Customer Reviews

The Yoga Tradition: Its History, Literature, Philosophy and Practice

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This extraordinary work represents a lifetime of devotion to yoga by its preeminent Western scholar. It is at once a distillation and compilation of all that Georg Feuerstein has gleaned in his extensive travels both academically and spiritually. It greatly broadens the usual scope of yoga to include its manifestation in other religions and goes back in time to the edge of the prehistory. Feuerstein understands that yoga is both an ancient practice, and, by itself, a profound and venerable religion. More than anything, however, it is a salient expression of the culture and philosophy, the lifestyle and history of the Indian subcontinent where it was the midwife of the great religions of Buddhism, Jainism, Taoism and of course that great body of belief and practice known as Hinduism.

Feuerstein is in one sense a true believer. He has devoted his life to the study of yoga and attendant phenomena, in particular Hinduism and the broad Tantric tradition. One gets the sense that even here in this lengthy work, he knows much more than he is conveying; that there is a synergistic power in his extensive knowledge that allows him to know things that he cannot express. One feels his intense desire to say something that perhaps cannot be said, something spiritual and personal that can only be experienced.

In another sense he is a hard-working scholar who reports on what he has learned without passing unnecessary judgments or drawing unwarranted conclusions, although he does interpret. He is, in this sense, the American expression of the great Romanian scholar Mircea Eliade (who wrote in French) with perhaps a pinch of the Indian philosopher Sri Aurobindo, on the one hand, and the English tantrist Sir John Woodroffe, on the other, folded in.

The book begins with a thorough definition of yoga and then an overview, and then its inescapable conjoining with Hinduism. This is "Part One: Foundations." Then Feuerstein looks at "Pre-Classical Yoga" and overviews the entire Vedic tradition including the yoga of the earliest Upanishads, culminating in its expression in the Bhagavad Gita. Then in "Part Three: Classical Yoga," he comes to Patanjali and the yoga of the eight limbs, the famous yoga of the aphorisms. Part Four is "Post-Classical Yoga" from the later Yoga-Upanishads from the Middle Ages in which the focus is on bhakti, technique, mantra and meditation. It is here that Western readers will find much that is new, or at least not readily available in English. And it is here that a non-dualistic yogic philosophy (as opposed to the dualism of Patanjali) holds sway. Part Five is on tantrism and "Yoga as Spiritual Alchemy." It is in this last part that the so-called "subtle body," with its nadis and pranas, its cakras ("psychoenergetic centers") and the mysterious serpent power of kundalini, is explored in depth. Here too we have the ritualistic practice of the five forbidden things from tantra yoga, the infamous "left-handed path." Here is Feuerstein's take: "Practitioners of the left-hand path (<vāma-mārga>)--vāma means both "left" and "woman"--know they are breaking profound social taboos, and their only justification for their conduct is that their goal is not sensual gratification but self-transcendence in the context of bodily existence." (p. 484)

To me--and I have studied and practiced yoga for 28 years--yoga is first and foremost a profound psychology, a way of life that has evolved along with the human experience, from the prehistory to today, a guide on how to live that has come down to us in part (only in part: so much has been lost) as a philosophic and religious tradition. Feuerstein's book is at once a great reference and a heart-felt exposition on the power of yoga to transcend this world in which we are enveloped in the "food sheath," where we are both the eater and the eaten, but with our eyes on the stars.

The book includes numerous black and white illustrations, passages from yogic works, and an extensive, selected bibliography. There is a chronology, a glossary and an excellent index.

Being a long time student of various yoga and related traditions, I humbly bow to the author for his vast and accurate knowledge of the subject. This work gives exceptionally unbiased, clear and insightful treatment of the diverse spiritual traditions. A result, I believe, of open mindedness and deep understanding. This is extremely rare for works in this category. Actually, there are no other books like it, period. The volume, clearly the distillate of many years of diligent study and practice, contains abosolutely no fluff, and everything is backed up by authoritative materials. In one easily understandable reference work, it makes available the many wisdom teachings spanning a great time period and geographical locations. Not only does it provide a bird's eye view of this vast and complex field, it also provides a rich historical context, which greatly aids our understanding. If I had access to the information contained in this book years ago, it would have saved me much grief and helped me to progress further and sooner. A must read for any serious student on the spiritual path.

It is very refreshing to see a westerner who really understands the heart,soul,and original pupose of all yogas. Most westerners assume Yoga to be a merely stretches and postures. In reality, there are many different paths of yoga--all invented to ultimately lead the soul to complete liberation, although a lot of people (even some self-designated "gurus") don't know or lose sight of this. I was very sceptical as to whether a westerner giving an honorable representation of this majestic science, and to give an honorable IN-DEPTH presentation at that!

As Ken Wilber states (in other words) in the foreword...we DO have in Feuerstein the perfect and necessary blend of a scientifically minded scholar and devoted practitioner.

