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The Serpent Power: The Secrets of Tantric and Shaktic Yoga Paperback – June 1, 1974


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Product Details

  • Paperback: 592 pages
  • Publisher: Dover Publications; New edition edition (June 1, 1974)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0486230589
  • ISBN-13: 978-0486230580
  • Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.4 x 1.1 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #49,200 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English

Customer Reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

68 of 77 people found the following review helpful By (Riley Jackson) w11423@email.mot.com on August 21, 1998
Format: Paperback
This work will bring the reader into the power of Devatma Shakti Kundalini just by reading and pondering the text. Old feelings will find a home in the transformation from experience to understanding as the book flows forward. Gentle delight is the mark of a true Tantric text and this book, although strange and difficult at times, is pure de-light. If you want to know about Chakras and such, this is a classic text by one who really knows. Old and grand, this is a favorite treasure of mine and one I give away regularly to friends who must have more. Lam-to-Aum... Riley Jackson
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105 of 122 people found the following review helpful By OverTheMoon on November 25, 2003
Format: Paperback
The only reason why I have this book, which is mostly hardcore Hinduism, is because of reading - The Tibetan Book of the Dead by W.Y.Evans-Wentz which is essentially Buddhism. In that book, and especially his follow-up books (Tibetan Yoga and Secret Doctrines), Evans-Wentz makes reference to The Serpent Power in many of his footnotes. There are also introductions by Sir John Woodroffe (Arthur Avalon) in the books of Evans-Wentz. There are aspects of Buddhism and Hinduism that are intertwined. Hinduism is more like Christianity, in that it uses deities and faith to help one understand much of that which it espouses on. Buddhism is more psychological and metaphysical. That is why Evans-Wentz books have all introductions by Jung.
One of the main points of interest that has been adopted by Buddhism are the chakra, which are better known as - The Psychic Centers. There are seven of these centers in the human body. They are connected and are mostly psychological. Evans-Wentz does a good job of explaining these Psychic Centers in his own books but if you really want to see where Buddhist chakra developed from then no look further than the master book on the topic - The Serpent Power.
Now a word of warning. Hinduism is nothing like Buddhism or Christianity and this book is a world away from most Buddhist literature. It is heavy on Sanskrit and is certainly tough reading. However this whole book is a secret doctrine about the chakra, the psychic centers and Kundalini yoga. That doctrine is also called - The Description of the Six Chakras and the Five-fold footstool. There is 300 pages of an introduction and then the entire translation of that doctrine.
Those who wish to find out more about Kundalini Yoga or the Chakra may be advised to check out the works of W.Y.Evans-Wentz first before moving on to this more complex topic. It is presented in the manner of Hinduism and is certainly tough going - however the goal is attainable right here within these pages.
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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful By Rich on March 15, 2011
Format: Paperback Verified Purchase
This is the kind of book you might like if your really a student of things like Kundalini yoga, Kriya yoga, or Patanjali's yoga sutras. It explains some things and terms used in other texts a little clearer. Now it doesn't really teach techniques to really gain enlightenment, but there is not really much out there that does go into the kind of detail anyway. The Kriya yoga people are very secretive about what they will actually teach you. I've tried to get info out of the Yoga Nikiten folks and they basically said "become a disciple and in maybe a year or two we might tell you something". Anyway this is a serious explanation of a complex subject, but I have done Kundalini Yoga for 38 years and learned some explanations that i hadn't been taught. Good for the serious.
Rich
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful By kaioatey on September 9, 2012
Format: Paperback
This amazing translation of two Sanskrit texts, Sat-chakra-nirupana ("Description of the Six Chakras") and Paduka-pancaka ("Fivefold footstool") was published around the end of WWI and is a prime example of the quality of European scholarship of the day. We don't learn much about Sir Woodroffe's personal practice however his textual understanding is nuanced and encyclopedic and is clearly based on extensive Western and Hindu sources.

Both texts are detailed instructions on how to wake and guide the "serpent" from its sleep in the muladhara chakra. A lay reader will probably not get all they could, as the translated texts require a familiarity with terms such as mandala, bindu, vrrti, tattva etc. What is clearly conveyed however is that properly guided work leads to concrete results which are manifested by unambigous signs and evaluated through rigorous tests by credentialed teachers of Hindu Tantra. I would note that most Westerners may be more familiar with the Sikh version of Kundalini yoga which has its own (different but no less effective) textual infrastructure and practices (gongs!). Hindu Kundalini tantrikas were/are less secretive than the Sikhs so that, at least from the textual standpoint, we know more about the formal practice design. The foundation of these practices is often poetic and still resonates across the thousand(s) of years. Here are the words of Siva:

"Welcome, o Beauty of the three worlds, welcome is Thy question. This knowledge (which I am about to disclose) is the secret of secrets, and I have not imparted it to anyone till now. Listen, then, with attention: " (p. 145).

This, in a nutshell, is a classical work. It's worth reading for the text itself as for the commentary. For a more modern view, one might check the new translations of the Vijnana Bhairava Tantra. If one is interested in energy, and energy flow, this is a good book to have.
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19 of 23 people found the following review helpful By Linda L Love on July 28, 2001
Format: Paperback
This book is one of the more sophisticated of the books that deals with this topic. Givin in a traditional fashion that could be annoted only to such a scholar, and pioneer, as John Woodroffe. The detail is uncompairable and unless you have a solid understanding for the language and representations, it is a hard read.
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