"The Upanishads ... are among the noblest and most inspired books in the world; in them, the whole of the Indian wisdom is already contained; later teachers could but expand and comment on them, but in no way departed from this original treasure of wisdom." ... "The Upanishads teach the wisdom of Atma, the Supreme Self of all beings; the same divine Life which Philo of Alexandria later called the Logos, the Divine Mind, the collective spiritual consciousness of our universe. They tell us that, while each of us may seem to be a wanderer and exile, lonely, desolate in our world of shadow and of...

THE YOGA SUTRAS OF PATANJALI "The Book of the Spiritual Man" Translation & Interpretations Charles Johnston General Introduction Paul Smith The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali are 194 Indian sutras (aphorisms) that constitute the foundational text of Raja Yoga. Yoga is one of the six orthodox schools of Hindu philosophy. Various authorities attribute the compilation to Patanjali 2nd century BCE. In the Yoga Sutras, Patanjali prescribes adherence to eight 'limbs' or steps to quiet one's mind and liberation. The Sutras not only provide yoga with a thorough and consistent philosophical basis, they also...

Charles Johnston's classic translation and commentary on one of the most profound of ancient sacred texts. The book also contains four introductory articles by Johnston, which shed much light on the Upanishads, their place in history, their influence and connection to other spiritual philosophies of the world. "Many Scriptures have been inspired by the Great Initiation, and in many is embodied the wisdom gained in the Great Initiation; were it not so, they would not be true Scriptures. There appears to be but one, known in the world today, which has taken the Great Initiation as its central...

Charles Johnston's classic translation and commentary on one of the most profound of ancient sacred texts. The book also contains three introductory articles by Johnston, which shed much light on the Upanishads, their place in history, their influence and connection to other spiritual philosophies of the world. "The great Upanishads were compiled as Instructions for disciples preparing for Initiation. They contain philosophical teaching, and also many stories, generally in the form of spirited dialogues, of great beauty and eloquence, or ironical, but always radiant with spiritual wisdom. If...

Charles Johnston's classic translation and commentary on one of the most profound of ancient sacred texts. The book also contains three introductory articles by Johnston, which shed much light on the Upanishads, their place in history, their influence and connection to other spiritual philosophies of the world. "The great Upanishads were compiled as Instructions for disciples preparing for Initiation. They contain philosophical teaching, and also many stories, generally in the form of spirited dialogues, of great beauty and eloquence, or ironical, but always radiant with spiritual wisdom. If...

Charles Johnston's classic translation and commentary on one of the most profound of ancient sacred texts. The book also contains three introductory articles by Johnston, which shed much light on the Upanishads, their place in history, their influence and connection to other spiritual philosophies of the world. "The shortest of all the older Upanishads is the Mandukya. Yet in some ways it contains fuller and deeper teaching than any other of these wonderful treatises of the Mysteries. For the theme of the Mandukya is the four degrees of consciousness, the Natural, the Psychical, the...

"Sankara's works, the manuals and catechisms for learners, are complete and perfect. They really teach, quite plainly and lucidly, the first steps on the path of wisdom; they point out, with clear insistence, the qualities that are necessary to make these first steps fruitful; qualities without which the learner may remain, hesitating and halting, on the threshold, through lack of the force and sterling moral worth which alone make any further progress possible. "The Crest-Jewel of Wisdom begins with these first steps on the path and ends with the complete teaching of Sankara's philosophy so...