I thought that this book would be a little more "enlightening" after reading so many rave reviews. I, however, found that this book was more appropiate for someone with children. Much advice, etc. was directed toward dealing with the every-day obstacles, trials, and tribulations of every day, parental life. I still liked it, and I will probably read it again, and concentrate more on the mantras.

Here in Manhattan it's not unusual to go to one of the yoga studios that now seem almost as prevalent as McDonald's, only to get overpowered by the stench not of sweat but of ego and one-upsmanship (up-yogiship?). It's like "Any pose you can hold, I can hold better." Worse, I've left class, or home practice, only to wait for the train or bus in a fit of impatience. I've meditated only to find myself procrastinating over doing something that needs to be done--six months ago. In short, I've practiced a lot of hatha yoga and meditation, and benefited from it, but there was no carry over into my life. Which is what it's supposed to be about, not an end in itself. And the Sutra's of Patanjali are nice, poetic semi-haikus but forget about applying them on the A train. Here comes Iyengar veteran Lasater with a book on integrating yoga into everyday life so you don't leave it all on the sticky mat. Every chapter deals with handling different emotional qualities, from developing courage to conquering fear and impatience. Lasater gives examples from her life. It's reassuring to read how an accomplished yogi and teacher struggles with the same issues. And the yogic methods she's found to overcome them. This book is an excellent complement to the standard books on the technique of yoga. Don't let the title fool you. This isn't a soft-headed New Age primer full of platitudes. This is a how-to manual full of practical guidance. So good it should come with a karma-back guarantee.

This book was exactly what I was looking for. It integrates Yoga practice (not poses or hokey stuff) into everyday meaningful life lessons. It is very insightful and offers ways to gain and incorporate this insightfulness into your life.

In my search for better understanding the history of India or better yet, the search for the roots of vedic civilization this book has been my first stepping stone. This book is filled with facts and dates and its own interpretations that guide the reader through to discovering that Indic/vedic civilization is infact the oldest and largest populated civilization of the world, dating back to over 3000 B.C.

It debunks the theory of Aryan invasion. I am totally convinced that Aryans were not some European race that came down to India and suddenly started writing books, prose and vedas, and moved away from their nomadic & barbaric ways.

It has helped me towards the confirmation that Sumerian civilzation (currently the cradle of civilization) was a small 15000 village, as opposed to the Indic civilization at the same time being 300,000 ppl strong. A metropolis compared to Sumer.

Interesting and must read for anyone interested in getting their facts right about 3000 BC area. It is very relevant information to this day.

Although this monumental work may seem far from complete to some, it contains a lot of sound evidence and good insights into a more accurate and believble history of ancient India. The authors did cover a great deal in the space of this book and tied it all together in a consistent and integrated manner.

Although it may take a few more years of archeological digging and the translating of ancient works to further the clearer picture effectively begun by these authors. This book will be a sound basis for rethinking of the real history of this Holy land. They have made a great use of most 20th century (and earlier) discoveries and data to support their views. They did this with the courage to tread a new path of invesigation. This is a great improvement upon the long held myths that were concocted by European scholars who still thought their culture was the origin and geographical center of God's great creation. Many do not realize that the rest of the world was not caught up in flat earth ideas.

I don't think we have heard the last of these three authors, and look forward to any future work they may produce along these lines..

This groundbreaking work could be considered as one of the 20th centuries-great contributions and scholarship on the history of humanities true historical progressions. The authors, Frawley, Kak, and Fuererstein have given us the cream of their accumulated erudition in this revealing study of Indian civilizations amazing gifts to the civilized world. It gives a refreshing and sound look at concepts that for too long have been incorrectly bent by the western mind views. This book will go far in helping to correct so many erroneous ideas about India and civilizations past in general, that have been in circulation far too long. It deals with many important matters concerning the flow of civilized knowledge and change, and symbology between India, the Middle East, Europe, and North Africa.