HUGE BOOK!!! The size of an actual encyclopedia. But, if you have any clue as to how deep and rich the yoga tradition is, and if you also appreciate it's beauty...or even if you think it's a bunch of hooey and want to know whether you are right or not, it is an immensely scholarly--yet readable sourcebook. MUST HAVE!

(p.s.--I like old george now.)

When this book came in the mail and I started looking through it I was absolutely thrilled. It provides a great overview of the yoga tradition by a scholar-practioner with over 30 years experience studying and practicing. I have similar books that cost much more than this and they are good, but not necessarily as readable as this volume.

In brief, this book covers the scope of yoga and lays a foundation for an overview of the various branches of yoga. In talks about the history of the yoga tradition and does so in an engaging way, even if you aren't a big history buff. In my opinion, it provides just the right amount of detail.

This title also looks at the yoga tradition within Buddhism and the relationship between Buddhism and Hinduism. It also helps the reader to sort out all the various sacred texts, how they are related to each other and even provides sample readings.

The treatment of the classic yoga, the post-classical period and the flowering of the tradition is interesting and informative. It also talks about tantric traditions and modern movements and scholars such as Sri Aurobindo. The author also provides a great framework and organizes all of this information in an easy and enjoyable read.

If you have ever been confused over the historical details of the various yoga traditions, the overlap or relationships between them, this text will set you on the right path. It also has an excellent glossary, comprehensive index and an above average bibilography. For about $20.00 this book delivers a lot of value. I recommend it without reservation to anyone interested in the evolution of yoga at any level of practice.

This book is a sweeping overview of the Yoga tradition of India and its many subdivisions. He covers everything from Tantra yoga, Karma yoga to Sri Aurobindo and everything in between.

Does he do a good job at presenting this vast subject?
Yes and no. Yes he covers the various topics in some detail. Though his coverage is spotty. On some topics he does a good job and on others he glosses over. He also suffers though from accepting every guru and school as valid. As such he includes several well known cults and bogus teachers as legitimate.

He also does not cover the problems with gurus in the yoga tradition. A good many of them have sexually or emotionally abused their student and had to leave the schools they founded. The kundalini teachers are especially notorious in this regards.

Also does not adequately cover the so-called 'crazy wisdom' teaching and how it is abused.

Two cases of his intellectual sloppiness stand out:
Adi Da(franklin Jones)- a brutal authoritarian with a god complex, Fuerstein gives a glowing review of his teachings and him as a authentic guru. Da's group is considered a cult by all cult-watch organizations. BTW Fuerstein was/is a student of Da.

Yogi Bhahan. This man is teaching a mish-mash system of yoga with no lineage. The Sikh's don't even do yoga in India. It is also considered a cult. Yet georg includes his teaching as valid.

His inclusion of these two groups makes me wonder if he really does investigate and research the various schools of yoga or accepts what they say on face value.

As such this work is marred by dubious scholarship. Ken Wilber's glowing comments not withstanding.

Despite this it is still worth purchasing. But don't accept it on his say so alone, do some research.

For the keen on Yoga, this is a great resource. It is commendable that the Author has made an effot to compile the huge volumes of ancient Indian scriptures - many of which is a life-time study - into a single volume. With such an effort, there would many purposes served and some not served too well. You have the vedantas, yoga sutras, history of yoga, history and philosophy of various religions all in one place. Because of this, the reader could get a bit lost for there would be too much to understand.

Nonetheless, I treaure this book; as a Yoga teacher, I find that I constantly go back to this volume. Secondly, the effort is commendable because these ancient texts are still not public as much as we want them to be.

This book reads like a college textbook. It is full of essay-like information, but it is not so engaging. The author, writer of Yoga for Dummies, is a yoga adept in a buddhist tradition, has a phd in Indian theology and sanskrit, he even translates some ancient texts into English for the first time in his books including this one.

The book is seperated into a dozen chapters, each focusing on an aspect of ancient yoga culture, from the teacher-student relationship or one of the last chapter focusing on the rise of tantric yoga from which hatha is spawned. What you won't find here is instruction for yoga practice.

I would say the information book is indispensable for persons with professional reasons.. yoga teacher, or other pedagogic purposes. But it is mostly dry... It is not an inspiring book.. Those just getting started in the history of yoga might benefit from lighter reading elsewhere.

This is a historic publication that will for decades be the most authoritative source for anything on yoga, ranging from its roots to its nurturing within the traditions of Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism. It is written in a very readable style, has a lot of illustrations, and it presents the translations from the originals of some key texts. Simply magnificent! This is a book everyone should have on their personal library shelves. It has also been nicely printed and designed.

I bought a copy of this book (softcover) and then gave it to my yoga teacher and bought the hardcover. We both love the book. It clearly explains many topics better than most other sources and has a clear organization for such a substantial reference. My first literary source now for Yoga guidance and clarity. thx & namaste

The Feuerstein book was highly recommend to me by a wonderful yoga instructor I studied with. It really helped me to understand the path and how to understand these yoga traditions. This book will remain a reference for a lifetime.