A groundbreaking account of the theory and practice of yoga, from the Vedas to the twentieth century
In this landmark book, renowned scholar of religion Mircea Eliade lays the groundwork for a Western understanding of yoga. Drawing on years of study and experience in India, Eliade provides a comprehensive survey of yoga in theory and practice from its earliest antecedents in the Vedas through the twentieth century. In his introduction, David Gordon White provides invaluable insight into Eliade’s life and work, highlighting the key moments in his intellectual and spiritual education, as well as the personal experiences that shaped his worldview. Yoga is not only one of Eliade’s most important books, but also his most personal—the only one to analyze a religious tradition that he had truly lived.
Mircea Eliade (19071986) was the Sewell L. Avery Distinguished Service Professor of the History of Religions at the University of Chicago. His books include Images and Symbols, The Myth of the Eternal Return, and Shamanism (all Princeton). David Gordon White is Distinguished Professor of Religious Studies, emeritus, at the University of California, Santa Barbara. His books include The "Yoga Sutra of Patanjali": A Biography.
