Yoga for Beginners Swami Jnaneswarananda

Back of the book

Begin the day with raja yoga. Prayers and meditation will give you an undercurrent of poise like the lingering sound of a bell…
Be a bhakta in your contact with others. See God in everything and offer worship to Him…
In the field of action be a Karma yogi. Work for the sake of work. Let your work be your worship.
Last but not least, let your life be balanced and controlled by the intellect. Knowledge of fundamental principles gives you latitude and power of adjustment.

Preface

As The title indicates, this book is primarily intended for beginners in spiritual life. However, those who are well along the road to spiritual achievement will also find much encouragement and inspiration in it. Yoga for Beginners is a compilation of the spoken words of Swami Gnaneswarananda as they were taken down, mostly stenographically, by three of his students, Virginia Knapik, Genevieve Spoonholtz, and myself over a period of some years.

In a compilation of this sort there are bound to be some repetitions and reiterations. But I think that these enhance rather than detract from the book’s value. The subjects discussed require a great deal of attention on the part of the reader. Repetition of an idea is, therefore, very helpful. A good teacher will naturally repeat and explain in different ways the subject of discussion, in order to better reach the mind of the student.

Swami Gnaneswarananda’s yoga classes were held Tuesday evenings of the premises of the Vedanta Society of Chicago, then located at 120 East Delaware Place. The Swami would give his talks seated at a small table, with the students sitting around him. This made the classes very informal. The