Swami
Swami (; ; sometimes abbreviated sw.) in Hinduism is an honorific title given to an Asceticism#Hinduism, ascetic who has chosen the Sannyasa, path of renunciation (''sanyāsa''), or has been initiated into a religious monastic order of Vaishnavas ...
Lakshman Joo (9 May 1907 – 27 September 1991), born Lakshman Raina and also called Lal Sahib by his followers, was a mystic and scholar of
Kashmir Shaivism
Kashmir Shaivism tradition is a 20th century umbrella-term for a body of Sanskrit learning, Sanskrit exegetical literature from several Nondualism, non-dualist Shaivism, Shaiva-Shaktism, Shakta Tantra, tantric and Monism, monistic religious t ...
Brahmin
Brahmin (; ) is a ''Varna (Hinduism), varna'' (theoretical social classes) within Hindu society. The other three varnas are the ''Kshatriya'' (rulers and warriors), ''Vaishya'' (traders, merchants, and farmers), and ''Shudra'' (labourers). Th ...
family in the city of
Srinagar
Srinagar (; ) is a city in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir in the disputed Kashmir region.The application of the term "administered" to the various regions of Kashmir and a mention of the Kashmir dispute is supported by the tertiary ...
in
Kashmir
Kashmir ( or ) is the Northwestern Indian subcontinent, northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term ''Kashmir'' denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir P ...
. He was the fifth child in a household of four boys and five girls.
His mother's name was Arnyamali Raina.
At the age of five he was introduced to the path of spirituality by his elder brother Maheshvaranath. Up to the age of eight his spiritual progress in the lineage of Kashmiri Shaivam was monitored by his family priest,
Pandit
A pandit (; ; also spelled pundit, pronounced ; abbreviated Pt. or Pdt.) is an individual with specialised knowledge or a teacher of any field of knowledge in Hinduism, particularly the Vedic scriptures, dharma, or Hindu philosophy; in colonial-e ...
Swami Ram Joo (1854-1915), and later by his chief disciple Swami Mehatab Kak (1870?-1942). At the age of 19, it is said, he experienced a clear taste of Self-realisation. Shortly afterwards he left home, as he wrote, "in search of the Supreme" and moved to the famous
ashram
An ashram (, ) is a spiritual hermitage or a monastery in Indian religions, not including Buddhism.
Etymology
The Sanskrit noun is a thematic nominal derivative from the root 'toil' (< Handwara. Persuaded by his father to return to Srinagar, he continued to study
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...
and Shaiva philosophy under the guidance of a scholar named Maheshwar Razdan.
From 1934 to 1935, Lakshman Joo moved to an isolated place above the village of Gupta Ganga near Nishat suburb of
Srinagar
Srinagar (; ) is a city in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir in the disputed Kashmir region.The application of the term "administered" to the various regions of Kashmir and a mention of the Kashmir dispute is supported by the tertiary ...
where his parents built him a house. This was where Abhinavagupta had lived nine centuries ago. In 1962 he moved down the hill to a place closer to the famous Dal Lake a few hundred metres from the Nishat Gardens. Around the age of 30 Lakshman Joo traveled in India, spending time on a
Mumbai
Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...
beach and a short time with
Mahatma Gandhi
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2October 186930January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalism, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethics, political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful Indian ...
Sri Aurobindo
Sri Aurobindo (born Aurobindo Ghose; 15 August 1872 – 5 December 1950) was an Indian Modern yoga gurus, yogi, maharishi, and Indian nationalist. He also edited the newspaper Bande Mataram (publication), ''Bande Mataram''.
Aurobindo st ...
at
Pondicherry
Pondicherry, officially known as Puducherry, is the Capital city, capital and most populous city of the Puducherry (union territory), Union Territory of Puducherry in India. The city is in the Puducherry district on the southeast coast of Indi ...
Ramana Maharshi
Ramana Maharshi (; ; 30 December 1879 – 14 April 1950) was an Indian Hindu Sage (philosophy), sage and ''jivanmukta'' (liberated being). He was born Venkataraman Iyer, but is mostly known by the name Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi.
