Scholars of South Asian religions close a gap in the academic study of yoga by looking at powers attributed to the practice of yoga such as awareness of previous rebirths, knowing the minds of others, seeing distant and hidden things, becoming invisible, entering others' bodies, flying through the air, and becoming disembodied for a time. They compare yoga powers in different South Asian traditions of yoga and meditation, the role of the powers in the origin and development of yoga, and their influence on the religious traditions in the region. Of particular concern is whether yoga was originally a method to obtain supernatural powers, or the powers were discovered by yogis seeking salvific liberation. The 17 essays began in Chicago at the November 2008 annual meeting of the American Academy of Religion. Annotation ©2011 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
List of Figures A Note on Transliteration Abbreviations Introduction:
Yoga Powers and Religious Traditions - Knut A. Jacobsen chapter 1: Angelika
Malinar, Yoga powers in the Mahabharata chapter 2: David Gordon White, How
Big Can Yogis Get? How Much Can Yogis See? chapter 3: Brad Clough, The
Cultivation of Yogic Powers in the P ali Path Manuals of Theravada Buddhism
chapter 4: David V. Fiordalis, The Wondrous Display of Superhuman Power in
the Vimalakirtinirdesa: Miracle or Marvel? chapter 5: Ryan Richard Overbey,
On the Appearance of Siddhis in Chinese Buddhist Texts chapter 6: Kristi
Wiley, Supernatural Powers and Their Attainment in Jainism chapter 7: Stuart
Ray Sarbacker, Power and Meaning in the Yogasutra of Patanjali chapter 8:
Christopher Key Chapple, Siddhis in the Yogasutra chapter 9: Lloyd W.
Pflueger, Holding On and Letting Go: The In and Out of Powers in Classical
Yoga chapter 10: Somadeva Vasudeva, Powers and Identities: Yoga Powers and
the Tantric Saiva Traditions chapter 11: Sthaneshwar Timalsina, Liberation
and Immortality: Bhusunda's Yoga of Prana in the Yogavasistha chapter 12:
James Mallinson, Siddhi and Mahasiddhi in Early Hathayoga chapter 13: Patton
Burchett, My Miracle Trumps Your Magic: Encounters with Yogis in Sufi and
Bhakti Hagiograpical Literature chapter 14: Antonio Rigopoulos, Sai Baba of
Sirdi and Yoga Powers chapter 15: Ramdas Lamb, Yogic Powers and the Ramananda
Sampraday chapter 16: Knut A. Jacobsen, Yoga Powers in a Contemporary
Samkhya-Yoga Tradition chapter 17: Jeffery J. Kripal, The Evolving Siddhi:
Yoga and Tantra in the Human Potential Movement and Beyond Contributors Index
Knut A. Jacobsen, Ph.D. (1994) is Professor at the University of Bergen, Norway. He is the author and editor of numerous books on religions in South Asia, and editor-in-chief of the five-volume Brills Encyclopedia of Hinduism (2009-2013).
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