Update and Pre-publication Sale
A Quintessential Yoga Vasishtha
By Babaji Bob Kindler
254 pages, hard cover, illustrated
$30 Pre-publication sale: $24 (20% discount)
Babaji’s long-awaited book, the first to include his charts (over 20!) will be available this Winter or early Spring, 2010. This is also SRV’s first book to be printed and distributed in India. Help us get the word out! Early sales help us with promotional expenses. Click here to purchase your copy.
From the back cover:
Of all the relationships possible on earth, that rare and timely combination of noble perfection known as guru/shishya, spiritual teacher and sincere disciple, transcends them all. And scarcely in the sweep of historical time past has that most intimate of connections been so well-documented, defined, and explored as in the sweet and sacred friendship between Lord Vasishtha — consummate priest, rishi, friend, preceptor, and luminary — and the youthful and as yet veiled Avatar of the Age, Sri Ramachandra.
Here, in these pages, ageless seer and exceptional young teenager enact the classic and symbolic dance of the destruction of ignorance from the aspiring human mind, exposed as it is to the many vagaries and vicissitudes of Maya — the worlds of name and form in time and space, based in causality.
Praise for A Quintessential Yoga Vasishtha:
“A Quintessential Yoga Vasishtha is destined to be an important work, and is a welcome addition to the spiritual literature of the Ramakrishna Order. This profound work gives an illuminating insight into the deeper recesses of the philosophical thought of India.” — Swami Bodhasarananda, President, Advaita Ashrama
“While there are many sacred books in the world, there are few truly revelatory ones. Yoga Vasishtha is one of these true revelations. Yet, like many such works, while its truth is timeless, its voice is timebound, and needs to be spoken afresh that it may transmit its truth powerfully to a new age. Babaji’s A Quintessential Yoga Vasishtha is that fresh voice. Once again the nondual wisdom of the rishis speak to the world, and does so at a time when we are almost deaf from the screaming of the militant, religious, and secular alike. Yoga Vasishtha was a gift to the world. Babaji’s version allows us moderns to unwrap it.” — Rabbi Rami Shapiro, author, The Sacred Art of Loving Kindness
“With his A Quintessential Yoga Vasishtha, Babaji Bob Kindler accomplishes yet another impressive feat in his life-long project of making the ancient wisdom of India accessible to Western readers. He manages to retain the poetic depths of his material while subtly instructing the less initiated, not only by providing illustrative storyboards and a Sanskrit glossary, but also by seamlessly interjecting helpful clarifications directly into the text. As in his previous books, Babaji’s decades of uninterrupted dedication to his spiritual journey shines through, illuminating the path for all those who are inclined to follow.” — Dr. Larry Herzberg, Assistant Professor of Philosophy, University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh
A few favorite quotes from a proofreader:
Lord Vasishtha to the teenage Sri Ramachandra:
“Just come to know, my son, that when this mind plunged in maya looks out and perceives so many objects exterior to itself, at that moment the power of sankalpa is fully operative and gaining in power and dimension.” p.78
“…When the Seer identifies with the seen, he explained to the young prince, a strange transformation occurs. The mixture of the sentient power of Intelligence with the insentient stuff of matter forms an alchemy of illusory potential.” p. 93
“To breakdown this foul obsession with gross embodiment and its associated attractions will entail a firm grasp on the reality of Atman. Atman is really of the nature of non attraction, for everything exists within It already, so It need not hanker after things outside, which are unreal anyway.” p. 106
Dashura to his mind-born son (from a story told by Vasishtha):
“Therefore, when dealing with sankalpa, I give you this cogent advice; and it should be followed to the letter. Never contemplate the things of this universe under the assumption of their being real or actual. Instead, contemplate all as Brahman — the only Reality.” p. 78