From Booklist
Feuerstein is a renowned yoga scholar and a tireless communicator, sharing his knowledge in more than two dozen books on the subject as well as translations of key yoga scriptures. Most Westerners have a limited understanding of what the term yoga, which means "union," implies. Feuerstein describes yoga as a "spectacularly multifaceted phenomena," and performs a truly yogic feat by combining commentary with translated Sanskrit teachings, history with theory, the spiritual with the practical, and the classical with the contemporary. He illuminates every facet and phase of yoga from its roots in shamanism to its connections to the complex and dynamic spirituality of India, especially yoga's relationship with Hinduism and Buddhism. Feuerstein explicates the different yogic schools and profiles key yoga teachers. Yoga is a vast and vital universe maintained over the centuries by the discipline and persistence of its practitioners, who strive to join the physical with the spiritual, the "individual self with the supreme Self." No more adept or comprehensive study of yoga aimed at a Western audience is to be found. Donna Seaman


Ken Wilber, author of A Brief History of Everything.
Without a doubt the finest overall explanation of Yoga ... Destined to become a classic.


Book Description
From the foremost living authority on Yoga comes the most comprehensive and reliable treatment of the subject available today. This is a work of impeccable scholarship by a person who has dedicated his life to the understanding and practice of yoga. The book offers a complete overview of every Yogic tradition, from the familiar to the lesser-known forms. It also covers all aspects of Hindu, Buddhist and Jaina Yoga, including history, philosophy, literature, psychology and practice. In addition, included are * translations of twenty Yoga treatises * the first translation of the Goraksha Paddhati


About the Author
Georg Feuerstein, Ph.D., is founder-director of the Yoga Research Center in Northern California and serves on the governing board of the Healing Buddha Foundation. He is a contributing editor of Yoga Journal, Inner Directions and Intuition and has written thirty books, including the award-winning Shambhala Encyclopedia of Yoga and Tantra: The Art of Ecstacy.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

From the foremost living authority on yoga comes a work of impeccable scholarship. The Yoga Tradition. This is a complete overview of the great traditions of Raja, Hatha, Jnana, Bhakti, Karma, Tantra, Kundalini, Mantra and other, lesser-known yoga forms. It covers all aspects of Hindu, Buddhist and Jain yoga, including their history, philosophy, literature, psychology and practice. The book includes translations of more than 20 famous yoga treatises, such as the Yoga-Sutra of Patanjali, as well as a first-time translation of the ancient Hatha yoga text known as the Goraksha Paddhati. It is an essential resource for all students and scholars of yoga.

FROM THE CRITICS

Booknews

The author is founder-director of the Yoga Research Center in Northern California and the author of 30 books on yoga. The present volume is a revised and greatly enlarged edition of the author's 1989 work, . Its objective is to give the lay reader a comprehensive introduction to Indian spirituality, to the evolution and complexity of yoga, and to the relationship of yoga to other aspects of India's culture. Chapters are arranged in sections on yoga foundations, pre-classical yoga, classical yoga, post- classical yoga, and power and transcendence in tantrism. This is a detailed historical and philosophical treatise for the serious student; don't look here for simple treatment of complex ideas, discussion of yoga postures, or a brief guide to spiritual growth. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Edward Brennan - Parabola