The Yoga Vidya of Immortality

By Shri Gurudev Mahendranath

The Story of the Adinathas

There are few people in the adult world who cannot recall their youthful dreams of a better and happier future. Throughout their lives, these dreams and hopes continue, accompanied by the vain expectation that mankind must now be ready to set itself to the paramount task of making a better world. It is only this delusion that keeps humanity going through the same never-ending ruts and frustrations—the delusion of a happier, better, and more prosperous future. Somehow, it never comes, and many today have cause to reflect that, instead of improving, things are getting worse. This, in turn, might be another delusion, but the problem persists in every age, and we seem to move toward that wonderful solution.

Most of this is actually due to another delusion: that man can convert samsara—the eternal round of the world and rebirth—into a paradise. The hopes are present in every age and every generation, but they are hopes that can never be fulfilled. At first glance, it might appear that mankind’s general delusion and hope are a good thing, enabling him not only to survive through international and national tragedies but also the humdrum events of his own life. But how can this be so when the defect never finds a solution? Nor is there hope for this attitude in the future. It all becomes a system of wrong outlook and wrong thinking. It is exploited by those in power, enabling them to retain it. Man, in fact, suffers not so much from the world itself, but from his incorrect attitude toward it. It was the Adinatha sect that plucked the gems from the eternal mine of wisdom to teach men how to live.

Much, if not most, of this material has never been presented as a collection of cult or sect ideas before. However, it is not to be regarded as something new but as a compact presentation of the original Golden Thread that, for thousands of years, has formed the warp and woof of the tapestry of Indian spiritual life.

History of the Nathas

The history of ancient Indian sadhu sects reveals a succession of several main groups. These included the Sadhus, Yatis, Siddhas, Nathas, Pashupatis, Sant Mats, Dasnamis, and Nagas. Apart from these, many smaller sadhu sects have existed and played their part in the great stream of Indian life. In early history, it would appear that some sects were interwoven with others, and some merged or developed into other sects. Some, thus, became extinct, and others are still with us.

The Nathas are historically quiet ancient, though there remains doubt as to whether they were an actual separate sect in ancient times, or if the term Natha (Lord or Master) was merely used as a courtesy title when addressing sannyasins. The doubt arises because Macchindranath, or Matsyendranath as he was commonly known, is said to have been the founder of the Natha Sampradaya (line of succession) of sannyasins. Records show that Nathas were in evidence long before the time of Matsyendranath, whose time might have been between the seventh and ninth centuries. Historically, the Nathas presented a mixed bag of great realized souls and sadhus, possessing powerful siddhis or magickal powers. Yet, it was Gorakhnatha, the disciple of Matsyendranath, who developed Laya Yoga—the system, now much misrepresented, of raising the kundalini or consciousness. Even later, it was a Natha who first taught the physical postures of Hatha Yoga, though these were linked to Indian systems of health and medicine. It now appears more probable that Matsyendranath was the reorganizer or revitalizer of the Nathas, rather than their original founder.

One feature of the Nathas is indisputable: they did develop monastic life and established crowded ashrams, which were also favored by the Buddhists. However, this was not their best feature, though it persisted until very recent times. The corruption of monastic life sowed the seed for the rise of the Adinathas.

In ancient India, it was rare for a new sect or sub-sect to arise other than spontaneously. Disciples of a guru would often preserve his teachings, special features, and customs, and slowly develop into a special group. Several Natha sub-sects still exist in India, and they were even more numerous in the past. One such group is the Pagala Nath, or Mad Nathas, which is still flourishing in Northeast India. Some groups exist today but do not know their own names or if they ever had one.

The Adinatha sub-sect arose spontaneously, emerging from nothing more than the determination of an unknown Natha to live according to his own chosen pattern, rather than in the monastic life of his day. His name remains unknown, but there is a tradition of attributing the leadership of the sect to several Natha Gurus over different periods of its history. The names are not important, and little is known or remembered about the Nathas themselves.

