself from other philosophies and schools of thought popular in his day. I found some of his reasoning in this regard clearly flawed though, or at least lacking the consideration of other, more apparent, possibilities. Perhaps this was due to the texts being transcriptions of on-the-spot lectures instead of carefully considered and worded essays.

In any case, the practical information Vivekananda openly outlines in this book on yoga and its methods is clear and, in my opinion, highly worthwhile. I recommend this book for the serious yoga practitioner.

How to begin? On the plus side, this book was a pleasure to read. I read it front-to-back three times and destroyed it in the process with highlights, underlines, and notes in the margin. The author is a pleasure to read, and lucid on many fine points related to the elevation of consciousness, Vedic philosophy, etc.

However, I read Vivekananda's commentary in the hopes of extending my understanding of moving from the experience of "samadhi with seeds" to the deeper experience of "samadhi without seeds," and with 42 years experience in twice-daily meditation (32 of which have included the practice of the Patanjali's Yoga Sutras using his Samyama tecchnique). As I read, I asked myself, "Would it be possible for someone yearning for Inner Wholeness to read this and properly practice the Samyama technique with these sutras?" For a dedicated seeker of Spiritual Wholeness, this is the most important purpose of a translation and commentary on this classic scripture.

Sadly, I do not believe that it would. In our admiration and appreciation of Vivekananda, and of the light he brought to so many, we should also seek the shortest, straightest path to the Truth, and we should seek the courage to "call em as we see um" (just as V. and other elevated souls have done). From the outset, V. (and most others) keep translating/equating "Samyama" with "concentration" which, for almost everyone, conveys a sense of great effort and intensity of mental focus. With the passage of much time, and with a great deal of effort bordering on mental exhaustion, this may actually work (see below for a thought on why/how).

However, it is all wasteful and unnecessary, and sooner or later will lead most of those attempting to "concentrate" on the sutras to set this practice aside. Samyama, as I was taught and as I have verified in my 32 years of regular, daily experience, is a little more complex and subtle. However, these subtlties make ALL the difference in our progress to the goal of Yoga. For the most powerful experience and fastest progress toward Enlightenment/Non-Dual Awareness," Samyama is: repetitively bringing to mind each of the sutras in the vaguest possible way with immediate release. Done so, each sutra is the vaguest possible wave in the mind stuff (in Sanskrit, chitta) and, as such, is a deeply satisfying way of suppressing all other waves of sublte thought. Because it is easily overshadowed by gross thoughts (gross waves in chitta), it is best suited to persons who are already having very clear periods of "no thoughts/no mantra" during their regular meditative practice.

This said, anyone drawn to the Yoga Sutras and the Samyama technique for bringing them to mind should give both a fair trial. However, if you spend your time lost in gross thought during Samyama and confused about where you left off when those thoughts clear, then you must trust your teacher, master, or intuition on whether to continue. If you know when to "back off" of Samyama and the Yoga Sutras, then you are likelier to come back to them in a year or so after you have cleared some of the grosser impressions out of your neuro-cognitive system that give rise to gross thoughts during meditation. On the other hand, if you persist in working yourself to death trying to suppress gross thoughts with gross repetition of, and concentration on, the sutras (thus making them gross thoughts as well), chances are you will not give Samyama and the Yoga Sutras another trial later on when they could be of far more use in moving to the next level.

Done properly, Samyama not only leads the mind to one-pointedness (hence the often-misused word "Concentration"), but brings one to perfect stillness of chitta between repetitions of each sutra. This perfect stillness is the much-discussed state of "transcendence/samadhi" (either with or without seeds). However, the key is two-fold: favoring the sutra at the VAGUEST POSSIBLE LEVEL of mind, and doing so with AS LITTLE EFFORT AS POSSIBLE. Thus, the simultaneous experience of one-pointedness and samadhi (first only between sutras, but very quickly BOTH between and during each sutra) is NOT the result of concentration, it is the result of the VAGUE wave the sutra EFFORTLESSLY generated in the chitta (mind stuff)clearing away all other subtle waves of thought. Said another way, concentration (mental one-pointedness) does not lead to samadhi, the repeated marriage of subtle waves of self-generated thought (each Yoga Sutra) and the return to unboundedness between each sutra leads to a much more INTENSE AND SET experience that the mind is gathered (or collected, or concentrated) in Unbounded Presence.

Additionally, the REAL value and goal of Samyama and the Yoga Sutras is NOT the experience of one-pointed samadhi during their practice, it is how Samyama sews (or sutures) one-pointedness/samadhi to the waves of thought first at the subtlest level of excitement of the chitta, progressing eventually to all levels of excitation. This first, subtle experience is the seed from which "Enlightenment/Non-Dual Awareness" advances (with regular, daily practice). The cognitive process of Samyama is stimulating the adaptive, neurological processes of the brain to establish new neural pathways that support the simultaneous experience of gross thoughts, speech, and actions in the outer world AND One-Pointed Samadhi in the foreground of our inner world. Remember, we are both mind and body; both consciousness and neurophysiology; we are a complete, interdependent neuro-cognitive system.

Concentrating and expending great effort to bring sutras clearly and forcefully to mind can only work to the extent that these practices exhaust the mind, and force effortlessness in that state of exhaustion. If you read V's commentary with this in mind instead of your image of his use of the word, "concentration," you will get a great deal from his book, and infinitely more from your daily practice of the Yoga Sutras. In Joy... Jai Guru Dev, Eric

You can't go wrong with any book by Vivekananda. Not only was he a great scholar, he was a saint and mystic who had personally experienced the things he taught. This book gives an extremely clear description of Raja Yoga from both a practical and philosophical standpoint. The first half explains the philosophical concepts of Hinduism regarding the relationships between mind, matter, and spirit. The second half of the book walks you through the ancient Yoga Sutras.

This book includes Swami Vivekananda translation of Patanjali's Yoga Sutras.

This is a good translation. Out of all 4 Yoga books by Swami Vivekananda, I like this one the best.

I also recommend the following after my careful research:
- The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali: A New Edition, Translation, and Commentary by Edwin F. Bryant (faithful & lucid)
- Yoga: Discipline of Freedom: The Yoga Sutra Attributed to Patanjali by Patanjali and Barbara Stoler Miller (level: beginner)


If you are interested in Vedic knowledge, check out my profile for the hand-picked books.

Wow! What a treat! Swami Vivekananda has created a classic on Raja-Yoga that is head and shoulders above any that I have read in my 20 years of studying and practicing Advaita Vedanta. This is a great manual for those just beginning their investigation into the wisdom of Vedanta as well as very useful for those who have been practicing for years. Indeed, I would recommend this book as the starting place for any would-be practitioner. Swami speaks straight and clear and his advice is immediately understood and usable. This manual will be at my side for the rest of my life!