I had intended to start reading the book Buddha’s Brain first. However, the first night I started to read it I wasn’t in the right mindset and it seemed a bit too heavy of reading. The next night I read the introduction and first chapter of each of the other two books before making a decision on which one to start with.
I tackled Cope’s book first and liked the character development and to some extent could relate to each character and feel their emotions and needs come through. The book seemed to be very personal and it wasn’t the broader theory that I was anticipating, but I definitely enjoyed it more than I expected.
I began Ganga White’s book Yoga Beyond Belief next and was immediately struck by this quote which made me think this book could be my favorite of the pack
…yogic texts and teachings are so vast and so complex that we can find traditional support and authority for almost anything we want to do.
The next paragraph includes the following
we can learn from and use the tradition in an approach tempered by the realization that what we call tradition is truly our own, or another’s, interpretation of what something may have been in the distant past.
This really spoke to me, as I think in yoga, as in many other parts of our everyday lives we are too focused on rigid ideas about what “should” be or what we “should” do, all of which are based on beliefs, opinions and biases that may no longer be true for the person we have become and the life we currently live. It’s important to be open to different interpretations and needs and avoid any one size fits all approach – to yoga and to life.