The Avadhut Tradition

The traditional story of the origin, passed down from my own Gurudev—who was then the last surviving Adinatha—is as follows. We are told that the Nath Avadhut (the emancipated one), the title by which he became known, left his Nath ashram in Maharashtra and traveled slowly north, staying for some time on the banks of the Narmada River. Eventually, he traveled further into Gujarat and lived at Kayavarohan, is a very small town of considerable antiquity mentioned in many ancient scriptures. It was the town where the famous Pashupati sect of Vairagis was founded. Today, it is small but famous because the temple still houses a unique image of Lord Shiva displaying an erect lingam. The image, in the sitting posture, closely resembles the Lord Pashupati depicted on the ancient seal found at Mohenjo-daro. It is said that the image was buried during the time of Muslim occupation and rule, which helped it escape damage or destruction.

The Pashupati sadhus, mostly naked at the time, had a great influence on the Nath Avadhut. They might have been one of the most uninhibited sects in India and are still remembered for their practice of masturbating and making various erotic gestures in public. This was part of their tradition, though the real significance is now lost. It could be based on stories of Shiva told in the Puranas. Since we know little about Natha customs during that time, we cannot make direct comparisons. However, the Nath Avadhut must have realized that there were conventions in sadhu life at the time that held no real meaning to the absolute freedom they purported to embrace.

From Kayavarohan, he returned to the Narmada River and lived in a small hut as a naked avadhut until the day he died. It was here that, among his disciples, he expressed what were only his personal views. If these views were passed down as a tradition for others, it was because they were acceptable to them, not because he introduced them as rules. Rather, he stressed and reminded his own sadhu disciples that once one has renounced the world, rules and obligations are also to be rejected. Though this was an ancient concept in India, it often raises objections from people of little understanding. Many seem to flounder deeper into the delusion that, as soon as rules and restrictions are not enforced, men will go wild and do terrible things. They entirely forget that one does not renounce the world for fun—though there were cheats in the past, as there are today—generally, a man took to the sannyasa life out of deep sincerity. What need could there be for rules for such a man? If there were backsliders, it was they themselves who suffered, for they not only lost their opportunity to attain real liberation but also accumulated bad karma, leading to more and more rebirths.

No Rules

In this connection, it is interesting to note that nowhere in the Indian scriptures will you find rules made for sannyasins to follow. The Uddhava Gita deals with sannyasa, but it is a record of the general pattern and advice regarding how to find the right type of guru. The sage Narada, when expounding the Sanatana Dharma (Eternal Way) of Tantric traditions, also talks about the sannyasa life, but speaks lightly on things a new sadhu should avoid, such as reading too much or looking for disciples, etc. These too are only in the nature of advice from an experienced sage and in no way presented as rules. Sannyasa is intended as a meditative life to attain the Absolute, and those who neglect this sole requirement must do so to their own loss.

Seeing too clearly the defects of ashram and monastic life, and the diversion from the real purpose which followed from living in communities, the Nath Avadhut said that sadhus should live alone until they had attained the goal. Their place of residence should only be a cave, hut, ruined building, or empty house, and always away from towns and villages. Thus, the Adinaths have lived down to the present day

The Adinath sadhus tried to live in harmony with the play of the Absolute, the divine humor so difficult to understand. They knew that it was man’s correct attitude toward life that brought attainment. They did not try to change the world but saw to it that the world did not change them. They had no social reformers or dogooders because they understood samsara as being due to man’s own living in the past, and it was only by changing himself that a man could change his own world.

The word Adinatha is Sanskrit, but the colloquial form is Nath. It means “first” or “original Lord,” and is, therefore, a synonym for Shiva, Mahadeva, or Maheshvara, and beyond these mental concepts, it represents the Supreme Absolute Reality as the originator of all things.