The reader will gain many new insights regarding who did what in the global picture over the last 10,000 years, an excellent resource for students doing oriental, historical and anthropological research. I found this book very concise and believable, written in a simple style that the average reader will appreciate as well.

Also recommended: Autobiography of a Yogi, by Paramahansa Yogananda(x SRF Publishers), also supports many of the concepts put forth in this work and will extend your appreciation of India's contributions, especially in the spiritual area.

This is a basic introduction to various yoga paths (hatha yoga, jnana yoga, karma yoga, etc.). I would not call it "comprehensive" or a "guide to daily life." Rather, it's an anthology of Yoga Journal articles that are fine, but more valuable for the beginner.

This book basically is a collection of articles and writings that were published in Yoga Journal, and written by other people that are well respected figures in the Yoga lifestyle. It explains the history and traditions of Yoga, different schools of thought and practice. It is very general, and touches on many different topics, but does not go into much depth about anything, which makes it very easy to read for the beginner of Yoga to get a broad introduction of what's out there, and what it is.

This book covers all the bases and gives you everything you need to know about yoga philosophy and tradition. With all the offshoot yogas around today, it's so nice to find a book that describes traditional yoga philosophy and practice in an inviting, easy-to-read way. I like that it's a collection by dozens of different writers. You get lots of points of view, but not contradiction. I love this book and refer to it time and again.

In the clubby world of American yoga Feurstein is often cited and recommended. Perhaps it is because he has a Ph.D. and quite a number of books published (largely recycling the same material). Maybe its because he has supplied them with effusive blurbs for their own books. Frankly, I don't see what all the fuss is about.

In my opinion, Fuerstein's writing style is ponderous yet is lacking in academic rigor. Nor do I find him to be ispiring or substantial in any practical sense. The question I ask myself is if he is not a good academic writer nor a good practical writer, why should I read him? I can't think of any reason!

One of his most irritating qualities to to present his marginal theories as if they are well accepted in authentic academic circles. Also, he cites some really insignificant writers as if they are renowned scholars, simply because they support his views. One author whom Fuerstein frequently cites has a dubious degree and is self-published. Fuerstein also cites as authoritative a book which he co-authored (a fact that is only mentioned in a foot note)that is academic junk and is published by a theosophical publisher!

On the plus side, this book is handsome and is well designed, with nice graphical images and photos throughout.

Yes, there is some interesting and valuable material contained in The Yoga Tradition. However, in my opinion getting to it is not worth the effort. There is far too much winnowing of chaff required. Still, if you want to impress your friends with the depth of your "knowledge", leave this book lying around. It just may impress them.

This extraordinary work represents a lifetime of devotion to yoga by its preeminent Western scholar. It is at once a distillation and compilation of all that Georg Feuerstein has gleaned in his extensive travels both academically and spiritually. It greatly broadens the usual scope of yoga to include its manifestation in other religions and goes back in time to the edge of the prehistory. Feuerstein understands that yoga is both an ancient practice, and, by itself, a profound and venerable religion. More than anything, however, it is a salient expression of the culture and philosophy, the lifestyle and history of the Indian subcontinent where it was the midwife of the great religions of Buddhism, Jainism, Taoism and of course that great body of belief and practice known as Hinduism.

Feuerstein is in one sense a true believer. He has devoted his life to the study of yoga and attendant phenomena, in particular Hinduism and the broad Tantric tradition. One gets the sense that even here in this lengthy work, he knows much more than he is conveying; that there is a synergistic power in his extensive knowledge that allows him to know things that he cannot express. One feels his intense desire to say something that perhaps cannot be said, something spiritual and personal that can only be experienced.

In another sense he is a hard-working scholar who reports on what he has learned without passing unnecessary judgments or drawing unwarranted conclusions, although he does interpret. He is, in this sense, the American expression of the great French scholar Mircea Eliade with perhaps a pinch of the Indian philosopher Sri Aurobindo, on the one hand, and the English tantrist Sir John Woodroffe, on the other, folded in.

