Articles

Master – disciple relations

I permit to myself some personal thoughts on the most important, in my opinion, relations, without which any spiritual practice is impossible. There is one general opinion – if you have Guru, you have nothing to worry about. But that is true only in case disciple is devoted to his Guru to such extent that he is absolutely convinced he will reach the desired aim with the help of Guru.

Asana as the place for sitting

These asanas [as seats] play a fundamental role in any yogic practice, both in Hatha Yoga and in mantra practice. Asanas are required in pranayama because they eliminate the destructive effect of gravity on prana. Energy and consciousness are interrelated, during the practice of pranayama, till a certain stage, changes occur in the consciousness of practitioner. The mind becomes calmer, however, even with some certain changes nadi are not always completely purified, therefore, the gravitational field of the Earth affects such "drawbacks".

Utsaha

Zeal (utsaha) is certainty, intelligence, knowledge of reality, knowledge of the meaning, the rejection of the idle talk – these six steps lead to the improvement of yoga. Diligence is an effort to improve the quality of your apprenticeship, but at the same time, diligence and focusing on the practice, does not mean the pursuing the experience and knowledge. Diligence is a very quiet and continuous effort in all actions related to the sadhana. You need the quiet force to avoid rollback in practice. The experience shows that people who do systematic efforts according to their abilities show the best results.

Bhakti

One of the most important things in the Natha tradition is stability. Bhakti (devotion) is expressed in stability; bhakti happens when we sacrifice ourselves, our body, our breathing and our mind to Alakh Niranjan. Alakh Niranjan is manifested in us, as well as in a Guru. Stable adherence to a Guru, stable asana, stable breathing and stable consciousness, rooted in God – these things are important for the yoga adept.

Gorakshanath

Gorakshanath is a certain tattva (essence), it represents the state of yogic perfection, and it’s in us. The aim of the worship of Gorakshanath is to feel his perfect condition in yourself. Gorakshanath means "the one who controls the senses". For this reason, we consider him as a protector of yogic way and followers of any dharma, also Gorakshanath is the patron of the Dharma. Gorakshanath is the symbol of Shunya (emptiness) therefore few people can feel him.

Prana and pranayama

Prana is usually associated with consciousness, and with his work. Also prana is associated with breathing, but prana means "vital energy", and it especially manifests itself in breathing, because breathing is important function in our organism. But all other processes in the body such as metabolism, digestion, temperature, operation of the nervous system, reproductive, circulatory, muscular and other depend on prana. If you slow down some functions, the prana spent on their activity is preserved and resource of prana becomes bigger. As you can see, the control of prana may not necessarily is connected with breathing, but control through the breath is one of the most effective methods.

Interview de Yogi Matsyendranath Maharaj (Infos Yoga №96 mars/avril 2014, Tara Michaël)

Le YOGI MATSYENDRANATH MAHARAJ, representant de la tradition initiatique du Natha sampradaya, a recu la diksha de darshani en Inde a Gorakhpur de Guru Shri Mithleshnath Maharaj dans la lignee Dharmanathi, et il est habilite par son Guru a en transmettre les enseignements.

Entretien avec un Nâtha Yogî traditionnel (Infos Yoga №91 mars/avril 2013, Tara Michaël)

Notre Tradition représente une révélation particulière de la Divinité sous son aspect d'Îshvara ou Shiva, nommé Âdi-nâtha, le Maître des origines, fondée par Matsyendra-nâtha, Goraksha-nâtha, et sa ligne de transmission spirituelle, vers le VIIe siècle en Inde. Cette tradition est célèbre par sa pratique du Hatha-yoga.

The worship of the Goddess Tripura Sundari ("Adesh", summer 2014)

Nowadays one of the most large-scaled current venerating the Mother Goddess in India is the cult of the Goddess Tripurasundari.

The name «Lalita Tipurasunadari» is translated as «one who has the nature of a play» (leela or vilasa), also «splendid in the three worlds». She liberates from these 3 worlds or bestow jivanmukti in them. Ususally she has the forms of Bala of 8 years old, Panchadashi of 15 years old, then of the age 16 and 28 years. There are some definite mantras for every age with the corresponding amount of bijas.

Vamachara ("Adesh", summer 2014)

In Hinduism vāmāchāra is considered to be a closed form of worship. It is closed for many reasons, three of them, the most significant, are listed below.

Vāmāchāra uses “impure” (as considered by the orthodox Hindu religion) elements as offerings to deities. A closed system of practice, that is closed, should not be transmitted to those individuals whom Guru considers as morally unscrupulous, able to use these practices to harm themselves and others. Vāma-Mārga practices should not be disclosed to those individuals who have no proper dikshā and blessings from their Guru, it is a secret associated with dikshâ.

About human body

In the Nath Tradition body is denoted by the term of Pinda, meaning "collection, total amount" in Sanskrit. According to Nathas, Pinda reflects the universe in itself ‒ all existing worlds (lokas), Deities, sacred places and even hells. Thus, cognizing this micro-universe in own body, Nath comes to the comprehension of the whole creation.

The body of human being consists of Gross body (Sthula sharira), Subtle body (Sukshma sharira) and Causal body (Karana sharira).