The Delusion of Society

It is because of delusion that man thinks of himself and the world as enduring real forms. He thinks of himself as a body, and this gives rise to ego concepts out of all proportion to their actual relative value. The modern “civilized” world encourages men to believe this. Education pretends it will give advantages for worldly success. It ignores the real task of education, which is to impart sufficient knowledge to enable one to have the ability and technique to earn a livelihood in adult life. Instead, when modern education has been completed, the student finds he is unable to earn his livelihood unless some other person is prepared to employ him on a wages-forlabor basis. A few, such as artists, craftsmen, and writers, sometimes have the ability to break away from the general pattern, but these are exceptions, and for the majority, employment by others must suffice. Much of this is due to the conditioning and brainwashing of modern society in which people lose the ability to think for themselves. It becomes a world where one must conform and accept already accepted ideas, conventions, or patterns. Somehow, the delusion of “progress” still persists, but in reality, communities are becoming less and less free. Thus, the entire world of civilized men—actually artificial men—becomes a regimented prison house from which few can escape. It is a bondage due to the mental and physical approach to the world by people themselves. There is a solution to all of this, and a study of the Adinaths may help many to find it.

The Nath Avadhut, the founder of the Adinaths, passed on his tradition, but it was changed, modified, and developed from guru to guru. At all times, it was the living guru who was regarded as the spokesman. This may have been the reason why the name of the first Nath Avadhut has become lost and deliberately forgotten, so that the Adinaths would not become another cult of some individual guru. Such a cult might cause it to settle into fixed ideas and have “words of authority.” Having passed through many centuries, it is the teachings which must be valued and not historical personalities.

The Way of Eternal Wisdom

Thus, it can now be stated that in the common tradition of all Nath sects, the Adinaths are fundamentally Tantric, and all their gurus have been Tantric Gurus. They chose as their Adi-Guru, or original teacher, the Bhagavan Dattatreya, the great naked Tantric Guru of the Upanishads and Puranas. The Adinath tradition owes and claims nothing from the Vedic-Aryan tradition and does not recognize caste in relation to accepting disciples or recruitment into its sannyasa order. There are, in India, other Natha sects which also have Shri Dattatreya as Adi-Guru.

All this stems from a unique way of life, still very much alive, which existed in India five, six, or more thousand years ago. It did not actually have a name, but they referred to their teachings as the Sanatana Dharma, or the Eternal Wisdom. They were the first people in known history to teach of the Supreme Reality and the reunion of man and God. They owed nothing to the Vedic-Aryans, for these people did not enter India until about 1500 BC. Later, the pre-Aryan people were designated as Tantric (independent or free), and their scriptures, the Agamas and Nigamas, were later designated as Tantras. Most of the Purana legends are of Tantric sources and not Aryan. The Bhagavad Gita, most popular and well-known of Indian scriptures, is Tantric teachings from cover to cover. The Tantrics taught a method for the individual to practice and hasten his attainment of realization and union with the Absolute. This method they called Yoga. This ancient path and eternal lore is the sole basis of the Adinath cult.

Whenever Yogis or Nath-Yogis meet, they greet each other with the “ salutation, “Adesh—Adesh!” Gorakhnath, the Maha Yogi, wrote:

“Aatmeti Paramaatmeti Jiivatmeti Vicaarane Trayaanaam Aikya-Samshutir Adesh Iti Kiirtitah”

(In our relative thought, we distinguish between Atman, Paramatman, and Jiva—the individual soul. The truth is that these three are one, and a realization of this is called Adesha.)

Thus, the yogi, in his contact with others, expresses only the simple truth in the words “Adesh—Adesh!” It is the foundation stone on which all spiritual light and attainment must be erected. It is the first truth to attain the First Lord.

