Millions of prostrations at the feet of Holy Master Sri Swami Sivanandaji Maharaj, the Mahapurusha of the past century! Countless prostrations at the feet of Sri Swami Krishnanandaji Maharaj, one of the foremost direct disciples of Sat Gurudev Swami Sivanandaji Maharaj!

Swami Krishnanandaji Maharaj joined Sivananda Ashram in 1944 and held the post of General Secretary of The Divine Life Society from the year 1960 until just before his mahasamadhi in 2001. He was an able administrator. His devotion to Gurudev was unparalleled. He wrote many books and gave numerous talks on different occasions right from his arrival at the Ashram.

This present book contains thirty-four talks given in the year 1970 to students participating in a special session of the Yoga-Vedanta Forest Academy. At the request of numerous Yoga students, especially from the West, Swami Krishnanandaji Maharaj agreed to give these talks in the form of lessons. The thirty-four lessons began on January 14, 1970 and concluded on March 4, 1970. This book is a Yoga manual. It is a handbook of Yoga. It contains everything that a Yoga student needs to know. Swamiji explains that Yoga, in the simplest terms, is a steady movement of the individual soul towards the Supreme Soul. Yoga is a steady ascent to the Divine.

These lessons were recorded on cassettes and then transcribed by Sri Shankara (Rudy), a Yoga student from the Aalst Divine Life Society Branch ( Belgium). He presented me with a bound copy which was lying with me for nearly 35 years. Now and then I used to read it. Later on I loaned it to our revered Sri Swami Atmaswarupanandaji Maharaj. He showed it to an American visitor, Mr. Scott Morrow, an ardent devotee of Sri Swami Krishnanandaji for many years. Mr. Morrow felt that it was very useful, especially for beginners, and so took it back to the U.S.A. with him. There he carefully edited the manuscript and prepared it for publication by our Yoga-Vedanta Forest Academy Press.

I am greatly indebted to Sri Sankara of the Aalst D.L.S. Branch, to Sri Scott Morrow and to the Press staff for bringing out this invaluable book for the benefit of seekers of Yoga from all over the world. It is my earnest hope and desire that these lessons will greatly help the readers by removing wrong conceptions of Yoga and serving as a useful guide.

May the Grace of the Divine ever be upon you all.

Swami Vimalananda