2023/02/16

Autobiography of a Yogi - Wikipedia

Autobiography of a Yogi - Wikipedia

Autobiography of a Yogi

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Autobiography of a Yogi
Autobiography-of-a-Yogi.jpg
Cover of the 1946 first edition
AuthorParamahansa Yogananda
CountryIndia and the United States
LanguageHindi, English
SubjectAutobiography, memoir
GenreNon-fiction
PublisherThe Philosophical Library[1]
Publication date
1946
Media typePrint (Hardback)

Autobiography of a Yogi is an autobiography of Paramahansa Yogananda (5 January 1893 – 7 March 1952) first published in 1946.

Paramahansa Yogananda was born as Mukunda Lal Ghosh in Gorakhpur, India, into a Bengali Hindu family.[2] Autobiography of a Yogi introduces the reader to his life and his encounters with spiritual figures of both the Eastern and the Western world. The book begins with his childhood family life and follows-on to his finding his guru, to becoming a monk and establishing his teachings of Kriya Yoga meditation. The book continues in 1920 when Yogananda accepts an invitation to speak at a religious congress in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. He then travels across America lecturing and establishing his teachings in Los Angeles, California. In 1935, he returns to India for a yearlong visit. When he returns to America, he continues to establish his teachings, including writing this book.

The book is an introduction to the methods of attaining God-realization and to the spiritual wisdom of the East, which had only been available to a few in 1946. The author claims that the writing of the book was prophesied long ago by the nineteenth-century master Lahiri Mahasaya (Paramguru of Yogananda).

The book has been in print for seventy years and translated into over fifty languages by Self-Realization Fellowship,[3] a spiritual society established by Yogananda. It has been highly acclaimed as a spiritual classic, including being designated by Philip Zaleski, while he was under the auspices of HarperCollins Publishers, as one of the "100 Most Important Spiritual Books of the 20th Century."[4][5][6] It is included in the book 50 Spiritual Classics: Timeless Wisdom from 50 Great Books of Inner Discovery, Enlightenment and Purpose by Tom Butler-Bowdon.[7] According to Project Gutenberg, the first edition is in the public domain and at least five publishers are reprinting it and four post it free for online reading.

Overview[edit]

Looking north along Swami's beach in Encinitas, showing part of the Self Realization Fellowship's ashram on the point, including (on the left) the hermitage where Yogananda wrote Autobiography of a Yogi

Autobiography of a Yogi examines the life and spiritual development of Paramahansa Yogananda. The book describes Yogananda's childhood family life, his search for his guru, Swami Sri Yukteswar Giri,[8] the establishment of his first school, Yogoda Satsanga Brahmacharya Vidyalaya,[9] and his journey to America where he lectured to thousands,[10] established Self-Realization Fellowship[11] and visited Luther Burbank,[12] a renowned botanist to whom the book is dedicated. The book then describes Yogananda's return visit to India in 1935, where he encountered leading spiritual figures such as Therese Neumann[13][14] in Bavaria, the Hindu saint Ananda Moyi Ma,[15] Mahatma Gandhi,[16] Rabindranath Tagore,[17] Nobel Prize-winning physicist Sir C. V. Raman,[18] and Giri Bala, "the woman yogi who never eats."[19] Finally, Yogananda describes his return to the West, where he continued to establish his teachings in America, including the writing of the Autobiography.

The preface was written by anthropologist Walter Evans-Wentz, a writer who was a pioneer in the study of Tibetan Buddhism in the west, most notably through his translations of The Tibetan Book of the Dead and Tibet's Great Yogi Milarepa. In the preface he wrote, "His unusual life-document is certainly one of the most revealing of the depths of the Hindu mind and heart, and of the spiritual wealth of India, ever to be published in the West."[20]

Yukteswar Giri, Yogananda's guru, told him about a significant prediction made by Lahiri Mahasaya, Yukteswar's guru.[21] Yukteswar heard him say, "About fifty years after my passing," he said, "my life will be written because of a deep interest in yoga which the West will manifest. The yogic message will encircle the globe, and aid in establishing that brotherhood of man which results from direct perception of the One Father." In 1945, fifty years after Lahiri Mahasaya's passing in 1895, the Autobiography was complete and ready for publication.

In 1999, Autobiography of a Yogi was designated one of the "100 Most Important Spiritual Books of the 20th Century" by a panel of theologians and luminaries convened by HarperCollins publishers.[4] According to Philip Goldberg, who wrote American Veda, "... the Self-Realization Fellowship, which represents Yogananda's Legacy, is justified in using the slogan, "The Book that Changed the Lives of Millions." It has sold more than four million copies and counting ..."[22] Autobiography of a Yogi is the most popular of Yogananda's books and SRF has published the book into over fifty languages.[23]

Influence[edit]

A 1920 photograph published in Autobiography of a Yogi, showing Yogananda attending a religious congress upon his arrival in the United States

Autobiography of a Yogi has introduced meditation and yoga to many Westerners since its publication.[24] The book has many famous advocates, particularly in the business and entertainment communities.

