Books

Saundaryalahari is a rare Tantric work whose authorship is attributed to Samkaracarya. It is a long poem of one hundred verses; a hymn of praise to the Divine Mother; an invocation and a prayer that awakens man from stupor to a state of effulgent energy and creativity. In this monograph the original Sanskrit text of each verse is presented in Devanagari script accompanied with its Roman transliteration. English rendering of the verses and explanatory notes are provided with an eye to modern readership. Inclusion of yantras in their pictorical symbols focus attention on underlying potencies of each verse. The possibility of attainment of power and success by single-minded recitation of the verses is stressed on. The monograph will be of special interest to mother worshippers of all denominations. Students of religion and philosophy will find it appealing. the general reader with a love for poetry and literature will also like it.

The Hevajrantra, the well-known Anuttarayogatantra, about `unsurpassed yoga`, is a direct successor of the Tattvasamgraha, a yogatantra. It was translated from Sanskrit into Chinese in the 11th century. The Chinese translators offer a text which remains true to its contents, but which is at the same time acceptable to the Chinese milieu of the 11th century. This diplomatic effort explains many discrepancies, which were no problem to the initiate.

In Parvatidarpana Harsha V. Dehejia exposits the basic tenets of Kasmir Saivism through the celebrated marriage of Siva and Parvati and the image of the Ardhanarisvara. Enjoyment of the mythic marriage and the image leads to a greater understanding of Kashmir Saivism, and the epistemology of this philosophical system in turn leads the aesthete to a greater celebration of the arts inspired by this mythic event. Image leads to the idea and the idea in turn leads one back to the image creating a rich aesthetic experience.

Summary: Thus the aim of the book is so noble as to allow the reader to have the vision of unity in the midst of diversity. Description: The goal and purpose in writing this book is to highlight, in the midst of diversity, the essential unity that seems to be constitutive of such religions that have an orientation that is deeply mystical. Basing himself on the absolutistic metaphysical thought of Kashmir Saivism, the author thereby has attempted to interpret spirituality in such universal terms as would enable one to discover the principle of unity of Being among the spiritualities of all major religions.

Tantric Revisionings presents stimulating new perspectives on Hindu and Budhist religion, particularly their Tantric versions, in India, Tibet or in modern Western societies. Geoffrey Samule adopts an historically and textually informed anthropoliogical approach, seeking to locate and undrstand religion in its social and cultural context. The question of the relation between `popular` (folk, domestic, village, monastic) religion and elite (Literary, textual, monastic) religion forms a recurring theme through these studies.

The Tantra of Svayambhu or Svayambhuvasutrasamgrah is the thirteenth in the traditional list of the 28 Agamas of Saivasiddhanta. One of the oldest Acaryas of this school of Saivism, Sadyojyoti has composed a commentary on its vidyapada section. The subjects dealt with are pasu, the bound soul; pasa, the bond;p anugraha, God`s grace and adhvan, the way to liberation. sadyojyoti has taken definite and extreme positions on the philosophical problems raised by these concepts. He emphasized their ritualistic foundation which is the true spirit of Tantric literature and the core of the Saiva religion. The text of his commentary is critically edited here and published with an English translation.

Jaimini is held in very great esteem throughout India not only for his philosophical aphorisms but for his astrological writings also. Jaiminisutras as presented in these pages deal with a system of astrology that has no parallel in the existing methods. The profundity and brevity of these sutras comprehend a vast amount of knowledge in the shortest forms possible. In the end the author remarks that all that he has written is quite true, as these truths have been propounded by the still earlier Maharshis, Pitamaha or Brahma, Vyasa, Parasara, Vasistha, Garga, Bhrigu, Surya, Chandra, Brihaspati, Sukra, Marichi, Palaha, Pulisa, Maya and other eminent scientists. The treatment of the different Bhavas, Rasis and Planets will be found a little confusing in the beginning but with some patience, diligence and practice the peculiarities of his system readily yield themselves to our comprehension. He gives various Lagnas, Hora Lagna, Ghatika Lagna, Upapada Lagna, Varnada Lagna and so forth. His Dasas are mostly founded on Rasis and Navamsas. Brahma, Rudra and Mahesvara Dasas are peculiar in these sutras. It is asserted by some that Jaiminisutras extend over eight adhyayas. However here only two chapters, in four parts each, have been explained. The masterly way in which the Maharshi has explained the Astrological principles, will surely make the students masters in this line.

