How some Nātha yogis influenced a number of Tantric schools.

The earliest Nātha yogis were associated with the Kāpālikas, I’ll give you one example. In Buddhism, there is a yogi who is known as Kṛṣṇācārya, and as Kṛṣṇanāth in the Nātha-sampradāya, also Kanipānātha – Kānhapā. He was a disciple of Jalandharnāth, who is famous among both Nāthas and Vajrayāna Buddhists. Both of them are included in the list of the Nine Nāthas in Maharashtra.

Kānhapā practised Kāpālika sādhanās also the Hevajra-tantra. It is believed that the practice of tummo was received from him by Marpa, then by Milarepa and later by Naḍapāda, better known as Naropa, who compiled his famous six yogas based on tummo.

It is believed that in the practice of tummo or caṇḍālī, which is actually kuṇḍalini-yoga, an important element is karma-mudrā, a practice, similar to Vāmācāra maithuna in kaulism. This method allows you to sublimate the sexual fire into the inner fire of kuṇḍalini or caṇḍālī. Other yogas, such as yoga of light, yoga of dreams, etc. develop from this practice of inner yoga. But the main purpose of tummo is to awaken within oneself a state of bliss and emptiness, which ultimately leads to the level of mahā-mudrā, also known as Dzogchen. These highest levels of practice may vary among different teachers and Vajrayāna lineages. In the Nāthas’ texts, namely the Akulavīratantra, the Amanaska Yoga, etc., this state is called sahajānanda. Obviously, at some stage, those ancient yogis borrowed terms from each other, actually, Vajrayāna was called “Sahajayana“, although Vajrayāna indicates an indestructible state realised in the vajra-nāḍī through the basic practice of tummo (kuṇḍalini-jāgaraṇ). Sahaja means “to be together with the innate,” which, according to one interpretation, is the joint fusion of male and female bindus in the sahasrāra-cakra. Actually, this is the practice that in Buddhism is called Dzogchen, which, according to one interpretation, is an analogue of mahābindu. The essence of Dzogchen/Mahāmudrā practices is staying in your natural perfect state, known among the Nāthas as sahajananda.

Later these methods were adopted by the Sahajiya Vaiṣṇavas, their methods were very similar to the methods of tantric yoga of the Nāthas and Vajrayāna, however, with the arrival of the British, many Vaiṣṇavas Sahajiya gurus in Bengal went underground. These practices are already considered secret, but the Puritan British (at that time) further influenced the secrecy of these traditions. Instead, some Indian Westernised gurus, such as Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākur and others, were forced to create “refined” forms of Vaiṣṇavism, which later came to America and other countries.

India changed a lot with the arrival of the British, it became much more difficult to identify authentic yoga, authentic learning in Tantrism, etc. This is all seriously complicated by the fact that most Indian gurus are trying to Westernise. You will find a huge amount of such yoga in touristic places. Often, even in the Traditions themselves, with the ancient lineage, not all gurus want to seriously teach someone, but even less of their Western “disciples” are ready to fully study. Therefore, many of gurus think, “I will earn money at least, then life will show whether appear anyone, who can be taught seriously or not.” Again, someone who has realised himself in sādhanā, can teach with sufficient spiritual purity, but most teachers often try to teach without strong experience in sādhanā.

I have described the situation very briefly without touching on many other details, that I would draw the attention of those who are looking for the basics of authentic tantric yoga. But, even this can help in the search for those, who have sufficiently serious motivation.

Vajrolī in Buddhism and Indian traditions

Recently, one of my students asked me a question, “Is it true that there is semen retention in Vajrayana (in the practice of karmamudrā of the Completion stage), but is it not so in Indian tantras?”

