Spiritual Masters

The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali: Commentary on the Raja Yoga Sutras by Sri Swami Satchidananda

by Sri S. Satchidananda

Average Rating:

"This is *the* book to refer to get a proper understanding of the philosophy of Yoga. I have gone through other books ( B. K. S. Iyengar , Georg Feuerstein , Swami Prabhavananda ) and some audio cassetes on the Yoga Sutras.
This is by far the best book on the subject. The sutras are beautifully explained in layman terms with ample annotations. The sutras in samadhi pada and sadhana pada are covered extensively. Whenever there was a discrepency in the translation among different authors (such as sutras 18,19,33 of sadhana pada, which have been interpreted very differently) I found the translation and explanation in this book to be most logical, intuitive and complete."

Publisher: Integral Yoga Publications | More reviews: amazon.com

Autobiography of a Yogi: with bonus CD

by Paramahansa Yogananda

Average Rating:

"Like Gandhi, Yogananda writes humbly and includes his foibles and the pratfalls he takes as he journeys through life's lessons. In fact, unless you read elsewhere about his life you won't realize how much he understates his own accomplishments while he honors other spiritual seekers and teachers he encounters. His stories of encounters with amazing saints of all regions and religions are spell-binding, and you may find yourself (like me) devouring the whole book on your first read -- just reveling in the wonders of these true spiritual seekers. On successive readings I delved deeper into the equally fascinating footnotes, learning about the exotic realms of Indian spirituality and its unexpected parallels with the original Christian teachings of Christ, St. John, and St. Paul. In fact, the countless strata of insights and implications that surface with repeated readings of Autobiography of a Yogi argue for spending a few more dollars on the trade paperback rather than the mass market paperback edition, since you'll want to return numerous times over the years. The Self-Realization Fellowship editions are to be preferred over others. Yogananda himself started that organization (SRF), and the award-winning quality of SRF editing and printing shines through them - in contrast to bootlegged editions printed up by renegade outfits. In all my reading in spirituality, yoga, and comparative religion, I have discovered no work that so completely fulfills Carl Jung's prophecy that yoga science (the whole science, not just the athletic postures) will offer you ''undreamed-of possibilities'' as Yogananda's autobiography. As the author explains, 'yoga' comes from the root meaning 'union' - and he reveals, ever more deeply, the underlying oneness of Christianity and yoga, of spiritual truth and scientific truth, of the worldly and the spirituality. It will deepen anyone's own faith and sensibility -- of whatever religion (or none), of the science of matter... or mind... or Spirit."

Publisher: Self-Realization Fellowship | More reviews: amazon.com

The Yoga of Jesus: Understanding the Hidden Teachings of the Gospels

by Paramahansa Yogananda

Average Rating:

"This book captures Paramanhansa Yogananda's spoken words and writings and puts them into clear focus in one volume on the much misunderstood teachings of Jesus. This new book "The Yoga Of Jesus" is a hundred years in the making. The editors and publishers do a great job of putting Yogananda's thoughts in a logical order so that it reveals a much deeper message--one that shows the hidden yoga of the gospels.

This book will awaken some people to new ideas while others may just have their inner truth reaffirmed. The book is a significant spiritual work and will remain a best seller (As does his classic "The Autobiography of a Yogi") for decades if not centuries.

There is even a chapter devoted to the missing years of Christ's life, which were spent in India according to Yogananda. The references and footnotes help build strong support for what this book is revealing about the life and teachings of Jesus.

The book is an eye opener for non-yogis and a blissful confirmation of truth from those who follow the teachings of Yogananda. This is one of his best books. I would suggest reading this book along with "The Second Coming of Christ: The Resurrection of the Christ Within You" - which blazed huge new spiritual roads just a few years ago.

This book, as with many of Yogananda's books, shows parallels between the teachings of all the great Christian saints, mystics and other enlightened founders of spiritual thought. This book should help unify and promote inter-faith understanding for those with open minds and hearts.

This book is well worth adding to your spiritual library. It can be read in a full afternoon but it may take a lifetime or longer to full grasp all the truth that is within its pages. The book is best read slowly while allowing time to ponder and digest the meaning of what is read. There is so much wisdom and love within these pages. This book receives my highest possible personal recommendation. This is a MUST READ BOOK! "

Publisher: Self Realization Fellowship Pub | More reviews: amazon.com

Freedom from the Known

by Jiddu Krishnamurti

Average Rating:

"In book after book, the central message is the same, and yet new appearing. Krishnamurti's challenge is to find yourself rather than follow someone else's path. This may seem rather scary. There's no shortage of churches and groups that will willingly take you in and instruct you in your thinking and doing. And you will emerge thinking another person's thoughts, doing as another thinks you should do.J. Krishnamurti is unique in his writings. Sure, you will find a little inconsistency, and he will even admit to this. He does not claim to know it all. But he does know how to inspire one to search for that which is within and to do so indepently.You will not find immediate answers in Krishnamurti's writing. The answers are to be found in yourself. But this book along with his others will give you the impetus.And this is probably the best "first" book of his to read."