In the present work, which is a revised and enlarged edition of the earlier edition, a remarkable attempt has been made by the well known Indologist Dr. N.N. Bhattacharyya to understand the principles which led to the emergence of the rites of the life-cycle and their functional role in different spheres of human thought and endeavour. Analysis and correlation of the basic conceptual aspects as gleaned from the puberty rites and their derivative customs and institutions have been utilised to understand certain features of ancient Indian social and religious life. The facts derived from ancient literature, especially from the Sanskrit sources, have been studied in the light of what is known of the surviving tribal and popular customs and institutions. Like other works of Dr. Bhattacharyya, the present volume is also expected to evoke much interest among the readers and to become effectively helpful for those who are working in the field of Indian social history. Printed Pages: 132.

Kundalini energy manifests itself in as many ways as the sun has rays. In most people the energy is latent. Like electricity, it is neutral. The gurus stress the need to gain control of any kind of power. For those who have laid the foundation by learning self-mastery, the Kundalini energy, when understood, can be controlled at will.

The first stage in Kundalini Yoga is becoming aware. It presents a well laid-out plan that encompasses more and more aspects of one's
life. Like concentric circles, it is ever expanding. Once the principal idea that moves like a red thread through the levels of consciousness is understood, a marvelous way of life is opened to the individual. There is a vast potential that lies within each of us- the potential of energy, power, heightened perception and awareness. Evolution for humans must now refer to evolution of consciousness, and Kundalini offers a blueprint of the vast mine to be tapped. In summary, the purpose of this book is to give the tools by which those who wish to cooperate with the process of evolution can do so. There is no mystification about the awakening of Kundalini, yet this process leads to the mystical experience.

This is a direct path to higher conciusness. It is the process of concious cooperation with evolution. within each of us there lies a vast Potential of energy and power which, when properly understood and directed, will lead to previously unimagined heights of perception and awareness. This is a book of inspiration, and into life are given for those who wish to cooperate with evolution. Swami Radha has presented clear directions for exercises and practices.

Review:

... clear, comprehensive and full of extremely useful information. - Stanislav Grof, Esalen Institute, Big Sur, California

The book is a treasure chest. It is a welcome relief to read about Kundalini in ways that are clear, detailed, explicit and profound... a genuinely useful text for personal development. - James Fadiman, Institute of Transpersonal Psychology, Menlo Park, California

In view of growing interest in the 'inner way' by which we attempt to tune into the forces of evolution, Kundalini Yoga may well mark a break through, long expected and long overdue. - Herbert V. Guenther, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Sask

Kundalini Yoga is full of sound advice and spiritual directions for purifying and developing the physical, emotional and mental being as a foundation for the safe awakening of the Kundalini Power. - Judith Tyberg, East-West Cultural Centre, Los Angeles

This book is destined to become a classic in the literature of altered states of consciousness. - Stanley Krippner, Humanistic Psychology Institute, San Francisco

This book presents the paradigm in a fairly comprehensive and easily understandable manner, steering clear of confusion and controversies. - Prof. S. K. Ramchandra Rao, The Astrological Magazine, Vol.84, No.1, Jan. 1995

Known as "kundalini", this legendary power is believed to catalyze spiritual evolution. But is kundalini real? And if so, how can we engage this energy to awaken our consciousness? For centuries, the secrets of kundalini have been guarded by masters and buried in esoteric texts around the globe. Kundalini Rising brings together twenty-four illuminating essays by some of today's most prominent voices to demystify this mysterious phenomenon. From personal accounts and yogic practices, to brain research and historical perspectives, this compelling anthology weaves together both the mystical and practical perspectives on the rise of kundalini energy to help support your own spiritual discovery. Reading about kundalini can actually help catalyze the awakening process. It is as if once we understand the energy that lies within us and the pathways through which it can travel in our subtle body, we have an ability to visualize and flow with the process with heightened sensitivity.

This study gives the reader a radical new perspective in the practice of Ayurveda. It is not meant to replace what exists at present, but to be complimentary. This system is not new, but is offered as a revitalized approach to Ayurveda. The thesis put forth by the author in this text is that it is not Constitution, as modern Ayurveda contends, but rather Seven Disease Tendencies which are fundamental to the treatment of disease. In fact, this approach in mentioned by Charaka, the father of Ayurveda, is his Charaka Samhita the authoritative texts of Ayurveda.

