Hatha yoga physical essence of life that was constantly dripping down from the head and being lost. These techniques sought to either physically reverse this process (by inverted postures like the "viparītakaraṇī") or to use the breath to force bindu upwards through the central channel. Other texts like the "Vivekamārtaṇḍa", "Goraksaśataka", and "Khecarīvidyā" also teach the raising of kuṇḍalinī. The aims of these practices were siddhis (supranormal powers such as levitation) and mukti (liberation). The only other texts older than the Hathapradīpikā to teach Hatha Yoga ̣mudrās are the "Shiva Samhita", "Yogabīja", "Amaraughaprabodha", and "Śārṅgadharapaddhati". The "Hatha Yoga Pradīpika" is one of
Jnana Jnana In Indian philosophy and religion, jñāna (Sanskrit, pronounced gya:nə) (Pali: "ñāṇa") or gyan/gian (Hindi: "jñān") is "knowledge". The idea of jnana centers on a cognitive event which is recognized when experienced. It is knowledge inseparable from the total experience of reality, especially a total or divine reality (Brahman). The root jñā- is cognate to English "know", as well as to the Greek γνώ- (as in γνῶσις "gnosis") and Russian "знание". Its antonym is "ajñāna" "ignorance". In Tibetan Buddhism, it refers to pure awareness that is free of conceptual encumbrances, and is contrasted with vijnana, which is a moment of