Shri Navnath Sampraday Parampara

The practices and daily sadhana of Nath Sampradaya vary from practitioner to practitioner based on their Guru’s recommendations. In Nath Sampradaya each practitioner has a Guru who recommends certain methods of sadhana that will be most effective based on the practitioner’s individual nature. The basic Nath Sampradaya sadhana is practice of the Goraksha-mantra, which is given in mantra-diksha by a Nath Guru. Then gradually the Guru introduces more yogic practices and sadhanas, including bhakti. One of their main practices is Nada-anusandhana, a Laya Yoga practice.

Many initiated yogis of Nath Sampradaya live as celibate sannyasis in ashrams or mandirs, though they can also live as Grihastha. They do sadhana and Guru-seva. They practice temple worship, mainly of Shiva, primarily for the purpose of reducing and softening the ego and developing humility by cultivating an attitude of respectful, loving surrender to the Supreme. They practice Mantra Yoga, Hatha Yoga, Laya Yoga, Raja Yoga, Ashtanga Yoga, and/or Shadanga Yoga (same as Ashtanga Yoga except without observing Yama and Niyama), depending on their Guru’s advice for each individual practitioner.

In Nath Mantra Yoga the sadhak is given a mantra by their Guru, and practices to realize its Mantra Siddhi. Most often this is the Goraksha-mantra, and its Siddhi grants the darshan of Gorakshanath and direct communion with him. Nath Sampradaya’s Hatha Yoga uses methods of sukshma Vyayam, shat karma (netti, basti, nauli, trataka, kapalabhati, etc.), asanas held in steady position (not flowing movement as in vinyasa style), pranayama, mudra, and bandha.

They seek to balance Surya-Chandra, the solar and lunar energies within the Pingala and Ida nadis that flank the Sushumna; the Prana and Apana (ingoing and outgoing breaths of the body); Dakshina-Vama (the right- and left-hand spiritual paths or halves of the body), Yamuna-Ganga (the energies of the two most holy rivers, the rivers of death and of life), Shiva-Shakti, Kula-Akula, Dvaita-Advaita (dualistic and monistic perspectives on reality), etc. The goal of all the methods is to direct a stream of prana in the central Sushumna channel of the spine and contribute to awakening the sleeping Kundalini Shakti, which then rises upwards within the Sushumna nadi and, if successful, joins with the Supreme Consciousness of Shiva. This realization brings about the total unity of all contrasting opposites and the attainment of samarasya or a state of ideal balance.

Nath Laya Yoga mainly involves the practice of Nada-anusandhana, though sometimes there are some preliminary Laya Yoga practices to work up to it. Nada-anusandhana is a concentration of the consciousness on a pure sound, resulting in mental cleanliness and dissolving the mano-laya or vibrations of the mind. Nath yogis use a whistle for this, and listen to its sound. Gradually one’s mind dissolves into pure Nada, pure sound. The sound is ultimately realized to be nothing but Kundalini Shakti, which appears within the chakras as Matrikas (Shakti Goddesses who are also the sounds of the Sanskrit language). Ultimately this practice leads to comprehending the Atma.

Nath Raja Yoga is a method of working with the consciousness to achieve a state of Samadhi. Many, but not all Nath yogis observe ten Yamas and ten Niyamas. Their ten Yamas are Ahinsa (nonviolence), Satya (devotion to truth in actions, speech, and thoughts), Asteya (non-stealing), Brahmacharya (control over all sensual urges, redirecting them to pure Brahman), Kshama (forgiveness), Dhriti (patience and stability in all situations), Daya (compassion to all people and other creatures, and helping those who are in trouble), Arjava (simplicity of life), Mitahara (strict regulation of nutrition), and Shaucha (clarification of body and mind).

Their ten Niyamas are Tapas (asceticism), Santosha (satisfaction with what is), Astikaya (belief in the sacred scriptures, the Guru, and all enlightened saints), Dana (making donations), Ishwara-Pujana (devoted pujas performed to Ishwara), Siddhanta-Vakya-Shravana (regular hearing or reading of scripture, especially the Yoga Shastras, working to comprehend and understand the truths revealed in it from the spiritual experience of enlightened Gurus), Hri (to keep a clean conscience and aspire to correct one’s faults), Mati (development of fineness of intellect and deep comprehension), Japa (the recitation of a divine Name as often and as continuously as possible, sometimes mentally and sometimes aloud, with deep devotion), and Homa (offering food, drink, and other objects in worship to a deity). However, Naths whose Guru sees fit for them to practice Shadanga Yoga dispense with the Yamas and Niyamas and do not observe them.

Nath Sampradaya uses a great variety of Asanas as steady postures of the body, aimed at controlling the prana, mind, and feelings, and mastering the two main positions of Siddhasana and Padmasana, which are then used for Dhyana. Nath Sampradaya uses about ten methods of Pranayama, mainly to prolong the respiratory cycle as far as possible. Nath Sampradaya uses Pratyahara to train the mind to be able to control the senses, and redirect the consciousness from the limited objects to the Absolute. Then comes Dharana, directed spiritual concentration on an object.

Nath Sampradaya uses many kinds of Dhyana - Sthula Dhyana, Sukshma Dhyana, Joti Dhyana, etc. It also teaches of many kinds of Samadhi - Savikalpa Samadhi, Nirvikalpa Samadhi, Hinayana Samadhi, Layayoga Samadhi, Nadayoga Samadhi, Rajayoga Samadhi, Rasananda Samadhi, Bhaktiyoga Samadhi, Mahabhava Samadhi, Jada Samadhi, etc. What they all have in common is that they are states of deep trance in which the borders between object, subject, and their correlation (sambandha) disappear. They differ mainly in how they are attained, though certain qualitative differences in the experience can be noticed.

The higher level within Nath Sampradaya are the darshanis, or fully initiated yogis who have split their ears to wear large kundal earrings pierced through the center of the ear. This is done in a process of about forty days of intense and painful tapasya, which Nath darshanis often report gives them spiritual experiences including the darshan of Gorakshanath. These rings are connected with practices seeking to control the Ida and Pingala nadis to master the lunar and solar energies within the body, and gain control over the sexual energy, transform it and move it up, working toward awakening the Kundalini and raising it up the Sushumna channel, the main goal being the perfect and clear perception of Atma.