The book begins with a thorough definition of yoga and then an overview, and then its inescapable conjoining with Hinduism. This is "Part One: Foundations." Then Feuerstein looks at "Pre-Classical Yoga" and overviews the entire Vedic tradition including the yoga of the earliest Upanishads, culminating in its expression in the Bhagavad Gita. Then in "Part Three: Classical Yoga," he comes to Patanjali and the yoga of the eight limbs, the famous yoga of the aphorisms. Part Four is "Post-Classical Yoga" from the later Yoga-Upanishads from the Middle Ages in which the focus is on bhakti, technique, mantra and meditation. It is here that Western readers will find much that is new, or at least not readily available in English. And it is here that a non-dualistic yogic philosophy (as opposed to the dualism of Patanjali) holds sway. Part Five is on tantrism and "Yoga as Spiritual Alchemy." It is in this last part that the so-called "subtle body," with its nadis and pranas, its cakras ("psychoenergetic centers") and the mysterious serpent power of kundalini, is explored in depth. Here too we have the ritualistic practice of the five forbidden things from tantra yoga, the infamous "left-handed path." Here is Feuerstein's take: "Practitioners of the left-hand path ()--vâma means both "left" and "woman"--know they are breaking profound social taboos, and their only justification for their conduct is that their goal is not sensual gratification but self-transcendence in the context of bodily existence." (p. 484)

To me--and I have studied and practiced yoga for 28 years--yoga is first and foremost a profound psychology, a way of life that has evolved along with the human experience, from the prehistory to today, a guide on how to live that has come down to us in part (only in part: so much has been lost) as a philosophic and religious tradition. Feuerstein's book is at once a great reference and a heart-felt exposition on the power of yoga to transcend this world in which we are enveloped in the "food sheath," where we are both the eater and the eaten, but with our eyes on the stars.

The book includes numerous black and white illustrations, passages from yogic works, and an extensive, selected bibliography. There is a chronology, a glossary and an excellent index.

Yoga teachers and practitioners in the USA have needed this book for a long time. Here is an enormous amount of interesting information and quotations from the Indian sources. This is a thoughtful, thoroughly researched book about the yoga tradition and its history

The book does not seem to realise that tantra evolved initially as indigenous to India, especially Bengal, as separate from Vedic influence and was picked up by so-called Hinduism and by Buddhism. However, tantra is still a spiritual science distinct from these religious traditions and distinct from Vedic culture. The Vedic culture took aspects of Tantra because of Vedic deficiencies.

The books is also largely academic giving no insight into personal experience which in a spiritual disciple role is so important to tantra. Tantra is a spiritual science and yet this books still formulates matters by way of considering Vedic, Hindu and Buddhist concepts.

George Feurstein unfortunately may have succumbed to be a popular author but as to actual understanding of tantric meditation techniques, spiritual practices and spiritual science, does not appear up to the mark.

Is his latest book "Yoga for Dummies" any reflection of a new found status?

"The many facets of Tantric psychology and practice are relevant to all who seek to cultivate self-understanding and are sincerely engaged in the whole task of spiritual transformation," writes Georg Feuerstein, director of the Yoga Research Center and author of 30 books. This erudite and illuminating overview of the Hindu Tantric heritage is meant to be a correction to the widespread idea that Tantra yoga is nothing more than "a mere discipline of ritualized or sacred sex."

This spiritual tradition, Feuerstein explains, requires initiation at the hand of a qualified teacher and many years of intensive personal practice. The author describes some of the major lineaments of Tantra with chapters on samsara (cyclic existence), the bondage of time, the secret of embodiment, the divine play of Shiva and Shakti, the disciple-guru relationship, the subtle body, awakening the serpent power, and rituals of Tantra. Feuerstein calls this ancient esoteric tradition "the great spiritual synthesis" thanks to its insights into enlightenment and the body as a temple of the divine. The author concludes: "Tantra is a powerful tool, calling for maturity, self-knowledge, and good-heartedness in its handling."

