Books

The Bhoga Karika is a collection of Sanskrit verses by the renowned Saivite teacher and writer Sadyojyoti of the eighty century A. D. This translation of the Bhoga karika also includes a short commentary by the similarly renowned Aghora Siva of the twelth century. In a lively and engaging manner the Bhoga Karika defends the Agamic Saivite theology epistemology and ontology of bhoga or mundane worldy experience against the attacks of rival schools notably the Naiyayikas Samkhyas carvakas and Buddhists.

This comprehensive study of Kundalini energy nad how to awaken it within oneself includes methods, techniques, and examples of achieving higher consciousness, Kundalini awakening and self-realization. There is a spiritual energy dormant below the base of the spine. In the east it is called the Kundalini, but whatever name it is called, it is a common denominator in all major religions. People with awakened Kundalini experience death before physically dying through visions and out of body experiences, ultimately leading to a spiritual rebirth. A twice-born person simultaneously enjoys the best of this world and the next through an inner journey that conquers fears of dealth. That inner journey travels the world of meditation and unconscious dreams, as well as actual near-death experience.

This volume is a tribute befitting the international renown and vast array of knowledge and activities of Pandit N.R. Bhatt who has silently practised his dharma of Pansita for several decades, through his vyutpatti and mastery of Sanskrit, through his labours in many sastras: vyakarana, Ayurveda, dharma, samgita, tantra etc., and by giving his knowledge, privately to a number of Indian and European students, generally to the world of research through his pioneering critical editions of Saivagamas and other works. This volume includes forty-two articles by eminent Indian and foreign authors on a rich variety of topics of Indological interest. It is divided into six sections. The first two articles comprising the first section are biographical in nature shedding light on the life scholarly activities of Pandit N.R. Bhatt. The other sections are: Vedic Studies, classical Sanskrit, Religion and Philosophy; Agama and Tantra; and Epigraphy and Archaeology. The one on Religion and Philosophy is the largest, offering illuminating comments on some important aspects of Vedanta, Lokayata, Kashmir Saivism, Nyaya, Navya Nyaya and Jainism.

About the Author
Prof. Pierre-Sylvain Filliozat, born in 1936, is Professor of Sanskrit in "Ecole pratique des Hautes Etudes" Sorbonne, Paris, since 1967. Since 1963, every year he stays for six months in India for research in Sanskrit literature and in the archaeology of South Indian temples.

His other important publications include French translation of Patanjali'S Mahabhasya with Pradipa and Uddyata (5 Vols). Svayambhuvagama with Sadyajyati's Commentary (edited and translated into French); and Hampi- Vijayanagarm, The Temple of Vithala (in collaboration with Vasundhara Filliozat).

Dr. Satya Pal Narang, born in 1942, was educated in the University of Delhi and has been teaching in the same sinoe 1965. He was in Gurukul Kangri Visvavidyalaya and Pondicherry Central University as Professor and Head of the Department. Her has participated in about 60 seminars, symposia, conferences both national and international. His other important works include Bhatti-kavya: A Hemacandra's Dvyasrayakavya, A Literary and Cultural Study; Kalidasa Bibliography (Vol. I and II. Under preparation) and Meghasuta Studies and about 125 papers. At present he is working on a huge project 'A Pada-index of Classical Sanskrit Poetry'.

Dr. C. Panduranga Bhatta joined R. K. M. Vivekananda College, Madras, in 1976. Since 1988 he is working as Reader at the Pondicherry Central University. He did his Ph.D. on Dice-Play in Sanskrit Literature- A Study. Her has been selected by the Sahitya Akademi as a language consultant.

With the passage of time, the real meaning of Tantra was misunderstood. From a highly evolved spiritual science Tantra was demeaned as a tool for magical or occult power or an enhancer of sensual enjoyment.

Tantra is none of these. It is an ancient discipline that provides a vast learning, a deep understanding of life, and a methodology to attain Self-realization.

Jnana Sankalini Tantra is a beautiful and meaningful dialogue between Lord Shiva and his consort, Parvati. In Tantric practices, both Shiva and Parvati are worshipped together, since the former represents consciousness and the latter, in the form of shakti, symbolizes energy.

In tantric meditation, inner bliss can be obtained by arousing energy latent in humankind, and uniting it with Shiva. Tantra uplifts consciousness in order to embrace the cosmic spirit.