One of the most famous advocates of the book was Steve Jobs, the co-founder, and formerly Chairman and CEO of Apple Inc. Jobs "first read Autobiography of a Yogi as a teenager, then re-read [the book] ... once a year ever since."[25] Marc Benioff, CEO of Salesforce.com, told his story of attending Steve Jobs' memorial service, where the attendees were handed a small brown box on their way out. "This is going to be good," he thought. "I knew that this was a decision he made, and whatever it was, it was the last thing he wanted us all to think about." The box contained a copy of the book.[26]

George Harrison, lead guitarist of the Beatles, received his first copy of Autobiography of a Yogi from Ravi Shankar in 1966 and, according to Shankar, "that was where his (George Harrison's) interest in Vedic culture and Indian-ness began."[27] Gary Wright, who wrote the song Dream Weaver, wrote: "In 1972, my friend George Harrison invited me to accompany him on a trip to India. A few days before we left, he gave me a copy of the book Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda. Needless to say the book inspired me deeply, and I became totally fascinated with Indian culture and philosophy. My trip was an experience I will never forget."[28]

Elvis Presley was introduced to Autobiography of a Yogi in 1965 by his hair dresser-turned-guru, Larry Geller.[29] Elvis continued to study the book throughout the 1970s. He left a copy of the book behind in a Nashville hotel room on 21 January 1977. Later on this book was auctioned off with a letter of authenticity[30]

The actress Mariel Hemingway says that she was introduced to the Autobiography of a Yogi by Peter Evans, a direct disciple of Yogananda. She was "mesmerized by the Autobiography of a Yogi and loved the whole great Hindu tradition of spiritual seeking ..."[31]

The actor Dennis Weaver gave a copy of the book to Linda Evans, saying that it had changed his life. Evans says that, "Because of Dennis, I took the first step in what would become a life long spiritual journey."[32]

Andrew Weil, director of the program in Integrative Medicine at University of Arizona, wrote the book Eating Well for Optimum Health. He mentioned reading the Autobiography of a Yogi, which he said, "awakened in me an interest in yoga and Indian religious philosophies." He continued, "It is filled with wondrous tales from an exotic land, none more amazing than that of Giri Bala, 'a woman yogi who never eats.'"[33]

The work has also attracted less favourable comments. Srinivas Aravamudan has described its contents as "miracle-infested territory" whose "single most memorable feature ... is a repetitive insistence on collocating the miraculous and the quotidian. ... The autobiography is an eclectic directory of sorts that might be dubbed a hitchhiker's guide to the paranormal galaxy". Aravamudan notes the "aggressive marketing" of the Yogoda Satsang and Self-Realization Fellowship, that Yogananda himself "worked the mass media" and used a technique described as "Guru English". He notes that Yogananda was the collator of the testimonials that purport to validate the miracles described, which appear at a rate of around one per page.[34]

According to Chris Welch and the liner notes on the album, Tales From Topographic Oceans, a concept album recorded by Yes, the progressive rock group, was inspired by "a lengthy footnote on page 83" of Autobiography of a Yogi. The footnote describes four Shastric scriptures that cover religion, art, social life, medicine, music and architecture. On 3 March 1973, Jon Anderson was given a copy of Autobiography of a Yogi by Jamie Muir at Bill Bruford's wedding. Anderson became particularly fascinated by the footnote on page 83, which inspired him to write much of the material for Tales from Topographic Oceans.[35]

Cholo-goth icon Rafael Reyes credits the book with saving his life and opening him to spiritual self-awareness.[36]

James Dudley, in his book Library Journal: Autobiography of a Yogi, wrote: "Yogananda's masterly storytelling epitomizes the Indian oral tradition with its wit, charm, and compassionate wisdom.[37]

Phil Goldberg, in his book The Life of Yogananda, states that Autobiography of a Yogi is "the book that changed the lives of millions".[38]

Today, reading Autobiography of a Yogi has become an unofficial prerequisite for prospective students of the Self-Realization Fellowship's "Lessons for Home Study," a set of lessons, reflections, and assignments that one may read and apply before being initiated into Kriya Yoga.[39]

Editions[edit]

The Autobiography of a Yogi was first printed in December 1946 by Philosophical Library, who printed it until 1953. In October 1953, Self-Realization Fellowship, Yogananda's organization, acquired the rights to the book and have been printing the book ever since, including translating it into over fifty languages.[23][40] According to Project Gutenberg, the first edition of Autobiography of a Yogi is in the public domain in the USA.[41]

Many editions of Autobiography of a Yogi have been printed, including the following.[42]

Philosophical Library

The first four editions in the United States were published by the Philosophical Library.

  • Autobiography of a Yogi (1st ed.). New York: The Philosophical Library. 1946. 498 pages. LCCN 47000544.
  • Autobiography of a Yogi (2nd ed.). New York: The Philosophical Library. 1949.
  • Autobiography of a Yogi (3rd, enlarged ed.). New York: The Philosophical Library. 1951. OCLC 6847023.
  • Autobiography of a Yogi (4th ed.). New York: The Philosophical Library. 1952. OCLC 7102414.
Self-Realization Fellowship / Yogoda Satsanga Society of India

Self-Realization Fellowship has published the book in the United States since the fifth edition in 1954.

