Yoga : immortality and freedom / Mircea Eliade ; translated from the French by Willard R. Trask ; with an introduction by David Gordon White.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Eliade, Mircea, 1907-1986, author.

Contributor:

Trask, Willard R. (Willard Ropes), 1900-1980, translator.

White, David Gordon, writer of introduction.

Series:

Bollingen series ; 56.

Bollingen Series ; LVI

Standardized Title:

Yoga. English

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Yoga.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (577 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Princeton : Princeton University Press, 2026.

Summary:

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.

Contents:

Cover

Contents

Introduction to the 2009 Edition

Foreword

I. The Doctrines of Yoga

Point of Departure

The Equation. Pain-Existence

The "Self,

Substance

The Relation Spirit-Nature

How Is Liberation Possiblef?

The Structure of Psychic Experience

The Subconscious

II. Techniques for Autonomy

Concentration" on a Single Point

Yogic Postures (asana) and Respiratory Discipline(pral)a yama)

Excursus: prāṇāyama in Extra-Indian Asceticism

Yogic Concentration and Meditation

The Role of lśvara

Enstasis and Hypnosis

Samādhi "with Support

The Siddhis or "Miraculous Powers

Samādhi "without Support" and Final Liberation

Reintegration and Freedom

III. Yoga and Brahmanism

Ascetics and Ecstatics in the Vedas

Tapas and Toga

Ritual Interiorization,

Symbolism and Gnosis in the Upanisads,

Immortality and Liberation

Yoga in the Maitri Upaniṣad

The Saṃnyāsa Upaniṣads

The Yogic Upaniṣads

Brāhmanized" Magic and Yoga: the Ṛgvidhāna

Good" and "Evil" Ascetics and Contemplatives

IV. The Triumph of Yoga

Yoga and Hinduism

Yoga in the Mahābhārata

Yoga and Sāṃkhya in the Mahābhārata

Yoga Techniques in the Mahābhārata

Yogic Folklore in the Mahābhārata

The Message of the Bhagavad Gītā

Kṛṣṇra' s Example

Acts" and "Sacrifices

Yoga Technique in the Bhagavad Gītā

V. Yoga Techniques in Buddhism

The Road to Nirvāṇa and the Symbolism of Initiation

The Jhānas and the Samāpattis

Yogins and Metaphysicians

The "Miraculous Powers

Knowledge of Previous Existences

The Paribbājakas

Makkhali Gosāla and the Ājīvikas

Metaphysical Knowledge and Mystical Experience

VI. Yoga and Tantrism

Approximations

Iconography, Visualization, Nyāsa, Mudrās

Mantras, Dhāraṇīs

Excursus: Ḏẖikr

Maṇḍala

Praise of the Body: Haṭha Yoga.

The Nāḍis: Idā, Piṇgalā, Suṣumṇā

The Cakras

Kuṇḍalinī

Intentional Language

Mystical Erotism

Maithuna

The "Conjunction of Opposites

VII. Yoga and Alchemy

Legends of Yogins as Alchemists

Tantrism, Haṭha Yoga, and Alchemy

Chinese Alchemy

Alchemy as a Spiritual Technique

VIII. Yoga and Aboriginal India

The Roads to Freedom

Aghorīs, Kāpālikas

Gorakhnāth and the Eighty-Jour Siddhas

Matsyendranāth and the Myth of ''Transmission of the Doctrine''

Shamanistic Magic and the Quest for Immortality

Yoga and Shamanism

Ascent to Heaven. Mystical Flight

Magical Heat." "Inner Light

Similarities and Differences

Coalescencaen d Degradation: Yoga and Popular Religions

The Dravidian Heritage, Muṇḍa, Proto-Muṇḍa

Harappā, Mohenjo-daro

IX. Conclusions

Additional Notes

To Chapter I:

1. Sāṃkhya Texts and Bibliographies

2. Patañjali and the Texts of Classic Yoga

3: On the Materialists

4. The Self and Psychomental Experience

5. The Three Guṇas

6. Logic and Theory of Knowledge in Sāṃkhya-Yoga

7. Sāṃkhya and the Critique of the Existence of God

8. Sāṃkhya and Buddhism

9. Sāṃkhya's Critique of Buddhism

To Chapter II:

1. The Obstacles to Concentration

2. On the Āsanas

3. On Yogic Concentration

4. Samādhi

5. The Siddhis, "Miraculous Powers,"

To Chapter III:

1. The Vrātyas and the Ecstatics of Vedic Times

2. The Five Breaths

3. Tapas and Dīkṣā

4. Hinduization of Autochthonous Religion

5. The Upaniṣads

6. "Mystical Sounds,"

7. Lists of Ascetics

To Chapter IV:

1. The Mahābhārata

2. Sāṃkhya in the Mokṣadharma

3. The Art of Entering Another's Body

4 . The Bhagavad Gītā

5. The Pāñcarātras

To Chapter V:

1. Yoga and Buddhism

2. Buddhist Samādhi and the Jhānas

3. Non-Buddhist Dhyāna and Buddhist Pseudo Dhyāna.

4. Paths and Stages of Meditation

5. Siddhis and Abhijñās

6. Paribbājakas, Ājīvikas

To Chapter VI:

1. On the Literature of Tantrism

2. On Tantrism and Iconography

3. On the Ascetic Practices and the Yoga of the Jainists

On the Mudrās

5. Mantras and Dhāraṇīs

6. Dhikr

7. Maṇḍala

8. On the Literature of Haṭha Yoga

9. Cakras, Ādhāras, etc.

10. On the "Intentional Language

11. "By the same acts …

12. Retention of Breath and Arrest of Semen in China

13. Sahajīyā and Viṣṇuism

To Chapter VII:

1. Alchemists, Yogins, and "Magical Flight,"

2. Nāgārjuna as Alchemist

3. On Indian Alchemy

4. Chinese Alchemy

5. Metallurgy and Alchemy

To Chapter VIII:

1. On the Aghorīs, the Kāpālikas, and the Cult of Skulls

2. On the "Orgies" of the Vallabhācāryas

3. Gorakhnāth, Matsyendranāth, and the Eighty-four Siddhas

4. The Burial of Ascetics

5. Yogins and Fakirs

6. On Late Buddhism and Crypto-Buddhism

7. Yoginīs, Ḍākinīs, Yakṣas, Durgā

8. The Dravidian Contribution

9. Snakes, Dragons, Nāgas

10. Mūṇḍā, Proto-Mūṇḍā

11. Harappā and Mohenjo-daro

To Chapter IX:

1. Dissemination of Yogic Techniques and Cultural Contacts between India and the World

List of Works Cited

New Translations

Index

Addenda to the Second Edition

Index to the Addenda.

Notes:

"New cloth, paperback, and e-book Bollingen Recollections editions, 2026"--Copyright page.

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

0-691-27746-X

9780691277462

OCLC:

1570552531