Pol Elisa has donated this beautiful book to the library:

The Yoga Tradition - Its History, Literature, Philosophy and Practice
George Feuerstein, Ph.D.

Foreword by Ken Willber

Georg Feuerstein, recognized as the foremost authority on yoga today, has authored more than thirty books, and The Yoga Tradition is by far his most comprehensive treatise on yoga. The book can be used as a reference book, or it can be read from cover to cover. We suggest you start at the beginning. If you skip around, you will easily become sidetracked because the book contains almost everything you wanted to know about yoga but didn't know where to look.

The book is organized historically in five parts, beginning with the Vedic Age and moving forward into modern times. In each section Feuerstein describes the philosophy of the era and backs it up with translations of scriptures, including, in many cases, complete texts.

In part one, "The Foundations of Yoga," Feuerstein describes the essence of yoga, the disciple-teacher relationship, the several yogic paths, and the other Hindu traditions.

Part two, "Pre-classical Yoga," tells the cultural history of India and describes the literature of the time, from the Vedas (hymns), to the Brahmanas (priestly rituals), the Aranyakas (teachings for the forest sages), and the Upanishads (concerned with realizing the inner reality). Feuerstein tells how Jainism and Buddhism evolved during this period. Yoga developed further during the Epic Era, with the Ramayana and Mahabharata and the mysticism of the Bhagavad-Gita.

Part three is devoted to classical yoga and the history, literature, philosophy and practice of the yoga of Patanjali. A complete translation of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali accompanies this section.

Part four, "Post-classical Yoga," describes the nondualistic approach of the Shiva worshippers and the Vedantic approach among the Vishnu worshippers. The Puranas, narratives dealing with the origins of the universe, which extend back to Vedic times, are discussed here. The Puranas were memorized and orally transmitted by storytellers to the general public, while the Vedas and Brahmanas belonged to the Vedic priestly families.

Part five, "Power and Transcendence in Tantrism," discusses tantra yoga and the philosophy and practice of hatha yoga, including purification techniques, seals and locks, postures, sense withdrawal, control of life force, meditation, and samadhi.

This book is a must-have for all serious students of yoga philosophy and history. Feuerstein has spent the last three decades in the pursuit of yoga as both a scholar and a practitioner; and since he is a scholar, this writing leans toward the academic side. For a more basic book, however, see Feuerstein's just-released Yoga for Dummies.