BOOKS THAT WILL INTRODUCE YOU TO THE BEAUTY OF HINDUISM

MEETING GOD: ELEMENTS OF HINDU DEVOTION – Stephen P. Huyler

This volume seeks to enable western readers to witness the devotional practices of the Hindu people. It features photographs documenting the spirituality of common men and women in India, accompanied by definitions, descriptions and stories of Hindu individuals at worship. https://www.amazon.com/Meeting-God-Elements-Hindu-Devotion/dp/0300089058 The author provides descriptions of the many devotional rituals that occupy Hindus as they seek darshan, seeing and being seen by God. Using stories and photographs, he describes the elements of public worship in a Hindu temple, the rituals accompanying worship in the home, the practices surrounding community festivals, processions that honor specific deities and the coming-of-age ceremonies that mark adolescence and old age.

MAHABHARATA – Translated by Kamala Subramaniam

The author has captured with dramatic intensity the movement of the story of the epic Mahabharata. The narrative is vivid, and is a priceless legacy for the young and the old. The story of the Pandavas and the Kauravas and the Mahabharata war has been retold in a superb manner. Though the book is an abridged version of the great epic, all the important aspects have been covered in it. https://www.amazon.com/Mahabharata-Kamala-Subramaniam/dp/8172764057/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1476955412&sr=1-1-fkmr0&keywords=MAHABHARATA+%E2%80%93+Translated+by+Kamala+Subramaniam The story is more than just an epic, it tells the story of heroic men and women, code of life, philosophy of social and ethical relations. More details: This book on the Mahabharata starts with the meeting of Ganga and Santanu.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A YOGI – Paramahansa Yogananda

Is at once a beautifully written account of an exceptional life and a profound introduction to the ancient science of Yoga and its time-honored tradition of meditation. Profoundly inspiring, it is at the same time vastly entertaining, warmly humorous and filled with extraordinary personages. https://www.amazon.com/Autobiography-Yogi-Paramahansa-Yogananda/dp/0876120834/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1476955599&sr=1-1&keywords=AUTOBIOGRAPHY+OF+A+YOGI+%E2%80%93+Paramahansa+Yogananda With engaging candor, eloquence, and wit, Paramahansa Yogananda tells the inspiring chronicle of his life: the experiences of his remarkable childhood, encounters with many saints and sages during his youthful search throughout India for an illumined teacher, ten years of training in the hermitage of a revered yoga master.