Hatha Yoga is more practiced in the west than even in India. This is true about most of the higher practices of Yoga too, if what one sees over the net is to be taken seriously. This is a very heartening development because in the land of its origin Yoga is pretty soon going to be extinct. There are no efforts to make it a part of the educational curriculum, as should have been done long ago. Some yuppies practice it if they are forced by their bosses, and some do it to lessen the tensions of life. I do not think any one is taking it very seriously. If those in power had the barest minimum imagination they would have understood by now that such disciplines would not survive this long without having something going for them.
Well, let us leave it at that. Hatha Yoga really developed as a reaction to external domination of the land, and is basically a practice to gain unbelievable mental and physical abilities. But it has also some ludicrous aspects to it. One such is the practice of Vajroli Mudra.
I know that the Mudra is taught (if it is ever taught at all) as an exercise to gain control over the “nether “regions of the body. But actually it has a weird aspect to it. The practice consists of dipping your penis in bowl containing milk and drawing some of it into you with it. Not an easy thing to do by any means. When I had my first introduction to Yoga I had read every text on the subject available in the land at that time. A text like Gheeranda Samhita wisely keeps mum on this practice. I think Hatha Yoga Pradeepika contains some reference to the actual practice. You may refer to Advice 3-83, 84, 85, and 86 of the text if you can get hold of a copy. I could not stop laughing for days thinking about the practice as described in it.
In the notes to the Advice it is given thus:
“I will now tell you about two of the rare things you should obtain to practice this Mudra. One is milk and the other is a faithful woman. Be it man or woman, once they stop the discharge of Bindhu (Seminal fluid in the case of man, and any such secretion in woman) and practice constriction of certain bodily parts steadily for some time they will obtain this Mudra. By placing a glass pipe to the opening of the male/female organ you should blow through it like you do when lighting a fire. This is to ensure air circulation inside the opening.”(Forgive my poor translation. It is actually weirder and funnier than this)
Then again in Advice 3-87 it is enjoined that, with effort, the seminal fluid which gets inside the vagina of the woman should be fully absorbed back into the body of the practitioner. It is said that the practitioners of Vajroli could sort of vacuum clean the fluids insides the vagina giving a woman extreme pleasure. No wonder many young guys are after such “Sidhis” (powers) and ruin their lives by practicing it.
One great opponent to this technique (as well as all the techniques of Hatha Yoga) has described of an encounter with a practitioner of this Mudra.
He asked the Young man
“How long have you been practicing this technique?”
“About Ten years.” The other replied
“….And the gain?”
‘Well, I can draw water into the penis through a thin pipe”
I would rather not relate the reaction of this venerable gentleman to that statement. But to tell you the truth, before seeing this account I did not think the practice was even possible. And in fact, even after reading this report I had remained skeptical about it. The guy could be telling a lie, you know, though the description did not sound like it.
But then there was this instance I came across. It comes from a book written by late Guru Nitya Chaitanya Yati who is also well known in the west. He once had to work as the Director of Psychic Research Institute at Delhi by the invitation of the then home minister of India Mr. Gulsarilal Nanda. The institute conducted a scientific study on the Yogis they could find. One of them was a yogi called Varabh Yogi. He was so called because he could sit cross legged on a “block of ice” (“Varabh” in Hindi) in the nude for hours at a stretch without even flinching.
He exhibited the technique of “Vajroli” before a distinguished audience of experts at the Psychic Research Institute at Delhi. He first drew in one ounce of milk through his penis into his body and then forced it out in the like manner. He also demonstrated the “Kurma Mudra” before them. This consists of drawing in the entire genitalia (is the usage correct, I do not know. But you can guess the meaning from it I hope?) inwards into the body. When it finally disappeared into the body the place where the penis looked similar to that of a female sex organ.
Yati states that this Yogi was boastful and was thirsty for worthless praise. He was ever praising his own greatness. Yati felt his outlook on life and value system was anything but desirable and concluded that to attain the complete control over mind and become a real Yogin one need to raise much above the practice of such techniques.
I could not agree more. But I was educated in modern India with its strong accent on the western moral code and its frightening inhibitions. It is not my desire to discredit Yoga ( Even Hatha Yoga ) for some of its weird practices. In fact the earlier- Indians had always shown a healthy interest in sex and have even devised a method to attain the highest truth with the help of it. It is known as Vama Tantra. It is also considered a form of Yoga. The ancients in the land never had any inhibitions about sex and took it as the most natural experience in the world. Well this is the land which considered Vatsyayana (the Author of Kamasutra) as a rishi, a term generally reserved for those who attain the highest truth. This was not done in jest. They knew there were many roads to the same point.
Once a great sage was asked by his disciples:
“Could one find truth through such deplorable methods?’
He replied with a simile.
“You see, a house has many portals, the master of the house might enter through the front door, the women and children through some other doors, the servants through yet other s, and the scavenger also enters the house through a door. If you do not like it you need not go through that door”
The point is very clear is it not?
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