Publisher: HarperOne | More reviews: amazon.com

How Can I Help? Stories and Reflection on Service

by Ram Dass

Average Rating:

"As a professor I've used this book for 10 years for an intro class for counseling. I believe that it has had a powerful influence (through the true stories in the book) turning out compassionate and caring counselors. It is a GREAT book. We are not taught compassion, or how to help others. We see little examples of how to care or be helpful in the media (many examples there or how to do violence though!). This book provides true stories of the nature of compassion and helping.I recommend it highly for anyone who wants to help others. I think it is an essential book for anyone who wants to help others"

Publisher: Knopf | More reviews: amazon.com

Think on These Things

by Jiddu Krishnamurti

Average Rating:

"I've read over 25 Krishamurti books, including all the "big ones" like Freedom from the Known, The First and Last Freedom, Total Freedom, Awakening of Intelligence, Flight of the Eagle, Krishmaurti's Notebook, etc., many of which I've read more than once. I've given all of them away to share K's message but kept four of them which I keep as references for focused daily reflection/meditation (as opposed to the meditation of all waking life). The four I've kept are Freedom from the Known, On God, On Right Livelihood, and Education and the Significance of Life (the last one of great relevance to me since I'm an educator). And so now I always recommend (and often give) the first three books on that list I just mentioned to anyone who wants to learn more about K's "teachings." "Freedom from the Known" is the single best, most concise and thorough summary of all K's teachings. "On God" should greatly help anyone who is searching for ultimate reality, Truth, God, Enlightenment, Nirvana, The Meaning of Life, or whatever one wants to call it. No summary will do it justice; you must read it for yourself. "On Right Livelihood" addresses the issue of our daily living, in work, leisure, and even to some degree home life and family relationship, becuase, as K emphasizes, they all should be an integrated whole, not fragmented parts of our lives. "Education and the Significance of Life" is also or relevance to anyone who has children or who teaches; it will transform the way you view childrearing and education. I would say that those four books would be all a person would need to transform one's life; to have a radical revolution in living. Now that being said, why do I still highly recommend "Think on These Things?" It and Life Ahead are numbers Five and Six on my list; those two are books that I never keep for myself, but I often give to others: mostly children and young adults, or people who otherwise either wouldn't enjoy or couldn't handle the relatively more complex and philosophically-oriented nature of K's other works; I even gave copies of them to my mentally-disabled adult sister, and she is able to understand these latter two books. This is because both "Think on These Things" and "Life Ahead" were talks given to young students and their parents, and both the language K uses and the ideas themselves seem much more simple and direct, yet retain all their power and vibrancy. I highly recommend "Think on These Things" and "Life Ahead" as gifts, or for any reader who wants a more "accessible" Krishnamurti."

Publisher: Harper Perennial | More reviews: amazon.com

Courage: The Joy of Living Dangerously

by Osho

Average Rating:

"This book is "not for that faint at heart but the truly courageous." If you are content with conformity you need not stop here. As a Companion book I would recommend the book An Encounte with A Prophet another book not for the faint at heart but for the truly courageous."

Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin | More reviews: amazon.com

Awakening of Intelligence, The

by Jiddu Krishnamurti

Average Rating:

""Some of you believe in the idea of reincarnation. You come and ask me what I believe, whether reincarnation is a fact or not, whether I remember my past lives, and so on. Now, why do you ask me? Why do you want to know what I think about it? You want a further confirmation of your own belief, which you call a fact, a law, because it gives you a hope, a purpose in life. Thus, belief becomes to you a fact, a law, and you go about seeking confirmation of your hope. Even though I may confirm it, it cannot be of vital importance to you. Whatever it may be to me, real or false, what is important for you is that you should discern for yourself these conceptions through action, through living, and not accept any assertions." - krishnamurti

I cannot recommend this book high enough. This book is one of the most comprehensive and accessible of Krishnamurti's work. It is a collection of talks given at various parts of the world. In each series of talk Krishnamurti leads the listener to look into serious topics like Operation of thought, conflict , The art of seeing, freedom, the energy needed for freedom, do we need a teacher, etc. There is a huge difference between looking into an issue and "thinking" about an issue. Thinking involves thought, and simply looking is mere observation. And krishnamurti says that if this observation, the seeing is done with total attention without the interference of thought, then the intelligence operates.

