Eleven Lessons in the Ancient Science of Bhakti-yoga Across five centuries and half the globe comes this compact guidebook of essential spiritual teachings. How to choose a guru, how to practice yoga, even where to live — you'll find it all in this invaluable work originally written in Sanskrit by Srila Rupa Gosvami, the greatest spiritual genius of medieval India. Now translated and illuminated by Rupa Gosvami's modern successor, His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, the Nectar of Instruction is the key to enlightenment for all seekers on the path of spiritual perfection.

We cannot be happy without satisfying our fundamental desire to love. Discover all the intricacies of spiritual love, bhakti, in this devotional classic. This is a summary study of Bhakti-rasamrita-sindhu, the Vaishnava classic written by Rupa Goswami that analyzes the various stages of bhakti (devotion) as a methodical practice resulting in love of God. Rupa Goswami uses a metaphor comparing an ocean (sindhu) to a devotional relationship with God. The title of the book conveys that loving relationships are enjoyable like sweet nectar and deep like an ocean. However, devotion is truly only meant for the supreme beloved, Krishna. Srila Prabhupada has written this summary study to show the essential understanding of the practices and ideals of Krishna consciousness, and to introduce the Western world to the beauty of devotional concepts. The spiritually thirsty can develop their relationship with Krishna by drinking from the unlimited reservoir of The Nectar of Devotion. Drink deeply.

"[This] magnificent critical survey, with its inherent respect for both the 'Westt's mainstream high culture' and the 'radically changing world' of the 1990s, offers a new breakthrough for lay and scholarly readers alike....Allows readers to grasp the big picture of Western culture for the first time." SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE Here are the great minds of Western civilization and their pivotal ideas, from Plato to Hegel, from Augustine to Nietzsche, from Copernicus to Freud. Richard Tarnas performs the near-miracle of describing profound philosophical concepts simply but without simplifying them. Ten years in the making and already hailed as a classic, THE PASSION OF THE WESERN MIND is truly a complete liberal education in a single volume.

We long for boundless love as we long for home. But how can we find our home our meaning and purpose if we don't know our self? Wise-Love is an exploration of the self, or consciousness, guided through the meditative eyes of saints, sages, seers, and mystics. We discover that the self's most charming characteristic -- part of its unchanging nature is that it is a lover, a lover only when ordinary love evolves into wise-love. Pranada, a devoted pilgrim and teacher, illuminates bhakti's wisdom school of heartfulness and shows why mindfulness can never satisfy the self. Joy comes from an awakened heart not a stilled mind.The first part of Wise-Love explores the nature of self/consciousness and how we interface in the world with our physical and subtle body (mind, intelligence, and ego). Understanding the distinctions between our real and false selves, we can answer the questions Who am I? What is my purpose? How can I be happy? The second half examines the nature of matter, the world of consciousness, karma, faith, mysticism, the efficacy of sacred sound, the maha-mantra, kirtan, humility, depth compassion, and how to culture wise-love. Each chapter unfolds with an understanding of matter and consciousness to present a key that unlocks our eternal nature so that we can experience the unbounded joy of the self in our daily lives.When we encounter the self, we're automatically introduced to our Divine Inner Suitor and our loving relationship. Filled with insight and fresh perspectives, Wise-Love offers a map for the journey to our home of eternal affection, where a porch light is always lovingly lit, and a warm embrace from our Divine Other awaits.Secretly nestled in the Upanishads and extolled in the Bhagavad Gita, bhakti yoga shines as the crown jewel on the head of India's timeless wisdom about consciousness and how to live one's meditation. Often over-simplified as devotion, bhakti is the method of experiencing the self and its Essence/Source. This concise, comprehensive handbook exploring the meaning of bhakti's sophisticated philosophy promises to enrich you wherever you are on the spiritual path.

A fascinating look at India’s remarkable impact on Western culture, this eye-opening popular history shows how the ancient philosophy of Vedanta and the mind-body methods of Yoga have profoundly affected the worldview of millions of Americans and radically altered the religious landscape. What exploded in the 1960s, following the Beatles trip to India for an extended stay with their new guru, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, actually began more than two hundred years earlier, when the United States started importing knowledge--as well as tangy spices and colorful fabrics--from Asia. The first translations of Hindu texts found their way into the libraries of John Adams and Ralph Waldo Emerson. From there the ideas spread to Henry David Thoreau, Walt Whitman, and succeeding generations of receptive Americans, who absorbed India’s “science of consciousness” and wove it into the fabric of their lives. Charismatic teachers like Swami Vivekananda and Paramahansa Yogananda came west in waves, prompting leading intellectuals, artists, and scientists such as Aldous Huxley, Joseph Campbell, Allen Ginsberg, J. D. Salinger, John Coltrane, Dean Ornish, and Richard Alpert, aka Ram Dass, to adapt and disseminate what they learned from them. The impact has been enormous, enlarging our current understanding of the mind and body and dramatically changing how we view ourselves and our place in the cosmos. Goldberg paints a compelling picture of this remarkable East-to-West transmission, showing how it accelerated through the decades and eventually moved from the counterculture into our laboratories, libraries, and living rooms. Now physicians and therapists routinely recommend meditation, words like karma and mantra are part of our everyday vocabulary, and Yoga studios are as ubiquitous as Starbuckses. The insights of India’s sages permeate so much of what we think, believe, and do that they have redefined the meaning of life for millions of Americans—and continue to do so every day. Rich in detail and expansive in scope, American Veda shows how we have come to accept and live by the central teaching of Vedic wisdom: “Truth is one, the wise call it by many names.”

Inspired by the poetry of a great Hindu guru, the acarya of the Gopinath Gaudiya Math discusses the obstacles on the path to pure devotion. This book was inspired by Vaishnava Ke, the powerful poem of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur Prabhupada, which identifies the mind’s myriad deviations and their essential remedies. It includes a translation and commentary on the poem by Swami Bodhayan, president and acarya of the Gopinath Gaudiya Math. Through these writings, the author illuminates the obstacles to pure devotion, and the magnanimous spiritual practices of Vaishnavism. With sublime qualities like humility and tolerance, one can chant the Lord’s holy names purely and live a progressive, joyful life of service. This helps the sincere practitioner to follow a devotional path without distraction. With clarity, humility, and precision, Swami Bodhayan explains the most basic and also profound issues which, when understood, can inspire the student to attain the confidence and focus needed to make steady progress on the path of bhakti.