susanrichardsonyoga

by Jiddu Krishnamurti

“Meditation is the summation of all energy. Not the energy created by thought through friction, but the energy of a state of mind in which all conflict has completely ceased.”

Beauty: The Invisible Embrace by John O’Donahue

one of my favorites from summer 2011…this book is a poetic and soulful exploration of beauty and how it visits us in our lives. O’Donahue explores the dignity of silence, profundity of stillness, power of thought and perception, and the eternal grace and generosity of beauty’s presence.

“Beauty does not linger, it only visits.
Yet beauty’s visitation affects us and invites us into its rhythm,
it calls us to feel, think, and act beautifully in the world:
to create and live a life that awakens the Beautiful.”

The Silent Question by Toni Packer

always refreshing, grounding and as clear as can be…Toni’s work is so often the medicine i need! in this book, toni speaks of the practice of meditative inquiry which arises out of the depths of not-knowing… sitting, feeling, questioning, emptying the mind of ideas and conceptual thought… allowing for truth to reveal itself. “There are no paths to finding the truth, just energy gathering to wonder, to look, and to be silent.”

Eyes of Innocence by Dona Holleman

a series of interviews with dona which are thoughtful and stimulating. i love how she questions what yoga is and the traps we can all fall into.

“Perfection is when you do something without looking over the horizon, when you are completely in the moment. Perfection is not that you do something technically perfect, it does not have to be technically perfect. Perfection is when your mind and your heart fill the body completely in the pose, in the asana, in whatever you do. This is skill in action, this is stillness- being wholeheartedly present with what you do, awakening to life.”

Buddhism Without Beliefs by Stephen Batchelor

one of my favorites. this book puts it all into perspective.

“The ennobling truths are not just challenges to act with wisdom and compassion but challenges to act with creativity and aesthetic awareness. Our words, our deeds, our very presence in the world, create and leave impressions in the minds of others just as a writer makes impressions with his pen on paper, the painter with his brush on canvas, the potter with his fingers in clay. The human world is like a vast musical instrument on which we simultaneously play our part while listening to the compositions of others.  The creation of ourselves in the image of awakening is not a subjective but an intersubjective process. We cannot choose whether to engage with the world, only how to.”

The Light of Discovery by Toni Packer

Toni urges us to let go of our thoughts and to sit “in the stillness of not knowing” in order to reflect upon the essential question of who we are. Packer encourages us to discover that life, energy, and insight come from this questioning,  looking, and listening.

“Can there be a real opening, allowing whatever moves one dimly, darkly, habitually, to open and come into light? In openness there is no inner opposition, no fault or blame, no running away.”

The Inner Tradition of Yoga by Michael Stone

if you don’t have this you should!

“In every unfolding moment, in any meeting with any person, even in meeting ourselves, everything is complete. This completeness doesn’t mean that everything is put together by some master plan. It means that everything is interdependent and that yoga is not something we seek outside of ourselves or a willful attempt at union, but the recognition in the present moment, of the unification of life- the inherent interconnectedness of existence. When we experience relaxed openness and attentive awareness, the world reveals it’s inherent completeness.”

When Things Fall Apart by Pema Chodron

This is perhaps the most practical book I have read.

Pema Chodron is a western Buddhist nun and student of the late Chogyam Trungpa. Each chapter is brilliantly written and is has a very personal, graceful and conversational tone.

I recently had a conversation with the owner of Snowlion, a spiritual bookstore. Thoedore said, “You only need one book and then you need to practice what that one book teaches.” If I could only have one book, it would be this one.

Wild Harmonies by Helene Grimaud

my favorite pianist and her life of music and wolves

“What I learned from my first recording, so rich in teachings, was that one has to pay attention to the body- but I mean this in a spiritual sense. We all suffer from repetitive movements. We all learn habits as we get older, when what we should be doing is unlearning them. We need to learn how to better move our arms, our head, our torso, and our legs. Most people don’t know anything about themselves. Who knows anything about neuronal currents, the origin of our nerve impulses, our chance to evolve?”

The Perfect Wrong Note by William Westney

a look at playing music with mindfulness.

“The natural way of playing, the ideal we aspire to, is just to trust ourselves and play, with a free flow of energy. No need to concentrate so hard on finding each note. The body will find the notes…the body has it’s own logic, it’s own way of sorting through things…What we seek is an agreeable state that blends alertness with serenity; a flowing non-judgemental awareness that is open to events and an acceptance of how things are.”

Understanding Yoga Through Body Knowledge

by Dr. Sulochana D. Telang

Yogacharya BKS Iyengar always felt that a correlation must exist between the modern medical science and the art of yoga. This book written at his behest by Dr Sulochana D. Telang is the first attempt of it’s kind to establish a link between the yogic and modern medical sciences. The description of the prana vayus is different from other sources, but this is definitely an in-depth book that is worth exploring.

“The one and the only energy source of the universe is the cosmic life force, ‘Prana’ or ‘Adi Shakti’. This is the energy- ‘Shakti’ that pervades the whole universe and supports its existence….Pranic energy which is pulled into our body with inspiration, is called ‘Apana”. Pranic energy that leaves the body with expiration is called ‘Prana’. The ‘Apana’ drags the ‘Prana’, and the ‘Prana’ in it’s turn drags the ‘Apana’. Every cell of our body vibrates and exists with the rhythmicity of the movement of ‘Apana’ and ‘Prana’.”

“Yoga science says that ‘Pranic’ energy takes a ‘water form in the human body’ and follows all the physical laws that water obeys…The energy force of the water element is considered the most important. all the physiological functions of the human body are are essentially carried out by the interaction of ‘Prana’ with one or many of the other four energy forms- Apana (earth), Samana (fire), Udana (air), and Vyana ( space).”   This book can be ordered through the IYANUS book store. (see Iyengar Resources page)

Zen Mind, Beginners Mind by Shunryu Suzuki

an unbelievable classic….changed my life!

“We practice to express our true nature, not to attain enlightenment. Buddhism is to BE practice, to BE enlightenment, to realize this mind which is always with us, and which we cannot see.”