Mahavigyan - Book review

A new frontier of knowledge is developing in which physics, psychology, parapsychology, and medicine are blending to form a new "science of consciousness". "Yogi In the Lab" is a new publication from SRSG Publications, Rishikesh, highlighting this development in the field of scientific studies. This book is compilation of the findings of tests conducted in different labs. These tests were conducted to measure the effect of meditation and other yogic practices on the nervous system of expert yogis. Swami Veda Bharati is a highly accomplished yogi with an equally high qualification of formal education. Spiritual head of the Himalayan Institute of Yoga Science Philosophy, he is a disciple of Swami Ram of the Himalayas. The name of Swami Ram does not need any introduction. Great yogi, writer par excellence, great philanthropist and educationist Swami Ram was a pioneer in the field of confluence of modern science and ancient science of yoga. He was the first one to volunteer to demonstrate his yogic powers in labs. These demonstrations were performed at the Menninger Foundation, in Topeka, Kansas in 1970. The research was recorded for the public, in part, in the book Beyond Biofeedback, by Elmer and Alyce Green and parts of it were published in Encyclopedia Britannica too. Swami Veda Bharati, continuing the tradition, has participated in several experiments to measure the effects of meditation and other yogic practices.
This book is an effort to highlight the point where modern science and yoga science meet. The book starts with the excerpt from the writing by Elmer and Alyce Green. Then there are essays describing the effects of yogic practices as narrated in the scriptures. The authority of Swami Veda Bharati on the scriptures and the ancient yogic knowledge dazzles the reader in these articles. Further, there are the research findings and laboratory reports of experiments conducted on Swami Veda Bharati to test the effects of yogic practices at the ‘Neuropath Laboratory, Denver, Colorado, USA' and ‘Institute of Noetic Sciences, California'.
It is a complete book with footnotes and additional knowledge about the terminology of the subject. This makes it a must read for everyone who has a scientific attitude and is interested in the traditional science of yoga.