Layayoga: The Definitive Guide to the Chakras and Kundalini

I'm writing this initial review of this book as I would like to return with a much more thorough review as this book deserves. It has become my most valuable resource with regard to chakras, period. Most books about chakras repeat the same information found on most public websites. They typically limit their discussion to 7 chakras, occasionally mentioning a few other major chakras. While valid, this elementary view of chakras keeps us from understanding the depth and awesome significance of the complex chakra system that guides the dynamics of every entity and concept, sentient or not, in the universe.Goswami's "Layayoga" is the farthest thing from a traditional New Age book about chakras. First of all, it reads much more like a text book on the Vedas and Physiology than a self-help book on how to balance your chakras. Goswami has done EXTENSIVE research on every topic he presents, to the point where one can get lost in the innumerable citations inline with the text. He presents a number of different chakra systems that evolved over the years, including the several Waidika systems (Narayana, Yogachudamanyupanishad, Maheswara, Yogarajopanishad) and the Tantrika system. While he does present an inclusive composite system that relatively harmoniously blends them, he presents each system on it's own so that the reader can draw their own conclusions. He is truly masterful at this, minimizing his personal input but very effectively doing so when called for. This is why, perhaps, Goswami is considered one of two of the most renowned authorities on the subject of chakras and Layayoga.If you Google Image search "heart chakra" or "vishuddha" or any of the other chakras, many if not most of the top ranked results will be from the outstanding images taken from this book. I have returned to these images and the textual explanations time and time again. This is an example of where illustrations incredibly enhance the transmission of the material.By the way, according to these systems, there aren't merely seven or even nine or eleven or twelve major chakras, but thirteen. As I'm coming to understand from this book and a number of other resuources is that the classic "Seven Chakra" system is of our 3D animal bodies. Every entity, especially including humans, are built upon the exact same chakra system. Some have evolved to only activate a few of these chakras, while other chakras lay dormant or remain latent. As we evolve from 3D animals into 4D demigods and 5D archangels and ultimately 6D gods, we begin to activate our latent chakras.The 3D chakras cited in most books are:1 Muladhara (Root/Foundation)2 Svadhisthana (Sexual/Generation)3 Manipura (Power/Transformation)4 Anahata (Heart/Action)5 Vishuddha (Throat/Projection)6 Ajna (3rd Eye/Cognition)7 Sahasrara (Crown/Illumination)The complete set of 13 chakras cited in the Vedas, the Waidika systems, and the Tantrika system, active in 6D beings on this side of duality and cited countless times in Goswami's "Layayoga":1 Muladhara (Root/Foundation)2 Svadhisthana (Sexual/Generation)3 Manipura (Power/Transformation)4 Hrit (Creation)5 Anahata (Heart/Action)6 Vishuddha (Throat/Projection)[13 Talu (Uvula/Imagination)]7 Ajna (3rd Eye/Cognition)8 Manas (Intuition/Sensation)9 Indu (Intellection)10 Nirvana (Individuation)11 Guru (Concentration)12 Sahasrara (Crown/Illumination)The Hrit is found at the base of the Heart (Anahata) chakra and is the true creative chakra which blends both feminine and masculine approaches to creation allowing one to create out of thin air. Before this is activated, as is the case for most of humanity today, we "create" through our Power (Manipura) chakra. This is why today we live in such a masculine/forceful society, but not for long.As a 3D animal, our Ajna (3rd Eye) is in low resolution and actually is a composite of four chakras nested like a Russian Kachina doll. Once we open up to the 4th dimension of evolution, our Ajna begins to open and allow the independent functioning of three other chakras. Initially, our Manas chakra comes on line. This is our "6th sense," the aspect of us which allows our five senses to be combined to provide a composite experience we call "I." It is also the source of "women's intuition."As we grow into our 4D being and begin to expand into the 5th dimension, we access our Indu and Nirvana chakras. The Indu is responsible for our Intellect, drawn straight from the ether, primarily the Akashic Record enveloping the earth. This is how Neo came to instantly know Kung Fu or Trin was able to fly the Bell helicopter with no prior experience. The Nirvana chakra is truly our highest sense of individuation, our point of separation from the Source, which comes to us from the Sahasrara (Crown) chakra, regulated by our Guru chakra located between the Nirvana (very top of the inside of our head) and Sahasrara (just above the scalp).The 13th chakra is the Talu, also called the Lalana. It is often called the secret chakra and if you Google it, you'll find very little information on it. Goswami and the few resources that do cite it pretty much say you need to find a yogi to teach you about it. "Layayoga" covers the Talu in depth several times, and what information you find on the web regarding it seems to come from this book.Here's what I gather. Some is from this book, some isn't, so don't judge Goswami or the book based on this rambling. The Talu is responsible for some pretty incredible siddhi's, or powers. Levitation, clairvoyance, clairsentience, superfantastic expansion and shrinking of the size of the body, all the really cool David Blaine kind of stuff that we are led to label as "magic." Well, these things seem to really exist, and the way we access them is through the Talu. The good news is that nature/God/I/you designed the system so that you had to be really evolved to access these powers. Otherwise, think about what would happen if Gordon Gecko or Adolf Hitler or The Joker could do all these amazing things, or worse yet, train an army with these skills. Not good. So the system is designed so you have to evolve a LONG way to full access the Talu chakra and it's associated powers. However, you can learn certain techniques that allow you to temporarily or partially activate each of the chakras, including the Talu. No security system is perfect, so some people have figured out how to access some of these powers well before their evolution had naturally opened these aspects up. For the most part, however, this information is rather obscure and is really only available through lineages of yogis who have been holding down the fort while humanity goes through this crazy Trial by Fire.None of this is covered in most of the other chakra books. Most of this is in Goswami's "Layayoga" masterpiece, and this is why you should have this book as a resource if you are studying chakras. I highly recommend this book to anyone wanting to really learn about chakras or layayoga.

