Category Archives: Indian Philosophy

BOOK: “Gheranda Samhita” Trans by. Srisa Chandra Vasu

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Gheranda SamhitaGheranda Samhita by Srisa Chandra Vasu
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Available online – Terebess.hu

The Gheranda Samhita is said to be one of three surviving foundational texts of Hatha Yoga (along with Hatha Yoga Pradipika [HYP] and Shiva Samhita.) This is the first known edition of the Gheranda Samhita to include an English language translation. (It does retain the Sanskrit, as well.) This edition does not include commentary or elaboration (with the exception of the occasional footnote;) it’s just the shloka of the original and a translation, thereof.

The translation is clear and readable. The book does sometimes assume a basic vocabulary of terms that exist only in yoga and – therefore – do not have English language counterparts, but these can usually be easily looked up if the reader is not familiar with them. (And there is probably no good way around this because if one didn’t use the Sanskrit term one would have to give a longwinded explanation of the concept that would be painful reading for those who do have a basic yoga-related Sanskrit vocabulary (i.e. which is more likely the case for a reader of canonical texts.)

The book is arranged into seven lessons that cover Shatkarma (cleansing practices,) Asana (postures,) Mudra (“seals,”) Pratyahara (sensory withdrawal,) Pranayama (breathwork,) Dhyana (meditation,) and Samadhi (unified consciousness.) As with Hatha Yoga Pradipika [HYP] one sees cleansing practices (Shatkarma) elevated to essential elements of a practice, whereas Yama, Niyama (together the ethics of yoga) and Dharana are not afforded the status of “limbs” of practice. While there are similarities between HYP and Gheranda Samhita content there are differences as well. For example, the latter felt like it raised the importance of breathwork (pranayama) in part because it speaks of how crucial such practices are and also because it moves pranayama closer to samadhi in the progression of practice.

I’d highly recommend yoga teachers and students interested in the evolution and progression of Yoga read this text.

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BOOK: “Hatha Yoga Pradipika” by Swatmarama [Commentary by Muktibodhanada Saraswati]

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Hatha Yoga PradipikaHatha Yoga Pradipika by Swatmarama
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Publisher – Yoga Publications Trusk

Hatha Yoga Pradipika [HYP] is one of the foundational documents of Hatha Yoga and is said to date to the 15th century. This edition, from the Bihar School’s Yoga Publications Trust, is the most popular one (at least among those offering English language translation and commentary; Note: the original text is also included in Sanskrit.) The book offers clear and detailed commentary on each shloka. (Sometimes one commentary per shloka, but other times a few are addressed at one go, as seemed logical to the editor.)

The book’s 389 shloka are divided into four parts: asana & lifestyle (e.g. diet;) pranayama & shatkarma (cleansing practices;) mudra & bandha; and meditation & samadhi. People are sometimes surprised to find that asana (postures) are barely mentioned in Patanjali’s Sutras (and none specifically,) given how central postural yoga is to our present-day conception and practice of yoga. In HYP, we see an expanded focus upon asana, but still only to a modest level. While the text mentions that Shiva taught 84 asana, HYP discusses less than 20 (mostly grounded postures — i.e. seated and supine or prone reclined.) The second part discusses breathwork (i.e. pranayama) that will be familiar to many present-day yoga practitioners and cleansing practices (i.e. shatkarma) practiced by relatively few. Readers may find it interesting that the greatest number of shlokas are devoted to mudra and bandha, techniques often only taught in the pranayama or asana in which they are employed. The final section is on Samadhi, which is not a surprise given that it is the goal of yoga and its discussion features in all the classical yoga texts.

This edition has several ancillary features of note. First, there is an extensive introduction to set the stage for a modern-day reader. Second, there are many line drawn graphics to clarify the text. Third, there are appendices including listings of the shloka — both a Sanskrit and an English list (making it easier to find what one is looking for without wading through interspersed commentary) and a glossary of useful Sanskrit terms (Romanized.)

Not only was this book interesting for its tidbits of information about yogic technique and philosophy, it also offered insight into the evolution of yoga over time. The latter is a topic which I’ve been researching of late, and this is a crucial text for understanding the subject.

I’d highly recommend this book for students and teachers of yoga, particularly those interested in the philosophy and evolution of technique, and for understanding how Hatha Yoga is distinguished from the broader body of Yoga.

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PROMPT: Life-Changing Tip

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Daily writing prompt
If you had to give one life-changing tip, what would it be?
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Recognize that your experience of the world is not the world, itself. You have tremendous (potentially complete) control over the former, but virtually no control over the latter. #SakshiBhava

FIVE WISE LINES [July 2026]

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Photograph of a green patch between granite outcrops at Uttari Betta (Hutridurga) in Karnataka, India.

Trust in Allah, but tether your camel.

Sufi Saying

[S]ome day you will be old enough to
start reading fairy tales again.

C.S. Lewis, The Lion, the witch and the wardrobe

The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.

Marcel proust

Live as if you were to die tomorrow.
Learn as if you were to live forever.

