The book appeared first in 1934 under the title Consideraciones espirituales and later (in 1939) received its definitive title, after being greatly expanded. Over the years, more than four and a half million copies have been sold, in 43 different languages. This is one of the main attractions of the book-its direct, conversational style, its personal and deeply human character. As a reviewer in Osservatore Romano (March 24, 1950) put it: "Msgr. Escriva de Balaguer has written something more than a masterpiece; he has written straight from the heart, and straight to the heart go the short paragraphs which make up The Way."(from the author's preface:) "Read these counsels slowly. Pause to meditate on these thoughts. They are things that I whisper in your ear-confiding them-as a friend, as a brother, as a father. And they are being heard by God. I won't tell you anything new. I will only stir your memory, so that some thought will arise and strike you; and so you will better your life and set out along ways of prayer and of Love. And in the end you will be a more worthy soul."

    He finally finds the peace and tranquility which come with self-knowledge when he meets and studies with the great sage Sri Ramana Maharishi.

    The human being is essentially and inherently divine. The soul is the means whereby humanity evolves a consciousness of divinity, redeems gross matter and liberates the pure flame of spirit. This work talks about White Magic.

    Krishnamacharya’s wife once mentioned that her husband wrote the entire book in three nights! Despite that, the Yoga Makaranda is a very interesting and informative text on hatha yoga. If there was anyone who could write with authority on this subject, it was Krishnamacharya. In the introduction to the Yoga Makaranda, he lists twenty-seven yoga texts–apart from his own personal study and experience–as references. Some of the listed texts are standard works on yoga, like the Hatha Yoga Pradipika, Gheranda Samhita, and the Yoga Upanishads. A few are no longer in common knowledge; they are perhaps lost or exist only in manuscript somewhere.The Yoga Makaranda applauds the virtues of yoga, embellishes its benefits, and enjoins all to practice it. When I read this text many years after it was written, I was reminded of how Krishnamacharya had striven hard for som many decades to disseminate the teachings of yoga and of the difficulties he faced. His teachings were to benefit millions, yet the book is one more example of how he struggled to spread these teachings. He was a visionary with a message that was yet to see its time.The Yoga Makaranda covers the nadis, chakras, prana, mudras, and bandhas. It also explains all the kriyas, or cleansing techniques, though Krishnamacharya did not instruct his students to practice them. The eight limbs of yoga are listed, summarized, and then taken up for discussion in the order of the Yoga Sutras, starting from the yamas and niyamas. Approximately a third of the book consists of asanas. Forty-two asanas are described–with instructions on their method of practice, with breathing and vinyasa–and accompanied by photographs.The detailed explanation of the eight limbs ends with the third limb, asana. The 1934 Yoga Makaranda is only the first part of the work; the second part has not been published.

    St. Thomas has fear neither for logic nor for mystery. Indeed, logical lucidity leads him to see in nature those mysteries that speak in their own particular ways of the Creator. Likewise, this same lucidity aids him in putting into strong relief other secrets of a far superior order—those of grace and of the intimate life of God, which would remain unknown were it not for Divine Revelation.