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    Hata Yoga: Myths Shattered
    Hata Yoga: Myths Shattered
    Hata Yoga: Myths Shattered
    Ebook111 pages1 hour

    Hata Yoga: Myths Shattered

    By Dr.King

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    About this ebook

    Answers some of the questions related to sexual control, Kundalini (Serpent power) awakening, Health benefits of Pranayama (Yogic breathing) and Asana (Yogic body postures). This book makes a close scrutiny of some of these and comes up with amazing findings. The book also charts the long history of Yoga from Vedic times to present day. A must read for all those who are currently practicing or intend to practice Yoga.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherDr.King
    Release dateMar 9, 2018
    ISBN9781370614189
    Hata Yoga: Myths Shattered
    Author

    Dr.King

    Dr.King is an avid writer in the nonfictional category. In the past 3 decades he has written several books in the areas of philosophy, Yoga, religious practices, sculpture, gardening, and so on. His books often blend scientific outlook with traditional faiths and practices. His books especially in the area of ancient philosophy succinctly showcase volumes of ancient literature in a condensed form, providing very authentic, insightful and unbiased portrayal. These books are generally characterized as thought provoking, giving an incisive look at the otherwise difficult to understand topics. One can expect to find reliable information, devoid of glorification and hype that is typical in this category.

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      Book preview

      Hata Yoga - Dr.King

      Prologue

      When I published my first book on Yoga, namely "Psychology behind Yoga : Lesser known insights into the ancient science of Yoga, I received an amusing retort from one of my readers. The remark was that the book is ‘not really on Yoga!’. That was interesting, given the fact that that particular book was about the Yoga of Patanjali which I normally refer to as the Yoga, and rightly so.

      The reason for that comment was the fact that most people think Yoga is about body postures and breathing exercises. This misconception has in part to do with many modern Yoga teachers, who unfortunately paint a wrong picture of Yoga.

      Added to this, there is deep rooted belief that whatever is taught in most Yoga schools today, is what exactly was there in the Yoga enunciated by Patanjali way back in 200 B.C. Again, this is a wrong belief spread intentionally or unintentionally by many Yoga teachers, some of whom are highly reputed.

      The fact is

      What is popular as Yoga today is actually Hatayoga and not the Yoga propounded by Patanjali. Hatayoga is a relatively recent development (around 15th century A.D.) and differs in many ways from the original Yoga of Patanjali (See Appendix Yoga timeline to get a clearer picture).

      While Hatayoga has lot of good things to its credit, some of its concepts are no more than myths as I show later in this book. Some commercially motivated modern-day Yoga teachers, in their eagerness to attract attention and more followers, have added more myths to this. So, there are myths ‘in Hatayoga’ as well as myths ‘about Hatayoga’.

      These myths can lead to disillusionment and betrayal of hopes in the best case, and to complete neurotic conditions and denial of proper medical care in the worst case. I have come across Hatayoga practitioners either struggling to meet the unrealistic stringent conditions or depressed over not achieving the expected goals even after years of dedicated practice. Many people lose their precious lives hoping for miraculous cures which may never happen. A more prudent choice could have been proper medical care.

      Having said all this, I should admit one of the greatest strengths of Hatayoga that has made it so popular. As compared to the high ideals and hard to reach goals of Patanjali Yoga and Buddhist forms of equivalent practices, Hatayoga is more down to earth. It is more tuned to laymen’s aspirations and goals such as health, longevity, and happiness in general.

      The techniques of Hatayoga are more palpable than abstract. The target is one’s body and not the mind, making it easy for a body conscious layperson. So, Hatayoga may be more suited to present generation of humanity, if only we strip it off its inherent myths and stop spreading more myths around it.

      This book is about both the myths in Hatayoga as a system and also the myths around it. I have used reasoning, digs at inherent contradictions, comparison with related ancient schools, and also our present medical knowledge as tools to bust some of these myths.

      F:\my_books\amazon\end_of_chapter.jpg

      F:\my_books\amazon\am_ancient_wisdom\cover_design\cover_logo_old.jpg Some modern Yoga teachers talk authoritatively about the importance of preserving sexual energy while one practices Yoga. Many have written books on stressing this fact. Some talk about dangers of not being vigilant on this ‘most important’ aspect of Yoga.

      On the other hand, some modern teachers, realizing the futility of such enforcements, maintain a guarded silence over this subject. But the fact is that Hatayoga texts explicitly insist on strict adherence to preservation of sexual energy. In fact, the entire concept of Kundalini revolves around sexual energy as we see in Myth  2.

      In this chapter, I will discuss this Hatayoga concept of preservation of sexual energy in terms of

      Why it is believed to be essential

      how it can benefit the Hatayoga practitioner, and

      the techniques to achieve this.

      At the same time, I will draw the attention to simple scientific facts as well as other ancient traditions to show how this idea is not logically sound and is just a myth.

      The belief that sexual energy is a very potent means

      Most of the Hatayoga texts mean male sexual energy, when they talk about it. What this sexual energy means is very vague and it revolves basically around seminal fluid. This fluid is considered to be very potent and loss of it is considered to be highly damaging to the body.

      It is said that seminal fluid is the essence of the food we eat. It is supposed to get formed after the food passes through several stages of refinement in terms of blood, sinews, bones, and so on. So, wasting this fluid is as good as losing the very essence of the food we eat.

      There are several sentences in Hatayoga texts that warn one to abstain from losing this precious fluid. For example, one of the most important classical Hatayoga texts namely the Hatapradeepika says the following.

      The death comes by discharging the seminal fluid (Bindu) and the life is prolonged by its preservation. There is no fear of death as long as the seminal fluid is well established within the body. (Hatapradeepika)

      Many of the other Hatayoga texts also make similar statements and lay emphasis on retaining the seminal fluid.

      Apart from viewing the seminal fluid as the most refined essence of what we eat, it is also seen as something that has the ‘power’ to create a new

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