{"id":1391,"date":"2021-04-25T16:19:01","date_gmt":"2021-04-25T16:19:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/insight.yoga\/Insight\/?page_id=1391"},"modified":"2025-05-20T06:21:58","modified_gmt":"2025-05-20T05:21:58","slug":"books","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/insight.yoga\/de\/books\/","title":{"rendered":"Books"},"content":{"rendered":"

Recommended Books<\/h3>

Insight yoga<\/h6><\/div>
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The limits of my language means the limits of my world.
\nLudwig Wittgenstein<\/p>\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

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Obviously, there are hundreds of well-researched, authentic and inspiring publications out
\nthere that I would highly recommend. To make it easy and accessible, I have limited myself
\nto just a few picks from this immense smorgasbord of knowledge and experience. My
\nsincere gratitude to all these yoga explorers who share their insights with us.<\/p>\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

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Modern Postural Yoga<\/strong><\/p>\n

1. Yoga Body \u2013 Mark Singleton: Essential reading about modern yoga sources (the
\nbook that really got the conversation\/inquiry going)
\n2. The Path of Modern Yoga \u2013 Elliott Goldberg: Essential reading about modern yoga
\nsources (great addition to Yoga Body)
\n3. Selling Yoga \u2013 Andrea Jain: Essential reading about the commercialization of yoga
\n4. The Subtle Body \u2013 Stefanie Syman: Yoga\u2019s development in the USA, good
\noverview
\n5. The Yoga Tradition of the Mysore Palace \u2013 N. E. Sjoman: Sjoman gave us first
\nglimpse into how modern yoga was developed
\n6. White Lama \u2013 Douglas Veenhof: Great biography and read about a pioneer of
\nbringing Ha\u1e6dha Yoga to the West (Theos Bernard)
\n7. The Great Oom \u2013 Robert Love: Hillarious and well-researched biography of a
\nrather twisted pioneer of bringing (his version of) Tantra Yoga to the USA (Pierre
\nBernard)
\n8. A History of Modern Yoga \u2013 Elizabeth De Michelis: Mainly about Swami
\nVivekananda, not essential but interesting, scholarly<\/p>\n

Mythology<\/strong><\/p>\n

1. The Blue God: A Life of Krishna \u2013 Ramesh Menon: A sublime and entertaining
\nsummary of the \u015ar\u012bmad Bh\u0101gavatam\/Bh\u0101gavata Pur\u0101\u1e47a \u2013 everything on Indian
\nmythology by Ramesh Menon is highly recommended
\n2. Ramayana \u2013 William Buck: Lord R\u0101ma\u2019s story, gripping and beautifully written \u2013
\nalso available as an audio book narrated by Ram Das
\n3. Mahabharata \u2013 William Buck: Obviously not the whole text, but a good read and
\nsummarization \u2013 also available as a film\/play, directed by Peter Brook<\/p>\n

General Yoga<\/strong><\/p>\n

1. The Yoga Tradition \u2013 Georg Feuerstein: Almost 20 years old and getting slightly
\noutdated but still a comprehensive overview.<\/p>\n

2. The Science of Yoga \u2013 William J. Broad: A useful look at studies about yoga; myth-
\nbusting and informative, an important reality-check for yoga teachers
\n3. Roots of Yoga \u2013 James Mallinson &amp; Mark Singleton: Source text-material on all
\nthe important topics
\n4. The Art of Transformation \u2013 Debra Diamond: A beautiful collection of yogic art,
\nwith good commentaries about especially late hatha and tantra yoga
\n5. The Psychology of Yoga \u2013 Georg Feuerstein: Decent overview, could have been
\nstructured in a better way<\/p>\n

P\u0101ta\u00f1jala Yoga \u015a\u0101stra<\/strong><\/p>\n

1. The Yoga-S\u016btra of Pata\u00f1jali, A new Translation with Commentary \u2013 Barbara Stoler
\nMiller: Good scholarship and commentaries, relatively easy to read and grasp
\n2. The Yoga-Sutra of Patanjali, A new Translation and Commentary \u2013 Georg
\nFeuerstein: Scholarly and no frills, some good points and pointers, medium level
\nof difficulty to read
\n3. The \u2018Yoga Sutra of Pata\u00f1jali\u2019 (A Biography) \u2013 David Gordon-White: The history of
\nthe Yoga Sutra text
\n4. The Yoga Sutra of Patanjali \u2013 Chip Hartranft: Certainly a Buddhist take on the
\nS\u016btras (Pata\u00f1jali wasn\u2019t a Buddhist nor did he follow its philosophy), but good
\ninsights about the practical meditation aspects
\n5. The Yoga S\u016btras of Pata\u00f1jali, A New Edition \u2013 Edwin F Bryant: An incredible tour
\nde force of scholarship, certainly not for the newcomer to philosophy, but
\nabsolutely worthwhile and delightful for more seasoned yoga philosophy
\nstudents who want to delve deeper<\/p>\n

