|
Amṛtasiddhi
The ''Amṛtasiddhi'' (Sanskrit: अमृतसिद्धि, "the attainment of immortality"), written in a Buddhist environment in about the 11th century, is the earliest substantial text on what became haṭha yoga, though it does not mention the term. The work describes the role of '' bindu'' in the yogic body, and how to control it using the Mahamudra so as to achieve immortality (''Amṛta''). The implied model is that bindu is constantly lost from its store in the head, leading to death, but that it can be preserved by means of yogic practices. The text has Buddhist features, and makes use of metaphors from alchemy. A verse in a paper manuscript of the ''Amṛtasiddhi'', possibly a later copy, asserts its date as 2 March 1160. It is written in two languages, Sanskrit and Tibetan. A critical edition based on all surviving manuscripts was published in 2021 by the Indologists James Mallinson and Péter-Dániel Szántó. Context The ''Amṛtasiddhi'' is the earliest s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Amritasiddhi Witness C Folio IV
The ''Amṛtasiddhi'' (Sanskrit: अमृतसिद्धि, "the attainment of immortality"), written in a Buddhist environment in about the 11th century, is the earliest substantial text on what became haṭha yoga, though it does not mention the term. The work describes the role of '' bindu'' in the yogic body, and how to control it using the Mahamudra so as to achieve immortality (''Amṛta''). The implied model is that bindu is constantly lost from its store in the head, leading to death, but that it can be preserved by means of yogic practices. The text has Buddhist features, and makes use of metaphors from alchemy. A verse in a paper manuscript of the ''Amṛtasiddhi'', possibly a later copy, asserts its date as 2 March 1160. It is written in two languages, Sanskrit and Tibetan. A critical edition based on all surviving manuscripts was published in 2021 by the Indologists James Mallinson and Péter-Dániel Szántó. Context The ''Amṛtasiddhi'' is the earliest s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Haṭha Yoga
Haṭha yoga is a branch of yoga which uses physical techniques to try to preserve and channel the vital force or energy. The Sanskrit word हठ ''haṭha'' literally means "force", alluding to a system of physical techniques. Some haṭha yoga style techniques can be traced back at least to the 1st-century CE, in texts such as the Hindu Sanskrit epics and Buddhism's Pali canon. The oldest dated text so far found to describe haṭha yoga, the 11th-century ''Amṛtasiddhi'', comes from a tantric Buddhist milieu. The oldest texts to use the terminology of ''hatha'' are also Vajrayana Buddhist. Hindu hatha yoga texts appear from the 11th century onwards. Some of the early haṭha yoga texts (11th-13th c.) describe methods to raise and conserve bindu (vital force, that is, semen, and in women ''rajas –'' menstrual fluid). This was seen as the physical essence of life that was constantly dripping down from the head and being lost. Two early Haṭha yoga techniques sought to e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
James Mallinson (author)
Sir James Mallinson, 5th Baronet of Walthamstow (born 22 April 1970) is a British Indologist, writer and translator. He is recognised as one of the world's leading experts on the history of medieval Hatha Yoga. Early life Mallinson became interested in India by reading Rudyard Kipling's novel ''Kim'' as a teenager; the book describes an English boy travelling India with a holy man. He was educated at Eton College and the University of Oxford, where he read Sanskrit and Old Iranian for his bachelor's degree, and studied the ethnography of South Asia for his master's degree at SOAS University of London. Mallinson is described as "perhaps the only baronet to wear dreadlocks"; he let his hair grow out from 1988 on his first visit to India during his gap year. He cut his hair in 2019 after the death of his guru, Mahant Balyogi Sri Ram Balak Das, who had initiated him into the Ramanandi Sampradaya at the Ujjain Kumbh Mela in 1992. Supervised by Alexis Sanderson, his doctoral thesis at ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kathmandu
