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The
Vedānta Philosophy includes the different branches of
the Science of Yoga. Four of these have already been
treated at length by the
Swāmi Vivekananda in his works
on "Rāja
Yoga," "Karma
Yoga," "Bhakti
Yoga," and "Jnāna
Yoga"; but there existed no short and consecutive
survey of the science as a whole. It is to meet this
need that the present volume has been written. In an
introductory chapter are set forth the true province of
religion and the full significance of the word
"spirituality" as it is understood in India. Next
follows a comprehensive definition of the term "Yoga,"
with short chapters on each of the five paths to which
it is applied, and their respective practices. An
exhaustive exposition of the
Science of Breathing and its bearing on the highest
spiritual development shows the fundamental
physiological principles on which the whole training of
Yoga is based; while a concluding chapter, under the
title "Was
Christ a Yogi?" makes plain the direct relation
existing between the lofty teachings of Vedānta and the
religious faiths of the West. An effort has been made,
so far as possible, to keep the text free from technical
and Sanskrit terms; and the work should therefore prove
of equal value to the student of Oriental thought and to
the general reader as yet unfamiliar with this, one of
the greatest philosophical systems of the world. |