It's often hard to understand metaphysical books about tantra because there are few scholars who can write in a clear way that's accessible even for practitioners, let alone people who have never had a guru or traveled to India to experience tantric teachings firsthand.

In America, yoga has so often devolved into a physical practice with spiritual pretensions, instead of a deeply spiritual practice.

I returned from India from a six-month trip in 1998, during which time I stumbled into meeting a guru and then spent five weeks studying with him in Benares. When I came home, it was very hard to begin to articulate what had taken place. This book was a godsend, a link to connect my experience with a tradition that extends millennia back in time. And secondly it helped to link my friends and family to the experiences I just had by reading a clear description of the path and experiences involved in Tantra.

I hesitate even to use the word Tantra, given that it's so very, very misused in the West.

This book sets the record straight (Tantra does NOT equal sex) and presents the practice and history of Tantra in all its profundity. We are indebted to the author for his great gift to all of us.

For the other reviews that criticize the author's lack of experience in Tantra, you should be aware that the author has a Tantric Buddhist teacher which led him to bring his considerable talents to present the first guide and most helpful explanation of these profoundly important teachings.

I've given numerous copies to family and friends, all of whom have enjoyed it immensely.

Until Karen Armstrong decides to tackle this subject (highly unlikely, given her orientation), this is the best book available. Highest recommendation!

This book is a great place to start a yoga exercise regimen. By no means is the book comprehensive, but you will get an excellent primer in the concepts of physical fitness behind yoga and make a reasoned judgment as to whether or not it is for you. If you choose to pursue yoga further, the book will give you enough theory, both physical and philosophical, to avoid feeling uncomfortable when you walk into your first class. If not, the book gives a sufficient variety of exercises, as well as two full routines and ideas on how to create your own- plenty to keep you in shape and occupied without any further instruction.

I think it's safe to say that an actual live demonstration of yoga, along with instructions tailored to you personally will always be preferable to an 'instruction manual', but as far as books go, I've yet to see a better guide.

This book was extremely well-written so that even a novice yoga practitioner could understand the descriptions. Special attention was given to protecting a sensitive back, valuable information for our population in which most everyone suffers back problems at some time. The illustrations were very clear and appropriate to the text. This is truly a book that would be able to inform even a "dummy" yet it is still appealing to a more experienced yoga participant. Overall very intelligently written and entertaining.

I have never used any of the ___For Dummies series and felt silly buying this one, but lost all regret once I cracked it open. The most approachable and useful book on yoga yet. I drag it with me on all my travels and am secure it merits the additional weight in the carry on. Most definitely worth the investment in money and time, an instructional book that actually instructs!

The author seemed to be analyzing the subject matter from a seemingly armchair analytic point of view rather than allowing the reader to explore the odd behavior of these spiritual individuals and come to our own conclusions. I would have preferred not to have the author pose his hypothesis as to why these individuals do what they do in that who is he to judge such "crazy behavior" if he himself is not "Enlightened"!