He was b ...
. There he spent some weeks and later commented; "I felt those golden days were indeed divine".
Little was known about the Swami for almost three decades (1930-1960), as it was his habit to spend the winter months in silence and seclusion. Still, in the summer he had occasional visits from both scholars and saints. The Indian Spiritual Master
Meher Baba
Meher Baba (born Merwan Sheriar Irani; 25 February 1894 – 31 January 1969) was an Indian spirituality, spiritual master who said he was the Avatar, or God in human form, of the age. A spiritual figure of the 20th century, he had a following o ...
visited his ashram in 1944. In 1948 Lilian Silburn from the National Centre for Scientific Research, Paris, visited the Swami. She would return regularly for the next ten years, during which time she studied the major texts of Kashmir Shaiva philosophy, all of which were published in French. It was through Silburn that André Padoux, another prolific scholar of Kashmir Shaivism came to meet the Swami. Paul Reps, the American artist, author and poet stumbled across the Ashram in 1957. With Swami Lakshmanjoo he studied the ancient text of '' Vijnana Bhairava Tantra'', and later published the 112 practices of transcending in the fourth chapter of his book '' Zen Flesh, Zen Bones''. This teaching also influenced Osho, and formed the basis of ''The Book of Secrets''.
It was a few years later, in 1965, after attending a Sanskrit conference in
Varanasi
Varanasi (, also Benares, Banaras ) or Kashi, is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world.*
*
*
* The city has a syncretic tradition of I ...
, chaired by the renowned Sanskrit Tantra scholar Gopinath Kaviraj, that the word quickly spread that the tradition of Kashmir Shaivism was alive and well, and fully embodied in the person of Swami Lakshman Joo.
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi (born Mahesh Prasad Varma, 12 January 191? – 5 February 2008) was the creator of Transcendental Meditation (TM) and leader of the worldwide organization that has been characterized in multiple ways, including as a new ...
visited the Swami each summer from 1966 to 1969. The two saints formed a lasting relationship. Baba Muktananda, of Siddha Yoga also visited on two occasions. Until his death in 1991, Swami Lakshmanjoo freely taught, giving weekly lectures on the mystical and philosophical texts of Kashmir Shaivism. Many of these lectures were audio recorded by John Hughes and later published. Lakshman Joo's interpretation of Kashmir Shavism attracted the attention of both Indian and western Indologists. The Swami has correspondence with Professor Giuseppe Tucci of the
University of Rome La Sapienza
The Sapienza University of Rome (), formally the Università degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza", abbreviated simply as Sapienza ('Wisdom'), is a Public university, public research university located in Rome, Italy. It was founded in 1303 and is ...
, and his regular visitors included scholars, such as, Jaideva Singh, Professor Nilkanth Gurtoo, Acharya Rameshwar Jha, Jankinath Kaul "Kamal", Raniero Gnoli, Alexis Sanderson and Mark Dyczkowski.
In 1991 the Swami traveled to the United States and established the Universal Shaiva Fellowship where he designated John Hughes and his wife Denise to continue publishing his teachings of Kashmir Shaivism. In India the teachings of Lakshman Joo are carried on by Ishwar Ashram Trust, an organisation founded shortly after his death.
Bhagavad Gita
The Bhagavad Gita (; ), often referred to as the Gita (), is a Hindu texts, Hindu scripture, dated to the second or first century BCE, which forms part of the Hindu epic, epic poem Mahabharata. The Gita is a synthesis of various strands of Ind ...