Religion

To make this document of value to a wider section of readers, it might be necessary to state and repeat things that are taken for granted in a brief survey of Adinath tradition. One of these is the popular delusion, but more often a deliberate lie, that all religions are one and the same and all teach the same goal. If such were truly the case, it would be pointless for different religions to exist as separate entities if they all taught the same thing. In practice, nowhere in the world would we find people willing to be Christians one week, Muslims the next, and Buddhists the next, and so on. All too often, the sop of imagined unity and sameness is preached by the holy pickpockets and pious cut-purses.

Religions may fall into many classifications, but unity is not one of them. Most religions are established forms of brainwashing, and none are without their organizational systems designed to rob the rich and take from the poor. They tell you what you must believe and make you pay to maintain it. There has never been a poor religion in history, nor one that folded up for lack of funds. The fact that a religion reaches the status of being a world religion does not imply that its teachings are true, but rather that there are more fools in the world than was initially anticipated. Some religions have spread on the cut-throat method: “Join us or else…” Islam used this pious technique, and history records how it spread and conquered the other religions wherever they invaded.

There is, however, one unique exception: India never became a Muslim nation, despite years of Muslim oppression. Some religions, such as the so-called “black dharmas”—Hebrew, Christian, and Muslim—have lived and flourished in the atmosphere of blood and violence. They claim their teaching will take a man to heaven, so killing people might have been seen as helping them on their way. These black dharmas also assign an inferior place to women and rely on the sacred word of scriptures, from which none may deviate. Where they hold sway, the regions have always been the most miserable and impoverished in the world.

Within the religions themselves, are differences which cannot be reconciled with other religions. Even within the same religion, many conflicting sects exist. None of them claim their god is the same as the god of others, and they differ greatly in their concepts of heaven, as well as in numerous other aspects. All assert that unless you belong, worship, or believe in their particular pattern, salvation is impossible. For any individual to change from one of these religions to another is as futile as a jackal trying to transform into a fox.

The Two Paths

If there are such differences between the black dharmas, how much more so is the difference in other religious concepts. This is so even though the black dharmas are related religions, for both Christianity and Islam have their roots in the Hebrewism of the Old Testament. Hinduism, however, is rather unique because it is more of a combined way of life containing numerous religious groups. The Hindus are not inherently religious people; the vast majority tend to ignore religion. However, this can be said without denying the spiritual substratum of the people as a whole.

The Adinath sect stressed the Tantric fundamental fact that society was mostly pravritti marga or “way of the world.” From this vast stratum of people, only a few spiritually sincere or mature individuals were expected to emerge. These they called mumukshus, the real seekers for the Eternal Wisdom. This group, small in number but infinitely important, took to the nivritti marga. Nivritti means “turnabout,” in the sense of turning your back on the world. Marga means path or way. But as its ideal and purpose are not negative but positive, the nivritti marga is considered the supreme path—the way of renunciation, the rejecting one thing in favor of something infinitely better and higher.

The Adinaths had much to teach, but though many might respect and applaud their ideals and way of life, few were ready to follow their example. It was likely always was a small sect in terms of actual sadhus, though it might have influenced various sections of the population far beyond its size. The sect’s line of succession was based on the guru’s nomination of a successor. If the guru died without making a choice, a successor was selected by a vote among the sadhus. This system helped avoid the often disastrous custom of the first disciple automatically becoming the new leader. History has shown that this can lead to the rise of an incompetent leader who could undo the traditions of centuries and even cause the sect to split.

Like all other yogi and sannyasi sects of Tantric tradition, no sannyasin ever took any vow or made any promises other than to renounce the delusions of the three worlds (earthly, celestial, and heavenly). No sadhu was expected to overcome or control the sexual emotions, which are impossible to completely control. Some elements of modern India have tried to introduce abstinence into sadhu life based on Christian ideals. However, they have mostly only created perverts and crack-pots. Tantra, in contrast, has its own methods for unleashing the cosmic power latent in the sexual energy, using it as a means that leads to better understanding and attainment. To do this, conventional modesty—often the greatest barrier to realization—must be overcome.

