The be-all, end-all guide to yogis and gurus, ashrams and temples -- the lowdown on food, facilities, and bringing your own mosquito net, as well as when to go, what to pack, and how to get there -- the first comprehensive book on the art of the pilgrimage in the subcontinent.The Lonely Planet may help you get your shots and visa, and get you from palace to restaurant, but until now there has been no in-depth guide devoted exclusively to spiritual India. Whether you are a curious beginner or a seasoned pilgrim, From Here to ...
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The be-all, end-all guide to yogis and gurus, ashrams and temples -- the lowdown on food, facilities, and bringing your own mosquito net, as well as when to go, what to pack, and how to get there -- the first comprehensive book on the art of the pilgrimage in the subcontinent.The Lonely Planet may help you get your shots and visa, and get you from palace to restaurant, but until now there has been no in-depth guide devoted exclusively to spiritual India. Whether you are a curious beginner or a seasoned pilgrim, From Here to Nirvana is your essential companion. They provide detailed directions and contacts that cannot be found anywhere else -- lists and sidebars, photos and maps -- everything you need to know. Interspersed with personal stories, quotes from gurus, and local legends, this readerly guidebook is as funny, inspiring, and fascinating as it is useful.Now that Americans have become as devoted to yoga as they are to jogging, and Buddhism seems as familiar as Catholicism, Gen Xers and Baby Boomers are headed to India by the thousands each year. They are going to ashrams and yoga centers, to meditate with a famous guru, or simply to sit under the Bodhi Tree as the Buddha himself did twenty-five hundred years ago. These aren't really vacations they're taking, they are journeys. And From Here to Nirvana is the book they all must have.
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Nothing changes as fast as travel information and that is a problem with this otherwise excellent book. Much of the information is dated even though the book is less, at this time, than 10 years old. However that does little to detract from the charm and, for the most part, the usefulness of the book. The book is very well written and there is a wonderful introduction and a chapter on how to use the book. It serves as a travel guide as well as its stated intent of being an introduction to places of meditative significance, even though that was not the authors? intent.
The book is a guide to various ashrams, yoga centers, meditation instruction centers and retreats, and the gurus of India. It covers all of that adequately, none of it comprehensively. For example as a Buddhist I see holes in the coverage, but that is to be expected in a book intended to cover the entire field of contemplative sites and programs. Sites are covered geographically and arranged so that you can use them along with a travel guide or a travel itinerary.
My sole complaint about the book is the lack of Internet access information. Even 10 years ago much of this was available. The authors do provide email information for some sources and that is useful, but Internet sites, an index, and a summary would have been helpful.