The “Axial Age” of Somatics as a Means of Attaining Mystical Experience in Oriental and Western Esoteric Traditions of the 12-14 centuries AD. Dmitry Danilov danilov.dmitry.an@gmail.com December 9, 2014 From the 12 th to 14 th century AD esoteric traditions in different regions of Europe and Asia enriched their practices with a set of body-oriented techniques leading to mystical experience. It should be noted that esoterics had been constantly experimenting with the body earlier, but it was at that period that there came individuals who systematized the accumulated body-oriented knowledge. Somatics in spiritual practices became the “know-how” of those times. Advanced work with the body has been the hallmark of esotericism since that period. We can no longer imagine yoga without asanas, pranayamas and bandhas. We can not imagine Sufism without whirling and zikrs, Hesychasm - without mystical practice known as “Jesus prayer”. It is interesting to note that this transition took place almost simultaneously in different traditions. In yoga, for instance, two texts appeared in the 13 th – 14 th centuries – Dattātreyayogaśāstra and Gorakṣaśasataka. They contained information about asanas (“āsana” - body poses), various bandhas (“bandha” – contractions of certain body parts), and kumbhakas (“kumbhaka” – techniques of breath control). Around the same time on the territory of the present-day Turkey, in the town of Konya, Rumi established the Mevlevi Order and introduced its “know-how” to Sufism – whirling and rhythmic breathing that the dervish used to leave his body and merge with God. Greeks, such as Nicephorus the Hesychast (Italy), Gregory Palamas and Gregory of Sinai (the Holy Mount Athos, Greece) described a whole list of Somatic techniques. They systematized Hesychasts’ practice and promoted it as a method of “sober-minded vigilance (nepsis)”. At the same time (the second half of the 13 th century, Spain) Abraham Abulafia, a Kabbalist, developed a complex system of practices with emphasis placed on mystical physiology – body movements and control of breathing.