The Concise Yoga Vāsiṣṭha a clear, provocative summary of one of the leading texts of Hinduism. Swami Venkatesananda continues the long tradition of elaborating on and clarifying the teachings of the sage Vāsiṣṭha. It captures the verve of the original text while eliminating needless repetition. For the specialist, this book makes available a handy guide to the original Sanskrit without sacrificing philosophical depth. To the comparative religionist, it provides an occasion for understanding how Hinduism has been able to accommodate seemingly opposite schools of thought without giving way to the platitudes which mar many syncretic movements.
This is Swami Venkatesananda's longer Yoga Vasiṣṭha. His two volume book is here offered between two covers. Its purpose is to provide a means to eliminate psychological conditioning and to attain liberation. Containing the instructions of the sage Vasiṣṭha to Lord Rama, this scripture is full of intricately woven tales, the kind a great teacher might tell to hold the interest of a student.
Vasishtha teaches the young boy Rama, the future king of Ayodhya, through stories. Here is the story where Vasishtha explains Yogic Flying. In this true story from the ancient past, King Shikhidhvaja and Queen Chudala are a perfect couple, deeply in love, enjoying the comforts and diversions of royal life together. As they get older and realize that life is fleeting, they turn to meditation. Queen Chudala has great success and gains enlightenment, a state of complete inner and outer fulfillment. But she is unable to convince her husband of the worth of her accomplishment. So she learns Yogic Flying in order to be able to demonstrate her mastery of natural law to her husband. At this point, Rama wants to know what this Yogic Flying is. Vasishtha launches into a 220 verse exposition of the mechanics of Yogic Flying, its stages of development, and its purpose: This is the most comprehensive description of Yogic Flying available in the Vedic Literature. Vasishtha devotes one chapter to explaining the theory and practice of Yogic Flying, and then three chapters on the three stages of Yogic Flying. The first stage is lifting off the ground in short hops; the second stage is marked when the flyer remains in the air, floating; and the third stage is demonstrated by the ability to fly anywhere at will. Special attention is given to the liftoff. The moment of liftoff demonstrates supreme mind-body coordination and gives a glimpse into the world of mastery of total natural law. Even the rank beginners in the practice of Yogic Flying, lifting off the ground in short hops, can have a dramatic influence on the collective consciousness of the whole society, Vasishtha says.In the context of explaining Yogic Flying, Vasishtha teaches Rama the whole story of health and disease. The cause of all disease, Vasishtha explains, is restricted awareness, the inability to grasp the total picture of reality. The cure for this mistake of the intellect, the cure for this ignorant perception of reality according to Vasishtha, is the experience of the total potential of natural law at the moment of liftoff in Yogic Flying. Thus Yogic Flying according to the Yoga Vasishtha is the supreme technology for creating perfect health. These chapters, called Yogasara in the literature, contain the essence of the knowledge of Yoga. This is the core teaching of Yoga in the Yoga Vasishtha.
Written originally in Sanskrit, Yoga-Vasistha is a long philosophical poem in the tradition of the Bhagavad Gita, full of stories on superhuman feats and supernatural events. Attributed to Valmiki, the verses are in the form of a series of conversations between the sixteen-year-old Rama and the celebrated guru of his family, Vasistha. Verses for the Brave is a selection of 218 verses from the Yoga-Vasistha, ones that reflect upon the world and life, emphasizing the need for balance between involvement in worldly affairs and the motivation to attain liberation. A gorgeous rendition of a significant companion to the Ramayana, it offers the heroes of now a philosophy of the past.
