The Radiance Sutras: 112 Gateways to the Yoga of Wonder and Delight (English and Sanskrit Edition)

It is difficult to express how wonderful and transformative this book is for me. I have been a fan of Lorin Roche and the Radiance Sutras for years, and find this new edition with more Sanskrit and more specific meditation guidance/practices to be even more useful and helpful than the wonderful previous versions. I keep this book by my bedside and actually had to buy another copy because I would haul it to yoga classes to read during Savassana or as an inspirational quote and then want to read it at home and it would still be in the car or elsewhere. That is how much I love this book!Why do I love it so much... This is evocative poetry for the soul. It reminds me of Rumi Poetry or Mary Oliver. Somehow it conveys the transcendent experience that is so hard to put into words. It is a meditation guidebook disguised as poetry. It also has ancient traditional roots which I like very much, but Lorin has translated the information from the Sanskrit is such a way that it seems completely fresh and relevant for everyday life. This book relates yoga philosophy and our daily life in a beautiful and effortless way. I have been in person with Lorin Roche, and that idea of meditation being natural, enjoyable, and effortless is part and parcel of his approach to meditation. This book gives more than 112 gateways or methods or ways in to meditation. It is a matter of exploring and finding one that resonates for you and then reading it, mulling it over, doing as it suggests. Your meditation practice could be sitting in nature, or going for a walk, or watching the play of light on your bedroom wall. Anything that captures your attention and makes your soul sing, is the method for you. Lorin's approach to meditation is so accessible for each person. He empowers each of us to find the way of meditating that works for us individually. This resource is so rich, it can continue giving you inspiration for years. I think it would be a great companion with some of his previous meditation books as well if you are wanting to understand more about meditation and develop a deeper or more consistent meditation practice. This book supports you in that, because it is such a joy to read it you want to pick it up every day.I believe so much in this approach to meditaiton that I gave a copy of the book as a gift to all of the people attending Yoga Teacher Training with me. We are using it to learn some Sanskrit, and to also give us beautiful and well explained pathways into meditation. So many people feel that meditation is intimidating. Lorin Roche gives us a sweet smooth path into our own inner worlds. I feel that this book is a gift to the world, and especially to yoga teachers who are interested in finding out more about meditation at their own pace and in their own way. This book will be a reliable companion on your journey. It has been for me and the people who I have shared it with.Lezlie Ward

I'm actually a mathematician, and there are so many math books I have fallen in love with over the years... but I am also a yogi and I read a lot of spiritual books too. This is my absolute favorite of all the books I have!From the very start, I could tell that Lorin has made the language of this book so precise, and so beautiful, that this book was going to be a very very special one. I could read his poems over and over... but his own words outside of the 112 gateways are just as amazing!This is a translation of an amazing perceived conversation between two gods, one masculine, one feminine, that is so reminiscent of our true divine nature. In this conversation, the masculine aspect gives 112 "gateways" or meditations to the feminine aspect which may enable the reader to find the divine spark within. Lorin has spent literally decades doing true justice to the original Sanskrit in translating it to English. He feels the Sanskrit very deeply, like onomatopoeia; it has become like second nature to him to understand the meaning of the Sanskrit words from their very sound. In conjunction with the traditional definitions of these words, of which he is a master as well, he was able to truly get to the heart of what the Sanskrit is saying and express it in profound English verses. He has a beautiful explanation and guided meditation practice for each of the 112 "gateways" in the end that I sometimes find even more help or more beautiful than the "gateway" itself. This is due to the decades Lorin has spent interviewing people about their meditation practice and getting to know the deep truth about what people actually need, rather than just referring to ancient texts. He truly is an incredible expert on meditation, perhaps the greatest expert living today due to his experience with not just teaching the ancient knowledge but doing his own research on how people actually meditate, what can help, and what can hurt.Obviously, I simply cannot recommend the book enough....