Practitioner
The Philosophy in Depth
The Scholar's Journey
For those who want the philosophy and the inner practice. This path starts with the questions the schools argue over, takes one answer in depth, and then turns to the disciplines of yoga that aim at the goal directly.
By the end you will grasp the central problems of Hindu philosophy, one major school's answer in detail, and the map of yogic practice.
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1
The big questions
2
The six schools
3
One answer in depth
4
The teachers and saints
5
The science of practice
What is Yoga?The Subtle Body: Nadis, Chakras, and KundaliniMeditation and the Eight LimbsPranayama: Working with the BreathHatha Yoga: the body as path
Going further · optional reading
What the bindi actually meansMyth-busting At a music festival a pop star wears one as boho fashion and is called stylish; a South Asian girl wore… Yoga was never about flexibilityMyth-busting In the founding text of yoga, no posture is named, the word flexibility never appears, and the whole… What the West gets wrong about chakrasMyth-busting The rainbow seven-step model most people know is a recent hybrid. + 1 more in this area → 7
The Six Darshanas
When you want the deep water
One treatise extends this path
Book-length and chaptered, read in order. Start any of them once the readings above feel familiar.