Uploaded June 2020 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
In this video we interview Dr James Mallinson about his contribution to the Alchemy Reader, a forthcoming publication by the Ayuryog project. Dr Mallinson describes his work on the Amṛtasiddhi, an eleventh-century work on yoga and explains how this work uses alchemical metaphors for yogic processes.
Dr Mallinson's chapter for the Alchemy Reader:
Alchemical metaphor in Yoga: The Amṛtasiddhi (11th century).
The Amṛtasiddhi is the earliest substantial text on what became haṭha yoga. Written in both Sanskrit and Tibetan, the text has a number of Buddhist features. It widely uses alchemical imagery to describe yogic processes such as breathing exercises and their effects on the body and the mind. This imagery then found its way into many of the later haṭha yoga texts.
This project was made possible through funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research
and innovation program under grant agreement No.639363.
In this video we interview Dr James Mallinson about his contribution to the Alchemy Reader, a forthcoming publication by the Ayuryog project. Dr Mallinson describes his work on the Amṛtasiddhi, an eleventh-century work on yoga and explains how this work uses alchemical metaphors for yogic processes.
Dr Mallinson's chapter for the Alchemy Reader:
Alchemical metaphor in Yoga: The Amṛtasiddhi (11th century).
The Amṛtasiddhi is the earliest substantial text on what became haṭha yoga. Written in both Sanskrit and Tibetan, the text has a number of Buddhist features. It widely uses alchemical imagery to describe yogic processes such as breathing exercises and their effects on the body and the mind. This imagery then found its way into many of the later haṭha yoga texts.
This project was made possible through funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research
and innovation program under grant agreement No.639363.