, pushpin_map = Nepal Bagmati Province#Nepal#Asia , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 = Bagmati Province , subdivision_type2 = District , subdivision_name2 = Kathmandu , established_title = , founder = Manjushri , parts_type = No. of Wards , parts = 32 , seat_type = , seat = , government_footnotes = , government_type = Mayor–council government , governing_body = Kathmandu Metropolitan Government, , leader_title = Mayor , leader_name = Balendra Shah ( Ind.) , leader_title1 = Deputy mayor , leader_name1 = Sunita Dangol (UML) , leader_title2 = Executive Officer , leader_name2 = Basanta Adhikari , unit_pref ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dosha
''Dosha'' ( sa, दोषः, IAST: ''doṣa'') is a central term in Ayurveda originating from Sanskrit, which can be translated as "that which can cause problems" (literally meaning "fault" or "defect"), and which refers to three categories or types of substances that are believed to be present in a person's body and mind. Beginning with twentieth-century Ayurvedic literature, the "three-''dosha'' theory" ( sa, त्रिदोषोपदेशः, ) has described how the quantities and qualities of three fundamental types of substances called wind, bile, and phlegm ( sa, वात, , ; , , ) fluctuate in the body according to the seasons, time of day, process of digestion, and several other factors and thereby determine changing conditions of growth, aging, health, and disease. ''Dosha''s are considered to shape the physical body according to a natural constitution established at birth, determined by the constitutions of the parents as well as the time of conception and ot ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Prakṛti
Prakriti ( sa, प्रकृति ) is "the original or natural form or condition of anything, original or primary substance". It is a key concept in Hinduism, formulated by its Sāṅkhya school, where it does not refer to matter or nature, but "includes all the cognitive, moral, psychological, emotional, sensorial and physical aspects of reality," stressing "prakṛti's cognitive, mental, psychological and sensorial activities." Prakriti has three different innate qualities (guṇas), whose equilibrium is the basis of all observed empirical reality. Prakriti, in this school, contrasts with Puruṣa, which is pure awareness and metaphysical consciousness.James G. Lochtefeld (2001), The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism: A-M, Rosen Publishing, , Pages 224, 265, 520 The term is also found in the texts of other Indian religions such as Veda & Jainism and Buddhism. Etymology and meaning Prakriti (Sanskrit: प्रकृति) is an early Indic concept, which means "making or ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bandha (yoga)
A bandha ( sa, बंध) is a kriyā in Hatha Yoga, being a kind of internal mudra described as a "body lock," to lock the vital energy into the body. ''Bandha'' literally means bond, fetter, or "catching hold of".Iyengar, 1976: pp.435–437 Maha Bandha ("the great lock") combines all the other three bandhas, namely: * Mula Bandha, contraction of the perineum * Uddiyana bandha, contraction of the abdomen into the rib cage * Jalandhara Bandha, tucking the chin close to the chest In Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga, these three Bandhas are considered to be one of the three key principles of yoga practice. ''Mula bandha'' ''Mūla bandha'' is a primary ''bandha'' in traditional yoga. The earliest textual mention of ''mūla bandha'' is in the 12th century Shaiva Natha text '' Gorakṣaśataka'' which defines it as a yogic technique to achieve mastery of breath and to awaken the goddess Kuṇḍalinī. Etymology Mula Bandha (Sanskrit: मूल बंध) is from ''Mūla'', meaning various ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shaivism
Shaivism (; sa, शैवसम्प्रदायः, Śaivasampradāyaḥ) is one of the major Hindu traditions, which worships Shiva as the Supreme Being. One of the largest Hindu denominations, it incorporates many sub-traditions ranging from devotional dualistic theism such as Shaiva Siddhanta to yoga-orientated monistic non-theism such as Kashmiri Shaivism.Ganesh Tagare (2002), The Pratyabhijñā Philosophy, Motilal Banarsidass, , pages 16–19 It considers both the Vedas and the Agama texts as important sources of theology.Mariasusai Dhavamony (1999), Hindu Spirituality, Gregorian University and Biblical Press, , pages 31–34 with footnotesMark Dyczkowski (1989), The Canon of the Śaivāgama, Motilal Banarsidass, , pages 43–44 Shaivism developed as an amalgam of pre-Vedic religions and traditions derived from the southern Tamil Shaiva Siddhanta traditions and philosophies, which were assimilated in the non-Vedic Shiva-tradition. In the process of Sanskritisa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sadashiva