  • Autobiography of a Yogi (5th ed.). Los Angeles: Self-Realization Fellowship. 1954. 501 pages. OCLC 271420169.
  • Autobiography of a Yogi (6th ed.). Los Angeles: Self-Realization Fellowship. 1955. 514 pages. OCLC 546634.
  • Autobiography of a Yogi (7th ed.). Los Angeles: Self-Realization Fellowship. 1956. 514 pages. OCLC 459188400.
  • Autobiography of a Yogi (8th ed.). Los Angeles: Self-Realization Fellowship. 1959. 514 pages. LCCN 68039787.
  • Autobiography of a Yogi (9th ed.). Los Angeles: Self-Realization Fellowship. 1968. 514 pages. LCCN 68017564.
  • Autobiography of a Yogi (10th ed.). Los Angeles: Self-Realization Fellowship. 1969. 514 pages. LCCN 69011377.
  • Autobiography of a Yogi (11th ed.). Los Angeles: Self-Realization Fellowship. 1971. 516 pages. ISBN 0-87612-075-3. LCCN 78151319.
  • Autobiography of a Yogi (12th ed.). Los Angeles: Self-Realization Fellowship. 1981. 499 pages. ISBN 0-87612-080-X. LCCN 80052927.
  • Autobiography of a Yogi (Anniversary ed.). Los Angeles: Self-Realization Fellowship. 1997. 588 pages. ISBN 0-87612-086-9. LCCN 00265526.
  • Autobiography of a Yogi (13th ed.). Los Angeles: Self-Realization Fellowship. 1998. 594 pages. ISBN 0-87612-082-6. LCCN 80052927.
  • Autobiography of a Yogi. India: Yogoda Satsanga Society of India. 2001. 566 pages. ISBN 978-81-7224-121-6.
  • Autobiography of a Yogi (Collector's ed.). India: Yogoda Satsanga Society of India. 530 pages. ISBN 978-81-89955-20-5.
Jaico

An Indian edition has been published by Jaico.

  • Autobiography of a Yogi. Bombay: Jaico. 1975. 512 pages. OCLC 756741285.
Rider

British editions have been published by Rider since 1949.

  • Autobiography of a Yogi (1st London ed.). London, New York: Rider. 1949. 403 pages. OCLC 788538289.
  • Autobiography of a Yogi. London, New York: Rider. 1950. 403 pages. LCCN 58018867. OCLC 7060654.
  • Autobiography of a Yogi (2nd ed.). London: Rider. 1952. 403 pages. ISBN 978-0-09-021052-7. OCLC 62434213.
  • Autobiography of a Yogi (3rd ed.). London: Rider. 1953. 403 pages. OCLC 500094560.
  • Autobiography of a Yogi (4th ed.). London: Rider. 1955. 403 pages. OCLC 504109437.
  • Autobiography of a Yogi (5th ed.). London: Rider. 1958. 403 pages. OCLC 271700247.
  • Autobiography of a Yogi (6th ed.). London: Rider.
  • Autobiography of a Yogi (7th ed.). London: Rider.
  • Autobiography of a Yogi (New ed.). London: Rider. 1969. 403 pages. ISBN 0-09-021052-2. LCCN 73385771.
  • Autobiography of a Yogi. London: Rider. 1969. ISBN 0-09-021051-4.
  • Autobiography of a Yogi. London: Rider. 1973. 403 pages. OCLC 481614957.
  • Autobiography of a Yogi (New ed.). London: Rider. 1996. 591 pages. ISBN 978-0-7126-7238-2. OCLC 36084750.
Reprints of the first edition

The first edition, which is in the public domain according to Project Gutenberg,[41] has more recently been reprinted by a number of publishers.

Adaptations and translations[edit]

The Autobiography is now available in a Kindle edition.[43] An unabridged audio book (15 CDs) version narrated by Ben Kingsley and published by Self-Realization Fellowship (2004) is available in English and German (ISBN 0-87612-095-8). It is also offered as a download from iTunes.

