05/20/2026
Twelfth Century Amṛtakuṇḍa's Sky Gazing Practice
Sky gazing (nam mkha' ar gtad) - one of the core practices of dzogchen trekchö and dzogchen thögal - is applied in various ways focussing on the deep blue cloudless sky in the early morning and late afternoon. The following text in context of early hatha yoga practices is an interesting example of a parallel practice in the context of Indian yoga practice adopted by certain Arabic and Persian traditions. The text states:
The recollection of tiktikā. When the wayfarer wishes to perform the tiktikā practice, at the time of the true dawn he arises and performs ablutions [wuḍū’, for Muslim prayer], sits facing the east, and gazes at heaven. He gazes open-eyed, which makes part of the eye dazzled, and obtains the bounty of the coolness of the air by the eye. Again closing the eye, he takes it in; again opening it up, he practices that very kind, in sequence, until sunrise. The numerous benefits of this will become evident after some days.
Plate no. 16 of the Amṛtakuṇḍa
The text called Amṛtakuṇḍa, The Pool of Nectar, a treatise on hatha yoga written in either Sanskrit or Hindi in the twelfth century, was translated from Arabic into Persian around 1210-1215. This was an era dominated by the overbearing presence of Afghan-Turkic armies that repeatedly attacked India and began to govern it. The Persian versions of the Amṛtakuṇḍa spoke about breathing exercises, the hathayoga as was practised by Nath yogis, ta**ra associated with the Kaula subsects, and the worship of Goddess Kamakhya. The result of this relationship between Amrithakunda and Goddess Kamakhya in the area of Kamarupa. i.e. modern Assam, was that an earlier version of the text was also known, including in Persian, as a Kamarupabijaksha, The Kamarupa Seed Syllables.
Amritakunda - The Ocean of Nectar
One of the earliest extant manuscripts on Yoga in the world with illustrated asanas is a Persian text called Bahr al-hayat or The Ocean of Life, a translation of the an earlier Arabic text called Hawd al-hayat or The Pool of Life – said to be an Arabic translation of Amritakunda, a 2000 year old lost book on Yoga, written in Sanskrit – dates from the turn of the seventeenth century.
None of its asanas are taught in any earlier Sanskrit text, and their descriptions are more detailed than those in other Sanskrit treatises written over the next century. The illustrated treatise was produced in the context of an Indo-Islamic court. It is one of three yoga-related manuscripts commissioned by Prince Salim (the future Mughal Emperor Jahangir) in Allahabad between 1600 and 1604. A total of twenty-one asana images are contained in the works.
The Persian text of Ocean of Life was composed in Gujarat around 1550 by Muhammad Ghwath Gawilyari, a prominent spiritual master, grandson of Fariduddin Attar (Attar of Nishapur). Muhammad Ghawth was a direct biological descendant of the Prophet Muhammad in the 15th generation. His goal was to teach his disciples hatha practices compatible with goals of spiritual transformation. Based on both earlier Sanskrit treatises and conversations with living yogis, the text demonstrates how yoga was made familiar to Sufi ascetics.”
An unfolding excerpt from the translated version of Bahr al Hayat by Mohammed Ghawth Gawilyari
“Know that the wisdom of the human body rests upon water, and its basis and structure is upon earth. Existence, constitution, contraction, and expansion, are by the power of fire, while height, fancy, motion, power, fate, and respiration are by the perception of air. General comprehension, particular substance, human logic, familiar understanding, the discernment of reality, and the infused spirit are from the emanation of “God is the light of the heavens and the earth” (Qur’an 24:35). Since for these mentioned things the overt manifestation of the existence of wisdom is not uniform, the orbit of the microcosm raises its head, becoming prepared and existent, and skin, flesh, blood, bone, vein, foot, and face become existent by the substance of the macrocosm. It makes known the motion, articulation, and rest of the macrocosm, for all of the heavens and planets exist by the daily motion of the throne in one day. When that circle settles, the microcosm becomes superfluous. The planet of earth, which is the center of the heavenly spheres, in a short time becomes a scattered mote of dust. Therefore the divine creator has, with wisdom and power, given them a craft that connects them, so that one cannot overcome another. Thus is the macrocosm established. Wherever with the very same wisdom the microcosm sets its basis and structure on that, it exercises with acquisition, discipline, strategem, and wisdom, until without custom it becomes customary, so that the microcosm is not confounded. As is the one, so is the other; let it be revealed!”
Hence, the physical discipline and practice of Yoga is perceived as one of many modalities available to man with innumerable benefits. It is therefore a commended practice as it aides in internal and external harmony, awareness and raising ones’ consciousness through unification of mind, body and soul.
http://archive.asia.si.edu/.../chapter-4-bahr-al-hayat...
