Alistair Shearer

India On the Go is a wide-ranging and highly informative miscellany of cameo essays on India her past, present, and future. Crafted with insight, wit, and learning lightly worn, it covers topics that veer effortlessly from diamonds to deities; elephants to economics; fakirs to filmmakers; maharajahs, mangoes, and marijuana to mathematics, music, and Modi.A chronicle of the dizzying convergence of alternative realities that define 21st-century India, this book is an absorbing sequel to Views from an Indian Bus. Alistair Shearer, an acclaimed historian and cultural commentator, masterfully captures the contradictions, curiosities, and charms of the subcontinent in a way that is both deeply insightful and delightfully entertaining.Whether you are an armchair traveler, a first-time visitor, or a longtime admirer of India's boundless complexity, India On the Go is a must-read. It is the perfect appetiser for those contemplating a visit, a most agreeable travelling companion while there, and a vividly evocative souvenir of the journey.For readers of: William Dalrymple, Mark Tully, and those who relish travel writing infused with history, humor, and cultural commentary.

India On the Go is a wide-ranging and highly informative miscellany of cameo essays on India her past, present, and future. Crafted with insight, wit, and learning lightly worn, it covers topics that veer effortlessly from diamonds to deities; elephants to economics; fakirs to filmmakers; maharajahs, mangoes, and marijuana to mathematics, music, and Modi.A chronicle of the dizzying convergence of alternative realities that define 21st-century India, this book is an absorbing sequel to Views from an Indian Bus. Alistair Shearer, an acclaimed historian and cultural commentator, masterfully captures the contradictions, curiosities, and charms of the subcontinent in a way that is both deeply insightful and delightfully entertaining.Whether you are an armchair traveler, a first-time visitor, or a longtime admirer of India's boundless complexity, India On the Go is a must-read. It is the perfect appetiser for those contemplating a visit, a most agreeable travelling companion while there, and a vividly evocative souvenir of the journey.For readers of: William Dalrymple, Mark Tully, and those who relish travel writing infused with history, humor, and cultural commentary.

How did a venerable Indian spiritual discipline turn into a £20 billion-a-year mainstay of the wellness industry? What happened along yoga’s winding path from the caves and forests of the sages to the gyms, hospitals and village halls of the modern West? This comprehensive history sets yoga in its global cultural context for the first time, leading us on a journey from arcane religious rituals and medieval body-magic, through Christianity and the British Empire, to Indian nationalists and the twentieth-century West. Yoga has now become embedded in powerful social currents including feminism, digital media, celebrity culture, the stress pandemic and the quest for authentic identity. Shearer’s revealing history boasts a colourful cast of characters past and present, in an engaging tale of scholars and scandal, science and spirit, wisdom and waywardness. This is the untold story of yoga, warts and all.

The Upanishads are key texts of the ageless wisdom known as the Perennial Philosophy.This lucid new translation presents selections from the eleven traditionally considered the most important: the Māṇḍūkya, Kena, Chāndogya, Īsha, Brihadāranyaka, Taittirīya, Mundaka, Kaushītaki, Maitrī, Katha and Shvetāshvatara. Each selection is preceded by an incisive introduction that explains simply and clearly Sanskrit terms and yogic concepts that might otherwise be obscure. What emerges is that these writings, composed in the forest retreats of India some twenty-five centuries ago, address still vital questions about the nature and destiny of humankind and the consequences of disregarding the natural order and the greater whole.This vibrant revisioning of long-established classics offers both insight and inspiration to anyone who seeks the truth, whatever their chosen path.