In modern terms, the Adinaths taught people the Eternal Wisdom and Yoga by which the microcosm could be one with the macrocosm. To this supreme attainment, all other aims and ambitions are inferior. Shri Dattatreya and many great Tantric saints of the Upanishads and Puranas became the symbols of living teachers who embodied this supreme attainment. They were the fullest expression of all occult science, the living proof of realization and liberation, and the practical examples showing that what one man can achieve, another might also achieve.

The process is a ruthless one. It requires the individual to abandon all that most men cherish and strip away layer by layer the veils of ignorance, conditioning, and delusions that separate his awareness from the immortal soul. True insight and inspiration, a newly awakened sense of magick and wonder, is the starting point of the journey to the Eternal. Without this, it is not possible to escape from the world of relativity (maya). These teachings constitute a restatement of the fundamental essence of Indian Paganism from India’s ancient past.

This wisdom has its basis not on speculation, wishful thinking, or philosophy in any shape or form. It is presented as a guide but does not claim to be infallible. This Truth came from within, and not from without. It was not taught, or dictated, or miraculously inscribed on tablets by gods or angels. It was the Truth revealed, conceived, and realized by the great yogis of India in the distant past, and repeated and confirmed throughout history, and even into the present day. The sishya (disciple), in the early stages of his spiritual life, may have to accept much of the teaching and guidance from his Spiritual Guru. But this acceptance is not blind faith; rather, a faith based on confidence in those who have traveled the path themselves and have become competent to light the way for others.

Indian Paganism has no precepts, dogmas, or articles of faith that must be accepted by anyone, regardless of their social level. Nobody takes vows or makes promises. You can start something one day and discontinue it the next, or continue on toward the glorious end. Success is for one’s own gain, and failure is only one’s own loss. The idea that God or the religion is insulted by a person’s instability is foreign to Paganism. Though the wisdom of this Yoga-Vidya is regarded as Truth revealed through the awakened consciousness of realized souls, one is still expected to prove it completely for oneself. The lay-disciple, still in household life, is expected to go only so far as his duties, obligations, and delusions permit. There is no plan or intention in this way of life to convert anyone or induce people to renounce the world and become sannyasins.

Meditation and Samadhi

Those who make their first attempts at meditation soon become aware of difficulties. These mostly arise because the mind rebels against the peace and tranquility that meditation is intended to produce. In worldly life, the mind is conditioned to jump about from idea to idea and becomes habituated to activity, which is regarded as a high ideal in normal life. It is probably true to say that mind activity is essential in the lives of most people. Most education and conventional patterns of modern society encourage this. However, this must not be confused with the awareness that meditation develops. Awareness is natural and arises spontaneously from one’s inner being. It is not the same as the active, busy person who is always “wide awake” simply because he relies on previous ideas and experiences to make decisions. It is little surprising that these conditioned people soon find meditation very boring and prefer to be lost in the robot activity which comes more easily from habit. True meditation leads to experience of peace and bliss that can never come from the methods of worldly life. Patience and perseverance are, of course, essential. Meditation is not an end in itself but trains the mind and body to the stage of complete contemplation (samadhi), where mind and soul attain close relationships and understanding.

The Adinathas did not regard samadhi contemplation as the final stage but demonstrated that samadhi could lead to the stage of samarasa—the perfect assimilation; undifferentiated oneness in which the yogi sees himself as the world, and the world as being in him. It is the real stage of unity and equipoise, where the microcosm becomes one with macrocosm; it is true moksha.

The Siddha-Yogi Gorakhnath defines the Ultimate Truth, the Supreme Reality, and its understanding as follows:

“The Absolute Truth is the nameless, formless, and subject-objectless perfect unity of existence and experience, free from all contradictions and relativity, qualifications, limitations, and negations. The Absolute Truth, by virtue of its infinite, eternal, dynamic aspect, eternally and freely manifests itself in all kinds of names and forms, all orders of phenomenal existences and experiences, all sorts of dualities and relativities, and harmonizes and unifies them in the all-comprehending calm and tranquility of itself.”

