{"product_id":"the-circle-of-fire-isbn-9781556436703","title":"The Circle of Fire","description":"\u003ci\u003eThe Circle of Fire\u003c\/i\u003e examines the eternal metaphysical questions “What is God?” and “What is the purpose of life?” The book discusses the answers to these questions given by Western science and different schools of Indian thought, specifically detailing the answers to be found in India's two most developed atheistic traditions, Hinduism and Buddhism.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eRepresentative of a generation of Indians who have grown up with the best in scientific education and spiritual values, author P.J. Mazumdar takes a hard look at religion, science, and how two seemingly divergent bodies of knowledge can be brought together. Like Deepak Chopra a generation earlier, Mazumdar is both a medical doctor \u003ci\u003eand\u003c\/i\u003e a member of a family steeped in Hindu tradition, and is therefore well-placed to elucidate ancient Indian philosophy to the modern analytical mind. Acknowledging the metaphysical insights to be found in both Western science and Eastern spirituality, Mazumdar pays special attention to the highest school of philosophy of Hinduism, Advaita, and its application to practical spirituality through the teachings and practice of Yoga.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe book takes its structure from the Vedas, and is similarly divided into Jnanakanda (Knowledge) and Karmakanda (Actions); the first part examines the body of knowledge from European and Indian sources addressing the question of God and the second part looks at practical ways of applying this knowledge through different schools of Hindu and Buddhist philosophy. The book explores the purest form of nondual Hindu philosophy, Advaita, and points out how the theories underpinning Buddhism and Advaita, although they appear to contradict each other, are the only theories that remain consistent with the findings of modern science. The author makes the brave assertion that ultimately one or the other will be the theory realized by science as the ultimate metaphysical truth.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLike other books on the meeting of science and spirituality (Fritzjof Capra's 80s classic \u003ci\u003eThe Tao of Physics\u003c\/i\u003e) and the necessity of a scientifically compatible notion of God (Richard Dawkin's \u003ci\u003eThe God Delusion\u003c\/i\u003e), \u003ci\u003eThe Circle of Fire\u003c\/i\u003e is ambitious in scope and a challenging, rewarding read.\"This superb book tackles the difficult questions contained in the metaphysics of Yoga with great clarity, so that to-day's educated  laymen, eager to understand these great truths, will find it  comparatively easy to comprehend them. P.J. Mazumdar is a distinguished Indian surgeon, and is thus able to  bring, through his knowledge of modern science, the necessary lucidity   to  find the satisfactory congruence with  contemporary knowledge and  the ancient hallowed teachings of Advaita Vedanta and Non-Dualism.… I am confident that this book will serve as an indispensible guide  for all those earnest readers keen to follow and understand  the  essential wisdom of the major Upanashadic Truths, still applicable more  than ever for the modern man and woman.\"\u003cbr\u003e —Alan Jacobs , President of the Ramana Maharshi Foundation UKP.J. Mazumdar holds an MBBS and MS from Guwahati Medical College in Assam, northeastern India. He works as an ENT surgeon and has published his poetry in India, the UK, and the US.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHe is a member of the Assamese community of the northeastern part of India. Originally from Hajo, a town centered on the famous Hayagrib Madhob temple of which his family has been part of the traditional administrators, he has been brought up in the rich traditions of Hinduism.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMazumdar's influences include the saints Sankardeva of Assam and Ramakrishna Paramahamsa of Bengal, whose syncretic teachings combine the unbending rationalism of Advaita philosophy with the devotion of the Bhakti tradition.","brand":"North Atlantic Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46304430653669,"sku":"NP9781556436703","price":22.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9781556436703.jpg?v=1767738693","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/es\/products\/the-circle-of-fire-isbn-9781556436703","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}