The Serpent Power

The Serpent Power by Arthur Avalon,John George Woodroffe. paperback edition. ISBN: 9781906621230.

The image source book for Western adaptations of Kundalini yoga. The Serpent Power comprises translations and commentary on tow ancient Sanskrit texts: the Satckra-nirupana ("Description of and Investigation into the Six Bodily Centres") and the Paduka-Pancaka (Five-fold Footstool of the Guru"). In addition to practical yoga instruction, Avalon gives a detailed explanation of the chakra system and writes with clarity and elegance on the often misunderstood topics of mediation and mantra. While maintaining his public profile as a judge and scholar of British Indian Law, Avalon- whose real name was Sir John George Woodroffe- was also a private student of the Tantras. He published a large body of texts and translations and thus pioneered the modern academic study of Tantra in the West. He was born in 1865 and died 1936.