Samkhya Darshan/Yogic Perspective on Theories of Realism

Samkhya is one of the most influential philosophical systems in human history, lying at the root of both Hinduism and Buddhism. Darshan--usually translated "philosophy"--literally means "way of seeing things," i.e., a perspective on the nature of reality. Samkhya, in a word play typical of Sanskrit, means both "enumeration" (Samkhya delineates the stages of cosmic and personal manifestation) and/or "undisturbed state of consciousness," toward which the understanding of these stages leads.It flabbergasts me that Samkhya isn't better known in the West. It's a phenomenally sophisticated analysis of our experience of the cosmos, in some ways eerily reminiscent of quantum mechanics, delineating how consciousness shapes matter/energy into a coherent universe. These days meditation students learn the basic principles of Samkhya at their yoga centers. You'd think this thought provoking system would be taught at universities throughout the Western world.This book is a fine introduction to an important topic.

You can never miss with Bihar school books. Easy to understand and clear.

I like the metaphysics proposed by Sankhya philosophy and recently have been reading more about it for an Ayurveda course that I am taking. When I wanted some material a bit more deep than the textbook, I turned to Swami Niranjan's rather small, but exceptional, book. I was already a fairly big fan of SwaN's other books, so I expected quite a bit out of this book. It is short, but I felt that it really built up the Sankhya philosophy well. This is a book that I will probably read again - not because it was confusing, but because it was so well-done. In fact, I've recommended the book to my Ayurveda teacher. This is another good book from the Yoga Publication Trust, which came as little surprise.

The Bijar School of Yoga publishes quality books on yoga and yoga philosophy. This book is no exception. As the author points out early in the book, Samkhya is an important darshan because it provides the basis of all that follows it, mainly, Patanjali's ashtanga yoga philosophny and Vedanta. If all the literature I have reviewed of Samkhya philosophy, this book is the best introduction for anyone wanting to understand Samkhya. It is clearly written and yet provides a full explanation of Samkhya. Highly recommended.

I bought this book many years ago, and am just now going through this list of purchases I made on Amazon over the years, and reviewing a few noteworthy books. I have now read this book about 5 times, cover to cover, as it is short, yet potent. The author dissects the Samkhya darshan with such precision, yet in a conversational way. There are not many people I have met that are into studying Samkhya philosophy, and that's a shame, as it underpins classical Yoga thought, and is useful in understanding the "engineering" of this manifestation. This book has also been a great reference in general as well.

This is the second time I read this time. This is one of those books that seems always new, depending on your state of mind. Any serious Physicist should read it.

Excellent concise writing of what is unfolding as what we call existence. well done

yes!