Yoga Beneath the Surface: An American Student and His Indian Teacher Discuss Yoga Philosophy and Practice

this book is a valuable offering to the yoga community and lives up to the title. It shows the depth and richness of the culture of yoga compared to what it's been turned into especially here in the states. must read for serious students.-raghunath

This is an unusual book in the yoga tradition. The reader should not expect to find a systematic treatment of yoga topics but rather a distillation of many hours of constant dialogue between an advanced yoga teacher and his mentor. The book reads like Plato's Dialogues, but here, it is the student who asks the questions. Questions (there are more than 250) and answers are grouped around six major topics: philosophy, asanas, Pranayama, meditation, yoga therapy, and everyday life. Given the large amount of subjects covered, the authors direct the reader to the proper sources where they can obtain more detailed information on the topic. The reader can benefit from a well presented index of Sanskrit and English terms and can jump back and forth through the text as an observer; by doing this, the reader can make some technical stops, consult additional sources, and record additional questions that eventually would be sent to the authors for a subsequent volume. [...]. Ramaswami (born in 1939) spent more than three decades studying with T. S. Krishnamacharya (1888-1998), tutor of K. Pattabhi Jois, Indra Devi, B. K. S. Iyengar, and T. K. V. Desikachar, and is considered the greatest exponent of yoga in modern times. Ramaswami is the author of Yoga for the Three Stages of Life (2000) and the best-seller The Complete Book on Vinyasa Yoga (2005). David Hurwitz teaches yoga in Los Angeles and has a teacher training certificate from the American Viniyoga Institute. In 1990 Hurwitz began studying the yoga tradition of Krishnamacharya with A.G. Mohan (Chennai, formerly known as Madras, India) and Gary Kraftsow, but when he met Srivatsa Ramaswami a few years ago, they began to develop a deep friendship; the two authors travel together, giving lectures and master classes.

What if we were able to listen in on a dialogue from a classical and ancient tradition between a serious and learned yoga student and his erudite teacher? "Yoga Beneath the Surface" offers a rare, modern equivalent of that time-honored student/teacher tradition. It captures the essence of some of yoga's deepest concepts, and helps refine our understanding of many yoga techniques, reflecting a friendly tone using clear and simple language. The glossary allows the reader to access subjects and questions easily. And I won't be surprised if dedicated yoga teachers and students from around the U.S. ask David Hurwitz and Srivatsa Ramaswami to bring out a sequel! This book is highly recommended.