1. Three Aspects of the Absolute
According to the Naths, an order of yogis associated with the practice of hatha yoga, creation begins with the limitless and eternal Absolute, a transcendent essence that permeates the universe. This painting, read from left to right, represents the origins of existence as a shimmering field of gold. Its successive emanations into consciousness (center) and form (right) are represented as perfected Nath yogis, covered in ash and saffron. Through yogic practice, Naths sought to transform their physical bodies into subtle matter and merge with the luminous Absolute.
Many yoga traditions define enlightenment as the recognition that the self and the limitless Absolute are one and the same, although they appear different. This essential sameness allows a yoga practitioner to progressively transform his or her physical body, known as the “gross” body, into subtle matter.
2. Transmission of Teachings from the Gods
These images of perfected practitioners (siddhas) from Stories of the Naths represent a transcendent lineage of yoga. The practitioners are depicted as teachers in a chain of authoritative revelation; several touch forefingers to thumbs in a gesture of imparting knowledge. Hovering in a subtle realm on a silvery universal sea, they are, from left to right, progressively more material emanations of the Absolute. The Absolute is represented on the manuscript’s first page as an empty space, also on view in this gallery.
