The Yoga Tradition: Its History,
Literature, Philosophy and Practice
by Georg Feuerstein
The Right Man For The Job!
From the foremost living authority on Yoga comes the most
comprehensive and reliable treatment of the subject available today. This
is a work of impeccable scholarship by a person who has dedicated his
life to the understanding and practice of yoga. The book offers a complete
overview of every Yogic tradition, from the familiar to the lesser-known
forms. It also covers all aspects of Hindu, Buddhist and Jaina Yoga,
including history, philosophy, literature, psychology and practice. In
addition, included are * translations of twenty Yoga treatises * the first
translation of the Goraksha Paddhati
Personal Review: The Yoga Tradition: Its History, Literature,
Philosophy and Practice by Georg Feuerstein
While doing my undergraduate and graduate work I referred to this text
quite often. It was the only comprehensive, modern, accessible text on

yoga that I could find as a suitable basis to my research. Unlike most other
texts that I've come across, this one addresses the current state of yoga in
the West. This text intellectual, yet Feuerstein has been a practitioner of
yoga for some time therefore his writing reflects a bit of experiential insight.
The text is well organized and covers all the fundamentals. As I continue to
go deeper into this vast subject, it is clear to me that a single thorough
rendering of the history of yoga would be an impossible task for one
person.
The text begins with a definition of yoga, then moves into the six
schools of yoga, then a brief history of yoga, and then on to all of the
various yoga traditions, including Buddhist, Hindu, Jain, and Sikh traditions
as well as many of the sectarian movements. Many Americans seem
particularly fond of Patanjali's yoga. So, these readers may be pleased to
find that chapter nine is devoted entirely to Patanjali.
When I began working with this text, I had already been involved in a yoga
tradition for sometime and was learning about the philosophy and practice
via this tradition alone. While my teacher is Indian and my practices are
rooted in the ancient traditions of India, the yoga tradition I am connected
to is Westernized in some ways and my practices are a Westernized
version of yoga. What this text did for me was introduce me to a broader
intellectual viewpoint of traditional yoga history and philosophy. Since then
I've explored the works of other authors, both yoga adepts and yoga
scholars alike. Rare is it to see a combination of both. Feurestein reveals
himself as both a scholar and a practitioner though more so a scholar. For
those like me who tend to lean toward the first person experiential
approach toward yoga, reading the works of Feuerstein and other scholars
will provide greater understanding of their modern, perhaps Western,
version of yoga practice.
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