Amazon.com review
Any student of Yoga will want to know more about not only the practices of Yoga but also its history and spirituality. One of the best places to turn is to Georg Feuerstein's acclaimed Shambhala Encyclopedia of Yoga. With more than 100 illustrations (such as the many asana postures and chakra centers) and entries on everything from the Bhagavad Gita to Swami Vivekananda and from the Aryan invasion theory to biofeedback, you can't go wrong. Extensive cross-references also facilitate searches for both English and Sanskrit versions of terms. The Shambhala Encyclopedia is a complete yet concise guide to the galaxy of Yoga. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Review on Amazon.com by Dennis Littrell
This book stands alone in English. There is simply nothing else like it. Feuerstein is the leading academic expert on yoga in the United States while Shambhala is the leading publisher of books on yoga, so it is not surprising that this is clearly a superior work that fills a void. As such it is a boon to scholars and practitioners alike.
It is also very well cross-referenced so that a reader may, by following the starred words, begin or expand his own study of yoga. There is a guide to pronunciation of the Sanskrit words, numerous bits of black and white artwork and photos, and an engaging and informative introduction by Feuerstein. This handsome book has all those words that you won't find in even an unabridged English dictionary, defined and given their expression in an historical and spiritual context. Anyone with more than a passing interest in yoga will find this book invaluable.
I should add that this is a revised and greatly expanded edition of Dr. Feuerstein's Encyclopedic Dictionary of Yoga (1990), and that it dwarfs both Ernest Wood's Yoga Wisdom (1970) and Harvey Day's Yoga Illustrated Dictionary (1971), which I have enjoyed, but which are also very much out of date.
For Dr. Feuerstein's revision (due circa 2010, I would imagine) perhaps some entries on Westerners (and contemporaries) who have contributed to the study and practice of yoga would be appropriate, including, e.g., Theos Bernard (I was pleased to see eleven photos herein of Bernard demonstrating asana), Richard Hittleman, B.K.S. Iyengar, Swami Vishnudevananda, and others.
Bottom line: this is an up to date, thorough, and lively work of reference without peer.