)
* 1943 – Hindi translation of '' Sambpanchashika''
* 1958 – ''Sri Kramanayadipika'' (Hindi) on the 12 Kali-s
* 1964 – Hindi translation of Utpaladeva's '' Shivastotravali''
* 1982 – Lectures on practice and discipline in Kashmir Shaivism
* 1985 – ''Kashmir Shaivism: The Secret Supreme'', edited by John Hughes (the essence of the first fifteen chapters of Abhinavagupta's ''Tantraloka'')
* 1986 – Hindi commentary by Swami Lakshman Joo on Abhinavagupta's ''Bhagavad Gitartha Samgraha''
* 1987 – Hindi translation of '' Panchastavi''
Posthumously:
* 1992 – ''Self Realization in Kashmir Shaivism, Oral Teachings of Swami Lakshmanjoo'', edited by John Hughes
* 2002 – English translation of '' Shiva Sutras'', edited by John Hughes
* 2002 – ''Shiva Sutras'' of Vasugupta along with original audio recordings
* 2005 – ''Revelations on Grace and Spiritual Practice'', original audio and DVD recordings
* 2006 – ''Trika Rahasya Prakriya'', Sanskrit verses with Hindi commentary
* 2007 – '' Vijnana Bhairava'', original audio and transcript, introduction by John Hughes
* 2009 – ''Bhagavad Gitartha Samgraha'' of Abhinavagupta (Revisited), Chapters 1–6, translated by Swami Lakshmanjoo, DVD
* 2013 – ''Bhagavad Gītā in the Light of Kashmir Shaivism'', Chapters 1-18, translated by Swami Lakshmanjoo, DVD
* 2015 – ''Paramarthasara with Abhinavagupta's commentary'', translated by Swami Lakshmanjoo, original DVD and transcript.
* 2016 – ''Abhinavagupta's Tantraloka, chapter One'', translated by Swami Lakshmanjoo, original audio and transcript.
* 2016 – ''Spanda Karika of Vasugupta, and Spanda Sandoha of Kshemaraja'', translated by Swami Lakshmanjoo, original audio and transcript.
* 2016 – ''Stava Cintamani of Bhatta Narayana'', translated by Swami Lakshmanjoo, original audio and transcript.
* 2016 – ''Shaivismo de Cachemira. El Supremo secreto'', translation into Spanish of ''Kashmir Shaivism. The Secret Supreme''.
* 2017 – ''Shiva Sutras. El Despertar Supremo'', translation into Spanish of ''Shiva Sutras. The Supreme Awakening''.
* 2019 – ''Abhinavagupta's Tantraloka, chapters Two and Three'', translated by Swami Lakshmanjoo, original audio and transcript.
Kashmir Shaivism – Library
Over a period of nineteen years John Hughes recorded Lakshman Joo's translations of the following texts. Transcripts of these lectures are maintained in the Universal Shaiva Fellowship library.
* '' Bhagavad Gitartha Samgraha'' of Abhinavagupta, translation and commentary by Swami Lakshman Joo, original audio recordings (Kashmir, 28 Nov. 1978 to 3 June 80).
* '' Bodhapancadashika'' of Abhinavagupta, translation and commentary by Swami Lakshman Joo, original audio recordings (Kashmir, 18 to 22 Oct 1980).
* '' Dehastadevatacakra'' of Abhinavagupta, translation and commentary by Swami Lakshman Joo, original audio recordings (Kashmir, 25 Oct to 12 Nov 1980).
* ''Interviews with Swami Lakshman Joo'': Questions by John Hughes, Alexis Sanderson, Alice Christenson, original audio recordings (July 1974).
* '' Janma Marana Vicara'': translation and commentary by Swami Lakshman Joo, original audio recordings (Kashmir, May 1975).
* ''Kashmir Shaivism, The Secret Supreme'' (Lectures in English), Swami Lakshman Joo, original audio recordings (Kashmir, 1972).
* ''Kashmiri Lectures on Practice and Discipline'', Swami Lakshman Joo, original audio recordings (Kashmir, 1980).
* '' Paramarthasara'' (Abhinavagupta's commentary): Swami Lakshman Joo's comments on John Hughes' reading, original audio recordings (Kashmir, 26 April to 6 Sept 1972).