About the Author(s)

Profusely awarded with Jyotisa Martanda, Bhagyavidyamani, Jyotirvidyavaridhi, Jyotisa Vachaspati and Brahmarsi, Mridula Trivedi has been engaged in astrological studies for over three decades. She has published more than three hundred articles and many thought - provoking books on various aspects of astrology. She was honoured with 'Doctor of Astrology' by the World Development Council in 1987 and Varahmihira by Spiritual and Astrological Research Institute, Lucknow in 2001. She was recently declared as the best in her field by Planets and Forecast. She is associated with a number of journals and magazines as a consultant.

In most Asian countries esoteric Buddhism (Tantrayana) declined in the past, while the Tibetans alone preserved the full richness of tantric traditions to our times. Thus this study is based on several Tibetan sources never presented in any modern language - some of them were translated, some were given as a summary.

The main concern of this study is to exhibit and analyse the traditions of the Old School of Tibetan Buddhism i.e., the mying-ma-pa. For the first time there is shown that the history of the Old Schools goes far beyond the Padmasambhava; some sources hint at a non-Indian origin of some tantric cycles. The whole tradition of the Old School is divided into two lineages: one of the Pronouncements and the other of the Concealed Treasures. Each lineage is discussed in detail - more than twenty biographies of the famous masters of the Old School are on these facts and events aims at giving an impression of the spiritual life within the Old School and links the results of this study with the hitherto existing knowledge of esoteric Buddhism. This study exhibits a great deal of so far unknown facts and events that indispensable for understanding thought and history of Tantric Buddhism in Tibet.

About the Author:

The author Dr. (Mrs.) Eva Dargyay, is Reader in Tibetology at the University of Munich (West Germany). Being a German specialist in Tibetan and Buddhist studies, she is married to a Tibetan Geshay.

Man, from the very dawn of history, has never been at home in the world. He has continuously tried to search for such ways and means, both intellectual and practical, that would allow him to transcend the conditioned existence in which he finds himself in space-time bound universe. It has always been the burning desire in the heart of man to realize such a mode of life that transcends the tragic terror of finitude in terms of the realization of abundance of life. It is this search for the everlasting blissful life that constitutes the story as well as history of human religious search for meaning.

Both Yoga and Tantricism have their own eschatologist in terms of which transcendence of human finitude is endeavored to be actualized. To achieve this stereological goal, both the systems have discovered, in their own respective ways, such theoretical responses and practical methods by the application of which soteric goal can be appropriated. It is because of this feature that both may be said to be stereological systems of thought and practice.

This book attempts to study Yoga and Tantra from both historical and theoretical perspective. An effort has been made to trace the historical roots of both Yoga and Tantra, and how, with the passage to time, each system developed in the context of prevailing situations. The analytical interpretation of some of the major themes that Yoga and Tantricism tackle in the context of suffering in the world greatly enhances the value of the work and will be of great interest to students of religion.

About the Author

Moti Lal Pandit, trained as a theologian and linguist, has been communicator of Buddhism, Hinduism and Christianity. His many books include: Towards Transcendence; Being as Becoming; Transcendence and Negation; Beyond the Word; Trika Saivism of Kashmir; Sunyata: The Essence of Mahayana Spirituality; Buddhism: A Religion of Salvation; and Encounter with Buddhism.

This book, winner of CHOICE outstanding Academic Title Award 2007, is a multifaceted, diachronic study reconsidering the very nature of religion in South Asia, the culmination of years of intensive research. Frederick M. Smith proposes that positive oracular or ecstatic possession is the most common form of spiritual expression in India, and that it has been linguistically distinguished from negative, disease-producing possession for thousands of years.

In South Asia possession has always been broader and more diverse than in the West, where it has been utmost entirely characterized as “demonic.” At best, spirit possession has been regarded as a medically treatable psychological ailment and at worst, as a condition that requires exorcism or punishment. In South (and East) Asia, ecstatic or oracular possession has been widely practiced throughout history, occupying a position of respect in early and recent Hinduism and in certain forms of Buddhism.

Smith analyzes Indic literature from all ages—the earliest Vedic texts; the Mahabharata; Buddhist, Jain, yogic, Ayurvedic, and Tantric texts; Hindu devotional literature; Sanskrit drama and narrative literatures; and more than a hundred ethnographies. He identifies several forms of possession including festival, initiatory, oracular, and devotional, and demonstrates their multivocality within a wide range of sects and religious identities.

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.