Suggested Reading
Suggested Reading
It is human nature to wonder, to draw meaning from the experience of life. Whether as an informal attempt to comprehend or as a scholarly study of the nature of reality, humans have been philosophizing for as long as we’ve been thinking. All the philosophies of yoga—from the ancient Vedas to contemporary study—try to explain the experience of the practice of yoga as a means of awakening natural intelligence, giving insight into the meaning of life and consciousness, ethical standards, happiness and suffering, illusion and reality. There are no shortcuts to having insight into the meaning of the experience of life. The only way to truly understand reality is through direct experience. For this reason, we encourage studying philosophy within the context of one’s own experience.
Traditional Yogic Texts Timeline
Studying yogic philosophies in the context of other views, such as Buddhism, Western philosophy, and contemporary life, can be helpful in assimilating a real understanding of philosophical subtleties. By studying a variety of philosophies it becomes clear that there are endless minor variances of interpretation and perspective within any philosophical system. Differences in life circumstance, words, or axioms used to describe the experience and understanding seed these differences, making variances natural and quite healthy.
Rather than become stuck in one’s own belief system, we try to always ask questions and examine why we believe what we believe. Reading original texts and “going to the source” are essential to an open-minded approach.
Yoga: Discipline of Freedom: The Yoga Sutra Attributed to Patanjali
trans. Barbara Stoller Miller
Bantam
The Science of Yoga
trans. I.K. Taimni
The Theosophical Publishing House
Yoga Philosophy of Patanjali
trans. Swami Hariharananda Aranya
SUNY Press
The Yoga Sutra of Patanjali
trans. Georg Feuerstein
Inner Traditions
The Yoga Sutra of Patanjali
trans. Chip Hartranft
Shambhala Classic
The Principal Upanisads
trans. S. Radhakrishnan
HarperCollins
Upanisads
trans. Patrick Olivelle
Oxford University Press
Aparokshanubhuti: Or Self-Realization of Sri Sankaracharya
trans. Swami Vimuktananda
Vedanta Press & Bookshop
The Hymns of Sankara
by T.M.P. Mahadevan
Motilal Banarsidass Publishers
The Gheranda Samhita
trans. Srisa Chaudra
Sri Satguru Publications
The Gheranda Samhita
trans. James Mallinson
Yoga Vidya.com
Hathapradipika
trans. Swami Digambaraji
Kaivalyadhama
The Hatha Yoga Pradipika
trans. Pancham Sinh
Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers
The Hatha Yoga Pradipika
trans. Brian Dana Akers
Yoga Vidya.com
The Síva Samhita
trans. Srisa Chaudra Vasu
Minshiram Manoharlal Publishers
The Bhagavad Gita
trans. S. Radhakrishnan
HarperCollins
The Bhagavad Gita
trans. Barbara Stoller Miller
Bantam
The Bhagavad Gita
trans. Winthrop Sargeant
SUNY Press
Buddhist Wisdom: The Diamond Sutra & The Heart Sutra
trans. Edward Conze
Vintage Press
Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism
by Chogyam Trungpa
Shambala Publications
The Heart Sutra
trans. Red Pine
Shoemaker & Hoard
The Holy Teaching of Vimalakirti: A Mahayana Scripture
by Robert Thurman
The Pennsylvania State University Press
The Complete Book of Vinyasa Yoga
by Srivatsa Ramaswami
Marlowe & Company
Guruji: A Portrait of Sri K. Pattabhi Jois Through the Eyes of His Students
by Guy Donahaye and Eddie Stern
North Point Press
Kundalini: Energy of the Depths
by Lilian Siburn
SUNY Press
Seeking the Heart of Wisdom
by Joseph Goldstein and Jack Kornfield
Shambala Publications
Light on Pranayama
by B.K.S. Iyengar
Crossroads Press
Light on Yoga
by B.K.S. Iyengar
Schocken Books
Yoga Mala
by K. Pattabhi Jois
North Point Press
The Art of Vinyasa: Awakening Body and Mind through the Practice of Ashtanga Yoga
by Richard Freeman and Mary Taylor
Shambala Publications
The Mirror of Yoga
by Richard Freeman
Shambala Publications
Dreams, Illusion, and Other Realities
by Wendy Doniger O’Flaherty
The University of Chicago Press
Siva, the Erotic Ascetic
by Wendy Doniger O’Flaherty
Oxford University Press
The Concise Yoga Vasistha
by Swami Venkatesananda
SUNY Press
The Hindus: An Alternative History
by Wendy Doniger
Penguin
Ka: Stories of the Mind and Gods of India
by Roberto Calasso
trans. Tim Parks
Vintage International
Presuppositions of India’s Philosophies
by Karl H. Potter
Motilal Banarsidass Pub
The Shape of Ancient Thought
by Thomas McEvilley
Anatomy Trains
by Thomas Myers
Churchill Livingstone
Atlas of Human Anatomy
by Frank H. Netter
M.D., Novartis
Rolfing: The Integration of Human Structures
by Ida P. Rolf
Harper & Row
Yoga Anatomy
by Leslie Kaminoff
Human Kinetics
Anatomy of Breathing
by Blandine Calais-Germain
Eastland Press
Anatomy of Movement
by Blandine Calais-Germain
Eastland Press
