India Books

Finally! A book that's completely devoted to an explanation of the Yamas and Niyamas of Ashtanga Yoga. Ashtanga Yoga (the eight-limbed path of yoga) is comprised of the yamas, niyamas, asana, pranayama, pratyahara, dharana, dhyana, and samadhi. Yogabhumika fully fleshes out the ideas behind the yamas and niyamas. These relate to particular disciplines or ways to live in the world. The yamas relate to external disciplines (non-violence, truthfulness, non-stealing, etc.) while the niyamas relate to internal disciplines (cleanliness, contentment, study of the Self, etc.).

The yamas and niyamas have been discussed in many texts on yoga, but they have never made as much sense as they do in Dr. Shankaranarayana Jois' (a.k.a. Acharya) text. Mostly this is due to the contemporary style and language that he uses to convey his ideas, his comand of the english language, and his understanding that he is wrting to a mostly western audience. Acharya uses very clear examples to explain the yamas and niyamas, with a healthy mix of ancient stories and modern-day life experiences.

But the real genius of this book isn't simply an intellectual exercise in understanding yoga. Because K. L. Shankaranarayana Jois holds a Ph.D in yoga, is a recently retired professor of Sanskrit, has a degree in Ayruveda, and is a hereditary Vedic astrologer, his understanding and depth of being are communicated through his words in this book, acting as a "shaktipat" of sorts to the attuned reader.

This book is an absolute 'must' for any serious student of Yoga.

Dr. Jois has "written a book" in the everyday sense of that phrase, but the ideas will fly from the page directly into your heart. Dr. Jois expounds on the usual five yamas and niyamas, communicating ancient keystones of the Ideal Life with energetic prose. He goes further, however, by expanding the yamas to include ten and the niyamas to include twelve. These rarely explicated gems alone make the book worth reading, but Dr. Jois also includes a chapter on "The Purpose of Human Life" and "Path to Realization". This is the Desert Island Book for me (if I only had one book on a desert island...).

There are two books you should own for referencing vedic yogas, B.V Raman's 300 Important Combinations and Charak's Yogas in Astrology. Both are excellent books, but I do notice that I typically grab Charak's book from the book shelf first.

His style of writing is clear and concise. I have many of his other books as well and I have not been disappointed.

A need for a good,modern,and carefully written book on Yogas in (Hindu)Astrology was long due,Dr.Charak has done the required work in brilliant way.The book has complete systematic method for analsyis and interpratation of various Yogas.(Planetary Combination,in Hindu Astrology)The book is based on Parashari system of Astrology.The book is well written and constructed.The much ignored Nabhasas Yogas are also investigated in the book.In order to make the art of Yogas interpratation very clear, Dr.Charak has very wisely used the famous Gaja Kesari Yoga,as an example to explain the whole approach to interpret and analysis the yogas. It would not be out of place to mention that after long long time,ever since late Prof.B.Suryanarayana Rao wrote a book on Yogas in early 1900,s this is the only quality book,available in the market,written by a deeply serious writer who is also known for his clarity of expression and richness of material. A dispassionate reader will not be slow to recognise the fact that the book as written furnishes good food for reflective minds,especially because the book is written by Dr.KS Charak,in his own inimitable style.I heartily recommend the book to all lovers of Indian Astrology.

It's a real shame that this book is out of print. This is one of the great, classic studies of the history of the development of Zen. Volume 1 (this one) covers the antecedents of Zen in India to its development in China. Volume 2 covers Zen in Japan. I've only read volume 1, but I learned a lot about both the history of Zen and also its philosophy. Dumoulin is one of the great scholars of the history of Zen, and although he is not always philosophically acute, you will get some genuine insights into Zen doctrine by reading this. (Of course, according to Zen, the doctrine isn't really what's important!)

A detailed survey that begins in India with the historic Buddha, Sakyamuni, and finishes with the decline of Zen in China. The amount of detail would be overwhelming if Dumoulin hadn't digested it so well and hadn't written so well. Packed no only with historical events and persons, there are many observations and insights that reveal not only how Zen developed but the extent of diversity and challenges within it.

There were some highlights for me: the roots of Zen in yoga (hence the emphasis on the lotus pose for zazen), the importance of the Mahayana sutras with all the work to translate them into Chinese, the interplay of Buddhism with Taoism in China that led to Zen, the persecution of Buddhism in China that only Zen and Pure Land survived, and the settling down into the methods of regular zazen and koan practice. The differing views on enlightenment and other key Buddhist concepts as well as on meditation practice reveals that Zen was ever exploratory and many things to many of its masters and those who followed them.