How did a venerable Indian spiritual discipline turn into a £20 billion-a-year mainstay of the wellness industry? What happened along yoga’s winding path from the caves and forests of the sages to the gyms, hospitals and village halls of the modern West? This comprehensive history sets yoga in its global cultural context for the first time, leading us on a journey from arcane religious rituals and medieval body-magic, through Christianity and the British Empire, to Indian nationalists and the twentieth-century West. Yoga has now become embedded in powerful social currents including feminism, digital media, celebrity culture, the stress pandemic and the quest for authentic identity. Shearer’s revealing history boasts a colourful cast of characters past and present, in an engaging tale of scholars and scandal, science and spirit, wisdom and waywardness. This is the untold story of yoga, warts and all.

Adi Shankara was a South Indian sage and the foremost teacher of Advaita Vedanta, the perennial philosophy that lies at the heart of all religions. Such is his stature that even Ramana Maharshi, probably the best-known modern exponent of Advaita, referred to him simply as Acharya - 'The Teacher' - and translated some of his works from Sanskrit for his own devotees.Advaita offers a vision of life as the manifestation of an absolute, non-dual consciousness transcending all time, space and causation, and it provides the direct means to experience this divine ground of all being as our own Self. from being some dry and dusty 'Indian philosophy', Advaita is a system of practical psychology, based on meditation and insight, that draws the practitioner into the deepest consideration of their own status and what it means to be a human being. As such, it is of immediate relevance to us today, torn as we are by questions of identity and purpose, and the struggle to resolve the age-old problems of ignorance, suffering and inequality. This book presents the teachings of Adi Shankara in a highly approachable form through modern translations of his original writings, set in the lively context of his life and mission. The author, Alistair Shearer, is well-known for his translations of Sanskrit classics: Selections from the Upanishads and The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. He is a long-time teacher of meditation in the lineage of Shankara. Previous critical acclaim: The Upanishads: 'A lovely decanting of this very old wine into a sparkling new bottle.' John Updike 'This is the kind of text that one keeps close at hand like an old, wise and compassionate friend.' Ram Dass 'An elegant and valuable contribution to the growing corpus of Upanishadic texts in English.' Dr. Karan Singh The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali: 'A wonderful translation, full of contemporary insight yet luminous with eternal truth.' Jacob Needleman

The basic questions of Who Am I? Where Am I Going? What Is the Purpose of Life? are asked by every generation, and Patanjali's answers (given in the third century BC) form one of the oldest spiritual texts in the world. 'That which unites' is called 'Yoga' - and is thus much broader than the form of exercise so popular today. It is a way to restore our lost wholeness, our integrity as complete human beings, by unifying the personality around a centre that is silent and unbounded. Alistair Shearer's superb introduction and translation bring these ancient, vital teachings to life in the modern world and are for all those who seek the benefits of self-knowledge.

The Yoga Sutras were formulated in India in the third century B.C. The word yoga is from the Sanskrit root meaning "join" or "unity, " and a sutra is a thread or aphoristic verse. Yoga itself is not associated with any particular religion; it simply offers techniques leading to the direct experience of truth. The basic questions Who am I? Where am I going? What is the purpose of life? are asked by every generation, and Patanjali's answers form one of the world's oldest and most vibrant spiritual texts. He explains what yoga is, how it works, and exactly how to purify the mind and let it settle into absolute stillness. Alistair Shearer's extensive and helpful introduction and superb translation, fully preserving Patanjali's jewel-like style, bring these ancient but vital teachings to those who seek the path of self-knowledge today.

Over 2500 years ago there lived a man who did not claim to be specially gifted, divinely inspired or chosen, yet whose teaching now attracts an ever-increasing number of followers from all walks of life. Serious, but never solemn, the Buddha's way seeks a realization of how the mind limits and isolates itself. Through study, discipline and meditation, such understanding can transcend the suffering, ego-bound self and foster wisdom and compassion, positivity and unfettered joy. Buddhist culture has spread, diversified and developed, from ancient India to modern America. This book displays the rich global array of art and architecture, ritual and symbol, festivals and people that reflects a religion of great beauty and profound practical insight. Alistair Shearer explains how the timeless wisdom of the Buddha offers the West a means by which it can rediscover its own sense of spirituality.