Yoga is one of the oldest and most expansive religious/philosophical systems known to man. In its evolution of over three thousand years, the tradition has accumulated a vast technical vocabulary and immense psycho-spiritual wisdom from a broad range of figures, schools, texts, forms, practices, and teachers. Now this enormous accumulation of terms, ideas, and practices is brought together for millions of modern Western practitioners of Yoga in a format that is comprehensive, authoritative, and accessible. Covering both the metaphysical and practical dimensions of Yoga, Georg Feuerstein has distilled information from hundreds of Sanskrit texts incorporating this material into a single volume that provides both the orientational information of an encyclopedia and the efficient capsule-like entries of a dictionary. The new initiate will find historical and conceptual introductions in lengthy entries such as "Hinduism," "Classical Yoga," "Psychology," and "Karma-yoga." The scholar will find a valuable resource in specific historical and text citations. Helpful cross-references, plentiful illustrations, extensive quotations from Yoga scriptures themselves, and, above all, accurate and complete information raise this reference tool over all previous attempts to catalog the Yoga tradition. Here a reader can browse through profiles of the sages Patanjali, Shankara, and Ramanuja and find clear discussion of the levels of ecstasy of tantric Yoga, the issues of purification, and the teacher-disciple relationship. Over eighty illustrations of legendary figures, modern saints, classical sculptures, illuminated manuscripts, Yoga postures, and mythological scenes supplement the text. This all-encompassing volume will become the new standard for Yoga reference. - Dust jacket.