Thus, Gorakhnath expresses the Absolute as the Universe, the macrocosm as one with microcosm, and the concept of samarasa.

The Aquarian Age

There is an interesting tradition within the Adinath sect that holds considerable significance for astrologers. We must remember that the ancient observers of Tantra were the first to note and record the backward movement of the zodiac, giving human life an astrological division of approximately 2,000 years for each complete sign of the zodiac. While Hindu astrology is based on a fixed zodiac, the prophecies consider the actual movement observed from an imaginary point on Earth, based on the position of the Sun at the start of each solar year. This places us in a period of the entry into the sign Kumbha.

According to tradition, the approach and entry of the Sun into any sign is marked by a great spiritual revival. The Sun’s entry into the Kumbha period is seen as significant, with qualities unique to the sign influencing the spiritual revival. Kumbha is known to Western astrologers as Aquarius, symbolized by a naked guru pouring out the water of life, the nectar of the gods, immortality, and the wisdom by which it is obtained. So, Kumbha, or Aquarius, is not so much the “water bearer” in the sense of a man employed to bring and carry water, but a guru who bears the true water of life.

The symbolism is also related to all the gurus of the Adinaths, who were naked mahatmas pouring out the wisdom of Yoga-Vidya. This may be a period when the Pagan Wisdom of the Adinaths finds greater popular acceptance in the world than it has hitherto.

The Western astrological world has long anticipated the Aquarian Age, but often in terms of unprecedented advances in science and technology. This view overlooks the fact that science and industry have already made great advances over the past century, yet there has not been a comparable improvement in the happiness and security of mankind. Before we applaud further scientific advances on any level, we should remember that these developments do not necessarily equate to progress or common good if they are in the hands of the wrong people. Humanity has not yet developed sufficiently to safely own a revolver, let alone the more deadly, deathdealing instruments. Thus, the Aquarian Age could be greater only in the sense of greater destruction, pollution, murder, massacre, and suffering. Fortunately, the “Grace of the Absolute” may prevent man from continuing down this blind path, and instead, the true standards of spiritual life and happiness might take its place.

Shakti, Sex, and Sublimation

The Adinath tradition has its way of life (nivritti marga) for the sannyasin, but it also has much for the men and women in worldly life (pravritti marga). Though the sadhus don’t do any formal worship, it was not only encouraged for ordinary people but regarded as an essential step in their spiritual progress. Festivals, too, were seen as an essential part of normal life, where there should be complete joyous abandon and expression. Men and women have a natural element of madness, which is constantly fed by the sexual energy drive, and this must be sublimated. Pagan festivals of erotic joy, dance, song, and self-expression were the best means of releasing the dormant energy. Wherever these free Pagan festivals do not occur, the suppressed madness only erupts as wars, riots, and violence.

Although the Adinath wisdom taught men to aspire to the highest level, as expressed in its teachings, it also presents a practical aspect for the people of the world who are neither interested nor ready for liberation. The dharma, even of laymen who study and respect the higher teachings, must always be relative, for they live in a relative world of relativistic relationships with people, things, and ideas.

For such people, rites and worship can play an important part in their development. Thus, people are taught that in rituals, there should always be that vital element which helps to release emotional driving forces from the inner depths of man’s being. This power, drive, and force are known in India as Shakti. It is within mankind and has an intimate relationship with each individual as well as outside, and constitutes the essential driving force of the Universe and all of creation on all levels. In human terms, we perceive this drive as sex, which everyone must experience, control, and sublimate.

Control means to harness it towards an intended fulfillment, not as an attempt to suppress it. Suppression is, in fact, impossible. Attempts to do so only lead to mental and physical derangement and sickness. Such repressions become obstacles to the development of the real natural spiritual man and the goal. Rituals must be free from these obstacles, or be designed to help sweep them away.

