Hatha Yoga
“Time was when I despised the body; but then I saw the
God within.
The body, I realized, is the Lord’s temple; And so I began
preserving it with care infinite.”
Bhogar, 17^th Century Adept
Hatha Yoga also
called hatha-vidya (science of hatha) is the
term applied to the vast body of doctrines and practices
developed as a means to prepare the body for the rigors of
transcendental realization. The word “hatha” which literally
means “forceful” focuses on purification of the body as a
path that leads to purification of the mind. The word hatha
also has a deeper, esoteric significance. The first sylable
“ha” refers to surya (sun) and the
second sylable “tha” refers to chandra
(moon). Hatha yoga is the union of these two principles,
balancing the heating energy of the sun, with the cooling
energy of the moon.
The historical roots of Hatha Yoga are varied but are
connected to the pan-Indian Tantric movement which centers
around the idea of Shakti, the feminine principle of cosmic
existence. Tantrism affirms the body as the
temple of the Divine and an immensely valuable instrument
for reaching liberation.
Hatha Yoga was first introduced in a text called the
Yoga Yajnavalkya, written approximately 200 A.D. The
early proponents of Hatha Yoga were quite familiar with
principles of Ayurveda and they described the healing
benefits of Hatha Yoga practices in Ayurvedic terms. The
Yoga Yajnavalkya explains:
“All internal diseases and toxins are destroyed by the
practice of asana, yama and niyama” and that
pranayama (breath practices) are said to
destroy diseases in all three doshas
(psycho-physical body constitutions).
The Yoga
Yajnavalkya became the forerunner of the Hatha Yoga
Pradipika, a classic Sanskrit manual that sought to
integrate the physical disciplines with the higher spiritual
goals of Raja Yoga (Patanjali’s eight limbed
system of mind mastery). Written sometime between the 6th
and 15th century by Swami Swamarama, a student
of Goraknath, the Hatha Yoga Pradipika defines
the fundamental techniques for attaining liberation through
the physical practices of Hatha Yoga. Goraknath is best
known as the “father” of Hatha Yoga and a disciple of the
great Seer Matsyendranath founder of the
Yogini branch of the Kaula school of Tantrism. By the 1500
A.D. the 7-limbed Hatha Yoga System was formed.
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