The work presents earliest and most important compendium on the section of Indian medicine that is traditionally called nidana, the Rogaviniscaya by Madhava, usually referred to as Madhavanidana. Though the first work of this type to appear in the field of Sanskrit medical literature, it has remained a classic up to modern times. Madhava set the diseases should be described. In this he definitely improved upon the earlier samhitas, in which a restricted number of diseases is dealt with in the section. Collecting his material from the samhitas, for the greater part at least, and selecting what was appropriate to the nature of his work and its scope, he organized the whole in a new way. Madhava clearly met with success as reflected in the compendia written by subsequent authors. The text of a Sanskrit medical treatise is not clear in many instances and may be interpreted in a number of ways. The commentaries are indispensable for a correct understanding of the way in which difficult passages were explained according to tradition. The text of the most important commentary on the Madhavanidana, the Madhukosa, is presented here in English translation.

Tantra: The Cult of the Feminine reveals a practical and balanced, modern view of the secret teachings of Tantric yoga. Tantra known in India for several millennia, brings us a different view of life, the world, and oneself which is at once new and archaic, exotic yet very close to the roots of each of us. Being neither a sect nor a religion, it is a yogic discipline that awakens not only the sacredness and magic of the sexual act, but of life itself.

Van Lysebeth discloses the sexual techniques of Tantra that can be used by Western couples to enhance relationships and help open the door to a new kind of enlightenment. He also reveals the wisdom of tantra--the essential belief that our universe is a creation of the physical and spiritual union of the Mala and Female principles, manifested in the human plane as Love. He shows us how the repression of feminine values in our patriarchal civilization is the esoteric cause of many of the modern world`s crises. Tantra affirms that a true understanding of feminine values can bring about much-needed changes in our society. Van Lysebeth`s warmth and insight brings modern readers to new dimensions of feeling and understanding!

This study attempts to determine how the ancient Indian medicinal and sexological texts would answer a non medical question but also social and religious relevance namelyl: what happens in a woman`s body
at the time of conception? To this end, numerous relevant texts were exhausitively analysed, along with several secondary sources and other traditional medicinal systems.

Examining “mental illness” in societies where different world views, thought worlds, and habit patterns prevail is ordinarily frowned by social scientists since it involves analysis of phenomena steeped in modern conventions of knowledge. This book contravenes this position giving reasons for and ways of circumventing social science scruples. It formulates and provides details about the system of healing of conditions of psychiatric interest that would have been found in ancient traditional and early modern period. It draws on the findings of Indian epidemiologists who have surveyed the prevalence and distribution of psychiatric disorders in modern and traditional settings of contemporary India. Their findings support the position that such conditions would have been found in earlier historical epochs.

In the book, information from cultural anthropology is used to formulate ideas and a perspective that encompass salient cultural and historical parameters of India as a socio cultural entity which have stood the text of time. Emphasis is placed on how Indian culture, religion, morality, sociology, and philosophical psychology which shape the world view and habit patterns of Indian peoples everywhere and throughout millennia. This nexus of ideas constituted the ontology and epistemology about psychiatric conditions in earlier historical epochs. It shaped their form, content and meaning and it provided a basis for approaches to healing. Normal and not so normal conceptions about behavior and well being are discussed based on indigenous systems of meaning. The manner in which psychiatric conditions were and still are formulated in the compilations of Caraka, Susruta, Vagbhata, and Bela are reviewed and compared along with religious and spiritual viewpoints. Discussion of approach to conditions of psychiatric interest rooted in traditional Indian values provides a basis for critique and plea for broadening the scope and depth of the already vibrant and scientifically compelling psychiatry of contemporary India. The book aims to make modern psychiatry more responsive to India’s understanding of the human condition.

The Present work is an accurate and reliable compilation and the fullest collection of verified Materia Madica facts and clinical suggestions.

It contains the well known verified characteristic symptoms of all our medicines besides other less important symptoms aiding the selection of the curative remedy. All the new medicines and essentials of the published clinical experience of the school have been added. In its present compact form it contains the maximum number of reliable materia medica facts in the minimum space.

The author has tried to give a succinct resume of the symptomatology of every medicine used in Homoeopathy, including clinical suggestions of many drugs so far not yet based on provings, thus offering the opportunity to experiment with these and by future provings discover their distinctive use and so enlarging our armamentarium.

