ALCHEMY (RASAYAN VIDYA): TRADITION in NATH SIDHAS

ALCHEMY (RASAYAN VIDYA): TRADITION in NATH SIDHAS

The word alchemy, which has origins in the Greek word khemeia, meaning "art of transmuting metals." Active since ancient times, alchemists could be considered very early chemists because of their work trying to transform base metals into gold. In yogic context it is refered to the science or techniques to achieve immortality also called RASAYAN vidya 

Hatha Yoga, as it is known and in this Alchemical context, originates from a special group of Yogis known for their alchemical abilities called the Nath Siddha. A Siddha is a name to describe someone who has mastered a Siddhi, literally translated as an achievement, meaning essentially a magical superpower. Nath Siddhas of India  have eminently accomplished in Alchemy and had the ability to perform magical feats such as transmutation of elements by way of the Siddhis that were obtained using Tantric yoga techniques

Nath yogis are often said to achieve  body made immortal through yoga or alchemy. Their mastery over death.  Nāths even patronizing vedic rituals, they are still associated with a variety of tantric practices, in particular tantric ritual, alchemy, and yoga. The most famous was Nāgārjuna; others include Nityanāth, Charpaṭ i, and Goraksh a himself. Alchemy is the practice most often noted in early records and accounts of Nāth yogīs. Marco Polo remarked on how the yogīs he encountered lived for two hundred years thanks to the elixirs of mercury and sulphur they ate. In the 17th century, the emperor Aurangzeb requested mercury from the abbot of a Nāth yogī monastery in the Punjab  To this day, a small number of Nāth yogīs are known for their alchemical powers.

 In Yoga, it is not the acquiescence of a magical ability or even immortality that is the goal, but rather the moment of conjunction or union with the source of all matter

References:

Briggs, G.W., Gorakhnāth and the Kānphaṭ a Yogīs, Delhi,1938.

Bouillier, V., Itinérance et vie monastique: Les ascètes Nāth Yogīs en Inde contemporaine, Paris, 2008

White, D.G., The Alchemical Body, Chicago, 1996.

Yogī Vilāsnāth, Śrī Nāth Rahasya, Haridwar, 2010