[QUOTE=nath ji;79701]you found true hatha yoga only in those traditions today : natha , aghori , naga, ramanandi, udasi… only this everything else is fake…[/QUOTE]
I would not go so far as to say all that is fake. It is of course true that all Yogic practices gave their roots in Tantra. Tantra has been given many definitions-one is Tan= stretch; yantra =tool. ie a tool for stretching the mind. Many view it as having been derived from Tattva (basis or truth) and mantra. Tantra uses the symbolic union of the Siva(masculine principle) and Shakti (feminine principle -creative energy) to help its practitioners expand the limits of their mind. I have always thought it as a wonderful way of explaining how there is only a single unit which apparently manifests duality -the male and female.
Tantra has clear left handed and right handed teachings. The left handed path is a faster way- but needs great strength of mind- in fact many (including me) subscribe to the view that these may not be parallel but sequential paths. When the right handed path which is largely based on vedic socially acceptable practices, has led one to a sufficient level of advancement for one to realise that there is no such thing as good or bad in this world and these are only labels, there dawns on one that all objects in the universe, indeed the universe itself is Brahman-universal consciousness and how can there be anything negative about Brahman ? At this point the mind is ready to surrender all objects -it is then that the Vamayana- the left handed path -which incidentally consists of all practices considered "not acceptable " at one time -some of which are still taboo … open sex , flesh eating, worshiping in graveyards etc.
Interestingly many of the practices of Vamayana have sneaked into everyday life in India.- eg the practice of putting ash on the forehead and the body while praying is essentially Vamayana- it is ash from the funeral pyre that is smeared to constantly remind oneself of the fact that the body is subject to destruction and that whatever can be destroyed is not one’s real self which has no beginning and no end. Of course temples nowadays in India do not use funeral ash- a concession to the squeamishness of man who is uncomfortable contemplating death.
All asanas, mantras, meditation -are all Vamayana. Several classifications have emerged over the last few decades Rajya Yoga, Bhakti, Jnana Yoga, Hatha Yoga, etc. There is nothing new in any of these- the roots are all contained in Tantra. Tantra the parent has given rise to many offspring each meant for the emancipation of a person a specific kind of nature-eg Jnana for the contemplative, Bhakti for the devout, etc.
All paths have emerged for the single purpose of helping us attain emancipation-union with the divine -how can any be fake or authentic- as long as it achieves the purpose it has a value.
And let us not forget the mark of a true Yogi is acceptance of all names and forms as the manifestation of the Divine.
