Chapter II, Hinduism, Four Paths to the Goal, Summary and Analysis

All people carry within themselves great strength, full wisdom, and unquenchable joy; but those things are so deeply buried within that they are difficult to extract. This is the core of Hindu religion, an obsession with attaining higher states of being. The directions for reaching the human potential falls under the heading of yoga that conjures up images of bearded men in loincloths twisted in various contorted shapes. Now, the West has appropriated the word into a form of wellness exercise. The word yoga is from the same root word as the English word yoke. This hatha yoga originally led to the more spiritual yoga. In Hinduism, it was not concerned with physical beauty but rather perfect control. There are four spiritual trails in Hinduism toward spiritual...