A Worthy Way

BY JANE SRIVASTAVA

In his first book, Sampoorna Yoga (219 pages, Nada Productions, Inc., us$24.95), Yogi Hari helps yoga aspirants discover a fuller experience of their quest by providing the history and philosophy of yoga along with methods for its application. Yet this fine book is, first and foremost, Yogi Hari’s working testimony. What the reader reads is what the author does.

After putting yoga in Vedic context, the author describes six yoga paths, explains the importance of the guru, details a yogic diet, demonstrates hatha (physical) yoga and provides a practical and comprehensive plan for putting it all together in the practice of Sampoorna Yoga, the yoga of fullness.

Yogi Hari’s style is friendly and conversational–like a guru teaching his disciple. In fact, each chapter concludes with a robust collection of practical questions and answers. This informative, application manual may be enjoyed by anyone interested in the ancient practice of yoga.

Sampoorna Yoga, by Yogi Hari, Nada Productions Inc.
12750 SW 33 Street, Miramar, Florida 33027, telephone: 954-843-0319, 800-964-2553, web: http://www.yogihari.com [http://www.yogihari.com], http://www.yoga-sampoorna.org [http://www.yoga-sampoorna.org] e-mail: shriyogihari@aol.com.

THE POWER OF FIRE

Yoga and the Sacred Fire (291 pages, Lotus Press, us$19.95) is the most recent book by Dr. David Frawley, Pandit Vamadeva Shastri, a prolific author who has published a rich array of works on ayurveda, yoga and Vedic spirituality.

Drawing upon the Vedic teaching that fire is both a sacred element and a personal Deity, Dr. Frawley asserts that through worship and yogic penetration of fire, it is possible to discover the essence of life itself. “Yoga is about an inner transformation at the deepest core of the mind and heart, ” writes Frawley, “which depends upon fire not as a material force but as a spiritual being and an inner guide.”

Frawley postulates that the spiritual evolution stimulated by the practice of yoga is a process already occurring to one extent or another not only in human beings but in all of nature as well. He says that while the first stretch of the soul’s evolutionary journey threads its way through the mineral, plant and animal kingdoms, finally reaching the world of man, the practice of invoking the sacred fire is one method by which the soul might transcend the human condition to evolve even further. Dr. Frawley asks us to light within ourselves a new sacred fire of consciousness for the sake of improving our current, collective human condition of confusion and darkness. Invoking the yogic wisdom through the sacred fire, he says, can help us to accomplish this.

yoga and the sacred fire, by david frawley, lotus press, p.o. box 325, twin lakes, wisconsin 53181 usa, phone: 800-824-6396, web: http://www.lotuspress.com [http://www.lotuspress.com], e-mail: lotuspress@lotuspress.com.

YOGA: A VISUAL HISTORY

The double-dvd, audio visual package Yoga Unveiled (three hours, 15 minutes, us$36.99) is an inspiring and comprehensive review of yoga. It is based on the insightful premise that, although yoga is more popular in the West than in India, the land of its origin, Westerners are missing out on a lot by not understanding its fuller historical, cultural and philosophical context.

Produced by Gita and Mukesh Desai, the film traces the history of the 5,000-year-old practice, introducing its most famous and important schools and teachers along the way. It also focuses on the migration of yoga from the East to the West, where today 20 million people are practicing yoga in the United States alone.

Stunning visuals and rare archival footage spiced with a wide variety of devotional music, mostly Hindu, complement the film’s commentary, which is provided by modern-day yoga scholars, historians and practitioners–all eager to pool their knowledge and speculate upon yoga’s international future. This DVD package will inspire even doubting couch potatoes with great possibilities of yogic transformation–physical, mental and spiritual. Disk One, entitled Yoga Unveiled, contains the following chapters: 1. Origins of Yoga. 2. Branches of Yoga. 3. Passage from East to West. 4. Modern Yoga. Disk Two, entitled Yoga as Therapy, contains interviews with practitioners of Western and Eastern medicine who incorporate yoga in treatment of diseases.

Yoga Unveiled, copyright 2004 Gita Desai, web: http://www.yogaunveiled.com [http://www.yogaunveiled.com]. e-mail: info@yogaunveiled.com