where are all the yogic meditation books?

At my recent yoga workshop, I had a shining, single second of, I don’t know, a silent mind, maybe?  It was in corpse after a deeply enjoyable primary, and here comes this incredibly brief, incredibly lovely second or two, surprising the heck out of me, and goddamn it, I want another. I’m serious.  It was all the cliches, the clouds parted, everything was clear and beautiful, and then it was over, but that was fine.  I could feel my brain reorienting around it.  “Oh!” said my brain. “That’s what all the meditation fuss is about!”  It was just really, really…quiet.  Honestly, I wouldn’t have thought quiet would be such a good thing, liking my inner chatter as I do (what can I say, I’m a novelist, I find myself very entertaining), but it was.  A good thing.  And, surprise again, said silence (like all magical spaces, it was much larger on the inside then it was from the outside) did not preclude writing.  That is, I think I could have more of that quiet and still be a writer.  Something I hadn’t realized I was worried about until I realized I didn’t need to be worried, but there you go.  And anyway, I want more.  Did I mention that I want more?

(I know, grasping, attachment, I’m already fucked, right?)

David Williams, who was leading the primary, had simply suggested counting the inhalations in corpse, not changing them, merely counting, and then sort of hearing an OM on the exhalations.  Okay, says I, I’ll give it a go.

Of course, I could not get past ONE.  Maybe I could get halfway into TWO and then I would go, “Oh, was that a thought?  Well, even if it wasn’t, asking the question was, so…Doh.”  Back to ONE.  But for whatever reason, right in the middle, I went right up to SIX and POW.  Clouds parting, yada yada, you get the idea.

So, I think to myself (because it becomes increasingly clear how much I think to myself) let’s find out more about this not thinking stuff.  I’ve got a few mediation books on my shelves, I saunter over, but hey, all of these are Buddhist.  Vipassana.  All of that.  Which is fine, but I’m all into yoga, and yoga is about meditation, so I figure, heck, let’s see what the Yogic Meditation books are like.  Time for some amazon!

A half hour later, I am baffled.  Where are they?  There are a couple of wimpy entries, but I’m coming up with almost nothing.  There are LOADS of modern Buddhist folk demystifying and exploring Buddhist meditation, yay for them, but where are all the yogis?  Put in yoga, you get asana.  Put in meditation, you get Buddhism.  Put in both and you get a bunch of cross over books:  Buddhist Yogis!  Buddhist interpretations of Patanjali!  Yoga Body, Buddhist Mind!

Huh.

Are yogis just not writing books?  Is Buddhism hip in the publishing world but yoga is asana so no-go say the publishing houses to yogic meditation?  Am I inputting the wrong keywords? Wtf?

This is so…odd.

Again, I have no problem with Buddism or Buddhist based meditation, or any of that.  It just seems like, since I’m already doing the yoga thing, and yoga is meditation (it’s kind of three of the eight limbs for heaven’s sake), that there is no reason to add in a whole other religion, culture, and ancient language, right?  But where are the yogic meditation resources?

I guess I’ll stick with my little counting OM thing, okay, that’s fine, but I’m a reader.  I need books.

Maybe one of you will be able to direct me…?