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Yoga and the Spiritual Life: The Journey of India's Soul
In this book the contemporary spiritual Master, Sri Chinmoy explains the philosophy of Yoga and Eastern mysticism. Written in a practical vein, it offers the newcomer as well as the advanced seeker a deep understanding of the spiritual life. Of particular interest is the section devoted to questions and answers on the soul and the inner life. As an illumined Yogi who experienced these realities firsthand, Sri Chinmoy answers offer a clarity and authenticity rarely encountered. Some of the topics covered in this book What is Yoga? Who is fit for Yoga? Meditation The Law of Karma Reincarnation The Secret of Inner Peace
- GenresReligion
Paperback
First published June 1, 2011
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
March 18, 2025
I bought this terrific little book at the Inch Bookshop in Edinburgh, in the vicinity of the Royal Mile, on a wonderfully bright day in the spring of 1980 during a half-day’s respite from the duties that engaged me back then.
It opened my eyes to a supremely simple vision of God, in much the same manner as the famous book by Brother Lawrence, of Catholic persuasion had, when I devoured it in a day during the previous winter.
Chinmoy sees God everywhere - even in the minutest daily events of our life. His is an expansive, fresh-air exuberance that derives its energy from a pantheistic vision, which is similar to Christianity only insofar as our view adds that God as well is above us - and engaged in our lives too, working WITH us.
Strangely, I don’t think Chinmoy would disagree with that mindset, in the least bit!
He also lauds the benefits of exercise. That’s one thing that grabbed me when I saw this book in Edinburgh, for three years earlier I had routinely run my daily mile along the long stretch of our local canal on my lunch hour. And Chinmoy, if memory serves me well, loved marathon running.
But back in 1980, the degree of spiritual acumen evinced by this book was too smart for my understanding...
Rich in its spareness!
I was like a grumpy old man in a dark, palatial house, whose eyes are light-sensitive and who is suddenly exposed to an unforgivingly bright vista. Or like when you have a lot of rich food on your plate, the meagre salad your partner’s plate has utterly no allure. (But she’s your brighter half, as you know too well.)
And that was me forty years ago, in 1980, folks. I had a comfortable existence as a middle management candidate, and I wasn’t about to give up all that comfort.
I was a well-to-do snob who couldn’t get into Heaven because my camel was way too big to get through the gate...
And, you know, for that reason I’m very, very happy to have had my life, in the years that immediately followed, deal me a miserable, losing hand.
Yep, you heard that right.
Because the rough breaks I had then toughened me!
I had to send my camel packing, first off:
And eventually, after a whole hockeysock of losing, I Won.
For Today - on THIS day of spring sunshine in my seventy-first year -
I found I could finally appreciate my simple life as it is, as I looked out on the bright day -
Straight, no chaser!
And such, also, I now see, is Sri Chinmoy’s vision of the GOOD LIFE:
Which I too have found at LAST.
***
Where there is Faith there is Love
Where there is Love there is Peace
Where there is Peace there is God
Where there is God there is no Need.
***
It opened my eyes to a supremely simple vision of God, in much the same manner as the famous book by Brother Lawrence, of Catholic persuasion had, when I devoured it in a day during the previous winter.
Chinmoy sees God everywhere - even in the minutest daily events of our life. His is an expansive, fresh-air exuberance that derives its energy from a pantheistic vision, which is similar to Christianity only insofar as our view adds that God as well is above us - and engaged in our lives too, working WITH us.
Strangely, I don’t think Chinmoy would disagree with that mindset, in the least bit!
He also lauds the benefits of exercise. That’s one thing that grabbed me when I saw this book in Edinburgh, for three years earlier I had routinely run my daily mile along the long stretch of our local canal on my lunch hour. And Chinmoy, if memory serves me well, loved marathon running.
But back in 1980, the degree of spiritual acumen evinced by this book was too smart for my understanding...
Rich in its spareness!
I was like a grumpy old man in a dark, palatial house, whose eyes are light-sensitive and who is suddenly exposed to an unforgivingly bright vista. Or like when you have a lot of rich food on your plate, the meagre salad your partner’s plate has utterly no allure. (But she’s your brighter half, as you know too well.)
And that was me forty years ago, in 1980, folks. I had a comfortable existence as a middle management candidate, and I wasn’t about to give up all that comfort.
I was a well-to-do snob who couldn’t get into Heaven because my camel was way too big to get through the gate...
And, you know, for that reason I’m very, very happy to have had my life, in the years that immediately followed, deal me a miserable, losing hand.
Yep, you heard that right.
Because the rough breaks I had then toughened me!
I had to send my camel packing, first off:
And eventually, after a whole hockeysock of losing, I Won.
For Today - on THIS day of spring sunshine in my seventy-first year -
I found I could finally appreciate my simple life as it is, as I looked out on the bright day -
Straight, no chaser!
And such, also, I now see, is Sri Chinmoy’s vision of the GOOD LIFE:
Which I too have found at LAST.
***
Where there is Faith there is Love
Where there is Love there is Peace
Where there is Peace there is God
Where there is God there is no Need.
***
September 1, 2019
Knížka poněkud zvláštní. Její obsah je čisté zlato, ale je psaná formou veršů a to ji dělá pro normální čtení složitější. Nicméně, kdo ocení tento poetický styl si knížku zamiluje. Další věc, která se nám (předevších lidí z Čech) nemusí líbit je, že autor mluví hodně o Bohu. Já sám jsem měl divný pocit, že autor spojuje všechno s Bohem, nicméně to dává opravdu smysl a se Sri Chinmoyem souhlasím.
Knížku tedy doporučuji všem lidem, kteří jsou otevření a nevadí jim slovo Bůh. A dále těm, kteří si libují ve chvilkách poezie.
Knížku tedy doporučuji všem lidem, kteří jsou otevření a nevadí jim slovo Bůh. A dále těm, kteří si libují ve chvilkách poezie.
January 22, 2022
Couldnt finish this book. Every paragraph is about God. God has nothing to do with the spiritual. Huge disappointment.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews