Michael Stone - Freeing the Body, Freeing the Mind: Writings on the Connections between Yoga and Buddhism

An in-depth investigation of the interweaving strands of yoga and Buddhism. Its broad range of perspectives provides a wealth of illuminating insights. A valuable resource.

Joseph Goldstein, author of A Heart Full of Peace and One Dharma

Lucid, wise, and rich with detail, this is a must-read for yogis of all traditions.

Roshi Joan Halifax, author of Being with Dying

For too long in the West weve had the notion that Yoga and Buddhism are two separate, even antagonistic, paths. In this collection of articles by some of our finest Yoga and Buddhist practitioners, Michael Stone demonstrates that the two disciplines share ancient roots, methods, and goals; and that the time has come for us to re-affirm and learn from these old commonalities.

Richard Rosen, author of The Yoga of Breath

What struck me as I finished the book was the depth of the commitment to practice of each of the authors, and their clarity in sharing their wisdom. I read the essays out of order, depending on my mood each day, and when I finished the last one I felt like I had been on an intensive Buddhist Yoga Retreat, led by the authors of these 13 beautiful essays. This book itself was an experience, and, for me, the reading of it became a daily practice.

Wildmind.org

A truly useful, helpful, spiritual guide. The entire book is a spur to practice.

Parabola

ABOUT THE BOOK

In this collection of provocative essays by prominent teachers of Yoga and Buddhism, the common ground of these two ancient traditions becomes clear. Michael Stone has brought together a group of intriguing voices to show how Buddhism and Yoga share the same roots, the same values, and the same spiritual goals. The themes addressed here are rich and varied, yet the essays all weave together the common threads between the traditions that offer guidance toward spiritual freedom and genuine realization.

Contributors include Ajahn Amaro Bhikkhu, Shosan Victoria Austin, Frank Jude Boccio, Christopher Key Chapple, Ari Goldfield and Rose Taylor, Chip Hartranft, Roshi Pat Enkyo OHara, Sarah Powers, Eido Shimano Roshi, Jill Satterfield, Mu Soeng, Michael Stone, and Robert Thurman.

MICHAEL STONE is a teacher of yoga and Buddhist meditation (in the vipassana tradition) and a psychotherapist in private practice. He is the founder and director of the Centre of Gravity Sangha, a community of yoga and Buddhist practitioners based in Toronto, where he lives. He is also the author of The Inner Tradition of Yoga and Yoga for a World Out of Balance. For more information visit www.centreofgravity.org.

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2010 by Michael Stone

Cover design by Kathleen Lynch/Black Kat Design

Author photograph by Paula Wilson

Foreword 2010 by Robert Thurman

Diligent efforts were made to obtain rights from copyright holders of illustrations. In a few instances, the efforts were unsuccessful. The author and the publisher are grateful for the use of this excerpted material.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Freeing the body, freeing the mind: writings on the connections between yoga and Buddhism / edited by Michael Stone; foreword by Robert Thurman.1st ed.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references.

eISBN 978-0-8348-2228-3

ISBN 978-1-59030-801-1 (pbk.: alk. paper)

1. YogaBuddhism. I. Stone, Michael, 1974

BQ4610.Y63F74 2010

294.34436dc22

2010006462

THE WONDERFUL THING about writing a foreword for a good book is having to read the book through first. American life tends toward busyness, and often we are compelled to put down without finishing even an excellent book that serves to reveal more of reality to our awareness. But on duty with this book, I read every word with delight. I contemplated each exercise, I appreciated the many insights, and I was moved by the stories of the contributors. Adapting the felicitous phrase of Thich Nhat Hanh, I inter-read, and enjoyed inter-being with the realm of the book.

Furthermore, since the topic is Yoga and Buddhism, reading the accounts of these accomplished teachers, dipping into their stories, sharing their streams of experiences and insightsand their valuable and eloquently presented teachingsis like having a bit of a retreat. Calmness, awareness, wisdom, kindness, and compassion bubble up in the pages of this book and make it a joy to visit. Those deep into Buddhism can find a lot to help their understanding and meditation practice in the wisdom and embodying practicality of the Yoga tradition. Those deep into Yoga can find enriching dimensions in the Buddhist Yogas presented herein. And the broad range of readers can find practical help, methods, and tools for a better health, life, and state of mind in the integrated paths presented.

I have always maintained that Buddhism can make its best contribution to our modern culture by offering its multifarious methods and insights without insisting on being Buddhism, and certainly Yoga is in essence a highly skillful way of being realistic about the body. The essays here encourage taking responsibility for ones own health, cultivating a stronger sense of meaning in ones life, finding the inner strength to express joyful altruism, and developing an artful connoisseurship toward enjoying every moment as if it is the ultimate in every sense.

I especially enjoy the sincerity and depth of Michael Stone and the writers he has invited to contribute to this feast of insights. During the fifty years I have been learning, studying, practicing, teaching, and trying to perform the Buddhist teachings, there were long decades when it seemed that American people were intently preoccupied with the pursuit of money, status, possessions, and experiences of pleasure, and unrelentingly unconscious of the impact of their lifestyle on the world around them.

In academia, one doesnt really teach the Dharma; one can only teach about the Dharma, the history of Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism, Indian civilization, the philosophies of the great masters, the literatures produced, and so on. Young people are launched into the world as graduates with lots of skills and information, and with some adeptness in critical analysis for scientific wisdombut absolutely no training in how to use the minds higher faculties through cultivation of mindfulness, one-pointed concentration, and wisdoms critical insight meditation. Even ethical awareness is only developed haphazardly through immersion in literary classics or the occasional philosophical study of various ethical systems. And what has been appropriately called emotional intelligence, the self-knowledge of the workings of emotional and conceptual conditioning and reactivity that is essential to a persons living of a good life, is absolutely ignored.

Therefore, books such as this are essential to the continuing curriculum of hopefully ever greater numbers of students in order for them really to be prepared to live a meaningful, productive, altruistic, and satisfying life, and make a positive contribution to our globalizing society. I welcome it, I heartily congratulate the editor and the contributors, I salute the publishers, and I strongly recommend it to readers of all ages, and all walks of life.