sadhana

11.11.2022 Asanas (continued)
There are different ways of understanding the concept of asana. Much depends on the level of perception of the people who practice them, and on the goals that certain people follow. People who are more focused on the material result, even if it is associated with changes in the body, perceive work with asanas, first of all, as a physical component of our being.

Therefore, for such people, the stages of mastering yoga as a sadhana are, in general start with health exercises and a little work with energy. After a years of practice if such a person intuitively understands that he has exhausted that level of sensations, only given by the physical perception of the body and asanas, as a method, he begins to look for ways to work with consciousness. This way of practice is done rigidly delimiting the levels of perception of himself as body and consciousness.

22.01.2021 Sahaja
"Sahaja" means "essence", i.e. innate, primordial, higher nature. The practice of sahaja is the awareness of oneself as Shiva-Shakti yamala (union), without any efforts in the form of techniques or willingness to sustaine supporting states, when it is so obvious to you that you are Shiva that you do not need to prove it to yourself. Being in the state of sahaja, you don’t think or plan anything, and at the same time everything always develops in the most ideal way. Read more>>
Tags: :  hatha-yoga sahaja yoga nathas sadhana
Author: Yogi Matsyendranath Maharaj

29.12.2020 Traditional apprenticeship. Tips for students
What else is worth mentioning about the path, practice and doctrine of Nathas is that it is extremely secret. And this is not intrigue or advertisement. To make it clear: there is a chance for a few in millions to figure out what Nathas tradition is. Why do I think so? It is known that Gorakshanath was a disciple of Matsyendranath who was kaula-tantric. Kaula-tantrism is a difficult practice and doctrine has traditionally been kept secret. So, Gorakshanath took its essence from his Teacher, that means the highest that was there. The essence can’t be simpler, than that from which it is extracted. Read more>>
Tags: :  yoga sadhana forum Nathas Guru
Author: Yogi Matsyendranath Maharaj

02.07.2020 Adharas
"Adhara" means basis or foundation. In yoga esoteric aspects of the body are called adharas. Those are the points of prana transformation and areas for concentration. There are sixteen adharas. Concentration on adharas helps in the awakening of Kundalini, raising it upward, so that in the higher stage of shambhavi-mudra to redirect Kundalini inside, to connect the inner and outer lakshyas and achieve the state of vyoma. Read more>>
Tags: :  sadhana yoga nathas
Author: Yogi Matsyendranath Maharaj

15.09.2017 Kanda and its location
Many Yogic texts mention a certain area called kanda, which means "bulb" or "root", from where all body’s nadis take a flow. But since the texts sometimes contain different information about the location of kanda, confusion may arise. The reason for the misunderstanding may be that the concept of kanda is associated with tantric symbols which is not explained in the texts in details. Read more>>
Tags: :  yoga tantra sadhana kanda
Author: Lakshminath

09.09.2017 Answers about measurement and depth of breathing
Touchy questions that I am often asked on seminars, specifically about the practice of prāṇāyāma. Read more>>
Tags: :  yoga pranayama sadhana
Author: Yogi Matsyendranath Maharaj

04.09.2017 Khecarī as a mudrā, mantra and a Goddess
There are many practices and elements of one or another practice under the name of khecarī–mudrā, for the reason that in India every spiritual path introduced something of its own. For example, in Gorakh-bānī, khecarī-mudrā is one of eight mudrās Read more>>
Tags: :  yoga mantra sadhana mudra

19.01.2017 Mantra Yoga

Mantra Yoga is a method for achieving the highest goal by using mantras. Practicing Mantra Yoga, sadhaka realizes mantra that he or she receives from Guru and the mantra`s siddhi.

15.06.2016 Vedic elements in Natha’s mantras

Let’s take a closer look at the meaning of Gorakshanath gayatri-mantra.

At the beginning it says about being (existence), element सत् – sat, which is also connected with a root अस् as – to be, from which a famous term सत्त्व sattvá (essence, existence) comes from.

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.

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.

Nadi-shodhana pranayama

The nadi-shodhana practice has always been popular in tantra, also it is used in a puja. Such pranayama leads to connection between mind and prana and "Kundalini straightens". This results in that the channels are cleansed, and the circulation of prana in the channels is distributed evenly. That is the true pranayama, which makes the mind quiet and clean.

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.

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.