Self-Realization Fellowship has translated the book into over fifty languages.[23]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Catalog entry 4700544". U.S. Library of Congress. 1946.
  2. ^ "Autobiography of a Yogi". Yogoda Satsanga Society of India. Retrieved 29 December 2021.
  3. ^ "Translations Around the World". Self-Realization Fellowship. Retrieved 30 August 2019.
  4. ^ Jump up to:a b "HarperCollins 100 Best Spiritual Books of the Century".
  5. ^ "HarperCollins 100 Best Spiritual Books of the Century".
  6. ^ "HarperSanFrancisco, edited by Philip Zaleski 100 Best Spiritual Books of the 20th Century".
  7. ^ Butler-Bowdon, Tom (2005). 50 Spiritual Classics: Timeless Wisdom from 50 Great Books of Inner Discovery, Enlightenment and Purpose. Nicholas Brealey Publishing. ISBN 978-1857883497.
  8. ^ Chapter 10 – I Meet my Master, Sri Yukteswar
  9. ^ Chapter 27 – Founding of a Yoga School at Ranchi
  10. ^ "End of Series". The Washington Post. 20 February 1927. p. F4.
  11. ^ Chapter 37 - I Go to America
  12. ^ Chapter 38 – Luther Burbank, A Saint Amidst the Roses
  13. ^ Chapter 39 – The Catholic Stigmatist of Bavaria
  14. ^ Yogananda, Paramahansa (2004). The Second Coming of Christ / Volume I / Jesus Temptation in the wilderness / Discourse 8 / Mattew 4:1-4. Self-Realization Fellowship. pp. 166–167. ISBN 9780876125557.
  15. ^ Chapter 45 – The Bengali "Joy-Permeated Mother"
  16. ^ Chapter 44 – With Mahatma Gandhi at Wardha
  17. ^ Chapter 29 – Rabindranath Tagore and I Compare Schools
  18. ^ Chapter 41 - An Idyl in South India
  19. ^ Chapter 46 - Giri Bala - The woman Yogi Who Never Eats
  20. ^ Evans-Wentz, W. Y. Preface
  21. ^ Chapter 32 – Rama is Raised from the Dead
  22. ^ Goldberg, Philip (2012). American Veda. Harmony; 1 edition (2 November 2010): 109.
  23. ^ Jump up to:a b c "Translations of Autobiography of a Yogi around the World". Yogoda Satsanga Society of India. Retrieved 30 August 2019.
  24. ^ Bowden, Henry Warner (1993). Dictionary of American Religious Biography. Greenwood Press. ISBN 0-313-27825-3. p. 629.
  25. ^ Isaacson, Walter (2001). Steve Jobs: A Biography. Simon & Schuster. p. 527. ISBN 978-1-4516-4853-9.
  26. ^ Farber, Dan (10 September 2013). "Marc Benioff explains Steve Jobs' spirituality and chides Apple". San Francisco: CNET News.
  27. ^ O'Mahony, John (3 June 2008). "A Hodgepodge of Hash, Yoga and LSD – Interview with Sitar giant Ravi Shankar". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 August 2017.
  28. ^ Wright, Gary (2014). Dream Weaver: A Memoir; Music, Meditation, and My Friendship with George Harrison. TarcherPerigee.
  29. ^ Stearn, Jess (1982). Elvis: His Spiritual Journey - p.108. Walsworth Pub Co. ISBN 978-0898651980.
  30. ^ "ELVIS PRESLEY OWNED AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A YOGI". julienslive.com. 8 December 2019.
  31. ^ Hemmingway, Mariel (2003). Finding My Balance. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-0-7432-6432-7.
  32. ^ Evans, Linda (2011). Recipes for Life: My Memories. Vanguard Press. pp. 205. ISBN 978-1-59315-648-0.
  33. ^ Weil, Dr. Andrew (2000). Eating Well for Optimum Health. Random House Large Print. ISBN 0-375-40978-5.
  34. ^ Aravamudan, Srinivas (2005). Guru English: South Asian Religion in a Cosmopolitan Language. Princeton University Press. pp. 60–61, 246. ISBN 978-0-691-11828-4.
  35. ^ Welch, Chris (2008). Close to the Edge: The Story of Yes. Omnibus Press. p. 141. ISBN 978-0-7119-9509-3.
  36. ^ mikemaxwellart (29 August 2011). "Live Free Podcast #62 W/Guest Mr Rafael "Baby Boy" Reyes | Mike Maxwell Art Blog". Mikemaxwellart.wordpress.com. Retrieved 30 May 2014.
  37. ^ Dudley, James (1997). Library Journal: Autobiography of a Yogi. Cahners Magazine Division of Reed Publishing.
  38. ^ Goldberg, Phil (2018). The Life of Yogananda. Carlsbad, California: Hay House. ISBN 9781401952204.
  39. ^ "Paramahansa Yogananda's SRF Lessons for Home Study". www.yogananda.org. Retrieved 22 September 2019.
  40. ^ "Autobiography of a Yogi, Yogananda's Wishes for Later Editions (scroll down to Affidavit)". October 2016.
  41. ^ Jump up to:a b Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda. 1 February 2005 – via Project Gutenberg. (see "Bibrec" tab)
  42. ^ "Search Results for "Autobiography of a Yogi" -- 1 - 23 of 23 from the Library of Congress". U.S. Library of Congress.
  43. ^ Autobiography of a Yogi (Complete Edition) [Kindle Edition]. Self-Realization Fellowship. 22 April 2014.

Further reading[edit]

Wikisource has original text related to this article:
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Autobiography of a Yogi.


Free online editions of 1946 first edition[edit]

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Awake: The Life of Yogananda - Wikipedia

Awake: The Life of Yogananda - Wikipedia

Awake: The Life of Yogananda

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Awake: The Life of Yogananda
Awake-Yogananda.jpg
Film poster
Directed byPaola di Florio
Lisa Leeman
Produced byCounterPoint Films - Peter Rader
Music byVivek Maddala, Michael Mollura
Release date
  • October 10, 2014
DVD 2/2016
Running time
87 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Awake: The Life of Yogananda is a 2014 documentary about the Indian yogi and guru Paramahansa Yogananda who came to the West in the 1920s to teach yoga and meditation. The film is in English with subtitles in seventeen languages.[1][2][3]

The film, which was commissioned by Yogananda's Self-Realization Fellowship, includes interviews with disciples of Paramahansa Yogananda, as well as with Ravi Shankar, George Harrison, Krishna Das, and others.[4][5] It was filmed over three years with the participation of thirty countries, including on pilgrimages in India, at Harvard Divinity School and its physics labs, the Center for Science and Spirituality at the University of Pennsylvania, and the Chopra Center in Carlsbad, California.[4]

Awards[edit]

  • Winner of the Audience Award for Best Film at the Illuminate Film Festival[6]
  • Winner Maui Film Festival, Spirit in Cinema Award[4]
  • Winner Conscious Life Award, Conscious Life Expo Film Festival[4]
  • Official Selection Seattle International Film Festival[4]
  • Official Selection Tel Aviv Spirit Film Festival[4]
  • Herat International Women's Film Festival, Afghanistan[4]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Gates, Anita. "When Being a Yogi Had an Exotic Air - 'Awake,' About the Life of Paramahansa Yogananda". New York Times. Retrieved 2017-05-13.
  2. ^ Merry, Stephanie (2014-10-30). "'Awake: The Life of Yogananda' Movie Review". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2017-05-13.
  3. ^ Vijayan, Naveena (2016-10-18). "Finding Yourself". The Hindu. Retrieved 2017-05-13.
  4. ^ Jump up to:a b c d e f g Hall, Sandra (2015-06-27). "Awake: the life of a Yoga pioneer". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2017-05-13.
  5. ^ Linden, Sheri. "Awake: The Life of Yogananda': Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 11 May 2022.
  6. ^ "2014 Award Winners". Illuminate Film Festival. Retrieved 2017-05-24.

