Three seminal works on Yoga and Zen republished.
The Trevor Leggett Adhyatma Yoga Trust will be holding an event at the Buddhist Society, London on Wednesday 28th June 2017 at 6.30pm to mark the republication in paperback, e-book and as audio books of three important books by Trevor Price Leggett.
Trevor Leggett’s books are essential reading for anyone wishing to further their interest in Yoga, Zen, Buddhism and Judo. The two books of teaching stories – ‘Encounters in Yoga and Zen’ and ‘Lotus Lake Dragon Pool’ – are stories from the Yoga and Zen traditions collected by the author over many years.They are the flint and steel that strike a spark that lights up the mind with insights that one should ponder daily to bring forth ever deeper meanings.They are available now for the first time as audio books and e-books and are also being republished as paperbacks. The third book is ‘The Complete Commentary by Sankara on the Yoga Sutras’ which is available now for the first time as an e-book. Trevor Leggett’s translation of the commentary on the Yoga Sutras by Sankara, India’s great 7th Century AD philosopher, gave rise to some controversy when first published. The E-book contains a new foreword by Dr Kengo Harimoto of Mahidol University, Thailand which comments on this and it also contains a guide on ‘How to Use this Book for Yoga Practice’ produced by the author before his death for inclusion in future editions.
Trevor Leggett’s books on Yoga and Zen explain the essentials of theory and practice.They give vital guidance for practice and through the training and teaching stories provide the inspiration to work towards freedom in this life, developing new discipline and strength to overcome limitations, and training to loosen the knots of the heart by drawing on the authentic Yoga and Zen traditions that Trevor Leggett knew at first hand and communicated so masterfully.
Trevor Leggett was born in 1914 and died in 2000. He lived in both Japan, where he trained in Judo and Zen, and India and explored and embraced Eastern culture and philosophy and wrote extensively about it. From 1946 to 1970 Trevor Leggett was the Head of the Japanese Service of the BBC.He practised Adhyatma Yoga for over sixty years and was a pupil of Hari Prasad Shastri, the founder of Shanti Sadan, in London for eighteen years until his death in 1956, All Trevor Leggett’s books on Yoga, Zen and spiritual practice are dedicated to his teacher, Hari Prasad Shastri.
Contacts for further information
Michael Baker – TLAYT Trustee https://www.tlayt.org/
Peter Longcroft – TLAYT Trustee plongcroft@aol.com Tel: 01328730140
Jonathan Miller – M-Y Books jonathan@m-ybooks.co.uk Tel: 01992 586279
Link to publications on Amazon Trevor Leggett Books
Trevor Leggett – Additional Biographical details
Trevor Leggett was a translator and author of some thirty books on Yoga, Zen, Judo and Shogi. He was 6th Dan in Judo from the Kodokan, Tokyo and 5th Dan in Shogi, Japanese chess. He studied Judo and Zen in Japan and was attached to the British Embassy in Tokyo at the outbreak of the Second World War when he experienced a period of internment. After repatriation he was based in India involved in Intelligence work. After the War he became head of the BBC Japanese service until his retirement in 1970 and was one of the leading Judo instructors in the UK. In 1984 he was awarded the Third Degree of the Order of the Sacred Treasure, by the Emperor of Japan, in recognition of his services to cross-cultural relations between East and West, through broadcasting, translations and other books, and through active introduction of aspects of Japanese culture to the West. There are eight degrees of this Order, from the First down, and this is the Third Grade, which is in practice the highest a private individual can get.
.Detailed information of re-publications
(i) ‘Encounters in Yoga and Zen’ and ‘Lotus Lake Dragon Pool’ by Trevor Leggett
– new Audio Book, Ebook and Paperback Editions
New editions of Trevor Leggett’s two books of teaching stories taken from the Yoga and Zen traditions ‘Encounters in Yoga and Zen’ and ‘Lotus Lake Dragon Pool’ will be available from 28th June 2017. They are not only available to the public again as paperbacks but now also in the form of Ebooks, produced for TLAYT by M-Y Books Ltd, and as high quality Audio books produced for TLAYT by Loftus Media.
These books contain a fascinating selection from the many traditional Japanese and Indian stories used by teachers in the Eastern spiritual schools to assist students in their training. Just as flint and steel are used to make fire, so the stories can be used to create sparks in the reader’s mind which can, with care and attention, be nurtured into the strong light of realisation.
Trevor Leggett spent many years training in Yoga and Zen and collected stories from a variety of sources: conversations with teachers, reminiscences in temple magazines of teachers of the past, folk tales used to make a training point, and personal experiences of training.
