Yoga, the Greater Tradition
by David Frawley
ISBN: 978-1-933784-33-5, Hardcover/96 pages
$12.95, ISBN: 10: 1-933784-33-4                                                               
May 2008, Mandala Publishing, an imprint of Palace Publishing Group
Ordering information: http://mandala.org/product_info.php?cPath=2_13&products_id=520

Frawley, director of the American Institute of Vedic Studies, offers a very brief, plainly written, and straightforward guide to the principles of yoga.
- Library Journal

Yoga is a truly vast tradition. David Frawley has succeeded in distilling its essentials into a compact, readable book, which will give the reader excellent basis from which to explore this tradition further.                                      
- Georg Feuerstein, Ph.D., author of The Yoga Tradition

In the past decade, yoga has become a worldwide phenomenon. Most people are familiar with the aspects of Hatha yoga which emphasizes asana practice (body postures), yet there are many branches of Yoga including Karma Yoga, Jnana Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, and Raja Yoga. In his new book Yoga: The Greater Tradition (Mandala Publishing, May 2008). David Frawley, a renowned scholar of the Vedic science of Yoga, Astrology and Ayurveda, synthesizes his vast knowledge of the Vedic Science of yoga into a compact and easy-to-read manual that explains the multi-faceted scope of the holistic and sacred science of yoga.

In western culture fitness, beauty and stress management are the current preoccupations of popular yoga asana practice. Frawley believes that these physically oriented approaches do not reflect the broader spiritual paths of Vedic knowledge that is the real foundation of Yoga.

While he recognizes the value of these practices, Frawley's essential message in Yoga: The Greater Tradition is to promote awareness of  "yogic consciousness and a higher yogic bliss or self-realization beyond space and time."

Presented as part of the Mandala Wisdom Library Series Yoga: The Greater Tradition represents a concise and systematic examination of the many paths which lead to a deeper understanding of what a Yogic practice can be. Frawley offers a definition of yoga as well as introduces the five primary yoga paths:

• 1. Jnana Yoga (the yoga of knowledge) - self-realization through inner knowledge and insight.
• 2. Bhakti Yoga (the yoga of devotion) - self realization through devotion or divine love
• 3. Karma Yoga (the yoga of service) - self-realization through selfless work and sacred ritual
• 4. Raja Yoga (the royal yoga) - self-realization through a combination of knowledge, devotion and work
• 5. Hatha Yoga (the yoga of technique) - self-realization through a combination of asana, pranayama, mantra and meditation practice.

Written in two parts; the first section explores the philosophic traditions of yoga and the vast body of yogic literature. Part Two covers the major Yoga practices: Asana, Pranayama, Pratyahara, Tantric and Energy Yogas as well as Ayurveda and Healing.