First of all, I think that it is wrong to sacrifice a human nature to religious corporations, dividing it into Tibetan and Indian one. There is a tendency to think that if you are a Tibetan, you can retain semen, and if you are an Indian, the practice must necessarily be different. The  retention  of ejaculation in the practice of maithuna or karmamudrā is an allegory. In Indian kaulācāra, this kind of practices implies ejaculation, as an analogue of pūrṇāhuti in agnihotra. After which, this substance is mixed with wine and then used in pūjā. There is a lot of evidences of that fact, for example, in the Guhyasamāja-tantra:

विण्मूत्रशुक्ररक्तादीन् देवतानां निवेदयेत्।
एवं तुष्यन्ति सम्बुद्धाः बोधिसत्त्वा महाशयाः॥२१॥

viṇmūtraśukraraktādīn devatānāṃ nivedayet।
evaṃ tuṣyanti sambuddhāḥ bodhisattvā mahāśayāḥ ॥21॥

It is necessary to offer the secretion: urine, semen, female bodily fluids and offer them to the Deities. Thus, it will satisfy the great awakened ones, buddhas and bodhisattvas.

Prior to that, there is a recommendation to practice intercourse with a beautiful young woman. In order, for example, to offer semen in pūjā, it is obvious that there must be present a finalised ritual of maithuna. And there is quite a bit of such recommendations in Vajrayana. These kinds of transgressions in Vajrayana, which seems to be full of  savagery to the common man, in fact, are not much different from saptamakaras in aghora, which took a lot from traditions like kāpālikas.

If you read a description of vajrolī or amarolī in the Haṭha-yoga-pradīpikā, you will see that there is a recommendation to mix the released semen with ash and apply it as a tilaka. That is, it means that ash is a symbol of amṛta, as well as semen. It says of the same principles as in the description from the Guhyasamāja-tantra and other Buddhist texts. Here is a very similar fragment from the Yoni-tantra:

भक्त्या द्रव्यं जपेन्मन्त्रं जप्त्वा मैथुनमाचरेत् शु्क्तोत्सरणकाले च शृ्णु पार्वति सुन्दरि
योनितत्त्वं समादाय तिलकं क्रियते यदि शतजन्मावर्ज्जितं पापं तत्क्षणादेव नश्यति ॥20-21॥

bhaktyā dravyaṃ japenmantraṃ japtvā maithunamācaret 
śuktotsaraṇakāle ca śṛṇu pārvati sundari
yonitattvaṃ samādāya tilakaṃ kriyate yadi
śatajanmāvarjjitaṃ pāpaṃ tatkṣaṇādeva naśyati ॥20-21॥

The sādhaka should chant the mantra and enjoy the ‘substances’ during the practice of maithuna. Listen, beautiful Parvatī, if a sādhaka makes himself a tilaka with ‘yoni fluids’ after an orgasm, then he will instantly forsake all the sins associated with a hundred births. (20-21)

The requirement given here is very similar to the one from the Haṭha-yoga-pradīpikā. Probably, the goal here is not to retain semen so that there is no ejaculation at all. If the process is contemplative, then such a suspension or extension of the act occurs naturally. And the practitioner accomplishes that not by themselves and not because their ego wants it, like they can feed it by being ‘good technicians’. Here, the Goddess also controls the process through you. And the prolongation of the act is needed more in order to satisfy the Goddess in a woman, so she will bestow siddhi through her satisfaction. And at the end of the ritual, pūrṇāhuti is being done in the form of an orgasm. A prolongation of the act may occur due to the desire to satisfy the Divine. But not at all in order to demonstrate some kind of  ‘athletic abilities’ to stretch time, in which many people mistakenly believe. Each practice has a main task that must not be forgotten, otherwise it loses its true purpose and value, no matter how exclusive the technique may look. As we can see, ūrdhvaretā could be understood as  retracting substances back, but that is not by drawing them back into the genitals. That could be, for instance, the communion in the form of tilaka (as ūrdhva is the head area), and so on. And the most important thing is what happens on a psychic level, psychic vibes are significant. For a yogin who understands the essence of this practice, the physical side may be less relevant. They can perceive the sexual energy of life and flowering in their essence. Therefore, for some, a yogic practice is simply the essence of such ceremonies, even without their external implementation.