There are dozens of forms of yoga, but Laya Yoga (Layayoga) is one of the most accessible for Westerners. It is one of the four great systems of yoga, and deals with the supersensible functions, forces and centers of the inner world of the body. The other three are Hatha Yoga, the most familiar, which deals with the physical body, its power and functions. Hatha Yoga seeks to affect the subtle systems through control of the gross physical body. Mantra Yoga is concerned with the forces and powers outside the body, but which affect it nonetheless. Raja Yoga is the system for disciplining and stilling the mind so that we can unite with and know what lies beyond. The four together comprise Maha Yoga.Laya Yoga forms the core of Kundalini Yoga, which in turn lies at the heart of Tantra. Why it is one of the most accessible, is that in contrast to systems that teach that the body is an obstacle on the Path to Enlightenment, it teaches that the body is a manifestation of the ultimate Reality and must therefore be fully integrated into our spiritual development.This book focuses on the process by which the human body can be transmuted into a divine one, in which every organ and every cell is suffused with consciousness and develops capacities far beyond the "normal." These processes underlie some of the documented feats of yogic adepts. The word "Laya" means "dissolution," in the sense of melting away the limitations and karma that have accrued over time. The word can also be used to refer to the absorption and transmutation of the elements that constitute the body. This process occurs when kundalini is awakened and rises from the base of the spine and ascends toward the top of the head.This book is technical, academic and comprehensive. It truly is a "definitive guide." It draws on over 280 Sanskrit texts and is based not just on words on books, but many years of precise yogic experimentation and ever more subtle realizations.This is a book for the serious student. It is not a quick guide to raising kundalini or achieving powers. The book also corrects some of the common misconceptions that litter some of the New Age books on chakras and kundalini.As an example, in most people only some of the chakras are active. It would not be a good idea for someone to learn how to open them all up without having done the necessary preparatory work first. Many health care practitioners have seen the consequences of people doing too much chakra or kundalini work too quickly and without guidance.If you are interested in spirituality, yoga or the subtle anatomy of the body, this is a superb book that will repay a few hours of study. I have bought extra copies for students who have already covered the basics about yoga, spiritual development and subtle energies, and each has found it to be a treasure trove.Highly recommended.

A definitive guide to the Chakras and Kundalini.

excellent book lots of definitive info

The book is fake. It is xerox copy of the original

Very good!

This is one of the most theoretical books on the subject. I find it too complex and plan to read it as slowly as possible.