Sadasiva ( sa, सदाशिव, , ta, சதாசிவம் ), is the Supreme Being, also known as Paramashiva, in the Shaiva Siddhanta tradition of Shaivism. Sadasiva is the omnipotent, subtle, luminous absolute, the highest manifestation of Shiva. Sadasiva blesses with ''Anugraha'' and ''Vilaya'', or grace and obscuration of Pa sh a, which are the fourth and fifth of the ''Panchakritya'', or "five holy acts" of Shiva. Sadasiva is usually depicted having five faces and ten hands, is also considered one of the 25 Maheshwara murtams of Shiva. Shiva Agamas conclude that the Shiva Lingam, especially the Mukhalingam, is another form of Sadasiva. Representation The concept and form of Sadasiva initially emerged from South India, although many ancient sculptures of Sadasiva were obtained from various parts of India and South East Asia. It is believed that the cult of Sadasiva was widespread in the region of Bengal during the period of Sena dynasty who traced their origin in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Prana
In yoga, Indian medicine and Indian martial arts, prana ( sa2, प्राण, ; the Sanskrit word for breath, " life force", or "vital principle") permeates reality on all levels including inanimate objects. In Hindu literature, prāṇa is sometimes described as originating from the Sun and connecting the elements. Five types of prāṇa, collectively known as the five ''vāyus'' ("winds"), are described in Hindu texts. Ayurveda, tantra and Tibetan medicine all describe ''prāṇa vāyu'' as the basic vāyu from which the other vāyus arise. Prana is divided into ten main functions: The five Pranas – Prana, Apana, Udana, Vyana and Samana – and the five Upa-Pranas – Naga, Kurma, Devadatta, Krikala and Dhananjaya. Pranayama, one of the eight limbs of yoga, is intended to expand prana. Etymology V. S. Apte provides fourteen different meanings for the Sanskrit word ' () including breath or respiration; the breath of life, vital air, principle of life (usually plura ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yoga
Yoga (; sa, योग, lit=yoke' or 'union ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines which originated in ancient India and aim to control (yoke) and still the mind, recognizing a detached witness-consciousness untouched by the mind ('' Chitta'') and mundane suffering (''Duḥkha''). There is a wide variety of schools of yoga, practices, and goals in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism,Stuart Ray Sarbacker, ''Samādhi: The Numinous and Cessative in Indo-Tibetan Yoga''. SUNY Press, 2005, pp. 1–2.Tattvarthasutra .1 see Manu Doshi (2007) Translation of Tattvarthasutra, Ahmedabad: Shrut Ratnakar p. 102. and traditional and modern yoga is practiced worldwide. Two general theories exist on the origins of yoga. The linear model holds that yoga originated in the Vedic period, as reflected in the Vedic textual corpus, and influenced Buddhism; according to author Edward Fitzpatrick Crangle, this model is mainly supported by Hindu scholars. According ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Subtle Body
A subtle body is a "quasi material" aspect of the human body, being neither solely physical nor solely spiritual, according to various esoteric, occult, and mystical teachings. This contrasts with the mind–body dualism that has dominated Western thought. The subtle body is important in the Taoism of China and Dharmic religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism, mainly in the branches which focus on tantra and yoga, where it is known as the ''Sūkṣma-śarīra'' ( sa, सूक्ष्म शरीर). However, while mostly associated with Asian cultures, non-dualistic approaches to the mind and body are found in many parts of the world. Subtle body concepts and practices can be identified as early as 2nd century BCE in Taoist texts found in the Mawangdui tombs. Although "evidently present" in Indian thought as early as the 4th to 1st century BCE when the Taittiriya Upanishad describes the Panchakoshas, a series of five interpenetrating sheaths of the body. A fully ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
.jpg "Click for more on -> Subtle Body")