When you hear the word yoga, you probably think of slow, gentle stretching and breathing exercises. But the Indian system of yoga encompasses much more than the exercise-based hatha yoga. Yoga is the process of harmonizing body, mind, and spirit with the ultimate goal liberation from samsara, the wheel of death and rebirth.

Over five thousand years ago, Indian sages first wrote of yoga in the Rig-Veda. The system of yoga was developed and passed down primarily through oral teachings from teacher to student in an unbroken tradition for thousands of years, much as it is to this day. These ancient teachings were virtually unknown in the West until the twentieth century.

Yoga: The Ultimate Spiritual Path is a guide to the philosophy and metaphysics of yoga for the serious seeker and scholar. It is not a "quick guide to enlightenment," for true liberation is inaccessible to all but a few dedicated seekers in this lifetime.

Author Swami Rajarshi Muni clearly explains the history and development of Indian philosophical and religious thought, the six schools of Indian philosophy, the causes of bondage and suffering, the theory of karma and karmic law, and the levels and function of human consciousness. For those interested in basic preparatory exercises, this book also includes guidelines for beginning yogic practices such as the yamas and niyamas, pranayama, and beginning meditation.

Swami Rajarshi Muni is an Indian yogi who writes with the authority of years of intensive study and practice, resulting in direct personal experience of the transcendental truths of yoga. He has devoted himself to serious yoga study since the 1950s. After renouncing the world to receive Sannyas initiation in 1971, he now lives in India in seclusion.