* '' Parapraveshika'' of Kshemaraja: translation and commentary by Swami Lakshman Joo, original audio recordings (Kashmir, 12 to 15 Nov 1980).
* '' Pratyabhijna Hridayam'' of Kshemaraja: Swami Lakshman Joo's answers John Hughes questions: original audio recordings (Kashmir, 26 April 1972).
* '' Paratrishika Laghuvritti'' of Abhinavagupta: translation and commentary by Swami Lakshman Joo, original audio recordings (Kashmir, 25 May 1974 to 6 July 1974)
* '' Paratrishika Vivarana'' of Abhinavagupta, translation and commentary by Swami Lakshman Joo, original audio recordings (Kashmir, 26 May 1982 to 24 Aug 1985).
* ''Revelations on Grace and Practice'': A collection of Swami Lakshman Joo's original audio recordings plus transcript, ed. John Hughes (USA, 9 May 2005).
* '' Shivastotravali'' of Utpaladeva: translation by Swami Lakshman Joo, original audio recordings (Kashmir, June 1976 to Sept 1978).
* '' Shiva Sutra Vimarshini'' of Vasugupta: translation and commentary by Swami Lakshman Joo, original audio recordings (Kashmir, 7 June 1975).
* '' Spanda Karika'' of Vasugupta: translation and commentary by Swami Lakshman Joo, original audio recordings (Kashmir, 5 to 26 Aug 1981).
* '' Spanda Sandoha'' of Kshemaraja: translation and commentary by Swami Lakshman Joo, original audio recordings (Kashmir, 29 Aug to 9 Oct 1981).
* Special Verses on Practice Swami Lakshman Joo, original audio recordings (Nepal, 1988).
* '' Stavacintamani'' of Bhatta Narayana: translation and commentary by Swami Lakshman Joo, original audio recordings (Kashmir, 26 Nov 1980 to 17 July 1981).
* '' Tantraloka'' of Abhinavagupta (Chapters 1–18): translation and commentary by Swami Lakshman Joo, original audio recordings (Kashmir, 1976 to 1981).
* '' Vatulanath Sutras'' of Kshemaraja: Swami Lakshman joo, original audio recordings (Kashmir, 1975).
* '' Vijnana Bhairava'': translation and commentary by Swami Lakshman Joo, original audio recordings (Kashmir, 1975).
* '' Vijnana Bhairava'' Questions: Swami Lakshman Joo, original audio recordings (Kashmir, July 1985).
Audio recordings in Kashmiri
* ''Kalika Stotra'' of Shivanandanatha, Recitation by Swami Lakshman Joo and devotees (Kashmir, 1977).
* ''Maharthamanjari'' of Maheshvarananda, translated by Swami Lakshman Joo (Kashmir, 1977).
* ''Paratrishika Vivarana'', translated by Swami Lakshman Joo (Kashmir, 1982–83).
* ''Shiva Sutra Vimarshini'' of Vasugupta, translated by Swami Lakshman Joo (Kashmir, 1978).
* ''Shiva Stotravali'' of Utpaladeva with Kshemaraja's commentary, translated by Swami Lakshman Joo (Kashmir, 1975–85).
* ''Stuti Kushmanjali'', translated by Swami Lakshman Joo (Kashmir, 1977).
* ''Tantraloka'' of Abhinavagupta (selected chapters), translated by Swami Lakshman Joo (Kashmir, 1975–85).
DVD recordings in English
* ''Bhagavadgitarthasamgraha'' of Abhinavagupta, translation and commentary by Swami Lakshman Joo, original video recordings (Nepal, 1990)
* ''Paramarthasara'' of Abhinavagupta, translation and commentary by Swami Lakshman Joo, original video recording (Nepal, 1990)
* ''Revelations on Grace and Spiritual Practice'', Selections from translations and commentaries on Bhagavadgitarthasamgrah (video), Paramarthasara (video), and Tantraloka (audio). (Los Angeles, 2006)
* ''Special Verses on Practice'' by Swami Lakshman Joo, original video recordings (Nepal, 1988).