|
|
| Gorakhnath is
the traditional author of the first treatise on Hatha Yoga, now lost, and
is  called
the founder of Hatha Yoga. Various texts are attributed to him, which are
all expositions of the practices and mystic doctrines of Hatha Yoga. The
most important are the Siddhasiddhanta-paddhati and Goraksa-sataka written
in Sanskrit and the Sabadi and Gorakhbodh written in old Hindi.
The Siddhasiddhanta-paddhati covers the theory of the anatomy of the subtle
body and draws a series of correspondences between the universe as macrocosm
and the body as microcosm. The Goraksa-sataka, Hundred Verses of Goraksa
(Goraksanatha is a Sanskrit form of Gorakhnath), is a basic Hatha Yoga text
and describes the six 'limbs' of yoga: asana (postures), pranayama (control
of the breath), pratyahara ( sense withdrawal), dharana (concentration),
dhyana (meditation), and samadhi (cosmic consciousness). This excluded the
two limbs of yama (restraints), and niyama (disciplines), in the Patanjali
yoga system. The yogic process of making the body perfect is kaya-sadhana,
the cultivation of the body through yoga.
The sun in the yogic texts represents the element of change and destruction
and the moon represents the element of creation and preservation. There
are 72,000 nadis, channels in the subtle body, for prana, life energy, to
flow. The main one is sushumna in the centre of the spinal column, with
two major nadis parallel to the spinal column, ida, left, and pingala, right,
which start at the respective nostrils. The left nostril is the moon and
the right nostril is the sun. It is by balancing the ida and pingala that
Hatha Yoga, which is union of ha (sun), and tha, moon, takes place by the
passing of the kundalini, the coiled serpent energy at the base of the spine,
up the sushumna. The moon is associated with Shiva, which is the part of
the body above the navel, and the sun is associated with Shakti, which is
the part of the body below the navel.
Yoga raises the Shakti from the lowest region of change to the head, the
highest region of rest, to unite with Shiva. Shakti as kundalini raises
through nine chakras, lotuses or wheels, which are energy vortices of the
subtle body, from the Muladhara cakra, the lowest earth chakra, via the
sushumna to the Sahasrara cakra in the head, the thousand-petalled lotus
(the Goraksa-sataka mentions seven chakras). There are practices to open
the bandhas, locks, to release the kundalini. This union produces the siddhis,
supernatural powers, and attainment of anaman, 'nameless,' meaning supreme
reality. The yogin is equal to Shiva after twelve years of practice.
The most important of the yogic practices is khecari mudra when the tongue
is turned backwards into the hollow above. This seals the tenth door of
the body and prevents amrita, soma or nectar, flowing from the moon in the
Sahasrara cakra to be burnt up by the sun below. This amrita is the quintessence
of the visible body and flows down a curved duct called the banka nala.
The khecari mudra enables the yogin to drink the amrita, and by this he
becomes immortal.
Top
|
