Renunciant ascetic
society formed by the sage Gorakhnath.
The Nathpanthis are also known as jogis (due to their
emphasis on yoga), Gorakhnathis (due to their founder's name), Kanphatas (due
to the signature earrings placed in the split cartilage of both ears), Gosains
("master of the senses"), and simply as Naths ("lord") due
to the characteristic suffix taken as part of their names during ascetic
initiation.
Although the Nathpanthis are an ancient institution with a
lengthy history in northern India, their historical record is scant.
The group has no centralized administration; its
concentration on yoga has resulted in an inner practice rather than a focus on temples
or other tangible artifacts.
Despite the fact that the Nathpanthis are Shiva worshippers
(bhakta), they are distinct from the Shaiva Sanyasis.
The Naths' spiritual practice has always emphasized the
mastery of the subtle body as a path to ultimate soul freedom.
The Naths believe that liberation is bodily immortality,
rather than the more commonly acknowledged escape from the cycle of
transmigration.
The subtle body is a physiological system that is thought to
exist on a separate level than coarse matter yet is related to the material
body.
It is shown as a collection of six psychic centers (chakras)
running approximately down the spine, with two divine principles, Shiva
(consciousness) and Shakti (power), residing above and below these centers (power).
The seeker aspires to unite these two principles at the
summit of the head, thereby changing the gross body's perishable parts into
immortality.
The Nathpanthis' dominant metaphor for discussing this
process is the merger of the sun and the moon.
The sun, which is associated with Shakti, represents change
and destruction, while the moon, which is associated with Shiva, represents
stability and immortality.
In certain circumstances, the union of the sun and the moon
is stated in highly abstract terms; for example, "ha" refers to the
sun and "tha" refers to the moon in the description of hatha yoga.
Other abstract definitions of this process refer to
achieving vital wind (prana) balance or yogic unity in the subtle body.
In other circumstances, such as in the practice of vajroli
mudra, this oneness is symbolized in tangible ways.
This sexual practice involves urethral suction, often known
as the "fountain-pen method," in which a man sucks his sperm back
into his body after ejaculating into his female partner.
Through interaction with the woman's uterine blood, the
sperm has been purified.
The Nathpanthis have been influential on many northern Indian
bhakti poet-saints, including Kabir, as well as as an ascetic society in their
own right.
Internal religion has always been emphasized in their
religious practice, with individual fulfillment viewed much more significant
than societal obligations or institutionalized worship.
Gorakhnath and the Kanphata Yogis, by George Weston Briggs,
is the most comprehensive source on Gorakhnath and his disciples.
