Sri Matrka Vilas: The Interplay of the Little Mothers
It is rare to find genuine new books on deeper Yoga practices coming from true practitioners, particularly those born in the western world, but from India today as well. Most books are superficial, repetitive and designed for an introductory audience or for casual readers to quickly go through and be finished with. Matrka Vilas, on the other hand, is a profound spiritual teaching in the science of meditation and cosmic sound that has incredible depths and hidden dimensions for those who are willing to devote their lives to inner quest for an actual change of consciousness beyond the ego to the transcendent.
Matrka Vilas of Swami Jayramdas, is a welcome addition to the developing literature on Yoga Sddhand and covers many of its most important topics. The book opens up the field of yogic insight with precision, comprehensiveness and authenticity. One must appreciate the scope and depth of the labour of Swamiji on subtle topics of Mantras and meditation, which few have the capacity or are willing to make the effort to relate. The book is extremely well referenced in the authoritative Yoga traditions and lineages. It is replete with key Sanskrit terms necessary to explain inner spiritual experiences and their subtle variations. It contains extensive quotes from special and often rare Sanskrit texts and explicates them clearly and comprehensively. The book indicates the work of someone who is immersed in the tradition and is able to speak for it with his own voice.
Matrka Vilas reflects the ancient Yoga tradition going back to Adinath - Lord Siva as the original teacher of Yoga, particularly in his Daksinamurti or youthful form - who taught through silence and direct mind-to-mind transmission. It reflects a true scriptural Sadhand taught through an authentic Guru lineage. This orientation makes it very different than the teachings of fashionable teachers and writers of today, that emphasize pop psychology and physical techniques as if a Sadhak were a child needing therapy, and where showmanship is often more important than awakening any inner power of transformation. Matrka Vilas is first of all a work on Mantra Yoga but which, through the language of Mantra, covers the essence of knowledge and devotion in Yoga and provides the foundation for many energetic Yoga practices. The book shows that without an inner understanding and experience of Mantra, one's understanding of Yoga remain limited.
