The Path of the Yoga Sutras (Nicolai Bachman)
New Age Meets Patanjali
[My 2-star Amazon review (NDA) of “The Path of the Yoga Sutras: A Practical Guide to the Core of Yoga” by Nicilai Bachman.]
If you are interested in a warmed-over, New Age-ized piece of de-esotericized Patanjali pabulum – then this is a book you might appreciate.
How bad is this book by Bachman? Bad enough that I could barely finish it. Comparing this book to substantive spiritual Dharma is like comparing elevator muzak to Pink Floyd’s music. The author displays a superficial understanding of Yoga, and provides a shallow, incomplete picture of the Yoga Sutras.
At the beginning of the book, Bachman writes, “The text describes human consciousness in detail, how our heart-mind functions.” No it doesn’t. And Bachman is a sloppy, imprecise writer who fails to elaborate on statements he makes. For example, he writes: “Ishvara is the pure light of knowledge, the macrocosmic energy of omniscience that we tap into through our inner light of knowledge and awareness.” First off, Bachman says nothing more about this “energy of omniscience” and how it relates to the attainment of Self-realization (or Kaivalya). Patanjali does not account for uncreated, non-material Shakti (or Spirit) – only for material Prakriti. How can this “energy of omniscience” be created, material Prakriti? It can’t. Bachman opens a can of worms, but fails to put the squiggly creatures back in the container.
The book offers Thoughts and Exercises at the end of each chapter. These are so “New Age-ized,” any hard-core, Shakti-empowered yogi will laugh at them. And some of the “wisdom” that Bachmam proffers is hardly wisdom. For example, he writes, “Sometimes the simple quality of getting along with others is more important than anything else.” Not to my way of thinking.
[My 2-star Amazon review (NDA) of “The Path of the Yoga Sutras: A Practical Guide to the Core of Yoga” by Nicilai Bachman.]
If you are interested in a warmed-over, New Age-ized piece of de-esotericized Patanjali pabulum – then this is a book you might appreciate.
How bad is this book by Bachman? Bad enough that I could barely finish it. Comparing this book to substantive spiritual Dharma is like comparing elevator muzak to Pink Floyd’s music. The author displays a superficial understanding of Yoga, and provides a shallow, incomplete picture of the Yoga Sutras.
At the beginning of the book, Bachman writes, “The text describes human consciousness in detail, how our heart-mind functions.” No it doesn’t. And Bachman is a sloppy, imprecise writer who fails to elaborate on statements he makes. For example, he writes: “Ishvara is the pure light of knowledge, the macrocosmic energy of omniscience that we tap into through our inner light of knowledge and awareness.” First off, Bachman says nothing more about this “energy of omniscience” and how it relates to the attainment of Self-realization (or Kaivalya). Patanjali does not account for uncreated, non-material Shakti (or Spirit) – only for material Prakriti. How can this “energy of omniscience” be created, material Prakriti? It can’t. Bachman opens a can of worms, but fails to put the squiggly creatures back in the container.
The book offers Thoughts and Exercises at the end of each chapter. These are so “New Age-ized,” any hard-core, Shakti-empowered yogi will laugh at them. And some of the “wisdom” that Bachmam proffers is hardly wisdom. For example, he writes, “Sometimes the simple quality of getting along with others is more important than anything else.” Not to my way of thinking.
