The Spiritual Roots of Yoga; Royal Path to Freedom

by Ravi Ravindra

• ISBN13: 9781596750111
• ISBN10: 1596750111
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Trade Paper
• Copyright: 2006-08-31
• Publisher: Morning Light Pr

Summary

"Each of the selections in this compilation of articles is informed by the philosophical background of yoga, especially the two great texts of yoga, the Yoga Sutra and the Bhagavad Gita. All of them speak of and are related to the wisdom of the spiritual traditions of India. They range from an exploration of rita (cosmic order) in the Rig Veda and its relation to yajna (sacrifice and exchange between levels) and dharma (law, order, sacred obligation) to reflections about contemporary spiritual masters such as J. Krishnamurti and G. I. Gurdjieff in the context of the Indian tradition. This volume will be valuable for those who wish to learn about the roots of yoga and the culture from which it arose."--BOOK JACKET.

Author Biography

Ravi Ravindra is Professor Emeritus at Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada, where he was Professor and Chair of Comparative Religion and Adjunct Professor of Physics.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	ix
From the Editor	x
Introduction	xii
Religion and Yoga	1	(44)
Is Religion Psychotherapy?	3	(10)
Modernization, Westernization and Secularization in India	13	(12)
Can Consciousness Survive Birth?	25	(11)
Is the Everlasting Eternal?	36	(9)
Yoga in the Yoga Sutra and the Bhagavad Gita	45	(56)
The Royal Yoga	47	(15)
Self-Consciousness in the Yoga Sutra: Need for an Intermediate Self	62	(6)
Teaching of Krishna, Master of Yoga	68	(10)
Dimensions of the Self: Buddhi in the Bhagavad Gita	78	(8)
Sacrifice and Order: Yoga, Rita, and Yajna	86	(5)
Ahimsa, Transformation, and Ecology	91	(10)
Yoga and Other Paths	101	(44)
The Yoga of the Cross	103	(9)
Uniqueness and Oneness in the Lion's Roar: Vedanta and the Sikh Yoga	112	(11)
The Mill and the Mill-Pond: The Silent Mind of a Yogi	123	(9)
Gurdjieff Work and the Teaching of Krishna	132	(13)
Yoga off the Mat	145	(14)
Yoga in Daily Life	147	(12)
Glossary of Selected Sanskrit and Pali Words	159	(8)
Bibliography	167	(5)
Index	172