Inner Engineering: A Yogi's Guide to Joy

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Inner Engineering: A Yogi's Guide to Joy
Inner Engineering Book Cover.jpeg
Book cover featuring Patanjali
Author Sadhguru
Country India
LanguageEnglish
Subject Spirituality, Yoga
Genre Non-Fiction, Self-Help
Publisher Penguin Books
Spiegel & Grau
Publication date
September 20, 2016
Media type Paperback
Pages271
ISBN 9780812997798
OCLC 936347280
Sadhguru Sadhguru - February 2019 - 2 (cropped).jpg
Sadhguru

Inner Engineering: A Yogi's Guide to Joy is a 2016 book written by Indian yogi and mystic Sadhguru. The book was featured among The New York Times Best Seller in the spirituality and self help category for November 2016. The book is intended to be a spiritual guide with practices for personal growth, and also a look at the author's own spiritual journey.

Contents

Structure

The book is divided into two sections. Part One contains five chapters: When I Lost My Sense; The Way Out Is In; Design Your Destiny; No Boundary, No Burden; ...And Now, Yoga. Part Two has four chapters: Body; Mind; Energy; Joy. [1]

The first chapter in Part One sets the scene with a brief autobiographical account of Sadhguru's life, the primary focus of which is to recount the spiritual experiences of the writer which later paved the path of his life; hence aptly titled When I Lost my Sense. The second chapter, The Way Out is in, talks about the need for a paradigm shift in the seeking of joy, which Sadhguru believes is the ultimate goal of all human beings. He prescribes looking within at the source of experience to seek joy as opposed to trying to find it in the outside surroundings. Similarly, he advises not to find a way out of suffering, but rather find it inwards. [1] In the third chapter, Design your Destiny, Sadhguru gives a guarantee to the reader: do the right things and right things will for sure happen to you. Taking action in your hands is the key to designing your own destiny. The fourth chapter, No Boundary No Burden, is about the nature of the word responsibility in the context of Inner Engineering philosophy, and cultivating the ability to be responsible/responsive in life. Responsibility is defined as the ability to respond to everything that is in human experience and it is advised that humans understand their capacity to be limitlessly 'responsible' by shedding the burden of enslaving themselves with boundaries. The last chapter of part one, "...And Now Yoga", elaborates upon the true nature of yoga, the concept of the five koshas, the types of yoga, and finally the idea of finding the perfect alignment with existence.

Part 2 of the book explores the concept of layers or sheaths in a human being's identity. There are three individual sections in this part, titled Body, Mind, and Energy which deal with the first three of these layers. Each section is further divided into subsections, with each subsection ending with a Sadhna (practice) section which outlines short spiritual practices to incorporate the philosophical point discussed. [2]

Part 2 ends with a brief section called Joy: The Beginning, which outlines the need of joy in human beings' lives and the aim of the author to bring joy within people's consciousness. The book ends with a glossary of terms and a brief introduction of Isha Yoga Foundation.

Launch

Published on September 20, 2016, by Spiegel & Grau, the book was launched in the United States in New York's Times Square. [3] The author's subsequent book and lecture tour covered 17 cities in North America, with a total audience of 26,000 people. [4] Outside the United States, the book was launched on November 13 in London. In India, the book was launched in Mumbai on December 15 by filmmaker Subhash Ghai [5] and also at the Jaipur Literature Festival [6] and at the Kerala Literature Festival by actress Manju Warrier. [7] In Dubai, the book was launched on March 17, at a talk by Sadhguru.

Reception

After its United States launch, the book entered The New York Times Best Seller list in the health, religion, and self-help categories, [8] [9] [10] and The Washington Post bestseller list in the non-fiction hardcover category. [11] The book won the 2017 Crossword Book Award under the non-fiction category (popular choice awards). [12]

A review in Deccan Chronicle said the book recast Patanjali's Yoga Sutra in layman's terms. [13] The review further stated that the author neither takes a "moral high ground nor seeks to be prescriptive" but offers a "pragmatic approach".

