In the teachings of yoga, breath is the cord that ties the soul to the body. If observing the breath is done with deep concentration, this simple technique can take us to the highest state of awareness. Paramhansa Yogananda, the father of yoga in the West, made it one of his central teachings.Jayadev Jaerschky's book, The Meditation of Yogananda, explores this technique in great depth. In Yogananda's teachings, it is called Hong-Sau after the sound made by the inner flow of prana as we inhale and exhale.The Meditation of Yogananda is a very practical guide since the value of any technique comes from its practice. Paramhansa Yogananda said amusingly, ';If you go to a doctor to cure a disease and he hands you a prescription, it does no good to take it home, frame it, and hang it on the wall.'The ';prescription' in this book comes in the form of 18 weekly lessons. If you practice these techniques, it will help cure you of the disease of ignorance.Some sage advice is that if you need to have a surgical procedure, it is best to go to a doctor who has performed thousands of them. Kriyacharya Jaerschky has given thousands of classes during his lifetime as a yoga practitioner and teacher. If you are a beginner to meditation, this book will give you all the guidance you need to establish a daily practice. If you are an experienced meditator, you will find everything you need to take you deeper in your practice. For those who follow the teachings of Yogananda, this book is filled with quotes and advice from him and from his direct disciple, Swami Kriyananda.