Book excerpt: "The book is as vital today as it was the year it was written, still unmatched for the eloquence of its recognition and celebration of this inspiration of Indian art." --From the foreword This pioneering work opened C. G. Jung's eyes to the psychological and spiritual significance of the Indian mandala, and it remains the clearest introduction to the essence of Indian art and yoga for both the specialist and general reader. Heinrich Zimmer (1890-1943) was the first to identify the radical difference between Western classical and Indian art. His revolutionary approach to understanding the stylized, often sexual, sacred symbols of India was simply to take them on their own terms as techniques of spiritual transformation.