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Awake: The Life of Yogananda (documentary).
  • Awake: The Life of Yogananda at IMDb
  • Awake: The Life of Yogananda, Official Website
  • Awake: The Life of Yogananda, Official Trailer
  • Facebook
  • Film Festival Openings


    hide
    v
    t
    e
    Paramahansa Yogananda
    Bibliography

    Books
    Autobiography of a Yogi (1946)
    God Talks with Arjuna: The Bhagavad Gita (1995)
    The Second Coming of Christ (2004)

    Founded
    Yogoda Satsanga Society of India
    Self-Realization Fellowship
    Self-Realization Fellowship Lake Shrine
    World Brotherhood Colonies

    Lineage
    Mahavatar Babaji
    Lahiri Mahasaya
    Swami Sri Yukteswar Giri
    Direct disciples of Yogananda

    Related
    Bishnu Charan Ghosh (brother)
    Kriya Yoga
    "Dear One" (1976 song)
    Awake: The Life of Yogananda (2014 documentary)
    "Unshaken" (2019 song)

    =
    ==============

    Review: 'Awake' shallow biography of Yogananda
    Kerry Lengel
    The Republic | azcentral.com

    Paramahansa Yogananda was born to be a guru. Raised by devout Hindu parents in the shadow of the Himalayas, he claimed his first memories of seeing beyond the physical world came before he left the womb.


    In 1920, Yogananda moved from India to the United States on a mission to teach the ancient practice Kriya Yoga as well as a new "science of religion" that would replace dogma and conflict with a universal inward journey to enlightenment and self-realization.

    His story is told in a new documentary, "Awake: The Life of Yogananda." Unfortunately, while the swami taught his disciples to explore the depths of their very souls, the film barely scratches the surface of his life and teachings.


    Drawing heavily on Yogananda's 1946 book "Autobiography of a Yogi," the film mixes in handsome photography and effusive interviews from former followers as well as the likes of Deepak Chopra and the late Beatles guitarist George Harrison. It follows Yogananda's journey from India to New York to Los Angeles, but it it fails to paint a full portrait of the man or to offer insights into the historical context and legacy of his ministry.

    For example, "Awake" intriguingly asserts that new physics of relativity and quantum mechanics provided a new metaphorical language to express ancient spiritual ideas, but it doesn't explore the specifics. Nor does it put his lifelong mission in context of the explosion of spiritualism in the West in the early 20th century.


    On the personal side, the film notes that Yogananda and his lifelong friend Dhirinanda had a "falling out" without explaining what led to it.

    The result is a gauzy hagiography that lacks the intimate details that would let us see the man who touched so many lives. Yet "Awake" doesn't even work on the level of an infomercial because it includes only a cursory discussion of yogic practice and philosophy.

    'Awake: The Life of Yogananda'

    2 stars

    Directors: Paola di Florio, Lisa Leeman.

    Cast: Paramahansa Yogananda, Deepak Chopra, George Harrison.

    Rating: PG for thematic elements, some violent images and brief smoking.

    Note: At Harkins Valley Art.






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The 16 Best Books on Buddhism & Meditation | Buddho.org

The 16 Best Books on Buddhism & Meditation | Buddho.org

THE EDITORS

The 16 Best Books on Buddhism & Meditation




You started meditating, for whatever reason. Maybe it’s a way to relax a bit more, to let go of stress, or to make suffering that you have experienced more bearable. Maybe the meditation is driven by the feeling that there is more we can access, or it is part of an investigation of reality.

It could just be that at some point you want to complement your meditation with some book-wisdom. Although absolutely not necessary, from time to time a book can be motivating and inspiring and can help you to put experiences into perspective.

So you have decided to read a book on meditation or buddhism (or both). But where to begin?

Choosing the right book at the right time is not that easy. Many different authors have dedicated many words to the Buddha and his teachings. There are books that might be easier to read first and books for people who want to go even deeper, books about Theravāda, about Zen, about Tibetan buddhism, books that contain translations of ancient writings, and books that mainly contain the authors experiences, opinions or interpretations. And with all books, the question always arises whether the author really knows from his own experience what he/she writes about and whether the content can really be trusted (at least to some extent).

You might even wonder if it is not just best to start with the Pali Canon (the ancient writings that contain the direct teachings of the Buddha). The answer to that is yes and no.

Ahba has indicated that when reading the Pali Canon you are at least sure that the content is good, this cannot always be said with certainty for many other works by modern authors. However, Ahba also gives warnings for delving into the sutta’s as well as the Abhidhamma.

The reason fort his caution is that the sutta’s (teachings of the Buddha) are context-dependent. That is, the Buddha was a master at adapting his message to his audience so that his teachings had the best effect. This also means that the wisdoms in the sutta’s are context-dependent. Without knowledge of the context and the accompanying nuances, one can arrive at wrong insights or interpretations.

Ahba indicates that it is like trying to catch a fish in a very cloudy pond. The fish can’t see you, but neither can you see the fish. All you can do is move your hand haphazardly back and forth in the water, hoping to meet a fish. Maybe you’ll catch a fish, but maybe you won’t, and who knows how long it will take.

Of course it’s fine to read the sutta’s, just be careful with thinking you gained all kinds of true insights from them.

When it comes to studying the Abhidhamma (the teachings on ultimate reality), Ahba also makes it clear that wanting to dive too deeply into the Abhidhamma, i.e. reading the seven books of the Abhidhamma itself, makes no sense without a trained Abhidhamma teacher. The chance of confusion and speculation otherwise is too great.

This warning given by Ahba actually also applies to the Abhidhammattha Sangaha, the summary of the Abhidhamma.