The stories often relate to incidents from ordinary life: a monk in a temple attacking another and how the abbot reacts; what an Indian judge, a yogin, says to a thief who pleads that what he did was the will of God; a magnificent new alter cloth is donated but never used; or an enthusiast for service sweeps the garden noisily in the early morning while others are asleep in bed. These are incidents round which a student’s doubts or resentment are likely to crystallize, and knowledge of them forms an important part of the background of a tradition. The aim of the stories is to find realisation and inspiration in daily life. They are ordinary, but the traditional presentation catches at the heart of an attentive reader and reveals something of the inner lines of the currents of life.
The Ebooks and Paperbacks contain the pictures specially brushed by the late Jacques Allais in the Suiboku style which is eighty percent suggestion. This style gives a hint for the focusing of meditation practice and thus provides a perfect complement to Trevor Leggett’s text.
The audio books include music which was composed and performed by Peter Anthony Monk especially for these audio books. A short talk on the music will be given by Peter Monk at the launch event on 28th June 20i7
(ii) ‘The Complete Commentary by Sankara on the Yoga Sutra-s’ –
Technically, Sankara’s Vivarana is a sub-commentary to Vyasa-bhasya on the Yoga-sutra-s of Patanjali’ translated and with an introduction by Trevor Leggett – and now including a new Foreword by Dr Kengo Harimoto of Mahidol University, Thailand and a section on ‘How to use this book for Yoga practice’ produced by the author but not previously published.There are differing academic views on the authenticity of the Vivarana as a work by Sankara and the author considers this question in his Introduction saying that present indications are that it is likely to be authentic, which would date it to about AD 700.
In this book, the translation of the Patanjali Yoga Sutras are accompanied by Vyasa’s commentary and by the Sankara Vivarana commentary to allow full textual and philosophical comparison.
The Vivarana by Sankara, written with great originality and confidence, is a sub-commentary to the terse exposition of Patanjali by Vyasa, the earliest surviving classic of the Yoga school.That school differs from Sankara’s Vedanta on several philosophical points, but Sankara regarded it as authoritative on meditation practice, which is central to both schools. For example, the long commentary by Sankara on God completely jettisons the narrow sutra definition in favour of a supreme Creator. Many passages show that the author of the Vivarana was an expert in the Yoga techniques, as the necessary means to Knowledge- Illumination.
These audio books and Ebooks are available online from Amazon, Audible and a wide range of other online outlets. Anyone having any difficulty obtaining them, should contact M-Y Books Ltd ( see contact details above). The print on demand paperbacks are available from bookshops and online retailers such as Amazon and direct from
M-Y Books Ltd.
Availability of Some Other Books by Trevor Leggett
A limited number of the following hardback and soft back books are being offered for sale from the TLAYT archive through M-Y Books Ltd
‘Jewels from the Indranet’ (softback)
This is Trevor Leggett’s last book, completed but unpublished at the time of his death. The title refers to the fabled net of the god Indra of which the strands have a jewel of truth at each junction. The jewels reflect each other so that each one has deeper and deeper meanings in it. The pieces on Eastern methods of inner training and realisation are not intended as theoretical instruction or entertainment but they all point to actual practice in life and hint at deeper practice.
‘The Old Zen Master’(softback)
Contains stories related not only to Buddhism, but to other religions, as well as to the martial arts, music, chess and incidents in ordinary life. Trevor Leggett said ‘I am trying to give a few hints which have helped me and can be of help to others’. This book is ideal for those who know nothing of Zen and also for long term practitioners where a new slant, a new angle, or a new illustration- especially if it is an unexpected one- can be a help in absorbing practice, study and devotion.
‘Realisation of the Supreme Self’ (Hardback)
A highly significant book by Trevor Leggett which presents the Bhagavad Gita as a training manual for Spiritual Practice and not only as a text of Revelation and Worship. The book presents the Yoga of the Gita in the light of the explanations by Sankara, the great seventh century Indian philosopher and of the late Hari Prasad Shastri, Trevor Leggett’s teacher, who taught in Britain from 1929 until his death in 1956.
‘The Complete Commentary by Sankara on the Yoga Sutras’ ( Hardback)
The above four books are available through M-Y Books Ltd. For further information contact Jonathan Miller ( see details above)
Book Launch
Date 28th June 2017
Location The Buddhist Society
58 Eccleston Square,
London SW1V 1PH
Time 18.30 – 20.30
Everyone welcome
TREVOR LEGGETT ADHYATMA YOGA TRUST
(Registered Charity No: 1086172)