Poetry Chaikhana Blog

Ivan M. Granger June 16th, 2008

Dawn of Wisdom
by Georg Feuerstein

I searched and searched
but then I ceased
and simply stood
still as a man
facing the Sun
in morning’s climb
across the sky.
Then wisdom dawned
time after time
and filled my mind.

— from Transparent Leaves from the Tree of Life: Metaphysical Poems, by Georg Feuerstein

/ Photo by ewen and donabel /

I thought we’d shift gears this week, and read some poetry by contemporary writers — people better known to us as mystics and seekers than poets.

I first came across the writings of Yoga scholar Georg Feuerstein when I picked up his encyclopedic blue “phone book” called the Yoga Tradition, one of the best books I’ve found in English surveying the rich philosphies, writings, practices, traditions, and expressions of Yoga throughout its ancient history. I still keep that book by my bed today, something to reach for and read a short chapter on a warm summer evening before drifting off to sleep. Or early in the morning…

I searched and searched
but then I ceased
and simply stood
still as a man
facing the Sun…

Have a beautiful day today!

Georg Feuerstein (1947 - ) Yoga / Hindu Secular or Eclectic

Georg Feuerstein, Ph.D., M.Litt., became interested in Yoga at the age of fourteen and five years later published his first book on the Yoga tradition. He has won an international reputation as an independent scholar in the area of Hindu esotericism and consciousness research.

His original contribution to the study of spirituality, and especially to the dialogue between East and West, has been acknowledged by leading scholars, including Professors Mircea Eliade, Jacob Needleman, Seshagiri Rao, Ninian Smart, and Huston Smith. He is a recipient of awards from the Leverhulme Trust Fund, A New American Place, and the British Academy, and for several years his work was sponsored by Laurance S. Rockefeller.

In 1996 he founded Yoga Research and Education Center in California, which he directed until December 2003. Inspired by the ancient Hindu ideal of the forest-dweller (vâna-prastha), he entered into semiretirement in early 2004 and no longer offers lectures and workshops but continues to quietly work on books that he feels ought to be written. The flame of his lifelong passion to make traditional yogic wisdom accessible and relevant to modern spiritual seekers and to foster the dialogue between traditions is burning as brightly as ever. He does so primarily through the distance-learning courses produced by Traditional Yoga Studies, founded and directed by his wife, Brenda.

More recently, he has shifted his focus from indological/antiquarian to social and environmental issues, which, he feels, are of the utmost urgency.

Georg Feuerstein’s publications include over thirty books and over twenty edited volumes, as well as circa 200 articles and 500 book reviews.

Among his more important writings are Yoga Morality (Hohm Press, 2007), Aha! Reflections on the Meaning of Everything (TYS, 2007), The Yoga Tradition (Hohm Press, rev. ed. 2001), Holy Madness (Hohm Press, rev. and enl. ed. 2006), The Deeper Dimension of Yoga (Shambhala Publications, 2003), Wholeness or Transcendence? Ancient Lessons for the Emerging Global Civilization (Larson Publications, 1992), In Search of the Cradle of Civilization (coauthored; Quest Books, 1995), The Philosophy of Classical Yoga (Inner Traditions, 1996), Lucid Waking: Mindfulness and the Spiritual Potential of Humanity (Inner Traditions, 1997), The Shambhala Encyclopedia of Yoga (Shambhala Publications, 1997), Tantra: The Path of Ecstasy (Shambhala Publications, 1998), and Transparent Leaves From the Tree of Life: Metaphysical Poetry (TYS, 2007).

More poetry by Georg Feuerstein

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