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insideout
USA
44 Posts |
 Posted - Dec 18 2006 : 6:39:32 PM
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For those of you who own both, or for the author himself? Is there material in the Enlightenment Series not covered in they AYP book? Would the whole series (when it is complete) be a better stand alone guide compared to the AYP book? Or is the Enlightenment Series full of worthless details  and can be beautifully condensed into the AYP book? |
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weaver
832 Posts |
Posted - Dec 18 2006 : 7:22:27 PM
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Hi insideout,
The Enlightenment Series books go into a lot of details that are not covered in the AYP book. The big AYP book could be seen as a condensed version of the necessary knowledge needed for doing AYP successfully. For me, most of this knowledge is new and far-reaching in my life. Therefore I have found the smaller books a good help with more comprehensive descriptions of the processes and applications. Especially about how to deal with different possible scenarios. And, there are also in some cases specific techniques that are not included in the AYP book. |
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insideout
USA
44 Posts |
Posted - Dec 18 2006 : 8:29:47 PM
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| Thanks weaver, I figured as much. So you would recommend getting both? |
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weaver
832 Posts |
Posted - Dec 18 2006 : 9:24:22 PM
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| Yes, I would, in order to have a complete reference. |
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yogani
USA
5242 Posts |
Posted - Dec 18 2006 : 11:40:09 PM
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Hi Insideout, and welcome!
Weaver has given you a pretty good answer.
Maybe some additional perspective from here will help. The AYP Easy Lessons book is a preservation and expansion (about +20%) on the original online lessons, which were madly written from Nov 2003 until Sept 2004. That is through lesson 235 (plus the same period for the Tantra lessons), which is as far as the first big volume goes -- there will be a volume 2 someday to pick up the writing that has been put online since, plus offline additions.
The big AYP volume is by its fluid nature less organized than the AYP Enlightenment Series books, but does contain practices that are not in the E-Series (mantra enhancements, bastrika methods, more on kechari, and other add-ons). The big book is broader in scope in that sense, covering quite a few advanced nuances. That is also true of the more recent online lessons (eventually to become volume 2), which also cover material that will not be found in the E-Series books (like hybrid yoni mudra applications, for example.) Those kinds of advanced refinements would be out of place in an E-Series book.
The purpose of the E-Series is to provide clear entrees into individual (or classes of) practices in digestible bites, easy to absorb and apply, less expensive per book, and much less daunting than wading through a 500 page nuance-packed textbook (though a friendly one by most accounts  ).
Because the E-Series books were written "as books" offline, they are better organized. And since they have been and are being written later in time than the first big book, they have clarifications that make them more complete at present in terms of presenting the essential practices.
The E-Series books also are designed to appeal to particular interests people might have, and to lead them naturally from that particular focus into the broader scope of yoga practices.
So there are some ironies working here:
1. The big book has more "stuff" practice-wise, but is somewhat less refined due to its primary source material being generated in the online lessons.
2. The E-Series is very focused in terms of specific practices, and does a better job of presenting those. It should also be mentioned that the E-Series has been in the process of "breaking out" in terms of covering more and more "stuff" that has not been documented in the online lessons, nor in AYP Easy Lessons Volume 1. The upcoming Samyama book is a case in point. It will cover several samyama techniques that are brand new in the AYP writings. There will be more new material in future E-Series books as well.
This shift of the E-Series to presenting new practices not in the online lessons is partly out of financial necessity, and partly due to the fact that I can only write one set of instructions at a time. Having to choose, I have chosen the books. It is my hope that all of the new material will find its way into the online lessons eventually -- worldwide public access is at the center of the AYP mission. When and how that happens going forward will depend on both the time available to do it and on AYP becoming self-supporting, which will hopefully happen somewhere down the line.
Some have asked, "Why didn't you just write one big book and be done with it?"
It is part of the fate of being a "spiritual scientist," rather than a stuck-in-the-mud guru, I guess. 
While I think we have done a pretty good job so far of nailing down the essential principles and basic methods of human spiritual transformation, the writing that is occurring at any point in time is not the last word.
AYP is an ongoing evolution that will continue to depend on causes and effects found to be occurring in practitioners everywhere. So we don't shy away from difficulties encountered or any new information that comes in. Refinements are being made all the time, and I expect this will continue indefinitely. Eventually we will get it to a highly refined state (maybe), but I do not see that happening entirely on my watch. It is an ongoing research project.
These forums are also an important part of it, because communication on these matters among practitioners at all levels of experience is essential to carry the process of knowledge development forward.
So, which AYP books to read? I'd say the E-Series for getting the core practices down, and the big book for the advanced whistles and bells, if interested. It can be a pretty fruitful journey using either one or the other. As Weaver points out, both is even better, but that is a matter of how gung-ho one is about studying and implementing yoga practices.
When the AYP writing is all said and done (my part of it, anyway), it might be a dozen or so books. If done well, it will be a very condensed body of work on the ins and outs of human spiritual transformation, which others can use to take it to the next level in the decades to come. It sure beats reading 400+ books to pull it together, though anyone is welcome to. A list is provided with lesson 253.
However you decide to approach it, by all means, enjoy!
The guru is in you.
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yogani
USA
5242 Posts |
Posted - Dec 19 2006 : 10:35:57 AM
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| PS: It should be added that the Secrets of Wilder novel looks at the discovery of the practices and their effects through the eyes of the seeker, and the circle of friends and family (who are not always supportive). The reader can take the journey of spiritual transformation vicariously, warts and all. From that point of view, there are quite a few lessons in the novel that are not necessarily emphasized elsewhere in the AYP writings. |
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insideout
USA
44 Posts |
Posted - Dec 19 2006 : 12:05:42 PM
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Thank you for clarifying Yogani.
So far I've been going off of the internet lessons, and I already ordered the Secrets of Wilder. I'm sure there are a lot of insights in your other books that will help me along the way so I'll probably be getting all of them in due course.
Thanks again! |
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Shanti
USA
4854 Posts |
Posted - Dec 19 2006 : 12:40:07 PM
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Welcome to the forum Insideout...
Who better than Yogani to explain his own books !!!!.. Here is how I see them tho (if it still matters )... the Big AYP book is like basic "bread and butter".. has more than enough to satisfy the spiritual hunger. The enlightenment series books on the other hand are like "Jam and Jelly".. add flavor to the practice... 
Well so far that is how its been with the "Deep Meditation", "Spinal breathing", "Tantra" and "Asana Mudras Bandhas" book. However, the rest of the books on "Samyama", "Diet, Shatkarmas and Amaroli", "Self-Inquiry", "Bhakti & Karma Yoga" and "Eight Limbs of Yoga"... may have a lot of extra stuff in them... mainly because not much is covered in the main lessons... yet !!!!
If you plan on following AYP... it maybe a good idea to get the Big AYP book.. although much of it is there in the online lessons.. there is quite a bit of extra stuff in the book. Also, I like reading a lesson or two when I have a few mins... there is so much to learn from there, and every time I re-read the lessons.. I discover something I had missed earlier.. 
Wish you all the best in your chosen path... |
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insideout
USA
44 Posts |
Posted - Dec 20 2006 : 3:16:39 PM
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Hi Shanti,
Right now I'm full and satisfied stuffing myself with "bread and butter"  . Maybe when I'm done digesting the staples available online I'll go looking for more flavors.
Thanks everyone for your replies! |
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AYP book vs. Enlightenment Series
