| Yoga |
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Strongly Recommended Reading:
The books on this list are generally available, though some may now be out of print.
Recommended Reading:
The books on this list are generally available, though some may now be out of print.
- Patanjali. Yoga Sutra, chapters 1 and 2 (translation of your choice)
- Anonymous. Bhagavad Gita (translation of your choice)
- Svatmarama. Hatha Yoga Pradipika (recommended translation YogaVidya.com)
- Elizabeth de Michelis. A History of Modern Yoga (chapters 6 and 7)
Recommended Reading:
- Anonymous. Gheranda Samhita (recommended translation YogaVidya.com)
- Anonymous. Shiva Samhita (recommended translation YogaVidya.com)
- Georg Feuerstein. The Shambhala Guide to Yoga
- Georg Feuerstein. The Yoga Tradition (for more ambitious students)
- Georg Feuerstein. The Deeper Dimension of Yoga
- NE Sjoman. The Yoga Tradition of the Mysore Palace
Reading difficulty:
* - Accessible to all
** - Challenging
*** - Scholarly
* - Accessible to all
** - Challenging
*** - Scholarly
Primary Sources:
- Wendy Doniger O’Flaherty, trans. The Rig Veda *
- David Frawley. Wisdom of the Ancient Seers *
- Ralph Griffith. Hinduism: The Rig Veda ***
| The Vedas |
Primary Sources:
Secondary Sources:
- R.E. Hume, trans. The Thirteen Principal Upanishads ***
- Valerie Roebuck, trans. The Upanishads **
- Patrick Olivelle, trans. Upanishads ***
Secondary Sources:
- Paul Deussen. The System of the Vedanta ***
- Franklin Merrell-Wolff. Pathways Through to Space **
- Badarayana. The Vedanta Sutras (trans. G. Thibaut) ***
| Vedanta Upanishads |
Translations:
Secondary Sources:
- Franklin Edgerton. The Bhagavad Gita **
- Lars Fosse. The Bhagavad Gita *
- Juan Mascaro. The Bhagavad Gita *
- Swami Prabhavananda and C. Isherwood. The Song of God *
- S. Radhakrishnan. The Bhagavadgita **
- Barbara Stoler Miller. The Bhagavad-Gita *
- Stephen Mitchell. Bhagavad Gita *
- Graham Schweig, The Bhagavad Gita **
- R.C. Zaehner. The Bhagavad-Gita ***
Secondary Sources:
- Georg Feuerstein. Introduction to the Bhagavad Gita *
- Eric Sharpe. The Universal Gita *
- Phulgenda Sinha. The Gita As It Was **
| Bhagavad Gita |
Translations:
Secondary Sources:
- Usharbudh Arya. The Yoga-Sutras of Patanjali (pada 1) ***
- Swami Veda Bharati (formerly U Arya) (pada 2) ***
- Hariharananda Aranya. Yoga Philosophy of Patanjali ***
- Bernard Bouanchaud. The Essence of Yoga *
- T.K.V. Desikachar. The Heart of Yoga *
- Georg Feuerstein. The Yoga-Sutra of Patanjali **
- Chip Hartranft. The Yoga-Sutra of Patanjali *
- B.K.S. Iyengar. Light on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali *
- Rammurti Mishra. Yoga Sutras **
- Swami Prabhavananda and C. Isherwood. How to Know God *
- Swami Savitripriya. Psychology of Mystical Awakening *
- Barbara Stoler Miller. Yoga: Discipline of Freedom *
- I.K. Taimni. The Science of Yoga **
- Swami Venkatesananda. Enlightened Living *
- Swami Vivekananda. Raja-Yoga **
Secondary Sources:
- Mircea Eliade. Patanjali and Yoga **
- Georg Feuerstein. The Philosophy of Classical Yoga *
- Ian Whicher. The Integrity of the Yoga Darshana ***
| Classical Yoga: The Yoga Sutra |
Primary Sources:
Secondary Sources:
- Svatmarama Yogendra. Hatha Yoga Pradipika (trans. Swami Vishnu-devananda) *
- Svatmarama Yogendra. Hatha Yoga Pradipika (trans. Swami Muktibodhananda Saraswati) *
Secondary Sources:
- Agehananda Bharati. The Tantric Tradition ***
- Theos Bernard. Hatha Yoga *
- Mikel Burley. Hatha-Yoga *
- Mark Dyczkowski. The Doctrine of Vibration **
- Julius Evola. The Yoga of Power **
- Gavin Flood. The Tantric Body **
- Shyam Sundar Goswami. Layayoga **
- Paul Eduardo Muller-Ortega. The Triadic Heart of Shiva **
- Swami Sivananda Radha. Kundalini Yoga for the West *
- Lilian Silburn. Kundalini **
- Hugh Urban. Tantra *
- David Gordon White. The Alchemical Body **
- John Woodroffe (Arthur Avalon). The Serpent Power ***
| Tantra & Hatha Yoga |
Krishnamacharya School:
Teachers:
- Kofi Busia, ed. Iyengar: The Yoga Master *
- T.K.V. Desikachar. Health, Healing & Beyond *
- B.K.S. Iyengar. Light on Life *
- B.K.S. Iyengar. The Tree of Yoga *
- Elizabeth Kadetsky. First There Is a Mountain *
- Nathamuni. Yogarahasya (trans. T.K.V. Desikachar) *
- Srivatsa Ramaswami. Yoga Beneath the Surface *
Teachers:
- David Goodman, ed. Be As You Are: The Teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi *
- Robert McDermott, ed. The Essential Aurobindo *
- Sarah Strauss. Positioning Yoga (Swami Sivananda) **
| Modern Schools/Teachers |
Primary:
Secondary:
- Patrick Olivelle, trans. Samnyasa Upanishads **
- Tirumular. Tiru-Mantiram (trans. B. Natarajan) **
- Vasugupta. The Aphorisms of Shiva (Shiva Sutra)(trans. M Dyczkowski) **
- Anon. The Yoga of Delight, Wonder, and Astonishment (the Vijnana Bhairava) (trans. J Singh) *
Secondary:
- Joseph Alter. Yoga in Modern India **
- Agehananda Bharati. The Light at the Center *
- Paul Brunton. A Search in Secret India *
- Roberto Calasso. Ka *
- Alain Danielou. The Gods of India *
- Alain Danielou-. While the Gods Play **
- Alain Danielou. Yoga **
- Mircea Eliade. Yoga: Immortality and Freedom ***
- Gavin Flood. A Introduction to Hinduism *
- Jean Gebser. The Ever-Present Origin ******
- John Keay. India: A History *
- Lewis Thompson. Mirror to the Light **
- Heinrich Zimmer. Philosophies of India **
| Other Sources of Interest |