It is like trying to catch a fish in a very clear pond. You can see the fish very well, but they can also see you. Every time you think you can catch a fish it is gone before your hand has reached it.

It’s the same with deeper knowledge of the Abhidhamma, just as we think we can grasp it, it slips away. If we think we can actually understand it through solely studying it we just fool ourselves.

Read for inspiration, for guidance during practice, for reassurance or confrontation with one’s own concepts and ideas, perhaps just to form a small hairline crack in your notion of a ‘self’. Don’t read with the intention of gaining wisdom, that only leads to misplaced arrogance.

True wisdom comes only through direct personal experience, through meditation, by practicing every day. Always keep that in mind.

With that note we’re going to venture into some books.

With these 16 recommended books on buddhism and meditation we hope to show a (in our experience) reasonably safe path in the swamp of choices. Of course the list is not a definitive work. It is just an advice from someone who has read a lot.

This is also just a start, if you want more advice (or personal advice) afterwards you can always contact us.

Please note that there is an order to the list. We start with more accessible works and gradually move to works that may offer more depth to the experienced student. If the book exists as a pdf we will place a link.

There are almost only Theravāda Buddhist books on this list because that is where buddho meditation comes from. That said, we consider this list a nice starting point for practitioners of other traditions as well.

When it comes to books from other lineages, for example, we can warmly recommend the Venerable Shunryu Suzuki (not to be confused DT. Suzuki) for Zen and the Venerable Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche for Tibetan Buddhism.

Have fun reading!

1. Happiness – Matthieu Ricard


What is happiness? And how can you develop happiness? The title might give the impression that it’s a somewhat woolly, superficial work, but nothing could be further from the truth.

Matthieu Ricard, a monk in the Tibetan tradition for many years and long-time translator to the Dalai Lama, was a scientist before he became a monk and that clearly shows in this book. He writes in a very clear and accessible way about one of the most important but also complex subjects possible.

It could be that some readers might find that the book uses too many quotes from other scientists and philosophers, but as far as we are concerned this is one of the best books to get a feeling for the essence of Buddhism.

2. A Stil Forest Pool – Ajahn Chah


Ajahn Chah is one of the greatest Buddhist meditation teachers of the last century. We heartily recommend all the books with his teachings.

His way of teaching actually resembles the way Ahba teaches.

With simple, loving, humorous, often surreptitiously confronting examples and lessons, he always makes you think. Just like Ahba, he emphasizes time and again that it is really you who, through your own desire, causes all your problems.

At the same time he knows how to convey the feeling of true freedom and inner peace, based on his own experience.

We have placed this specific collection of his teachings in this guide because it is a very nice introduction to the way of a contemporary master teaches, as a counterpart to other more ‘theoretical’ works in this list.

– This specific book is not available online, but you could for example read Stillness Flowing to get a better picture of Ajahn Chah.

3. The Word of the Buddha – Nyanatiloka Mahathera



Nyanatiloka Mahathera was a predecessor of Bhikkhu Bodhi in Sri Lanka and one of the first Western monks of modern times.

His book The Word of the Buddha is exactly what it claims, a small, skillfully chosen collection of quotations from the Buddha’s own teachings (sutta’s), with some explanation here and there.

Here you can read the Dhamma in the words of the Buddha himself, and we think that after the above mentioned books now might be a good time to start with that.

– Read The Word of the Buddha online

4. The Noble Eightfold Path – Bhikkhu Bodhi



Bhikkhu Bodhi is one of our favorite authors, and actually we can recommend all of his books. He is also one of the few authors that Ahba has approved as being trustworthy. Still, many of his writings are very detailed and more suited for the more advanced reader.

This work is an exception in that it contains relevant content for the beginner and the most advanced practitioner alike. As the title suggests, it describes the Noble Eightfold Path, the path to liberation as taught by the Buddha.

But, as already mentioned, do not think that accessible means superficial, because Bhikkhu Bodhi knows how to weave his profound knowledge and experience into his writing.

– Read The Noble Eightfold Path online

5. Dependent Origination I t/m III – Ron Wijewantha



This book, or rather this series of three books, is one of the lesser-known gems of the BPS (Buddhist Publishing Society). In this series, Ron Wijewantha writes about Paṭiccasamuppāda, dependend arising, one of the cornerstones of Buddha’s teaching.

Although it appears to be a theoretical book, this is not the case. The book is written from the practitioner’s point of view and emphasizes useful knowledge for daily practice.

The author knows how to mold this very complicated subject into a useful framework for everyday life.


6. Satipatthana: The Direct Path to Realization – Bhikkhu Analayo



We could undoubtedly have included this sharp analysis of Satipaṭṭhāna, the foundation of mindfulness, later in this list. Indeed, it is a profound and detailed exposition of a single teaching, the Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta.

However, because the practice of sati (conscious attention or mindfulness) is of great importance for the development of concentration and understanding, and because there are unfortunately many erroneous views on this subject among practitioners, we have chosen to advise this book in this place, in the hope that the reader will be able to develop a clear theoretical understanding of mindfulness early on the path and apply it in practice.

– Read Satipatthana: The Direct Path to Realization online

7. Meditation – Ajahn Chah



This gem of collected teachings of Ajahn Chah is again a beautiful complement to the previous theoretical works.

It is listed here because it is especially nice to read when you have already meditated a bit more and maybe even participated in a retreat. In that case, the content will connect even more to your experience.

As far as we are concerned, this is a book with insights from which you can benefit in many meditations and retreats afterwards.

Highly recommended!