Related Research Articles

The meaning of spirituality has developed and expanded over time, and various meanings can be found alongside each other. Traditionally, spirituality referred to a religious process of re-formation which "aims to recover the original shape of man", oriented at "the image of God" as exemplified by the founders and sacred texts of the religions of the world. The term was used within early Christianity to refer to a life oriented toward the Holy Spirit and broadened during the Late Middle Ages to include mental aspects of life.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yogi</span> Practitioner of Yoga

A yogi is a practitioner of Yoga, including a sannyasin or practitioner of meditation in Indian religions. The feminine form, sometimes used in English, is yogini.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paramahansa Yogananda</span> Indian yogi and guru (1893–1952)

Paramahansa Yogananda was an Indian-American Hindu monk, yogi and guru who introduced millions to meditation and Kriya Yoga through his organization, Self-Realization Fellowship (SRF) / Yogoda Satsanga Society (YSS) of India – the only one he created to disseminate his teachings. A chief disciple of the yoga guru Swami Sri Yukteswar Giri, he was sent by his lineage to spread the teachings of yoga to the West. He immigrated to the US at the age of 27 to prove the unity between Eastern and Western religions and to preach a balance between Western material growth and Indian spirituality. His long-standing influence in the American yoga movement, and especially the yoga culture of Los Angeles, led him to be considered by yoga experts as the "Father of Yoga in the West". He lived his last 32 years in the US.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ravi Shankar (spiritual leader)</span> Indian spiritual leader

Ravi Shankar is an Indian yoga guru, a spiritual leader. He is referred to as Sri Sri (honorific), Guru ji, or Gurudev. From around the mid 1970s, he worked as an apprentice under Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, the founder of Transcendental Meditation. In 1981, he founded the Art of Living foundation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kriya Yoga school</span> Style of yoga

Kriya Yoga is a yoga system which consists of a number of levels of pranayama, mantra, and mudra, intended to rapidly accelerate spiritual development and engender a profound state of tranquility and God-communion. It is described by its practitioners as an ancient yoga system revived in modern times by Lahiri Mahasaya, who claimed to be initiated by a guru, Mahavatar Babaji, circa 1861 in the Himalayas. Kriya Yoga was brought to international awareness by Paramahansa Yogananda's book Autobiography of a Yogi and through Yogananda's introductions of the practice to the West from 1920.

Inner peace refers to a deliberate state of psychological or spiritual calm despite the potential presence of stressors. Being "at peace" is considered by many to be healthy (homeostasis) and the opposite of being stressed or anxious, and is considered to be a state where our mind performs at an optimal level, regardless of outcomes. Peace of mind is thus generally associated with bliss, happiness and contentment.

<i>Autobiography of a Yogi</i> Autobiography of Paramahansa Yogananda

Autobiography of a Yogi is an autobiography of Paramahansa Yogananda published in 1946.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Karma yoga</span> Spiritual path in Hinduism

Karma yoga, also called Karma marga, is one of the four classical spiritual paths in Hinduism, one based on the "yoga of action", the others being Jnana yoga, Rāja yoga and Bhakti yoga. To a karma yogi, right action is a form of prayer. The paths are not mutually exclusive in Hinduism, but the relative emphasis between Karma yoga, Jnana yoga and Bhakti yoga varies by the individual.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nath</span> Yogic tradition within Shaivism

Nath, also called Natha, are a Shaiva sub-tradition within Hinduism in India and Nepal. A medieval movement, it combined ideas from Buddhism, Shaivism and Yoga traditions of the Indian subcontinent. The Naths have been a confederation of devotees who consider Shiva as their first lord or guru, with varying lists of additional gurus. Of these, the 9th or 10th century Matsyendranatha and the ideas and organization mainly developed by Gorakhnath are particularly important. Gorakhnath is considered the originator of the Nath Panth.

<i>Be Here Now</i> (book) 1971 book by Richard Alpert

Be Here Now, or Remember, Be Here Now, is a 1971 book on spirituality, yoga, and meditation by the American yogi and spiritual teacher Ram Dass. The core book was first printed in 1970 as From Bindu to Ojas and its current title comes from a statement his guide, Bhagavan Das, made during Ram Dass's journeys in India. The cover features a mandala incorporating the title, a chair, radial lines, and the word "Remember" repeated four times.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Isha Foundation</span> Spiritual organisation founded by Jaggi Vasudev

The Isha Foundation is a nonprofit, spiritual organisation that was founded in 1992 near Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India, by Sadhguru. It hosts the Isha Yoga Centre, which offers yoga programs under the name Isha Yoga. The foundation is run "almost entirely" by volunteers. According to Sadhguru, the word isha means "the formless divine".

