I was fortunate enough to meet a Naga Sadhu Sri Ramchandra Das there and during our meeting some Nath sadhus also arrived in his small Ashram. He provided food & love to all the visitors. One of the Naths - Jognathji who everyone was calling GURUJI became friendly with me. He asked me to join in his Dera at Gohana, Harayana as they were doing some Siddhis & secret Nath rituals which I can be witness. I took that as an opportunity to make inroads in the Naths sect.
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| Macchendra Nath & Naga baba Ramchandra Das ji |
So I was back in Delhi and I receive a call from Jognath ji that I can come to Guru Dharamnath Maharaj's Dera. The Ashram of Nath Sadhus are called Deras. The Naths always greet with one word 'ALAKH NIRANJAN' - means salute to the almighty who cannot be fitted in words or any designed characters - he is omnipresent and he is too vast to be seen. Big Dreadlocks - a choga (gown) - big earrings in their ears and a kamandal (water carrier) are the trade marks of a Nath Sadhu.
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| The Nath Sadhus & us |
I and my brother started off to reach Guru Dharamnath ji at his Ashram in Haryana, India. It was a long but comfortable drive till his Ashram and people in nearby villages knew about him well. We entered the Ashram and asked for Guru Jognath ji. Guru Dharamnath ji smiled and said Guruji is not here I m here - he spoke to me about you. You are welcome in our Dera. He was like a Six foot tall - handsome man with big dreadlocks on his head. Very calm and composed this man was oozing an aura that you rarely find. Before we could go further he ordered for food & drinks for us. It was like meeting your own Grandfather in a remote village. So I started asking him about his spiritual journey and he answered...
"the ancient guru, Guru Gorakhnath brought me here - and in this life my Guru Aadinath took care of me from an infant - he was like mother and father to me".
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| Respecting the Nath Dhuni - Guru Dharamnath Maharaj |
When Dharamnath ji was an infant he was found by his guru Aadinath at the doorsteps of his Dera. Someone left him at this Ashram. He took care of this boy and initiated him into the Nath sect. He went thru harsh penances as per the Nath syllabus - doing Navdhuni Sidhhi in which you have to bear and unbearable heat and also unbearable cold. He went through it following the footsteps of his Guru. But internally he had something more in his mind to THANK his guru being his mother and father.
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| The Secret Nath Siddhi - Navdhuni |
When he grew up as a complete Nath sadhu ready to take over as an Ashram Head he decided to do something for his guru. He declared that for next twenty years he would stand on ONE LEG - sleep, eat, and do everything standing. This was the most harsh penance he went thru - just to tell the everyone that GURUs are not easy to find and when you have them just thank them the way you can. His legs got swollen up, bacterias started eating the flesh but was unmoved. He loved his Guru and his love crossed all barriers of pain.
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| 20 yrs on one leg to thank his Guru |
Being a Dera Head he enjoyed mass following by the people and he created 300 Nath students who started their own Deras in India. He was a much respected guru and before he took samadhi he always used to tell everyone
"If God is angry - Guru Saves you - and if Guru is angry - Noone can save you".
"there is God & Guru - but Guru comes first - God cannot be experienced without the Guru".
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