Summary of Natha Yoga Sampradaya Seminar

INTERNATIONAL LIGHT
Official Journal of the
International Yoga Teachers’ Association Inc.
JANUARY - MARCH 2007

In its major event in the XXI Century Yococen (International Yoga Coordination Centre) held a Seminar from October 13th to 15th at Parmath Niketan (Uttaranchal) focusing the remarkable contribution of the Natha Yoga Sampradaya to the enhancement of the Kaya Sadhana.

The meeting was attended by a large number of Indian scholars a significant delegation from Brazil as well as from Spain and the USA.

The Seminar was co-sponsored by the Uttaranchal Government by the International Yoga Teachers Association and the Brazilian Yoga Collegiate Dharmaparishad.

At the opening ceremony, His Holiness Swami Chiddhananda Saraswati, spiritual leader of Parmath Niketan delivered the opening speech and told the audience the meeting he had with Natha Yogis in his youth and stressed the importance of this Sampradaya in the diffusion of the Indian spiritual thought around the world. He also reminded the happy coincidence of the Seminar being held in the vicinity of Mount Neela Kanth, where Lord Shiva, the patron of the Nathas during meditation hold on his throat the Venom that could poison the world. Later in the afternoon Swamiji himself conducted an ‘arti’ at the banks of the Ganges where all the participants of the Seminar took part in the special ‘Yajna’ held for them on that day.

The keynote address was by Dr. Vishnu Dutt Rakesh member of the Sanskrit Academy of Uttaranchal. The lectures covered several aspects of the Natha Yoga Tradition: Dr. Mridula Joshi (Gurukul University) described the impact of Natha thought on Sant Literature; Dr. S. K. Joshi (Government Ayurvedic College) explained how yogasanas exerted acupressure on body marmas; Dr. Rakesh Giri (Gurukul University) focused on the Hathayogic Mudras and their organic and psychic aspects on the practitioner; Dr. Rakesh Malshe evaluated the potential use of Hatha Yoga techniques in therapy of coronary diseases; Professor Shamtanu Chakrabortee described the influence of meditation in the re-establishment of emotinal and psychic balance; Prof. Ishwar Bhardwaj from Haridwar University brought some of his very young students that demonstrated an exceptional capacity to remain in dhyana for a long period.

A relevant paper by Dr. Kunwar Narendra Pratap Singh, General Secretary of the Hindu Federation and Gorakhpur University analysed the relationship between Natha and Patanjala Yoga. Acharya Vishwanath from Bangalore conducted two practical classes following the traditional text of the Hatha Yoga Ratnavali. Professor Emeritus Kamalakar Mishra, from the Benares Hindu University, delivered an outstanding lecture on the meaning Natha Tradition in the context of Tantrism, and the role of Gorakhnatha in triggering a socio spiritual movement and the components of advanced Hatha Yoga.

The closing ceremony was opened by a speech of Sadvi Bhagwat Saraswati followed by a memorable performance of a large number of Rishi Kumaras.

Finalizing the Seminar, Yococen’s president Ms. Maria Helena de Bastos Freire requested the audience to establish a task force to rescue the oral tradition of the Natha Yoga Sampradaya today scattered among thousands of sannyasis and sadhus spread all over India, reminding that these are the living force of this school.

The great success of the Seminar can be attributed to the exceptional effort of Ms. Sushila Sibal (Honorary Secretary of Yococen Trust) and for Dr. Vageesh Paliwal on the screening and reception of the lectures and for the outstanding leadership and administrative abilities of Mr. K. K. Gupta (Co-chairperson of Yococen).

Besides publishing the proceedings Yococen intends to encourage Indian institutions to research on this particular subject as well as to continue to collect manuscripts and the oral tradition of the Nathas.