I am more than grateful that you are writing about this. I dont know any others either - @kennyskitchen, if you are about, I do believe this work is worth supporting.
Do you know which tanslation or analysis is worth reading? Or which text is good to start with? Some are too complex and dense and tie me in knots. I love how each small code unpacks into complex yet simple instructions and find sanskrit infinitely beautiful.
Posted using Partiko Android
I'm glad you can relate, there are over 300 different translations of Bhagavad Gita, which is the best text to start with, as it sums up various messages, including some chapters on karma yoga, and other forms of yoga - the origianl ones, before new teachers devised variations of the hatha or ashtanga yoga, like Iyengar and Bikram. Real yoga is about consciousness, the physical stretching and bodily manipulation were so that the yogi could mechanically shift the life airs and gain greater focus in meditation. It wasn't about bodily health so much, but more about raising the kundalini up the spine to reach the pineal gland via the pituitary, or open the third eye and go beyond to the crown chakra, apparently. Modern gymnastic focus of yoga is missing the point, unless it is focused on the inner state of consciousness, not the muscle or flexibility, as you have realized in time.
I would recommend "Bhagavad Gia As It Is" by Swami A. C. Bhaktivedanta. It is perhaps more devotional than usual, or focused on bhakti or loving devotional service to the deity, or divinity situated within the heart, and the relationship between the soul and supersoul, but the scholarly translations of the Sanskrit texts and word-for-word analysis of each verse, is second to none.
You can read it online freely here: https://www.vedabase.com/en/bg. It may require several reads through over a period of months, to really assimilate the concepts as it is dense, but here and there you immediately find profound insights, that bring clarity and help us remember, and awaken dormant knowledge.
Exactly. Modern yoga is mostly fit bodies, though there ARE some teachers who teach from that perspective and it is those that I seek out. To me, it gets me into that meditation state... without breath and body connection I am far too unsettled in a seat.
I have listened to an audio of the Gita.. such an extraordinary beautiful text. I love to go to the Hare Krishnas just ten minutes from us to listen to their readings and interpretations, chant.. and then eat!
Posted using Partiko Android
Yes that is where I practiced for ten years in my home town of Cape Town in the nineties, at the Hare Krishnas, traveling to India three times for pilgrimage. Their Bhagavad Gita and Srimad Bhagavatam are my references, though institutionalized spirituality comes with its own challenges of course. Nevertheless, the original process of meditation for this modern age is more about dancing, chanting and feasting, not so much hatha yoga any more. Perhaps you can combine the best insights from both sides of the yoga spectrum - hatha and bhakti - to facilitate your path back to godhead.