Adinath, from its original Tantric origins, shows us that the moment of sexual sublimation and orgasm is identical to the moment of sublimation of man’s union with the Absolute. This attitude does not mean or encourage lustful sexual indulgence or sex only for its own sake. If the yogi is only carried away by sensual desire, he has thereby failed to achieve the perfect balance and equipoise of the opposites on which ritual should be based. There is and always must be a clearly defined borderline between sexual freedom and sexual license.

The Hindu temples of India still display a wondrous world of erotic sculptures to illustrate that sex is sacred and has been given to mankind for a purpose. To try to suppress this sacred heritage can only plunge people and nations into the depths of despair and perverted sickness— just as has occurred in these lands where the black dharmas have dominated the lives of the people. Some detailed expressions and explanations of Adinath and Tantric rites must be dealt with later in the subsequent material.

A Lesson for Kali

None of the Adinath Gurus ever became popular, and none ever tried to make propaganda for themselves or the cult. Instead, they passed down through the ages the solid spiritual tradition which still remains the essence of all higher thought and attainment. They taught Truth, already ancient, but presented it according to the needs and levels of each successive age. In India, such people can never be without disciples, yet they would never find more than a few who were prepared to go the whole way. As modern society engulfs the spiritual world, the Adinath sadhu has become more and more rare.

From the legendary stories of Shri Dattatreya, the Adinaths speak of one legend which was short and simple, yet holds vital lessons—not only for sadhus who had renounced, but for everyone. One story relates to the opening of the Kali Yuga, or Dark Age of humanity. Kali*, who personifies the spirit of this age, went to see Lord Brahma to take his leave before descending to the earth to inaugurate and rule during the Kali Yuga. As he walked naked into the presence of Lord Brahma, he was holding his tongue with his left hand and his penis in his right hand. Brahma looked at him and asked, “What was the significance of this unusual posture?” Kali replied that he did not understand it himself, but when he had gone into the presence of Lord Shiva to take his leave, he had announced that he was going to Earth to have domain over all mankind. Shiva only laughed when he said this and informed him that he would have domain over most men, but not over the man who held his tongue and kept hold of his penis. Brahma also had to laugh and explained that what Shiva had meant was that the man who kept a firm hold of his tongue and penis was not likely to get into trouble, unlike men who did not do so. Then it was Kali’s turn to laugh, and he said, “Don’t worry. I will find some way to make them let go.” And with many, he has succeeded. However, the “Age of Darkness” is not dark to all men who have sought and found the light of wisdom, no matter how dimly it burned.

* Here, the word ‘Kali’ represents ‘dark’ or ‘black,’ not the better-known goddess.

The Kundalini Fraud

The Adinath sannyasins are not a naked sect in the sense that they take a vow to be naked or to live naked. More generally, especially in recent years, they do not appear naked in public places; however, they do live naked in the area of their residence. Their nakedness is not a form of tapas (austerity) but rather an expression of freedom and the simple, natural life of free people. Indian people respect the nudity of sadhus as an expression of both attainment and spiritual freedom. Although they do not practice nudity themselves, and few can ever do so. Hindu shastra (religious rules stemming from Vedic sources) prohibits nudity among people in the household stage of life and until they reach the age of retirement.

Laya Yoga and Hatha Yoga both originated by the Natha Sampradaya but were never taught or practiced by the Adinaths. The original Natha teachings of Laya Yoga, reputedly expounded by Gorakhnath, were an attempt to raise the levels of consciousness until they reached the stage of liberation. There are no records to show that any sadhu in history has ever attained liberation by this method. The Nathas themselves say that these teachings were purely symbolic.