– Read Meditation oniline

8. Mind Overcoming its Cankers – Acharya Buddhrakkhita



This book is another possibly slightly lesser-known jewel of the BPS. Acharya Buddharakkhita highlights the unwholesome states of mind in which we almost continuously find ourselves from different angles and provides concrete pointers to deal with them.

It is a book to read and reread again and again.

– Read Mind Overcoming its Cankers online

9. In the Buddha’s Words – Bhikkhu Bodhi



Now we have arrived at the second work by Bhikkhu Bodhi. He is known for his very good translations from Pali, the language in which the original texts have been preserved. This is a collection of sutta’s arranged in ten thematic chapters.

In this work Bhikkhu Bodhi does not just give quotes, but always includes the entire sutta with explanations.

The work gives a nice overview of the scope of the sutta’s and thus offers even more insight into how the words of the Buddha have been passed down through the centuries.

10. The Life of the Buddha – Bhikkhu Nanamoli



This work is a ‘Biography’ about the Buddha written by Bhikkhu Nanamoli. Bhikkhu Nanamoli only uses original texts from the Pali Canon to describe the life of the Buddha.

The book does not describe the usual legend, but only that which is actually preserved in the sutta’s and the Vinaya (the collection of monk rules and stories about these rules).

With this work the reader can also become acquainted with the great disciples of the Buddha and the time and environment in which he lived. As far as we are concerned the best ‘biography’.

– Read The Life of the Buddha online


11. Just Seeing – Cynthia Thatcher



This book is an introduction to the thoery, or rather the way of thinking, of the Abhidhamma, the teaching about the ultimate reality. Cynthia Thatcher, a meditation teacher herself and pupil of the renowned Mahasi Sayadaw, uses this book to explain the way the Abhidhamma looks at the process of consciousness.

It is a nice stepping stone for those who want to learn more about the Abhidhamma later on in this list because a feeling of how the process works breathes more life into the dry theoretical framework of the Abhidhamma.

– Read Just Seeing online


12. Abhidhamma in Daily Life – Nina van Gorkum



This is a real Abhidhamma textbook, complete with questions at the end of each chapter to test whether you understood the content.

Yet it is not an exasperatingly dry reading. Nina van Gorkum knows how to keep the content accessible and still deep enough.

The art of reading this book, as with most theoretical works, is to test and validate the information you read with your daily experiences, both during meditation and in regular life.

– Read Abhidhamma in Daily Life online

13. Abhidhamma studies – Nyanaponika Mahathera



Nyanaponika Mahathera is the direct predecessor of Bhikkhu Bodhi and is equal to the latter when it comes to understanding the deep layers of the Pali Canon.

This is a truly phenomenal work in which the first wholesome citta (moment of consciousness) from the first book of the Abhidhamma is explained.

For those who already have some knowledge and experiencewith Pali texts, it can be humbling to see how much more wisdom can be extracted from the Pali Canon than initially seems possible. We advise you to read the book if you already have some knowledge about Buddhism, especially the Abhidhamma, so that you can enjoy it to the fullest.

For those who can’t wait and want to read it sooner, please do so and then just read it again a few years later! It will be worth your while. The introduction alone is worth reading repeatedly.

– Read Abhidhamma Studies online

14. The Requisites of Enlightenment – Ledi Sayadaw



Ledi Sayadaw is one of the greatest Theravāda monks of the last century, praised for both his enormous knowledge and insight. He was one of the first Burmese monks who was convinced that attaining enlightenment was still possible today and stands at the foot of modern vipassanā meditation method for both lay practitioners and monks.

but be warned, this work is not suitable for the fainthearted. This work requires courage. Not so much because of the enormous information density that can certainly be found in this relatively short work, but mainly because of the rock-solid style of Ledi Sayadaw from which an enormous energy emanates and no escape is possible.

Even more than the content, it is this energy that gives the work a place in this list. There really is no escape from it, the time for practice is now, the time to liberate is now, no excuses. Period.

– Read The Requisites of Enlightenment online

15. A Comprehensive Manual of Abhidhamma – Bhikkhu Bodhi



We have arrived at the first Buddhist standard work in this list, a translation by Bhikkhu Bodhi with short explanations of the Abhidhammattha Sangaha of Achariya Anuruddha.

It is a summary of the seven books of the Abhidhamma written around the 11th to 12th century. Today this is the standard text when beginning to study the Abhidhamma.

This is a translation approved by Ahba and, according to him, embodies just the right amount of knowledge to be useful for meditation without being overly overwelming.

– Read A Comprehensive Manual of Abhidhamma online


16. Visuddhimagga: The Path of Purification – transl. Bhikkhu Nanamoli



The second standard work in this list and also the last book we will recommend is Bhikkhu Nanamoli’s translation of Buddhaghosa’s Visuddhimagga.

The Visuddhimagga is an epic summary of the entire Buddhist teaching in three chapters, namely morality, concentration and wisdom. Ahba has sometimes said that reading the Visuddhimagga is very, very good.

This is because the essence of the Pali Canon is explained in (sometimes agonizing) detail. It is a largely dry work, so we do not advise to read this book before going to sleep, unless you have trouble falling asleep.

But if you put in the effort, in the end it will be worth your while.

