{"id":807,"date":"2020-10-27T11:30:34","date_gmt":"2020-10-27T11:30:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/matsyendranatha.com\/?p=807"},"modified":"2020-10-27T11:36:08","modified_gmt":"2020-10-27T11:36:08","slug":"am%e1%b9%9btasiddhi-as-a-natha-text","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/matsyendranatha.com\/?p=807","title":{"rendered":"The Am\u1e5btasiddhi as a N\u0101tha text"},"content":{"rendered":"

Not long ago student of mine sent me a curious article by Kurtis R. Schaeffer The Attainment of immortality: from N\u0101thas in India to buddhists in Tibet<\/em>. It is dedicated to a text, which James Mallinson identified as \u2018buddhist one\u2019, which is, in my opinion, not quite correct. I also find his another claim, when during an online interview he said that the\u00a0Ha\u1e6dha-yoga-prad\u012bpik\u0101<\/em>\u00a0is the\u00a0V\u012bra\u015baiva\u00a0<\/em>text only because Allama Prabhudeva is mentioned there, to be also incorrect. An attempt to take only one name related to\u00a0V\u012bra\u015baivism<\/em> from a huge number of listed names, ignoring all the others, and attribute the whole text to\u00a0V\u012bra\u015baiva<\/em>, seems very strange to me. Especially when the text itself is quite distant from the main doctrine of\u00a0V\u012bra\u015baivism<\/em> and its goals. The same thing is with the text\u00a0Am\u1e5btasiddhi<\/em>, a conclusion that this is a Buddhist text is based on the fact that it contains several Buddhist elements, at the same time completely ignoring the huge number of\u00a0\u015aaiva<\/em>\u00a0elements. This text is more N\u0101tha<\/em> related, and\u00a0Vir\u016bpak\u1e63an\u0101th\u00a0<\/em>(one of the famous N\u0101thas<\/em>) could add some elements from Buddhism there. I believe that texts of this kind should be judged primarily by the number of prevailing elements of a particular tradition. And it is obvious there, that the elements of N\u0101thism<\/em> are dominant. But for me, even without reading the article, it is clear that the text is not Buddhist, not least because there was the\u00a0Mah\u0101mudr\u0101<\/em>\u00a0practice in Buddhism in those times and it was not in the form of ha\u1e6dha-yoga<\/em> practice. All\u00a0Vajray\u0101na<\/em>\u00a0Buddhists perfectly understand what it is. So what was the point in calling completely different levels of practice in\u00a0Vajray\u0101na<\/em> with the same term? Here is another example from the Am\u1e5btasiddhi:<\/p>\n

\u092e\u094d\u0930\u093f\u092f\u0928\u094d\u0924\u0947 \u092e\u0947\u0930\u0941\u0935\u0947\u0927\u0947\u0928\u00a0 \u092c\u094d\u0930\u0939\u094d\u092e\u093e\u0926\u094d\u092f\u093e \u0926\u0947\u0935\u0924\u093e \u0927\u094d\u0930\u0941\u0935\u092e\u094d
\n\u0906\u0926\u094c \u0938\u0902\u091c\u093e\u092f\u0924\u0947 \u0915\u094d\u0937\u093f\u092a\u094d\u0930\u0902 \u0935\u0947\u0927\u094b \u093d\u092f\u0902 \u092c\u094d\u0930\u0939\u094d\u092e\u0917\u094d\u0930\u0928\u094d\u0925\u093f\u0924\u0903\u0965<\/p>\n

mriyante meruvedhena\u00a0 brahm\u0101dy\u0101 devat\u0101 dhruvam\u00a0<\/em>
\n\u0101dau sa\u1e43j\u0101yate k\u1e63ipra\u1e43 vedho ‘ya\u1e43 brahmagranthita\u1e25\u0965<\/em><\/p>\n

By piercing Meru (su\u1e63umn\u0101\u00a0with\u00a0pr\u0101\u1e47a), Brahma and other Gods are getting killed.
\n<\/em>First, this (pr\u0101\u1e47a) quickly pierces the Brahma-granthi (Brahma knot).<\/em><\/p>\n

\u092c\u094d\u0930\u0939\u094d\u092e\u0917\u094d\u0930\u0928\u094d\u0925\u093f\u0902 \u0924\u0924\u094b \u092d\u093f\u0924\u094d\u0924\u094d\u0935\u093e \u0935\u093f\u0937\u094d\u0923\u0941\u0917\u094d\u0930\u0928\u094d\u0925\u093f\u0902 \u092d\u093f\u0928\u0924\u094d\u092f\u0938\u094c
\n\u0935\u093f\u0937\u094d\u0923\u0941\u0917\u094d\u0930\u0928\u094d\u0925\u093f\u0902 \u0924\u0924\u094b \u092d\u093f\u0924\u094d\u0924\u094d\u0935\u093e \u0930\u0941\u0926\u094d\u0930\u0917\u094d\u0930\u0928\u094d\u0925\u093f\u0902 \u092d\u093f\u0928\u0924\u094d\u092f\u0938\u094c \u0965<\/p>\n

brahmagranthi\u1e43 tato bhittv\u0101 vi\u1e63\u1e47ugranthi\u1e43 bhinatyasau <\/em>
\nvi\u1e63\u1e47ugranthi\u1e43 tato bhittv\u0101 rudragranthi\u1e43 bhinatyasau\u0965<\/em><\/p>\n