Nevertheless, the idea of dormant potential in man, lying low like a coiled serpent and raising itself to higher levels, has been misunderstood. It has even been taught as a snake in the body which can be “raised” by Laya Yoga. The concept of raising the Kundalini serpent is still a popular vogue and is often exploited by cunning “holy men.”

The term Kundalini Yoga is a very modern invention and was never used by any of the Nath writers. The Adinaths condemned it because, if it had any value, it could only be practiced under the guidance of an experienced guru. Such gurus have not existed for hundreds of years. Those who learn their kundalini raising from books—mostly written by foreigners, and always by people who have never been successful themselves—often begin to suffer from insanity and various forms of obsession. True methods of liberation are simpler and without any danger, thus rendering Laya Yoga as superfluous to spiritual life.

Hatha Yoga

Hatha Yoga originally was associated with India’s herbal medical lore, and the few early exercises were intended to be practical for better health and finer physical balance. Most of the exercises now included in Hatha Yoga are of very recent origin, with some even introduced by an American student. The Adinaths do not discourage people from performing or practicing Hatha Yoga. It is harmless on all levels, except that it completely distracts one from real spiritual life. The Adinaths try to make people realize that they are not the body but an immortal soul. Hatha Yoga is purely physical—a body yoga—and often leads people further away from their spiritual goal because it encourages them to think of themselves more and more as fine bodies, inflating the ego as well. If the Adinaths tend to discourage Hatha Yoga, it is because it tends to take one further away from the Absolute instead of nearer. Some of the few practices and postures in the original Hatha Yoga may have therapeutic value but should be confined to this purpose under experienced medical supervision. Most natural medical practitioners (Ayurvaidyas) have completely bypassed these practices. Hatha Yoga must not be practiced or taught by a sannyasin who claims to have renounced the world for the higher goal.

The Adinath tradition opposed the formation of new sects or cults. Its very formation was spontaneous, as it repudiated certain aspects of the original Natha Sampradaya, and their separateness became inevitable. They never sponsored or advocated organization or societies, but did recognize that some systems of organization were relative necessities among relative people—though they warned that these too were obstacles to the real seeker of the Absolute. They did not advocate “good men” but “God-men.” They regarded the pious, self-righteous man who boasted of his goodness and purity as a loathsome object. The search for real Truth makes men more humble, and sincerity need never advertise itself or wear a mask. Those who propound rules and regulations for others to keep are the enemies of spiritual life.

The Supreme Teaching

Spontaneity, insight, naturalness, and equipoise are the foundations for liberation and realization. They are the four basic elements of matter on a higher plane, and liberation is the fifth element of Space, Sunya, the Absolute. The platform teaching of all Adinath Gurus is for humanity to realize their own divinity—that they are not the body, but the immortal soul. This, in itself, constitutes the fundamental teachings of the Upanishads, the Bhagavata and Uddhava Gitas, and the Puranas.

This is the essence of all groups, sects, and societies that claim to have secret or esoteric teachings. When man knows and understands this, there is nothing else that needs to be known—he will have done all that needs to be done. It is Truth—the Supreme Wisdom—which abolishes fear, hatred, caste, jealousy, nationalism, ego, ignorance, aversion, revulsion, and clinging to life. It is the essence of knowledge that makes one see the futility of attachment.

The true, immortal essence of oneself does not cry or crave for attention to the body, and it needs no adornment. It is beyond all fear and frustration, for nothing in the relative world can harm or impede it. This understanding, in its fullest awareness, will make a disciple see that even the concepts of realization and liberation are all relative, because the soul is immortal and has always been free. How, then, can there be liberation for that which is already liberated? Or union with the Absolute when the soul has never been separated from it?

If this is true and obvious, why then are men and women still in the bondage of relativity and think relative and material things are real? The answer is maya, the mystic, magick power of Shakti, which manifests, creates, and forms the basic delusion of all mankind. It means that between Truth and humanity hangs the eternal veil of maya delusion. Rend the veil, and Truth, no longer obscured, reveals itself.