Nath Alchemy: A Practical Application

Sri Vijayanath

The intent of this treatise is to elucidate some ways in which our Sadhana becomes a practical alchemical solvent to everyday life and its mundane circumstances. If you are interested in transforming the base elements of your life experience into spiritual “gold,” please read on.

Throughout the human lifespan, an individual will experience many things—ups, downs, gain, loss, happiness, grief, pain, joy—the full range and spectrum of life happenings and the fructification of karmas: good, bad, and sometimes ugly.

Whether willfully chosen or by karmic consequence, we can be assured that some experiences of our life circumstances will be challenging, often on multiple levels and layers at once. The physical, energetic, mental, emotional, and spiritual layers of experience can all be activated—either partially or entirely—at the same time. In extremes, the “perfect storm” or personal crisis is typically a buildup of these elements.

The degree of challenge in any particular situation largely depends on how we frame it or the lens through which we view it. For example, do we perceive the glass as half full or half empty? Or do we even acknowledge the glass’s existence? These are crucial distinctions. The other critical aspect is how we choose to handle it—what actions we take in response. How we frame any circumstance is our choice, and for some, this framing occurs subconsciously. Challenges are often important tests and can be opportunities to get creative in our problem-solving if we can see them as such. More on that later.

One may address some pressing issues through physical, energetic, or emotional means. Additionally, mental processes can aid in determining appropriate responses and actions. Yet it is often said that all ailments have spiritual roots. This implies a solution of a distinctly spiritual sort, going beyond the body-mind. While a stubbed toe might not seem directly related to spiritual causes, it can still be linked to awareness—or lack thereof—and potentially lead to ongoing pain.

More complex, long-term difficulties often stem from conditioned modes of thinking and acting, as well as a failure to fully understand the involvement of the kleshas in our environment. These may also arise from some form of trauma. What often follows is a failure to fully digest our experience or series of experiences that have caused us to figuratively “stub our toe.” This often results in a persistent knot of some sort, reappearing along the arc of our experience, often at times that seem inconvenient or incongruent.

If left unchecked, these knots can create blind spots in our awareness. These blind spots become “skeletons” in our closet, causing unexpected turmoil and distracting us from present-moment awareness. If personal issues have ever prevented you from focusing during meditation, making it difficult to go deeper, you understand what I’m referring to and could benefit from this method.

While this may sound a bit like a pitch for a psychology study, the treatment for the problem is elevated to an entirely different level if we engage it in the process of sadhana (spiritual practice).

The good news is that it does not matter what form the trauma or difficulties have taken. These knots are restrictions formed by our experiences and coping responses, representing awareness that is trapped or preoccupied with the specifics of our experience: roles played or not, perceived causes or effects, involved agents, and so on. This has a hampering and dulling effect on the mind and energy, often causing one’s mental power to be trapped, diverted, and dispersed. If not unraveled, more severe neuroses may take root.

While intellectual analysis can provide clarity and contribute to our ongoing understanding, it may not fully help in digesting and integrating the experience itself or eliminating residual samskaras (thought impressions that influence behavior).

Tantrik sadhana may or may not involve physical aspects and methods, as it primarily focuses on strengthening and refining the power of the mind. Coupling mental and physical exertions can amplify results. As Dadaji points out in Ainigmatikos, “The real key to the human body is the potential of the mind.”

To access this mental potential, one must increase the strength and capacity of mental focus through regular effort. Over time, this generates a type of “heat” within the practitioner. This action, known as tapasya (which means “heat” and refers to its purifying effect), begins to burn off impurities. This “burning-off” often brings subconscious impressions, memories, and sometimes nonsensical thought-forms to the surface of the mind before they are incinerated. Such “heat” is metaphorically linked to the practice of Dhuni, where intention, mantra, objects, and substances are offered to be consumed and transformed by fire. It is this burning-off process that must be continued if we are to succeed in completing our yoga and transcending the mind itself. The mental “material” must be transmuted, just as the wood and physical offerings given to the flames of the Dhuni are transformed into coals, embers, and finally ash.

The finer points of successfully digesting and transmuting base experience into spiritual “gold” begin with accessing one’s own memory. This is a willfully chosen memory related to any particular issue or circumstance that has occurred at any point in time. It is not a random memory generated by the action of tapasya as mentioned above, although the process itself is similar.

Once the memory is chosen—regardless of its connection to any knot, restriction, or distracting pattern—one begins the Ritual Formulae (sadhana). This should help purify the mind of the sadhak (practitioner of sadhana), who should then, to the best of their ability, exalt the Zonule or chakra they occupy with one hundred percent of their focus, energy, and psychic influence.

When one has sufficiently stoked the energy in the space with mantra power and mental presence, this “alchemical chamber” is ready to receive the “base material.”

When the appropriate time in the ritual arrives, the sadhak accesses the previously selected memory and holds it in the mind while continuing to recite a mantra within the prescribed ritual. The memory is held, replayed, and abstractly relived for the duration of a particular mantra. This can go on as long as one needs, offering the memory into the focused heat of the practice itself. There are various mantras that are more or less effective for this purpose, so it’s recommended to consult your guide within the order if you have questions.

One will notice that the chosen memory becomes more difficult to hold in the mind as this progresses. When its last fleeting images have evaporated, the practitioner releases any mental hold or attachment to the memory and any connected experience, offering it completely to the literal or figurative “flames.” The sadhak then continues with the remaining ritual, further exalting the space to the magnitude of their ability until the entirety of the prescribed ritual is complete. It is most valuable to bask in the wyrdglow of this “space” in meditation for some time afterward, if possible. When all is complete, the Zonule is formally closed.

Releasing these knots frees up awareness that was previously tied to memory impressions, allowing it to merge with the bliss of divine exaltation in your Zonule or Chakra. Absorb and worship it as such, welcoming it through the bindu confluence of will, knowledge, and action.

In this way, the sadhak is freed from the potential burden of various mundane experiences and can use them practically as “grist for the mill” of their spiritual becoming. This technique can be applied as needed or desired to create a new “framing” of potential for any circumstance. It empowers the continuous opportunity to process one’s life experience to new levels toward further awakening. Thus continues the magickal creation of an enchanted life capable of expressing true peace, freedom, and happiness. Rinse and repeat as needed.

Of course, this is only one possible purpose or intent of our ritual work. A Nath will sit on the Dragon Seat for many different reasons. Perhaps this is the first of several such writings on similar topics.

If you seek more formal instruction and support in this process or wish to experience release from your own bound-up patterns, consider attending The International Nath Order Mela this year. Though some may see similarities to last year’s workings, this is different. During this time, we will be engaging this particular method of Nath Alchemy to support your individual journey of transformation, as well as the illumination of the Kula In-Group itself.

Nath Alchemy – A Practical Application: Summary Notation