It will fulfil its purpose and prove a useful aid to the student and general practitioner.

It is an easy-to-read, lavishly illustrated book that shows how it works. RAther than relying on medication to cure ailments, as Western medicine does, Ayurveda emphasizes daily nutrition habits and physical routines for maintaining health so that you don`t get sick in the first place. You will find out how to tell which physical type you are and then get full information on the practical regimens that are right for you. You`ll find ways to diagnose and treat many conditions yourself that might otherwise eventually require medical attention. And specific treatments are given for a variety of illnesses, with suggestions, for daily living, including nutrition, relief of stress, and detoxifying environmental pollutants. Everyone who is interested in maintaining his health the natural way will find intriguing ideas on every page of this book.

This volume of studies presents the papers given at the second workshop of the European Ayurdic society, a group which was formed in Groningen in 1983. The volume is thus a sequel to Proceedings of the international workshop on priorities in the study of Indian medicine. The workshop was held over a period of three days in September 1985 in the congenial surroundings of the Wellcome Institute for the History of Medicine ii London, and it provided a splendid opportunity for scholars in the field of Indian medical history to meet in one place and to share the latest research in their respective areas.

The present publication, `Essentials of Ayurveda`, is significant in the sense that it contains the essence of all the sixteen specialities of Ayurveda by which one could get working knowledge of Ayurveda as a whole.
The book, in a sense, is the first representative work of the present age composed in traditional scholarly style. The English translation by the author himself has enhanced its value for the readers. The present work will prove useful not only for teachers and students but also for all those who want to be acquainted with principles and practice of Ayurveda easily.

Very little is known about the author of this book apart from the facts that he is a retired Government of India officer, now in his late nineties, apparently hoary, but healthy. When requested for more bio-data, he wrote back…The Real author of the Original Yoga is the Lord Siva. In the mundane world, Patanjali is the prime propagator of yoga. Any other claim to authorship, therefore, cannot but be spurious. …It is Truth that matters, not the utterer of the Truth. No Truth ever becomes a bit truer even when repeated by the most distinguished person. …Hence all genuine aspirants of yoga should be content to remain unknown and unnoticed by others. His other published work is Hindu Concept of Life and Death. Printed Pages: 286.

The basis of this book is a manuscript in Sanskrit which he obtained from India, and its value lies in the depth and detail with which this new material has been studied and presented.

The author is to be congratulated, not for his skillful translation from the Sanskrit, but also
for the clarity with which he has applied this to western needs and western minds.

Much has been written in the past regarding the psychosomatic effects of Pranayama and Asanas, but in his text, Dr. Saher explains clearly the mechanism by which brain and mind operate in conjunction with bodily functions, emotions and psychic experience, and also how these may be controlled and applied for our betterment.

He also shows how specific areas of the brain control similar areas of mind, how these can be
applied to Selfanalysis, and by means of exercises also given in the text, so control both mind and body, that Self-Realisation is possible in the highest sense, and that even before this stage is reached, Health, Harmony and Serenity will be attained, surely to be prized for themselves alone.

This fascinating and profound book of ancient, Eastern esoteric wisdom backed by the latest discoveries and experiments of modern science treats of the health of the soul by showing the relationship between soul and brain.

Here is a practical guide to Zen-Yoga which can help to master suffering and harness latent powers. At a time when science is exploring outer space Zen-Yoga helps us to explore the inner space of the human psyche, to recognize within ourselves a new freedom – freedom to work out our own destiny with integral consciousness or the divine supra – Self as the light within.

This book is a cybernetic exploration of mind’s inner space leading to expanded cosmo-electronic consciousness.

Having shown the differences between Eastern and Western thought – processes, Saher explains how the sages of the East have acquired that source of wisdom and bliss which our misguided youth seeks vainly in hallucinogenic drugs.

The text translated here is an historical find: an unknown commentary on the Yoga sutra-s of Patanjali by Sankara, the most eminent philospher of ancient India. Present indications are that it is likely to be authentic, which would date it about AD 700.

Paramahamsa Hariharananda's discourse regarding the scientifically proven benefits of Kriya Yoga make this book a rare treasure for any sincere seeker. The world-renowned realized master describes the stages of spiritual transformation in detail, including many experiences that sadhaks, even those in family life, may encounter while practicing. At the same time he uses his unique scientific approach to explain how physical and mental functions also improve.