Ram Charan is an Indian-American business consultant, speaker, and writer resident in Dallas, Texas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sadhguru</span> Indian yogi and author (born 1957)

Sadhguru is the founder and head of the Isha Foundation, based in Coimbatore, India. The foundation, established in 1992, operates an ashram and yoga centre that carries out educational and spiritual activities. Sadhguru has been teaching yoga since 1982. He is the author of the New York Times bestsellers Inner Engineering: A Yogi's Guide to Joy and Karma: A Yogi's Guide to Crafting Your Destiny, and a frequent speaker at international forums.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">TarcherPerigee</span> Book publisher and imprint of Penguin Group

TarcherPerigee is a book publisher and imprint of Penguin Group focused primarily on mind, body and spiritualism titles, founded in 1973 by Jeremy P. Tarcher in Los Angeles..

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mukundananda</span> Indian religious teacher

Swami Mukundananda

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sri M</span> Indian spiritual leader

Sri M, also known as Sri Madhukar Nath, is an Indian yogi, spiritual guide, orator, and educationist. He is an initiate of the Nath tradition of Hinduism and is the disciple of Sri Maheshwarnath Babaji, who was a disciple of Sri Guru Babaji. Sri M lives in Madanapalle, Andhra Pradesh, India. He received the Padma Bhushan, India's third-highest civilian award, in 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">International Day of Yoga</span> Annual promotion day

The International Day of Yoga is a day in recognition of Yoga, that is celebrated across the world annually on June 21, following its adoption by the United Nations in 2014. As Yoga exercises have shown significant benefits for physical and mental well-being, it was considered important by the UN to globally promote this wellness practice, which originated in ancient India.

<i>Adiyogi</i> Shiva bust Outdoor statue in Tamil Nadu, India

The Adiyogi Shiva bust is a 34-metre tall (112 ft), 45-metre long (147 ft) and 25-metre wide (82 ft) steel bust of Shiva with Thirunamam at Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. It is recognized by the Guinness World Records as the "Largest Bust Sculpture” in the world. Designed by Sadhguru, the founder and head of the Isha Foundation, the statue weighs around 500 tonnes.

Michael Alan "Mickey" Singer is an American author, journalist, motivational speaker, and former software developer. Singer is best known for his writings on spirituality, meditation, and New Age philosophy, and two of his books on the subject, The Untethered Soul (2007) and The Surrender Experiment (2015), were New York Times bestsellers. Singer established the Temple of the Universe, a yoga and meditation center in Alachua, Florida, in 1975.

<i>Gurus of Modern Yoga</i> 2014 collection of essays by Mark Singleton and Ellen Goldberg

Gurus of Modern Yoga is an edited 2014 collection of essays on some of the gurus (leaders) of modern yoga by the yoga scholars Mark Singleton and Ellen Goldberg.

References

  1. 1 2 Sadhguru (2016-12-12). Inner Engineering: A Yogi's Guide to Joy. Penguin Books Limited. ISBN   9789386057587.
  2. "Inner Engineering: A Yogi's Guide to Joy – The Isha Blog". The Isha Blog. 2016-09-22. Retrieved 2017-04-09.
  3. "Sadhguru Preaches Spirituality, Writes Philosophy, Reads 'Dennis the Menace'". Huffington Post India. Retrieved 2017-04-09.
  4. "Sadhguru's newly launched book is about exploring inner self". Mathrubhumi . Retrieved 2017-04-09.
  5. "Mumbai Diary: Friday Dossier". Mid-Day . Retrieved 2017-04-09.
  6. "Zee Jaipur Literature Festival 2017: We are living in best time of human history, says Sadhguru". Zee News . 2017-01-20. Retrieved 2017-04-09.
  7. "Kerala Literature Fest begins in Kozhikode today". Deccan Chronicle . 2017-02-03. Retrieved 2017-04-09.
  8. "Health Books – Best Sellers". The New York Times. November 13, 2016. Retrieved 2017-04-09.
  9. "Religion, Spirituality and Faith Books – Best Sellers – October 9, 2016 – The New York Times". The New York Times . Retrieved 2017-04-09.
  10. "Advice, How-To & Miscellaneous Books – Best Sellers – October 9, 2016 – The New York Times". The New York Times . Retrieved 2017-04-09.
  11. "Washington Post bestsellers: Sept. 25, 2016". The Washington Post. 2016-09-21. ISSN   0190-8286 . Retrieved 2017-04-09.
  12. "Josy Joseph, Sujit Saraf and Karan Johar among the winners of this year's Crossword Book Awards". Scroll.in.
  13. "Book review: Demystifying yoga, redefining 'Ghar Vaapsi'". Deccan Chronicle . 2017-01-16. Retrieved 2017-04-09.