Light on Hatha Yoga
The Hatha Yoga Pradipika is one of the most influential texts within the study of Hatha Vidya (knowledge through physical control) and Raja Yoga (control of the mind in order to enter the mental state of yoga). If we look at the essence of the Hatha Yoga Pradipika, its contribution as a written body of material offers very particular and precise practices which aim for Hatha Vidya and the attainment of Raja Yoga. Outside of the casually vague instructions “sit on asana” or “do asana,” most yogic texts did not specify which poses to practice or how to practice them. This you learned from a teacher. The Pradipika actually list a specific amount of postures to practice: eleven preliminary postures and the four contemplative ones.
For reasons I hope to illuminate in the following pages, I have translated the Pradipika in poetic form through a process of steady practice of the aforementioned postures followed by observation. After practicing morning rituals, I would sit with a passage or two and translate the experience, as opposed to the manual description. I started with the chapter on Asana not because it was for gaining steadiness, but because it was about sensation. Sensation gives you experience and awareness of existence. It is in that existence that true awareness can come into our lives.
As you gain more knowledge of yoga and the depth of the subtle systems, you can look at the text and expand upon balancing deeper introspection and the state of yoga as found in Raja Yoga.
