Shiva Dancing at King Arthur’s Court

By Bernie Clark, January 13th, 2014

What Yoga Stories and Western Myths Tell Us About Ourselves

The original title for this book was From the Gita to the Grail. However, when our publisher decided to bring out a soft cover version of the book, they decided the name Shiva Dancing at King Arthur’s Court would be more appropriate. Thus, the book had a name change, but everything inside the book remains the same! The same stories and journey through the myths of yoga and the myths of the West than so many people grew up with.

1. FAQs and Questions & Answers
2. From the Back Cover
3. Bernie Discussing the Book
4. Reviews
5. Where to find a copy
6. The Table of Contents
7. Selected Excerpts & Readings

FAQs and Questions & Answers

1. What are the key points that the book is trying to get across to readers?
   1. It is important to realize that our ideas, our theories, our ways of looking at life, our philosophy and our stories are maps. They are all representations of reality, not reality itself. The point of a map is to be useful, not to be “truth.” The stories and myths shared in this book are likewise maps: do not see them as truths that are correct for all time and for everybody. Rather, see them as either useful, or not useful. If a map is not useful for whatever intention you have, find another one that is.
   2. The stories and myths that Westerners grew up with are very different maps than those found and used in the East. Stories East and West may use similar sounding words, but their meanings can be drastically different. This creates confusion and misunderstand: when people in the East state that one must kill the ego in order to experience liberation and true freedom, they are not talking about the same ego that we in West know. Same word: very different meaning. Very different map.
   3. There is a great divide between the dualistic concept of creation which is the base map underlying all Western Religions and the non-dualistic concept of creation found in the East. These religions objectives lead to very different goals: in the West, because we know that we are not divine, we are not God, our religious goal is to come into a relationship with the divine creator of everything. In the East, where the philosophy is based upon the realization that all things are divine, the goal is to realize our identity as the creator of all things.
   4. The maps of time, East and West, are also quite different. In the West we use a linear map – time flows from one point where it began and it will culminate at the end of days in the final point, where time will stop. In the East, the stories point to a circular nature for time: time flows in never-ending, always repeating cycles: the universe has existed before and will exist again. This incarnation is just one of many that we have experienced and will experience over and over again.
   5. Understanding the nature and sources of your base maps, your stories and myths will answer the fundamental question about your purpose: What is the reason you are here? Is it to atone for the sins of someone who lived long ago (Adam)? Or is it to undo the damage that you did yourself in a past life; to remove the stains of prior karma, as taught by the myths of the Indian Jains? Or are you here to fear God, or act as His servant, like the Old Testament’s Job? Do you obey your god, like Arjuna in the Bhagavad Gita, or find your own path like Prometheus, the Greek Titan who defied his god? Maybe, like the medieval knight errant Parzival, you are here to become whole, and this journey is your unique journey, unlike anyone else’s who ever lived?
   6. The role of women has evolved, especially in recent history, but what is the proper role of women today? Why is Romantic Love unique to the West: the story of Tristan and Isolde is so different from the story of Radha and Krishna. Does the subservience of Sita, Rama’s devoted wife, serve women today, or is the proper role for women today not found at all in the old stories East or West? Myths evolve and change as the need for them change: the myth today of Princess Atalanta is nothing like the ancient Greek version. Today, women are approaching equality to men, but the work is not quite done: we still need better stories to teach us.
   7. Myths serve four great functions, according to Joseph Campbell: they tell us how we came to be, our grand origins: the cosmological function. They tell us how to act, what role we should take on in life: the sociological function. They tell us how to deal with the passages of life, from infancy and dependency to adult responsibility and old age, and through that grey gate at the end of life called death: the psychological function. And myths explain the mystery of life, telling us why we are here: the mystical function. Each function is served by our stories, but we need lots of stories to completely create the mythos of our age. Do you know which stories form your base maps, the maps by which you live your life? This book may help you understand yourself and why you believe and do the things you do.
2. What is the point of this book?
   • The purpose of Shiva Dancing at King Arthur’s Court is to make us aware of the grand functions of our myths, of our stories, and to test out which ones still resonate today, and which ones no longer work and don’t serve us very well; for these are the ones we should drop and replace with better ones. But until we understand how stories move us and which ones shaped us, we can’t really decide to change them or not. Will the Eastern stories work better? Maybe. Some will, but others definitely will not. This book shines the light of awareness deep into the part of our psyche where these stories lie and allows us to choose to either keep these stories, if they work, or find better ones, to help us live the life we intend to live.
3. How do I read this book? It is so big and intimidating.
   • There are three ways you can approach Shiva Dancing at King Arthur’s Court: you can read it all from cover to cover, like a textbook. The serious student of yoga is advised to do just that: study the book to understand the vast history and meaning of Yoga and Western spiritual practice. Or, you can scan the Table of Contents and pick a theme that interests you today. Enjoy the chapters like enjoying inviting foods from a great buffet table. The final option: open the book at random and soak in the first story you find. Do this every day for a few months and you will have gained a deep understanding of the point and purpose of the stories that have formed your life’s base map.

Return to Top of Page

From the Back Cover:

What is the meaning of Shiva dancing on a dwarf named Avidya? Why does Vishnu sleep upon an endless snake? To what did the Buddha awaken? What do we mean by soul? Is the emotion of love different in the East from that experienced in the West? Did the West’s prototypical lovers, Tristan and Isolde, feel the same kind of rapture that Radha and Krishna reveled in? And, what are the proper roles for women today, according to the stories found East and West?

Despite the popularity of Yoga, the stories from its land of birth are very strange to Western ears. What do these ancient symbols mean, what are they trying to teach us, and how should we incorporate this knowledge into our Western lifestyle? Every myth is a map to some deep cultural and personal landscape. By looking at the myths of the East along with the stories that people in the West grew up with, we are given opportunities to select the best maps available, or to create new ones to help guide us through the uncertainties of modern living. By exploring myths East and West, this book shines a light on the landscapes within, and allows us to choose the appropriate map we want to follow.

Return to Top of Page

Where to find a copy of the book?

Table of Contents

Return to Top of Page

Excerpts and Selected Readings

You will find in this section a series of excerpts from the book. It starts, naturally enough, with the beginning of all things. Look for future excerpts, which will appear here.

1. In the Beginning Was the Self
2. Understanding the Symbols Found in Yoga Myths
3. Om in Four Syllable
4. The Heroes of Yoga: the Rishis and the Story of Vikra
5. The Demands of Dharma

Return to Top of Page