– Read Visuddhimagga: The Path of Purification online


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You yourselves must strive, the Buddhas only point the wayBUDDHA, DHP 276
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Book Review: ‘A Swim in a Pond in the Rain,’ by George Saunders - The New York Times


Book Review: ‘A Swim in a Pond in the Rain,’ by George Saunders - The New York Times

George Saunders Conducts a Cheery Class on Fiction’s Possibilities


By Parul Sehgal
Published Jan. 12, 2021Updated Jan. 19, 2021
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For all their fondness for pronouncing in public (a dangerous vocation), critics seldom admit to worrying about being wrong — in print, that is. The poetry critic Randall Jarrell was a rare exception. He was tormented by the example of “Moby-Dick.” Imagine being one of the reviewers who overlooked it, or, horrors, panned it. “What’s our own ‘Moby-Dick’?” he wrote. “What’s the book that, a hundred years from now, everybody will look down on us for not having liked? What do we say then?”


The anxiety about a classic can persist through ages. How easy it is to be blind to “Moby-Dick” even today. The novel is barnacled with praise, glory; how can we see it clearly, how do we dodge the twin temptations of dull reverence and crabby contrarianism?

That obscuring fog gathers around the contemporary masters, too. Take George Saunders. In recent years, the writer has become regarded as a secular saint of American literature, with his Buddhist-inflected beliefs in fiction’s moral, purifying mission. He made his name with his antic short stories — fables, really — thronged with suicides, amputations, broken men: “the malformed detritus of capitalism, the necessary cost of doing business.” In 2017, he published his first novel, “Lincoln in the Bardo,” set during the Civil War and narrated by a chorus of restless ghosts. They’re stranded in the bardo — Tibetan purgatory — and loafing around a graveyard when they’re interrupted by Abraham Lincoln. He has broken into the tomb of his 11-year-old son, frantic to hold him once more.

The desperate, botched rescue operation is a common feature in Saunders’s work, and his fiction itself has the feeling of a rescue operation — on us, the reader. He’s moved by an evangelical ardor where fiction is concerned, intent on how it can help us “become more loving, more open, less selfish, more present, less delusional,” as he put it in a viral commencement speech. These particular hopes have never been more precisely, joyfully or worryingly articulated than in his new book, “A Swim in a Pond in the Rain,” an analysis of seven classic Russian short stories.


If there are few more treacherous places to turn up than as a character in a George Saunders story — he might have you slapping yourself in the face with your own amputated hand, as he condemns one miserable case — there might be no cushier place than to be a student in his classroom.

[ This book was one of our most anticipated titles of January. See the full list. ]

The new book emerges from his longtime course on the 19th-century Russian short story — on Chekhov and Turgenev, Tolstoy and Gogol. He dedicates it to his students, “some of the best young writers in America,” he describes them. “They arrive already wonderful.”

“I’m not a critic or a literary historian or an expert on Russian literature or any of that. The focus of my artistic life has been trying to learn to write emotionally moving stories that a reader feels compelled to finish,” Saunders writes. “The aim of this book is mainly diagnostic: If a story drew us in, kept us reading, made us feel respected, how did it do that?”


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George Saunders, whose new book is “A Swim in a Pond in the Rain.”Credit...Zach Krahmer


We read Chekhov’s “In the Cart” with him, line by line. He follows each page with his notes, marveling at every effect, tweezing out each piece of punctuation for our inspection, in some cases exploring different translations of the same story. He writes in praise of “the physics of the form”: efficiency, velocity, specificity and, above all, escalation. “That’s all a story is, really: a continual system of escalation,” he explains. “A swath of prose earns its place in the story to the extent that it contributes to our sense that the story is (still) escalating.”


I’m making the book sound revoltingly technical. It isn’t. Saunders lives in the synapses — he looks at all the minute and meaningful decisions that produce a sentence, a paragraph, a convincing character. He offers one of the most accurate and beautiful depictions of what it is like to be inside the mind of the writer that I’ve ever read — that state of heightened alertness, lightning-quick decisions.

The book might provoke comparisons to Nabokov’s classic lectures on Russian literature, first delivered at Cornell. But where Nabokov is all high-plumed prose and remove, presiding at his lectern, Saunders is at your elbow, ladling praise — “my good-hearted trooper,” he addresses us.

I don’t think I’ve ever been called a trooper before. I’m not sure I like it.

Here’s where I must admit that I can find myself in an occasional bardo of sorts about Saunders, torn between admiration and wariness. The breadth of his belief in fiction is inspiring — and suspiciously flattering to the reader. “There’s a vast underground network for goodness at work in the world,” he writes. “A web of people who’ve put reading at the center of their lives because they know from experience that reading makes them more expansive, generous people.”

Now, I’m as self-interested a champion of fiction as anyone, but such overstatement does the form no favors — at best it feels naïve, at worst, deeply solipsistic. Is the invasion of Iraq best understood as a “literary failure,” as Saunders has written? Can racism be described as an “antiliterary impulse”?

I suspect Saunders is too spiritually advanced to read his reviews. If he did, however, I imagine he might be beaming. “Good little trooper,” he might say.

There’s no charge I’ve made here that Saunders hasn’t made himself. “I’m kind of a knee-jerk Pollyanna-ish person,” he has said. “I like to find hope, sometimes irritatingly: ‘Oh, there’s a nail in my head. It’s great, I’ll hang a coat on it, that’ll be good.’”

And it’s this very sort of ambiguity in thinking that he reifies, and that fiction, he tells us, makes possible.

In the section on Chekhov’s “The Darling,” Saunders writes that the story seems to ask us to sit in judgment of the character, to ask, “Is this trait of hers good or bad?” Chekhov, he tells us, answers: “Yes.”



Follow Parul Sehgal on Twitter: @parul_sehgal.

A Swim in a Pond in the Rain: In Which Four Russians Give a Master Class on Writing, Reading, and Life
By George Saunders
410 pages. Random House. $28.
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