Review of The Circle of Fire by P.J. Mazumdar
The Metaphysics of Yoga is the subtitle of this fairly new release, The Circle of Fire, published by North Atlantic Books.
The author, P. J. Mazumdar, goes on to examine questions that many people ponder, such as: “What is God?” and “What is the purpose of life?”
The Circle of Fire structure is taken from the Vedas, and the content is similarly divided into jnanakanda (knowledge) and karmakanda (actions).
The author is originally from a town centered on the famous Hayagrib Madhob temple called Hajo. Mazumdar’s family has been part of the traditional administrators and was raised in traditions of Hinduism.
Review of The Circle of Fire
It’s fascinating to me that an author of a book about Advaita Vedanta—a philosophy that stems from the Hindu religion which is entirely rooted in non-duality and “oneness” (no right or wrong, good or bad)—would go to such phenomenal links to prove that his religion is right.
If you like detail, history, philosophy, and the sciences—natural, physical, and medical—you may be interested in this dense but highly biased book which sets out to prove that Buddhism and Advaita Vedanta are the only two religions that are viable or consistent with modern scientific theories.
Best for Advaita Vedanta Followers
Obviously well educated and intelligent, Mr. Mazumdar has constructed an exhaustive study of his seemingly iron-clad argument, and for that reason, The Circle of Fire is a text best left to those who have an avid and specific interest in Advaita Vedanta.
Though there was some interesting information on “Mysticism and the Four Yogas” (Bhakti, Raja, Karma, and Jnana), the lens of Advaita Vedanta, as usual, is too extreme and in my opinion isn’t worth wading through.
One could attain similar information from books not so heavy-handed and confrontational about the nature of reality.
Broswe Other Metaphysical Titles
There are several texts about yoga philosophy and metaphysics on the market, so if you are new to yoga or interested in learning more you may want to browse your local library, used book store, or retail store for any number of interesting and informative books on the subject of yoga, philosophy, metaphysics and meditation.
As for Mr. Mazumdar and his claims to be like Deepak Chopra, I can’t help but wonder if he has read Chopra’s books Peace is the Way or The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success lately.
Read other reviews at Amazon > The Circle of Fire
