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21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Inner Path Of Yoga For Modern Yogis, April 29, 2004
This book by Darren John Main "Yoga and the Path Of The Urban Mystic" is really outstanding. It is one among a collection of excellent books to emerge in recent times that are about the inner part of yoga beyond asana. This book leads you through the eight limb path (ashtanga) of yoga and gives insight in down to earth language how to apply these principles to real life. Darren is an outstanding writer and has deep insights and a practical way of looking at the Yamas, Niyamas, Asana, Pranayama, Pratyahara, Dharana, Dhyana and Samadhi. Highly recommended for Yogis who want to deepen their practice beyond the asanas as well as for anyone who wants a down to earth introduction to these principles of yoga. Also highly recommended are "Bringing Yoga To Life" by Donna Farhi, "Yoga And The Quest For The True Self" by Stephen Cope, "Living Your Yoga" by Judith Lasater and "Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapy" by Michael Lee. Also check out the CD sets "Yoga For Emotional Flow" by Stephen Cope )which has three excellent guided meditations and "The Yoga Matrix" by Richard Freeman which is a six CD set that gets very deeply into the philosophical aspects of the yoga system. Namaste
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19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Not for the serious Yogi, July 5, 2009
This book was selected for our spiritual book club. There were nine of us, mostly yoga teachers, including some 10 year plus students of yoga philosophy. We picked carefully through each chapter. The long time students of yoga all reached similar conclusions about the book; this conclusion is basically that it is not a good choice for a serious student of yoga. Part one is a general introduction to eastern spirituality. Part two takes the eight limbs of yoga (from the yoga sutras) and interprets them for the "urban mystic". This is a laudable goal, and the book is sometimes very good, even brilliant in a few places. However, it is also dumbed down or wrong in many places. Whole Wheat breathing anyone?
His chapter about tapas is way off the mark. Quoting from the book: "A more modern approach to tapas would be to take a real inventory of our possessions. Most of us, if we were really honest, would be able to take several truckloads of stuff to Good Will and not miss a thing." He interprets tapas as being about non-materialism. But tapas is heat, the self discipline/spiritual effort involved in breaking our conditioned patterns. It's a stretch to include non-materialism, which would more appropriately be Aparigraha (greedlessness), one of the Yamas. But non-materialism is all he discusses in this chapter.
Surprisingly, the book did work for our book discussion. It allowed us to take a fresh look at each concept, discuss positives and negatives in the book, and extend the discussion from there.
Authors often have a specific reader in mind for their writings, and it felt to me that Darren Main's intended reader is a 12 year old cousin who knows little about yoga. It's not a bad book if you've been practicing asana and want a casual introduction to yoga philosophy. However, if you are deeply interested in yoga, I would skip this book and read something written by someone with greater depth and experience. I usually recommend Erich Shiffmann's book "Yoga, the Spirit and Practice of Moving into Stillness" to those new to yoga.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
wonderfully fun - - simple & significant at once, September 30, 2003
this book is really fun and easy to read. it's unpretentious, honest, and good natured in its discussion of the mental hurdles, internal conflicts, and regular friction that arise in our lives daily. anybody who has read a lot of what they call mystical, esoteric, or religious texts will especially enjoy the combination of simplicity, sincerity, and depth, that the author has infused this book with. i'd recommend this to absolutely anyone, whether they're interested in yoga or not -- it made a huge difference in my perspective. thank you, darren. if you practise hatha yoga and are looking for more insight into the non-physical aspects of the practise, you may find as i did, that this book feels like your favorite yoga instructor: full of insight yet unpretentious; warmly encouraging yet demanding.
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