Many a times while reading this book, my mind will come to a complete stop and I would be taken to deep and spontaneous meditation. Krishnamurti is highly skillful in sparking our insights and allows us to see what he sees. He never says "This is right or this is wrong", he doesn't even want us to agree or disagree to what is being said, because he doesn't offer any theories. He just tells us to look without judment, prejudice or opinions. He asks us to listen "completely". He says that people ask questions for two reasons, one is to confirm what they already beleive in, and the other is to "really" find out the truth. The first way of asking will never lead to an answer, because we are unwilling to listen to the "truth"; We only want a confirmation for the false, and only the false needs confirmations. This book is for sincere seekers of truth who really want to know the truth. He says that when we look at the false as false, what remains is truth. Health is the absence of diseases, and so it truth the total negation of false. The ability to discern the true from the false is what intelligence is. I have observed that reading one talk per session in regular periods helps tremondously in awakening "intellingence", not "my" intelligence but just intelligence.

"As I was saying, the importance in asking a question is not to find the answer but to understand the problem because there is only the problem and not the answer. To ask a question is easy; but to go into the problem is extremely difficult because once you know what the problem is, the very seeing of the problem is the understanding of the problem. The moment I can state the problem very clearly, simply, the answer is there, I do not have to look beyond. But most of us do not know what the problem is. We are confused about the problem and so naturally we look, in our confusion, for answers; and that will only produce further confusion. " -krishnamurti "

Publisher: HarperOne | More reviews: amazon.com

Autobiography of a Yogi (Reprint of the Philosophical library 1946 First Edition)

by Paramhansa Yogananda

Average Rating:

"Five stars are a poor symbol to represent Yogananda's opus. This is a great book-comparable to any of the world's scriptures in its ability to transform the reader's consciousness. Imagine Christ, Buddha, or Krishna telling their life story in their own words. That's what you get when you read Autobiography of a Yogi. With humor, wisdom, and heart, Yogananda relates the extraordinary events of his life. But those events serve as a mere instrument for conveying sublime truths-truths expressed in such clear language that everyone can grasp them. I thank Crystal Clarity Publishers for making available the original version of this great work, and I give it my highest recommendation. If you are interested in spirituality, buy it now.

Richard Salva--author of Soul Journey from Lincoln to Lindbergh [UNABRIDGED]"

Publisher: Crystal Clarity Publishers | More reviews: amazon.com

The Holy Science

by Swami Sri Yukteswar

Average Rating:

"Swami Sri Yukteswar (1855-1936), whose westernly-known disciple was Paramahansa Yogananda, was a quiet, demanding Bengali teacher of Kriya Yoga, the advanced form of raja (meditative) yoga that Yogananda has made so popular in the west. Sri Yukteswarji, however, did not have the effusive, entertaining style of his popular disciple, nor did he write in as easily accessible manner. This slender volume is nevertheless to be highly recommended to the serious student of yoga philosophy or raja practice, and especially to students of Kriya Yoga, for whom Sri Yukteswar's penetrating insights will fit together important puzzle-pieces of the yoga spiritual path. (Beginners to yoga philosophy and practice would be well advised first to read Yogananda's "Autobiography of a Yogi" -- perhaps a few times and taking in even the technical footnotes -- before tackling "The Holy Science." )The swami defines his volume's purpose to be: showing the essential unity of *all* religions. It is, but the emphasis definitely centers on parallels between John's gospel and Revelation and the yoga principles of India's Sankhya philosophy "Sanatan Dharma." Some of the most arresting parallels presented concern the way both teachings present concepts of "The Word", "Holy Baptism", and "Messiah/Satguru". Sri Yukteswarji does not expend extra words attempting to make unity persuasive to those who have a dogmatic conviction that their religion (Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, or whatever) has the "true" hold on "truth," so those who are so persuaded can safely skip this work. If, however, you have always had a nagging intuitive sense that there ought to be One Truth behind all versions of religious truth, time spent to assimilate the swami's realizations will be well repaid.As a bonus there is a fascinating introductory chapter which explains India's macro-astrology and the astronomical progression of the equinoxes ( the phenomenon which leads western astrologers to speak of the coming "age of Aquarius"). This introduction to the Indian astrological system reveals it to be remarkably sophisticated -- offering reason to pause and reflect on the implications of a possible cyclical nature of *spiritual* ages ("yugas" to India) -- and new hope that humanity's spirituality will start to catch up with its technology... providing we attend to our dharmas!Not an *easy* read -- but if you think you're ready for it, it can be an extremely rewarding one.PS: Although as of this writing the Amazon photo of the jacket makes this appear to be the Spanish translation of the work, this ISBN ( 0876120516 ) is actually correct for the English language edition."

Publisher: Self-Realization Fellowship | More reviews: amazon.com