Sarah E Truman
The Sutra of Hui Neng,
Gu Ruirong trans., Hunan Publishing House
Hui Neng was the 5th successor of Bodhidharma and founder of Ch'an (Zen)
Buddhism. Several versions of the text have been found scattered all over
China and it is revered as the only Buddhist "Sutra" to have been spoken by
a Chinese. I stumbled across my copy in a used book store in Shanghai just
before I fell ill with a sinus infection. I luckily live below a Romanian
woman who loves to read out loud and cook soup. She read the entire sutra to
me and we discussed its contents, periodically checking unclear passages
with the Chinese script on the facing pages. If you've never had a sutra
read to you in a thick Romanian accent you don't know what you're missing.
The whole experience was mind altering.
Marcus Boon
Mother of the Buddhas: Meditation on the Prajnaparamita Sutra
Lex Hixon trans., Theosophical Publishing House
This is the book that turned me on to the vastness of Mahayana Buddhism. I
love it because with this book, Hixon has translated another translation,
with a clear and profound understanding of what the Sutra was talking about,
and with a sensibility that appreciates just how rock'n'roll mighty
emptiness philosophy is.
Krishna Das
Tulsi Das' Rama Charita Manasa,
Gita Press trans., or R.C. Prasad trans., Motilal Banarsidass
This book rewired my heart for devotion. It opened up new channels for the
River of Love to flow in. It gave me an identity as a devotee of God and
taught me the path of Loving Devotion. In India this text is sung, not
spoken, and so it is a way of gathering people together to teach and
inspire. I sat many hours listening and being carried away in love, without
understanding a single word except Ram, Hanuman, Sita and other names. But
that kind of understanding is secondary to the flow of love that fills the
heart in the presence of the Lord.
Richard Rosen
The Yoga-Sutra of Pantajali
Chip Hartranft trans., Shambhala Classics
I have about 12 or so translations of this text in my library, and this is
by far the best one for the average student. The translation of the Sanskrit
is put into simple everyday English, and the commentarial writing is clear
and calm. There are 4 really useful appendices and a glossary, in all a text
that every serious yoga student will want in his or her library.
Hardeep Dhaliwal
Bhagavad Gita
Eknath Easwaran trans., Nilgiri Press
Chapter 18, Stanza 59, Freedom and Renunciation: "If you egotistically say,
'I will not fight this battle,' your resolve will be useless: your own
nature will drive you to it. Your own karma, born of your own nature, will
drive you to do even that which you do not wish to do, because of your
delusion." It is so easy to let things in life slide, especially in averting
confrontations with people. "I'll just let that one go. Be easy to get along
with. Why make waves?" It takes every bit of courage available to take a
stand for what is the right thing to do. This stanza is the goad which
forces me to take that stand. I'm still working on it.
Clea McDougall
The Serpent Power,
Sir John Woodroffe trans.
Although it is remarkably important and interesting, skip all the thick
theory that makes up most of this book, and go right to the poems at the
end, the translations of the Sat Chakra. These poems describe Kundalini Yoga
and they are what made me want to be both a writer and a yogini. Who can
resist stuff like: "She (citrini) is beautiful by reason of these (lotuses)
which are strung on her." There is something beyond space, time and language
in these early poems, the teachings lay there, full and bursting and waiting
to be deciphered.
Brent Burbridge
Tanakh: The Holy Scriptures
Jewish Publication Society trans.
I am a Christian, this is a Jewish Bible. If I've been reading the Old
Testament all my life, why is this Jewish version of the same corpus so
thrillingly new? Vivid, graphic language, a very different ordering of the
books, and amazingly honest editing. I love this text because it is such a
rich depiction of the relationship between the ancient Jewish people and
their God, and is at once a great read and a little jarring for the modern
Christian. Visceral Psalms, anyone?
David Life
Textbook of Yoga Psychology,
Shri Brahmananda Saraswati trans.
This translation of the Yoga Sutras stimulates one creatively and shows the
poetry and universality of Sanskrit. It is not burdened with dogmatism. It
is insightful and an original contribution to the oeuvre.