Tantra Yoga<\/strong><\/p>\n

1. Tantra, The Path of Ecstasy \u2013 Georg Feuerstein: Beautifully researched,
\nstructured and written, best entry-level book on Tantra I know
\n2. The World of Tantra \u2013 B. Battaracharya: A classic, used in university courses
\n3. The Tantra Tradition \u2013 Agehananda Bharati: Quite scholarly but essential
\n4. Kundalini Tantra \u2013 Swami Satyananda Saraswati: Another classic
\n5. Kundalini, Path to higher Consciousness \u2013 Pandit Gopi Krishna: A bit \u201aIndian\u2019 and
\nthus not flowing too well and lacking research, but a worthwhile reminder of how
\ncareful one hast o be when approaching Kundalin\u012b \u015aakti
\n6. Laya Yoga, The Definite Guide to the Chakras and Kundalini \u2013 Shyam Sundar
\nGoswami: Another classic though not an easy read, very meticulously researched
\nand presented
\n7. The Alchemical Body \u2013 Siddha Traditions in Midieval India, by David Gordon-
\nWhite, University of Chicago Press, 1998: A magnus opus that digs deep, not easy
\nto read and grasp, but a treasure trove for more advanced students<\/p>\n

Hatha Yoga<\/strong><\/p>\n

1. Hatha Yoga \u2013 It\u2019s context, Theory and Practice \u2013 Mikel Burley: Apart from a little
\nlack of structure Mikel\u2019s book is a good scholarly overview<\/p>\n

2. The Gheranda Samhit\u0101 \u2013 James Mallinson: Great translation by the current
\ngrandmaster of ha\u1e6dha yoga studies
\n3. The Shiva Samhit\u0101 \u2013 James Mallinson: Great translation by the current
\ngrandmaster of ha\u1e6dha yoga studies
\n4. Hatha Yoga Pradipik\u0101 \u2013 Swami Muktibodhananda: Decent translation though
\nmore of a biased commentary really. I\u2019d wait for the upcoming critical edition of
\nthe Prad\u012bpik\u0101 from the crew of the Ha\u1e6dha Yoga Project (probably late 2021)<\/p>\n

Bhagavad-G\u012bt\u0101<\/strong><\/p>\n

1. The Bhagavad-G\u012bt\u0101, A New Translation \u2013 Georg Feuerstein: Accessible and well-
\nwritten and researched translation with a useful introduction
\n2. The Bhagavad Gita (A Biography) \u2013 Richard H. Davis: Interesting historical
\noverview of how the BG has been viewed through the ages<\/p>\n

Advaita Ved\u0101nta<\/strong><\/p>\n

1. The Essential Ved\u0101nta \u2013 Eliot Deutsch &amp; Rohit Dalvi: Great source book of original
\nmaterial
\n2. Back to the Truth \u2013 Dennis Waite: Despite some overexcited exaggerations, this is a
\nvery comprehensive and in-depth magnus opus on the subject
\n3. The Upanishads \u2013 Eknath Easwaran: Useful translation of some of the principal
\nUpani\u1e63ads<\/p>\n

Jaina Yoga<\/strong><\/p>\n

1. Jainism, an Introduction \u2013 Jeffery D. Long: Indeed, a beautiful introduction to this
\ntradition.<\/p>\n

Buddhist Yoga &amp; Mindfulness<\/strong><\/p>\n

1. Satipa\u1e6d\u1e6dh\u0101na, the direct path to Realization \u2013 An\u0101layo: One of An\u0101layo\u2019s first books,
\nas always based on solid scholarship and vast personal experience. I highly
\nrecommend all of his books
\n2. Mindfulness, a practical Guide to Awakening \u2013 Joseph Goldstein: His writing is a bit
\ndry but Joseph is one of the living masters of this tradition, and has poured 50 years
\nof study and practice into this book
\n3. The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha, a Translation of the Majjhima Nik\u0101ya \u2013
\nBhikkhu \u00d1\u0101\u1e47amoli &amp; Bhikkhu Bodhi: Like all translations of this series (Teachings of
\nthe Buddha, by the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies, published by Wisdom
\nPublications), this is the definite sourcebook and translation<\/p>\n

S\u0101mkhya<\/strong><\/p>\n

1. Classical Samkhya, an Interpretation of its History and Meaning \u2013 Gerald James
\nLarson: Like most books on S\u0101mkhya, heavy, scholarly going, but totally worthwhile.
\nThis is an older work from 1969, which was revised in 1979, and reprinted many
\ntimes
\n2. The Samkhya Philosophy \u2013 Nandalal Sinha: 1915 translation of source material. Not
\nfor the faint-hearted<\/p>\n

3. Classical S\u0101\u1e43khya and Yoga, an Indian Metaphysics of Experience \u2013 Mikel Burley: A
\nbrave and mind-blowing take on these traditions; excellent, advanced scholarship<\/p>\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n

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