| Hatha
Yoga was practised for
many years as a preparation for higher states of consciousness.
Today, however, the real purpose of this great science
has been forgotten altogether. The Hatha yoga practices,
which were designed by the rishis and sages of old for
the evolution of mankind, are now being understood and
utilized in a very limited sense. Hatha yoga is a very
important science for humanity today.
As a result of Buddha’s popularity, meditation
became the main form of spiritual practice on the entire
subcontinent. However, the preparatory practices were
ignored. This important science was being ignored by
serious-minded people and being wrongly taught by others.
So they separated the ‘Hatha Yoga’ and the
‘Raja Yoga’ practices of tantra from the
rest and left out the rituals of tantra together, not
even mentioning them.
Although Buddha was a great personality, his teachings
later remained merely what we can call psychological
experiences. Therefore, it became necessary to reintroduce
a proper system of meditation. That is how the system
of hatha yoga was established.
In the Hatha Yoga Pradipika
the first thing we see is that Swatmarama does not worry
at all about self-control and self-discipline in the
form of yama and niyama. He begins by saying that you
should first purify the whole body. Therefore, shatkarma
comes first i.e. neti, dhauti, basti, kapalbhati, trataka
and nauli. Hatha yoga begins with these practices.
Hatha yoga is therefore considered
as the preliminary practice of tantra, Raja yoga, Kundalini
yoga and Kriya yoga. When the rishis discovered the
science of Hatha yoga, they did not have yoga therapy
in mind. Although yoga has proved to be very effective
in the treatment of many impossible and incurable diseases
the theraputic effect of yoga is only a by product and
incidental. If Hatha yoga is not used for this purpose,
its true objective is lost.
Hatha yoga has the concept of harmonizing
the twofold shaktis or energies in man i.e. Prana Shakti
and mental Shakti. The concept in Hatha yoga is, therefore,
to bring about a harmony between these two great forces
known as ida and pingala. In Hatha yoga, first of all
the purification of the whole bodily mechanism, the
physical complex, takes place.
Hatha yoga takes care of the body and
purify it by Shatkarma. In the process of Hatha yoga,
total training has to be imparted to every part of body.
Therefore, these six kriyas of Hatha yoga (neti,
dhauti, basti, nauli, kapalbhati and trataka) are necessary
for spiritual aspirants.
Hatha yoga is practised in order to
initiate a process in this physical body whereby the
pranic currents and mental forces which interact with
each other in the scheme of life and existence may be
transformed.
A great challenge is open to us. If matter in its ultimate
form is energy, then this physical body can be transformed
into solid energy through the systematic practice of
the six cleansing techniques of Hatha yoga. After this
, asana and pranayama should be practised
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