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Gorakh comparing a woman to a tigress, who sucks human blood! Again says Gorakh in a Hindi verse, "The tree by the river bank and the man by the side of a woman, verily they cannot expect to last long. The restlessness , the unfettered activity of the mind causes the back bone to wear away, and the body of the man perishes."
In a book, on Hatha Yoga full descriptions of Asanas (postures) as practised by Matsyendra and Gorakh are given. To try to hear the Anahata Nada (the unstruck sound) in the body by practice is another difficult process adopted and advised by the Natha gurus. The awakening of the Kundalini Shakti (the Dormant Power) and Kaya-sadhana (Practice of the body) which we shall discuss later are not at all easy or 'Sahaja' ways of sadhana (practice).
Matsyendra as a fisherman1 or as Macchaghna, the killer of fish, and Gorakh as a killer of animals2 could not possibly be Buddhists, whose principle of non-killing (Ahimsडa) is well-known. The Natha Yogis sacrificed animals in their temples3. This too is opposed to Buddhism.
Thus we find that the Sahaja way of the Buddhists and the doctrines of the Nathas have not much in common, though in Akula-vira-tantra in Bagchi's edition of Kaula-jnana- nirnaya, Matsyendra does advise the following of Sahaja which is a state of equilibrium and is the same state of Sahaja Samadhi of Tantrik-Buddhism.
The very word Hatha indicates the theory of the Sun and the Moon, the details of which we shall presently discuss. Thus this theory as found in the Natha cult, can be found in the Buddhist Sahajia cult too. It is because of such general similarities and also the fact that the Vajra-satta of the Buddhists is also known as Adinath (the name also for Siva) that the Natha gurus are often called Buddhists by mistake. But the Nathas were actually Saivites, as we shall presently prove.
(1) As described in his own book Kaula-jnana-nirnaya in Patala XVI. (2) As found in Kaya Bodha, a book by Gorakhnath. Vide "Some aspects of the History and Doctrines of the Nathas" by Gopinath Kaviraj, in Sarasvati Bhavana Studies. Government Sanskrit Library, Benares. Vol. VI. pp 91 ff. (3) Monograph of the Religious Sects of India D. A. Pai - p. 70 Published by the Bombay Corporation, 1928
