On Mar 16, 2005, at 12:19 PM, mark robert wrote:
Maybe no “set of spiritual practices” are needed for realization via RV-Soma. Are you claiming that since the RV contains no “lineal set of practices” that you think should attend the consumption of the Soma, then the Soma and any enlightenment claims made about its consumption are untrue? It may be true that other Soma literature contains corresponding sets of inner practices, but does that fact disqualify the legitimacy of the RV-Soma texts? (and I would bet the latter pre-dates the former.)
BTW...
I should have asked this earlier: since you are obviously really into this topic, have you read White's _The Alchemical Body_?
Anyone remotely interested in soma as yogic practice should read this work. It is truly a monument of research and just outstanding, mind-blowing scholarship. White has revealed for the first time since Ray's writings years ago, the Sanskrit texts behind the Nath siddhas alchemical practices (along with other writings as well). In the process he reveals the whole structure of soma practice, the inner meanings of hatha-yoga and meditation. It is dense reading, but for those interested, it reads like a detective novel.
It is put out by University of Chicago press. White is a professor at the Univ. of CA at Santa Barbara.
