Product Description

The Hatha yoga pradipika of Svatmarama is one of the most important yoga texts, and Hans−Ulrich
Rieker’s translation and commentary have long been valuable to yoga students as a complement to
their practice and study.
Hatha yoga, or hatha vidya (the science of hatha yoga) is commonly misunderstood and
misrepresented as being simply a physical culture, divorced from spiritual goals. Hans−Ulrich Rieker
shows the error of this idea by explaining the changes which take place, through the practice of hatha
yoga, in the practitioner’s body, mind and self. He makes the reader aware of the subjective
transformation that occurs as the consciousness penetrates inwards towards the Self, and as the Self
diffuses outwards. He shows that hatha yoga is not just physical exercise, but an integrated science
leading towards spiritual evolution.
We are caught up in emotions like lust (kama), anger (krodha), greed (lobha), infatuation (moha),
pride (ynadha) and malice (matsarya). Hatha yoga helps us to overcome these obstacles and
hindrances to spiritual development. It is a biochemical, psycho−physiological and psycho−spiritual
science which deals with the moral, mental, intellectual and spiritual aspects of man, as well as the
physical and physiological. We can clarify our understanding of hatha yoga by first examining five
important underlying concepts: mind, knowledge, aims of life, health and afflictions.