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The yoga tradition - its history, literature, philosophy and practice is an authoritative treatment of the subject. The author has dedicated his life for the understanding and practice of yoga and successfully established that Yoga is a systematic science; its teachings are an integral part of most religons, but yoga teaches how to be. Yet yoga practices described in symbolic language, may be found in a sacred scriptures of most religoins./ in the christian tradition, saint francis of assisi was one of the greatest yogis that the West has produced. Mystics of all religions have practiced yoga in one form or another. The author has been able to make the reader believe that yoga is not an esoteric eastern philosphy, it is a practical, systematic, and scientific quest for perfection, as relevant today as it was in ancient times, as relevant in the West as it is in the east. Yoga teachings were systematized by a sage named patanjali who codified the teachings into 196 sutras, or short aphorism, around 200 BC. The author has produced full and partial translations of numerous key scriptures and over 200 illustrations to prove his point. the sum total of authors treatment of the subject brings to the fore that central teaching of Yoga is that man`s true nature is divine, perfect and infinite. he is unaware of this divinity because he falsely identified himself with his body, mind and the objects of the external world. this falst identfication in turn makes him think ihe is imperfect and subject to sorros, decay, and death because hbis mind and body are subject to the limitations of time, space and cause. through the meditative methods of yoga, however, one can cast off this ignorance and become aware of his own true self, which is pure and free from all imperfections.
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