Monday, July 26, 2010

Living with the Himalayan Masters by Swami Rama


"Living with the Himalayan Masters" reminded me of Paramahansa Yogananda's Autobiography of a Yogi. It is also the autobiography of a great Indian yogi, Swami Rama of the Himalayas, but written in a very different style.

Although Swami Rama was considered a great yogi from his early childhood, he writes in a very humble way. Whenever he tells a story he shows how immature, egotistic or arrogant he was and how his master, with a very loving touch, helped him to overcome his weaknesses.

I finished reading this book a couple of weeks ago. I had previously watched all of Swami Rama's lectures on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. I found his lectures fascinating and I felt very inspired by him so I decided to read Living with the Himalayan Masters to learn a bit more about Swami Rama and about his teachings.

Swami Rama talks about the spiritual experiences that he had with his master and with many different yogis that he met on different trips around the Himalayas. He talks about his life as a swami and the kind of training that he received under the guidance of his master.

The book is divided into 14 chapters. Each chapter contains several stories that relate to the chapter title and each story contains a lesson to be learned. These are actually the lessons that Swami Rama himself learned by direct experience during all his years living with the Himalayan Masters.

The topics are very varied. He talks about humility, fear, renunciation, the power of the mind, healing powers, the great religions and a lot more.


Quotes from Living with the Himalayan Masters by Swami Rama


These are some of my favorite quotes from Swami Rama's book:
“Fearlessness is also an essential prerequisite for attaining enlightenment. Great are those who are always fearless. To be completely free from all fears is one step on the path of enlightenment.” (page 48)

“He [a swami] asked, -Do you know why we touch the feet of a sage?....A sage gives the best part of his life, surrendering it at the lotus feet of the Lord. People ordinarily recognize you only by your face but the face of a sage is not there; it is with the Lord. People find only feet here, so they bow to the feet.” (page 123)

“When yogis speak of non-attachment they are not teaching indifference, but are teaching how to genuinely and selflessly love others. Non-attachment, properly understood, means love.” (page 58)

“It is inner strength that makes one fearless, and it is the fearless one who crosses the individual consciousness and becomes one with the universal consciousness.” (page 146)

If you want to find more information about this book you can look for it on amazon.com at Living with the Himalayan Masters. You can also listen to it for free if you try it on Audible.com. With your subscription, you'll get two free audible books



Don’t forget to also visit my top 10 Yoga Philosophy Books That Will Change Your Life for more book recommendations like this one.  I’m sure you’ll find books that you never heard about before.

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