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About Baba Lokenath
Baba Lokenath Brahmachari was born on Janmastami, the birthday of Lord Krishna, on 18th Bhadra, 1137 Bengali Era (roughly 29th August 1730) to a Brahmin family in the village of Chaurasi Chakla, a couple of miles from Kolkata.
At the age of 11, young Lokenath left home with his guru. He visited Kalighat Temple in Kolkata and then lived in the forests for 25 years, selflessly serving his master - Guru Bagawan Ganguly - and practicing the Ashtanga Yoga of Patanjali along with the most difficult Hatha Yoga.
Baba achieved Nirvikalpa Samadhi after 80 years of intense austerities in the jungles of the lower plains and in the snow-covered regions of the Himalayas. His compassion was evident after He became enlightened, when Baba discovered that He had surpassed His Guru. Despite having led Lokenath to the exalted state, Guru Bhagwan Ganguly had not yet achieved Cosmic Consciousness. Lokenath was stricken with sadness and filled with compassion when He realized this. He wept for His Master. Understanding Lokenath's tears, Guru Bhagwan smiled tenderly and reassured his disciple this was only cause for joy. Guru Bhagwan announced that He would shed his old body soon and then return quickly to gain further experiences. Weeping with joy, Lokenath prostrated at His Master's feet.
After this he travelled to the Himalayas where he meditated in the nude for nearly five decades. Finally, he attained enlightenment at the age of ninety.
Recalling His time in the Himalayas, Baba Lokenath said, "While in samadhi, heaps of snow would cover My body and would melt away. In that sublime state I had no feeling of the existence of My body. I was in that state of samadhi for a long time. Then, finally the effortless state of the Ultimate Truth was revealed. In that state of consciousness, there was no difference between me, the rest of the cosmos and all its manifestations. The inner and the outer all merged into each other as an expression of ultimate bliss, absolute joy. There is no state beyond this to be achieved in human life with total effort and divine grace."
Baba Sri Loknath Brahmachari did not disclose much about the secret of his higher Yoga practice. But we are told that he spent much time fasting and practicing various forms of Yoga.
After his enlightenment Lokenath spent the next 30 to 40 years, literally walking the earth with Benimadhav and the famed Trailanga Swami from Varanasi. He traveled extensively on foot to Afghanistan, Persia, Arabia and Israel, making three pilgrimages to Mecca.
Baba Lokenath once said: ''I have travelled extensively all over the world and could find only two real Brahmans beside myself- one is Abdul Gaffar, and the other - Trailangya Swami."
On the 19th day of Jaistha, 1297 (1st June, 1890), Sunday, at 11:45 am, Baba Lokenath was meditating when he went into a trance with his eyes open, and while still in meditation, left his physical body forever. He was aged 160.
''I have seen only My self. I am bound by my own karma. The materialistic world is bound by the tongue and the sex organ. He who can restrain these two is fit to attain enlightenment.'' - Baba Lokenath
''Do not think when I am busy with you all in worldly matters, that I lose touch with that blissful state. No. Whoever achieves that state can never fall from it. Nothing can ever again be seen in isolation. Everything is seen as the expression of the One. In variety is the taste of Unity.'' - Baba Lokenath
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