Sham S. Misri
Bhagwan Gopinath was born in a Kashmiri pandit family of Bhans, in a locality called Bhan Mohalla, in the city of Srinagar in Kashmir. He was a mystic saint of 20th century Kashmir in India. He spent most of his time meditating at various shrines in Kashmir. He is known to have donated all his ancestral inheritance to his step-mother. His mother died when he was 12 years old and his father died when he was around 30 years old. He completed his education till middle grade from a local Christian missionary school called Tyndale Biscoe School, at Fateh Kadal, Srinagar.
He practiced
some form of tantric spiritual practices during this time. During this stage,
he is a said to have practiced some technique of meditation that would
seemingly help him control elements (called tattvas) like fire and water out of
the total 36 such elements enumerated in Kashmir Shaivism. He started the
practice while keeping himself in a dark room for many years. He was found
talking to and directing invisible people at times. Various parts of his body
like his shoulders and knees were seen shuddering at times.
His devotees
have found it difficult to classify his spiritual journey into a particular
school of Indian philosophical thought. Its widely believed that he must have
followed the tenets of trika doctrine of Advaita (non-dual) Kashmir Shaivism
(in which, the Goddess Bhairavi-Aghoreshwari is enthroned above God Bhairava
and is the main ideal of worship with Jnana (knowledge), Iccha (will) and Kriya
(action) having had a dominating influence on him.
Once, while
explaining the inter-relation of various spiritual disciplines in realizing
God, he said: " think of Brahman (God without a form) as a tree and if one
sits on any one of its branches (various spiritual disciplines), the same goal
will be reached in each case."
He once
remarked: "Omkara (Hindu Symbol) is the "throat" of Godhead and
nothing is possible without it".
Once, while
visiting the shrine of Amarnath, he is said to have remarked: "Shiva is
dancing everywhere" and afterwards, was seen in a joyful mood the whole
day. He would keep incense sticks burning in flames instead of letting them smolder
as he had an affinity for light sources. Sometimes he would also keep the
oblations, offered in the fire pot, burning in flames and also referred to it
as the "feet" of Lord Narayana.
He would refer
to his legs as mere "logs of wood" and the body as "food"
for the God of death (Mahakal) and as such didn't consider physical body as the
end-all be-all of human existence.
He wouldn't
advise anyone to give up one's family and household in pursuit of self-realization
but guided people only if they practiced celibacy.
One should
cultivate and preserve the three virtues of righteous moral conduct, viz
straightforwardness, honesty and purity in thought, word and deed.
Self realization
comes when one bids farewell to ones ego. Lust is the biggest impediment in
ones spiritual development. A seeker
must surrender onto guru’s feet with all his heart and soul. One should always contribute to charity to
not let greed settle in. In culture
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