Mahatma gandhi

It took me four years to paint like Raphael,
but a lifetime to paint like a child.

Pablo Picasso

PROMPT: Inspired

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Daily writing prompt
Who are you most inspired by?
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Those who reached the escape velocity necessary to truly write their own stories: e.g. Drukpa Kunley, Diogenes the Cynic, Hánshān, Ikkyū, Socrates, and the various Avadhuta.

PROMPT: Fear and Self-Doubt

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Daily writing prompt
How do you handle fear and self-doubt?
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Feel it but don’t feed it. I feel whatever emotional sensation it brings with my whole attention, but don’t ruminate — i.e. don’t let the mind go into worst-case scenario building or pity partying or self-criticism. Use the sensation as an anchor for one’s awareness. This honors the source of consternation while recognizing that one’s mental (/ emotional) experience of an event is not the event, itself — i.e. that one has influence over one’s experience even when one has zero influence over the event. Gain confidence with the small emotional experiences and work toward the big ones.

This was the great gift I received in being taught sakshi bhava, the yogic practice of dispassionate witnessing.

PROMPT: Nervous

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Daily writing prompt
What makes you nervous?
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Chemical interactions in (and between) my nervous, enteric nervous, and endocrine systems make me nervous.

BOOK: “Kindred Spirits” by Edward C. Sellner

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Kindred Spirits: Thomas Merton, Jack Kerouac, and ZenKindred Spirits: Thomas Merton, Jack Kerouac, and Zen by Edward C. Sellner
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Publisher Site — Monkfish Books

Release Date: July 28,2026

This book intertwines the biographies of two prominent 2oth century American authors, Beat novelist Jack Kerouac and Trappist monk Thomas Merton. Besides the two writers’ general interest in Eastern philosophy and mysticism and the fact that they had broadly overlapping lifespans, I wouldn’t have placed them in the same basket (despite having read works by each and found both writers’ works enjoyable – though in distinct ways.) However, Sellner dives down into other points of commonality — e.g. Columbia University educated, lifelong Catholics, love of drink, ladies’ men (at some point, at least,) desire for a hermetic existence, etc. Of course, another important commonality was dying young, Kerouac at 47 and Merton at 53.

This book is a fascinating look at two authors who forever changed American perception of Zen Buddhism and Eastern philosophy more generally, though who did it through the lens of Catholicism. At its heart, however, it’s the tale of the struggles of two men to find something, something elusive yet for which they each felt a strong compulsion, something which even successes only left them hungering for more.

If you’re interested in the lives of writers, this book is an excellent read and I’d highly recommend it. Regardless of what you might feel about the connective tissue between them, both of these writers had an interesting life.

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BOOK: “Swami Kripalu’s Ladder of Yoga” by Richard Faulds

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Swami Kripalu’s Ladder of YogaSwami Kripalu’s Ladder of Yoga by Richard Faulds
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Publisher Site – Monkfish

Release Date: April 7, 2026

This book discusses the organizational structure of yoga as described by prominent 20th century yoga guru, Swami Kripalu, an approach that draws on (but distinguishes itself from) the 8-limb (Ashtanga) framework outlined by Patanjali in the Yoga Sutras. Swami Kripalu deemphasized yogic ethics (Yama and Niyama,) and put great emphasis on hierarchy among the elements of yoga — i.e. that one must pass through the lessons of some limbs before you can begin to move up to the next. (This idea is certainly taught in Patanjali’s Sutras, but not with the same emphasis — hence Kripalu’s “ladder,” rather than “limbs” — making clear that these are not independent elements but rather are completely dependent.)

The greatest strength of this book is in distinguishing concepts like dhyana (meditation) from samadhi, distinction of which is often given short shrift with simplistic soundbite-like definitions in books on yoga. The book is not the usual yoga text in that it spends a great deal of time discussing the “higher limbs” of yoga (to resort back to Patanjali’s formulation.) Faulds adds benefit by discussing his own subjective experiences, the lack of access to subjective understanding often gives even students actively training with teachers doubts about their experiences.

I should point out that the book does also spend a good deal of page count (perhaps more space than any other subject) on pranayama (breathwork,) both covering it over several chapters in the book’s midsection and then further in a couple appendices that get into the physiology of breathwork.

One nice feature is that almost all of the chapters end with sections entitled “Be a Discerning Student” and “Applying this Chapter in Practice” to help readers with practical insights into what is by and large a philosophical discussion. There are also several appendices (the most useful one to me was a discussion of the shifting understanding of the term “samadhi” over time and across disciplines.)

If you want to explore what the higher limbs are and how they are distinguished, I’d recommend this book. (As I said, it also deals with Pranayama in some detail, but that will likely offer less new insight for students and teachers of yoga who’ve received an education in [and maintain a practice of] yoga.)

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PROMPT: Negative Feelings

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Daily writing prompt
What strategies do you use to cope with negative feelings?
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Sakshi Bhavan, the dispassionate witness, giving feelings one’s full attention without allowing rumination that compounds the effect.

Not technically a strategy, but I think it’s on point.