This book talks about important issues but, to my mind, suffers from a terrible blindness to abuses both subtle and blatant. The author does recognize that many observers willcondemn the antinomian "shock tactics" he thinks are so valuable. He himself seems ambivalent about the more blatant abuses, but mostly he excuses them as necessary in the holy war against "concensus trance", which seems to mean any state of consciousness which opposes cosmic or "oneness" consciousness. Feuerstein's attitude seems to be that the avowed purpose of rascal gurus -- to bestow"enlightenment" on the lazy-minded -- is of such transcendant value that merely mundane ethical values are expendable. This is another version of the end justifying the means. Cult leaders are expert manipulators and "shock tactics" are useful weapons in their arsenal. One might well question the spiritual attainments of gurus who are oblivious to thepsychological reality of personal boundary violations. One might also question the motivation of self-appointed teachers who enjoy giving others "difficult lessons". Victor Frankl, the psychiatrist, learned some very difficult (and valuable) lessons from his enforced stay in the NAZI concentration camps. Are we to conclude, then, that his captors were his benefactors? It is useful to have a long recitation of the many abuses perpetrated by gurus over the years. Read them and weep, not least for the author's blindness. Let me give examples: One Zen Master gives his disciple a koan to solve. A koan is a verbal puzzle not soluable by rational thought. Its purpose in Zen ideology is to force the student to abandon reasoning, which is devalued by Zen, and snap into a state of awareness valued by Zen, namely "satori" or enlightenment. This particular koan was: "Stop the train from Tokyo." The disciple wrestled with the koan for weeks. Finally his frustration led to what I would guess was despair. In an ironic suicidal gesture, he obeyed literally the koan's injunction; he laid his body on the tracks and was killed by a train. Feuerstein's remarkable comment on this tragedy is the glimmer of hope that the poor fellow may have attained enlightenment in the seconds before the train smashed into him! No mention of the Zen Master's insensitivity to his disciple's state of mind, nor any thought that an overly brutal teaching method might be partly at fault. This is an example of valuing transcendance over worldliness, a cruel result of what Alice Miller has called "salvational ideology". It was particularly painful to read the account of a young husband whose wife was sexually seduced by the guru Adi Da, after the guru befuddled the husband by getting him drunk. The husband has a vague sense that he has been wronged, but is focused on the lesser issue of his sobriety being violated. He is still asleep to the greater violation because he is still deluded by the guru's claim to perfection and holiness. Surely the selfless guru is teaching his disciple a valuable lesson in giving up attachment [attachment to his wife, no less!] Surely that has to be the explanation, ....doesn't it? Since Feuerstein pooh-poohs the idea of mind control, he is blind to the power relationship operating here, a kind of confidence game that can lead to spiritual slavery. The guru mind-rapes the husband in order to sexually use the wife. I pray for this man's deliverance from domination by his guru, but I pity the pain and rage that will likely accompany the dawning of the truth. To his credit, Feuerstein is at least trying to grapple with the troubling manifestations of religion's incestuous and confusing love affair with obedience and authority. I believe his worldview suffers from the hidden dualism so well explained by Kramer and Alstad in "The Guru Papers: Masks of Authoritarian Power", which I recommend highly as a useful antidote to the present book.

This is a penetrating and impeccable book, and it's a shame that it's out of print. The author's comments above are a start at the necessary postscript addressing the controversies of the last ten years; it remains, however, a gift of rare integrity and objectivity from personal experience.

Criticizing other's interpretations of the sutra is not the way to expound your own understanding (or lack of it) of this classic yoga text. Yoga is a practical science, not an academic exposition of your point of view. If you want to gain a working, practical understanding of the sutra to deepen your own personal practice, try a translation by one of the Indian interpreters such as I.K. Taimni.

what's so opaque about the aphorisms that writers start to pre-interpret them for you, invariably tinted with their own precepts and ideas? It's a little like somebody chewing your food for you. The aphorisms are not that opaque and its an enjoyable and useful excercise to read them in their simple, bare and clear form, until the understanding comes - your own realizations rather then someone elses. You could read a book like this over the weekend, but I'm not sure it's supposed to be read like that. It seems better you should do the mental work yourself, aphorism by aphorism. There is an effect to this, which could be lost if it's all been solved and explained for you. Therefore I prefer authors that appeared to be going to great lengths to avoid adding too much of their own coloring, like William Q. Judge's interpretation from 1914. That is regrettably only available from Kessinger in bound photocopy format. I wish somebody would make a decent new print of it.

Anyways, Patanjali's aphorisms are worth the time in any form and I shall thank any author who spent his time to bring them to more of us, different introductions will appeal to different people.

I have looked at atleast 8 translations of Patanjali. Dr. Feurstein's is among the best. Particularly appealing is his defining Sanskrit roots, however, I wish he would have had the text in Sanskrit as well as transliteration. At times he gets overly pedantic and I believe misses the meaning of the sutra. It is the problem with all the available translations. Some of his translations don't make sense. Once again a common problem. At times he comes forth with very astute observations. It is not easy to get to Kaivalya from here.