Remarkably NeoConfucianism eventually gathered strength so as to be able to successfully pushed Zen into decline. This volume closes with Chinese Zen in a decline from which it never recovered. Dumoulin explains how NeoConfucianist scholars were able to weaken the hold of Zen upon the Chinese such that Zen only was able to progress outside of China. Thar Zen later prospered in Japan did not lead to its rehabiilation within China so one is left wondering if Japanese Zen largely succeeded due to not facing a NeoConfucian challenge within Japan: all the more reason to read carefully Dumoulin's history of why Zen declined in China. I find it impossible to wonder if Japanese Zen, however much it flourished there, did so to some extent by avoiding the challenges that Zen faced in China. Any such questions may be answered by a careful reading of both this Volume 1 and the companion but consensus seem less to be found than a struggle by many that shaped the tradition without bringing it closure.

Zen Buddhism, Volume 2: A History (Japan) (Treasures of the World's Religions)

700 million Indians... none of whom are currently wearing deodorant. What an untapped market this is. Thanks to this book, I'll be rich beyond my wildest dreams. Worth every penny.

If you cherish "As a Man Thinketh," then "Above Life's Turmoil" will not fail you. In this book, Allen disects the human condition and like a master physician, he offers solutions in his haunting and truthful style. This book is beautiful. As with Allen's other works, I re-visit the pages of this book often. Read it yourself and see why.

In this work, Babb asks an interesting question. Why would Jains fast and starve themselves when they believe that the beings they worship are not only unaware of their existence but also can in no way help them even if they wanted? It is a fascinating book that explores this as well as ritual in jain culture. It is based mostly on the authors work in India. It is quite descriptive and can be understood by all as he expains many aspects of Jainist thought.

In addition to describing the various rituals in play, the author also gives a very thorough explanation of the dieties and their roles. Furthermore, he effectively compares Jainism with Hinduism and Buddhism making the distinction much clearer. This is a difficult task when dealing with Indian religions. Finally, Babb does an excellent job of incorporating the ideas and stories of the people he interviewed into the work.

This is a path-breaking study of tribal-hinduism cultural interface, hopefully students and scholars will make use of it to reject the notion of "great" v/s "little" traditions of Hinduism.

Yes, this book is written by V.S. Naipal's father. I found when I sought out and read it, after studying "A House for Mr. Biswas" in university, that it read very much like the landmark book of V.S. Naipal. I learned more about the relationship between father and son, and how finally the father's book came to be published, and it put "A House for Mr. Biswas" in a whole new light. I highly recommend reading these two books together for anyone that "A House for Mr. Biswas" really appealed to, as it did me. I will not say more about Seepersad Naipal's book, so as not to influence the reader, and as well, I recommend learning more about the relationship between these two men. The father's seeming obscurity as compared to his son's being very well known juxtaposes in a very interesting way while reflecting on their respective literary works. Edna K.

After Empire is a revealing window into identity and displaced cultures. The novelists featured are themselves unique writers and have interesting personal journies that are reflected in the book. While at first reading the book may appear academic in approach, it is certainly not an intimidating read for those with an interest in literature and the way in which race, ethnicity and culture form individual and national identity. An intellectually challenging and fascinating exploration of the perspectives of the colonisers and the colonised .

OV Vijayan is one of the world's greatest writers of short fiction. Unfortunately he has not received the publicity he deserves. This collection is superb; ranging from horrifying allegories of power and corruption to biting sarcasm and satire to stunning stories of transcendental mysticism. Vijayan has translated the stories himself from Malayalam, and his language is fabulous -- in fact, I have read the stories in both the original and in translation and I am hard pressed to tell which is better. The almost-Victorian language he uses for his tales of terror adds deliciously to the gothic horror. In his transcendental stories, his language is much more naturalistic. There are several masterpieces in this collection: the title story, about a simple peasant going to the jail to receive the body of his executed son; the brilliant 'Wart' about absolute power; 'Airport' and 'Little Ones' about the magic that underlies Vijayan's mysterious Malabar Coast, India's stunningly and lushly beautiful Emerald Coast in the state of Kerala. This collection has been reissued in a new Penguin India Collected Edition -- along with novels "Khasak", "Infinity of Grace" and the "Saga of Dharmapuri". Definitely recommended. I am amazed Amazon does not carry this Collected Edition as it only came out in 1998. On another note, "The Wart" is being made into a film by filmmaker Murali Nair who won the Cannes 1999 "Camera d'Or" for best debut film. Presumably this will be a good film. Also, Vijayan is busy at this time translating his latest novel, "Generations", another masterpiece, a semi-autobiographical family saga a bit like Faulkner's or Marquez's or Gunter Grass' work.