{"product_id":"sinister-yogis-paperback","title":"Sinister Yogis - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eDavid Gordon White\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSince the 1960s, yoga has become a billion-dollar industry in the West, attracting housewives and hipsters, New Agers and the old-aged. But our modern conception of yoga derives much from nineteenth-century European spirituality, and the true story of yoga's origins in South Asia is far richer, stranger, and more entertaining than most of us realize.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTo uncover this history, David Gordon White focuses on yoga's practitioners. Combing through millennia of South Asia's vast and diverse literature, he discovers that yogis are usually portrayed as wonder-workers or sorcerers who use their dangerous supernatural abilities--which can include raising the dead, possession, and levitation--to acquire power, wealth, and sexual gratification. As White shows, even those yogis who aren't downright villainous bear little resemblance to Western assumptions about them. At turns rollicking and sophisticated, \u003ci\u003eSinister Yogis\u003c\/i\u003e tears down the image of yogis as detached, contemplative teachers, finally placing them in their proper context.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eDavid Gordon White\u003c\/b\u003e is professor of religious studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and the author of several books, including \u003ci\u003eThe Alchemical Body: Siddha Traditions in Medieval India\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eKiss of the Yogini: \"Tantric Sex\" in its South Asian Contexts\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 376\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.9 x 8.9 x 6 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eIllustrated:\u003c\/strong\u003e Yes\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e March 30, 2011\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47454465327282,"sku":"9780226895147","price":59.85,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0770\/3891\/1666\/files\/a77c88fd1e1d61705b5240afc2f9a875.webp?v=1778851739","url":"https:\/\/box.dadyminds.org\/products\/sinister-yogis-paperback","provider":"DADYMINDS BOX","version":"1.0","type":"link"}