Gopi Krishna started his practise of Yoga out of a frustrating situation at home. With no guru to guide he records his experiences on Kundalini Yoga and titled it ‘Kundalini: The Evolutionary Energy in Man’ which became very popular in the West.
Profile
Gopi Krishna was born on May 30th 1903 in a village near Srinagar. He spent his early years in this village and then moved to Lahore and by the age of twenty he came back to Kashmir. Two incidents in his life shook him completely and he took refuge in Yoga. When he was still young his father renounced the responsibilities of a householder and went to live a religious life. This was one. Now this young boy was extremely good at wrestling and could have gone on to be the best wrestler in the world. But he chose to put all his efforts in intellectual pursuits. Yet he failed in his school exam preventing him from entering the university. This was the second reason which compelled him to look inward. He practiced his yoga and lived life doing some jobs. Once he came back to Kashmir he managed to secure a post in the government and he got married and had children. It was at the age of thirty four that he had the experience of awakening of Kundalini and he was totally baffled. It also created a lot of confusions in him. If he had a guru then he would have found some solace but there was none and no one could really help. After another twelve years he had his second experience of that bliss and by now he had some control over his experiences. According to all sages and saints over the centuries, the state of bliss can never be explained in words because that experience was beyond all the mundane experiences of the world and the whole world becomes an illusion. The same thought was penned down by Gopi Krishna. Extracts from his book
“ ……………bathed in light and in a state of exultation and happiness impossible to describe.”
“ …………..the material cosmos shrank to the subordinate position of an evanescent and illusive appendage.”
Gopi Krishna died at the age of 81 on 31st July, 1984.
Philosophy Propounded
Kundalini Yoga was what he spoke and wrote books about. He believed in equal rights for women and worked a lot to make the woman’s voice to be heard.
Work Done to Spread the Philosophy
Gopi Krishna travelled to many countries to speak about the Kundalini Yoga. He wrote seventeen books on the exalted state of higher consciousness. Three among them were written in verse. He did a lot to better the conditions of women especially the widows. Since his experiences were without the guidance of a guru (which is the general practise in India), he always said that whatever he wrote or said was what came through him and that he, as an ordinary mortal was not capable of writing so much.
