Summer is almost here and this means its time to catch up on some reading while we laze by the pool side.
To spare you the time to perfect your downward-facing dog or to lust over the newbikinis that will be perfect for your Yoga-bod, I have curated a list of books. They may just help us to evolve our yoga, as well as ourselves.
Considered the best book written by Chögyam Trungpa, a Buddhist monk and a meditation master, the book describes “crazy wisdom” as an innocent state of mind that has the quality of early morning—fresh, sparkling, and completely awake.The book examines the life of Buddha to illustrate the important principles of Buddhism, principally, that spiritual practice does not provide answers to pain or difficult situations. It is the difficult situations that, when appreciated as a challenge, manifests into an opportunity that can lead to new discovery.
Think about Winnie the Pooh but for adults. This book is just that. Robert Aitken was one of the most celebrated and widely respected Zen teachers in Northern America. In this book, he tells the story of a raven Roshi while dispensing small but profound wisdom nuggets about Buddhism in the voices of talking animals. The beautiful illustrations are a cherry on the top.
Be prepared to be completely sucked into this brilliant novel by Hermann Hesse. Siddhartha is a story of a common man who must learn that there is no enlightened path, that it is from his own mistakes one must learn.Hermann Hesse won a Nobel prize for Literature for this brilliant work of fiction that mirrors the life of Buddha but is definitely not a retelling.
My absolute favorite quote from this books is: ‘What you search is not necessarily the same as what you find. When you let go of the searching, you start finding.’
You will want to read this again and again.
Not one of the oldest of Indian scriptures, but definitely one of the most succinct and authoritative Hindu texts that does not get as much recognition that it deserves. The beauty of Bhagavad Geeta lies not only in its importance to an entire civilisation, but in the fact that remains deeply relevant even today, irrespective of your religious affiliations.
This copy of Bhagavad Geeta is relevant to the seasoned Yogis
as much as it is relevant to those who just are looking for an interesting read.
This tongue-in-cheek book will hold you by your shoulders and rock you so vigorously you will have no choice but to wake up to your life and stop giving a F*ck. It is funny and witty and peppered with life lessons.
Here is a quote from the book –
“In my life, I have given a fuck about many people and many things. I have also not given a fuck about many people and many things. And like the road not taken, it was the fucks not given that made all the difference.”
Have you read any of these books? What are you reading currently? Do let me know in the comments below.
I love yoga and the grounding effect it provides. You’ve offered a great selection of books, there’s a couple I’d love to read. Thanks for recommending them.
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I am glad you found the recommendations interesting. Yoga is quite a stress-buster for me too. I wish I practiced more regularly. 🙂
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