Thus, when the Brahma-granthi is pierced, the\u00a0Vi\u1e63\u1e47u-granthi (Vi\u1e63\u1e47u knot) is pierced.
\nWhen the Vi\u1e63\u1e47u-granthi is pierced, the Rudra-granthi (Rudra knot) is pierced.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u0930\u0941\u0926\u094d\u0930\u0917\u094d\u0930\u0928\u094d\u0925\u093f\u0902 \u0924\u0924\u094b \u092d\u093f\u0924\u094d\u0924\u094d\u0935\u093e \u091b\u093f\u0924\u094d\u0935\u093e \u092e\u094b\u0939\u092e\u092f\u0940\u0902 \u0932\u0924\u093e\u092e\u094d
\n\u0909\u0926\u094d \u0918\u093e\u091f\u092f\u0924\u094d\u092f\u092f\u0902\u00a0 \u0935\u093e\u092f\u0941\u0930\u094d\u092c\u094d\u0930\u0939\u094d\u092e\u0926\u094d\u0935\u093e\u0930\u0902 \u0938\u0941\u0917\u094b\u092a\u093f\u0924\u092e\u094d\u00a0\u0965<\/p>\n

rudragranthi\u1e43 tato bhittv\u0101 chitv\u0101 mohamay\u012b\u1e43 lat\u0101m\u00a0<\/em>
\nud gh\u0101\u1e6dayatyaya\u1e43\u00a0 v\u0101yurbrahmadv\u0101ra\u1e43 sugopitam\u00a0\u0965<\/em><\/p>\n

Thus, piercing the Rudra-granthi, the “vines of illusion” (the intricacies of\u00a0M\u0101y\u0101) are getting cut off.\u00a0Further, ascending upward, V\u0101yu (air) penetrates into the super secret, Brahmadv\u0101ra (the door of Brahma).<\/em><\/p>\n

The question is, what is so \u2018Buddhist\u2019 in these images of\u00a0Pur\u0101\u1e47ic\u00a0Devat\u0101s<\/em>, and where in Buddhism such names of granthas<\/em> are being mentioned?<\/p>\n

There are also many other arguments in the article, for example, mentions of j\u012bvanmukti<\/em>, when a practitioner is likened to\u00a0\u015aiva\u00a0<\/em>in yogic<\/em> realisation etc. That is why I consider the statement of attribution of the text to Buddhism to be incorrect. Of course, some borrowings could come to Indian yoga<\/em> or tantra<\/em> from Buddhism, but we also have to consider the main goals of different samprad\u0101yas<\/em>. For instance, we cannot call\u00a0Panchar\u0101tra<\/em>\u00a0‘a yogic tradition’, if it is in fact a\u00a0Vai\u1e63\u1e47ava\u00a0bhakti<\/em> oriented sect full of its specific karma<\/em>–k\u0101\u1e47\u1e0da\u00a0<\/em>etc. If I take, let\u2019s say, Yogi Bhajan’s Kundalini-yoga and claim that it belongs to a Sikh<\/em> tradition, it will be an incorrect statement. Even if you find a Sikh<\/em> lineage Sant Mat<\/em>, where meditation on light and sound is practiced, it doesn\u2019t make it the main practice of the whole tradition. And again, we cannot conclude from this that it is the rationale for what Yogi Bhajan developed while living in California. Just as it is not entirely accurate to say that the Ashtanga Vinyasa style is a \u2018tradition\u2019, it is more correct to say that it is rather a modern yoga style. It could be called a tradition being spread in the West on the condition Iyengar or Pattabhi Jois would have transmitted the same sacred threads (jane\u016b<\/em>), which they had from their Gurus<\/em>\u00a0\u2013 to their students. Which didn\u2019t happen, and most likely couldn\u2019t have happened. But, if this did happen, I doubt that such disciples would have the same discipline and practice that they exercise on masse today. And although these teachers were good innovators, we should not confuse a style and gymnastic exercises with d\u012bk\u1e63\u0101<\/em>, discipleship, nitya s\u0101dhan\u0101 <\/em>and\u00a0etc. For those who want to seriously understand these things, I highly recommend taking these factors into account, although there are actually a lot of them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Not long ago student of mine sent me a curious article by Kurtis R. Schaeffer The Attainment of immortality: from N\u0101thas in India to buddhists in Tibet. It is dedicated to a text, which James Mallinson identified as \u2018buddhist one\u2019, … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[240,190,121,220,29,4,83],"tags":[241,193,180,210,155,207,242,243],"class_list":["post-807","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-amtasiddhi","category-buddhism","category-gorakanatha","category-natha","category-natha-doctrine","category-texts","category-yoga","tag-amtasiddhi","tag-buddhism","tag-granthi","tag-haha-yoga","tag-hahayogapradipika","tag-mahamudra","tag-nathism","tag-pancharatra"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/matsyendranatha.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/807","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/matsyendranatha.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/matsyendranatha.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/matsyendranatha.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/matsyendranatha.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=807"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/matsyendranatha.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/807\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":811,"href":"https:\/\/matsyendranatha.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/807\/revisions\/811"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/matsyendranatha.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=807"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/matsyendranatha.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=807"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/matsyendranatha.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=807"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}