A Systematic Course in the Ancient Tantric Techniques of Yoga and Kriya [Hardcover]

Swami Satyananda Saraswati (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1, 2004

Yoga is not an ancient myth buried in oblivion.It is the most valuable inheritance of the present.It is the essential need of today and the culture of tomorrow. Swami Sivananda Sarswati. This book is the most comprehensive text ever published on yoga. It contains a complete course of 36 structured lessons on all the practices of integral yoga. The lessons were compiled from the teachings given by Swami Satyananda Saraswati and are useful as a practical and theoretical guide for all levels of yoga teachers and aspirants. The book presents a synthesis of yoga in a scientific and systematic manner. The different branches of hatha yoga, mantra yoga, karma yoga, bhakti yoga, jnana yoga and kriya yoga are progressively introduced with special emphasis on practice, theory and application in daily life. Includes line drawings,diagrams and colour plates. The depth of knowledge this book contains provides the link between you,the practitoner of yoga and an experienced guide and teacher.This link is your sadhana(spiritual practice),the beginning of your inner transformation,spiritual awakening and realization of higher ideals in life. The techniques covered in this book have their basis in the ancient vedic (tantric and yogic) shastras and were handed over the centuries from guru to disciple. Now in an age when travel and communication have become almost instantaneous affairs and there are more efficient methods of disseminating wisdom than the human voice and ear,we wish to offer these transcendatal instruments of grace to all who have eyes to read and ears to hear.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Swami Satyananda Saraswati was born 1923 at Almora (Uttaranchal) into a family of farmers. His ancestors were warriors and many of his kith and kin down the line, including his father, served in the army and police force. However, it became evident that Swami Satyananda had a different bent of mind, as he began to have spiritual experiences at the age of six, when his awareness spontaneously left the body and he saw himself lying motionless on the floor. Many saints and sadhus blessed him and reassured his parents that he had a very developed awareness. This experience of disembodied awareness continued, which led him to many saints of that time such as Anandamayi Ma. Swami Satyanada also met a tantric bhairavi, Sukhman Giri, who gave him shaktipat and directed him to find a guru in order to stabilize his spiritual experiences. In 1944 at the age of nineteen, Swami Satyananda met his guru Swami Sivananda and came to live at Sivananda Ashram in Rishikesh. In 1947, he took the vow of sanyasin or monastic renunciation and became a swami. He served in different departments at the ashram for over 12 years. He did physical labor, edited the ashram's Hindi journal, wrote various articles and composed poems in both Hindi and Sanskrit. He wrote a translation and commentary in the English language of the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad by Swami Sivananda. Upon leaving the ashram in 1956, he wandered throughout India, Afghanistan, Nepal, Burma and Ceylon for the next 7 years, extending his knowledge of spiritual practices. He eventually found his way to Munger, in the province of Bihar. After establishing himself there, in 1963 he founded the International Yoga Fellowship and the Bihar School of Yoga a year later. He lectured and taught globally for the next twenty years and authored a number of books which are considered among the most revered in the field of yoga and yogic philosophy, and remain popular to this day. In 1988, he retired from active involvement in teaching and handed active work of his ashram and organization to his senior disciple Swami Niranjanananda. He lived in seclusion as a Paramahamsa Sannyasin performing higher spiritual and vedic sadhanas. Paramahamsa Swami Satyananda took "Sajeeva Samadhi" at his ashram in Rikhia, Jharkand on December 5th, 2009.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 957 pages
• Publisher: Yoga Publications Trust/Munger; 01 edition (December 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 8185787085
• ISBN-13: 978-8185787084
• Product Dimensions: 0.4 x 0.4 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #224,715 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

129 of 129 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An incredibly clear and concise path to self-realization, April 16, 2006

By 

Dave Koo (Vancouver, BC, Canada) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: A Systematic Course in the Ancient Tantric Techniques of Yoga and Kriya (Hardcover)

There are a couple reviews here that do a great job of briefly explaining this book's amazing and unbelievably detailed contents so I won't head down that path. I will say that this is the path of yoga for the spiritually-inclined. Asanas are definitely part of the course, but in contrast to most other styles, a large amount of your time is spent in breath work and meditation which is not surprising given that Raja yoga (regarded as the most meditation-intensive supreme path of yoga) is a large part of Saytananda yoga. In fact, the more you progress, you realize that the asanas/postures are really just preparing you for meditation (kind of like stretching before running a marathon)

After practicing the first 7 lessons (7 months) of the book at home I decided to get serious about Satyananda Yoga and started looking for a teacher. As it turns out, there are only 4 fully accredited Satyananda teachers in North America (yes you read that correctly!) as it takes 3 to 5 years of intensive study to achieve that designation (as opposed to about 1 month to get a basic 200-hour yoga certificate elsewhere) and they have only started training Satyananda teachers in North America about 5 years ago. As all 4 of the teachers are in Cleveland Ohio, I took a flight out there to start my journey down this amazing path and hope to join the ranks of Satyananda teachers in a few years.

If you are a serious and disciplined aspirant and are interested in the practice of yoga for rapid spiritual evolution (as opposed to simply for health and fitness), then this is the path for YOU.

Hari Om Tat Sat,
Dave

74 of 74 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Don't be intimidated, December 5, 2006

By 

Kevin Clark (Oxnard) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: A Systematic Course in the Ancient Tantric Techniques of Yoga and Kriya (Hardcover)

This is an imposing volume for sure, the great length and expense of the book may lead some people to try something else. I encourage you to go ahead and try this one if you have any inclination to do so. It starts you out gently, the first chapter contains some exercises to increase the flexibility in ankles, hips, and knees, and the only meditative pose given is shavasana or corpse pose, which is just laying on your back on the floor. You can handle that. The method given of moving from boat pose into corpse pose for relaxation is fantastic. Everything is explained thoroughly and aimed at a complete novice, though the explanatory text is rewarding even for those already versed in yoga practices.

The course also provides some bodily cleansing methods which may freak you out a little bit. Right off the bat they give you Jala Neti which requires you to pour salt water into one nostril and have it flow out the other one. This feels odd at first but you get used to it and even start to crave it after a few days.

You spend as long as it takes to fully assimilate each chapter before moving on to the next. Fantastic progress can be made in an hour a day, though it looks like as you reach the more advanced teachings that time will increase.

So don't be intimidated, begin this journey.

56 of 56 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Comprehensive textbook on kriya yoga, February 2, 2006

By 

H. Allami (Canada) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: A Systematic Course in the Ancient Tantric Techniques of Yoga and Kriya (Hardcover)

This is a great book for people who are serious enough to start a daily yoga practice but for whom it is not feasible to go on an extended pilgrimage to an ashram or other yoga retreat. It does require a long-term commitment of regular practice and is not ideal for people who are absolute beginners or just dabbling.

The course within this book outlines the essentials of the entire yoga lifestyle and therefore includes information not only on yoga postures, but also on some of the esoteric practices including yogic breathing, cleansing, diet, philosophy, and chakra meditations. However, it is one specific system (or path) to yoga and should not be mixed with other systems i.e. if you choose this path, stick to this one alone.