About Rajnath
By becoming an initiated monk of this tradition, one receives the lineage of transmission of teachings that goes directly back to the figures of Shiva, Matsyendranath, and Gorakshanath. This is the lineage from Shiva to Rajnath:
01 - SHIVA (Adinath)
02 - Matsyendranath Mahasiddha
03 - Gorakshanath Mahasiddha
04 - Vicharnath Mahasiddha (Raja Bhartrihari)
05 - Bhuccharnath Mahasiddha
06 - Khecharnath Mahasiddha
07 - Arbhainath Mahasiddha
08 - Aachenath Mahasiddha
09 - Udenath Mahasiddha
10 - Balaknath Mahasiddha
11 - Motinath Mahasiddha
12 - Nemnath Mahasiddha
13 - Lilanath Mahasiddha
14 - Mangalnath Mahasiddha
15 - Rajnath
Rajnath had his first contact with the philosophy of Advaita Tantra through the book “I Am That”, by Master Nisargadatta Maharaj. This contact led him to look for a place in Brazil that offered something beyond what the existing literature in English provided. It was a fruitless search, which showed him that it was necessary to go to India.
Considered the most profound modern book of oriental wisdom
And so he decided to leave Brazil to seek an apprenticeship.
Natha Sampradaya Ashram in Jalore, Rajasthan - India
Upon arriving in India, he discovered that the branch to which Nisargadatta Maharaj belonged did not have the knowledge of Hatha Yoga. For this reason, Rajnath began to seek this knowledge in the orthodox branches of the tradition.
Natha Sampradaya Ashram in Mundlana, Haryana - India
During this period Rajnath also went through some “tourist yoga schools” in India, which only brought disappointment. They were spaces that only offered New Age teachings aimed at Westerners dazzled by Eastern fads. This only strengthened his resolve to seek knowledge intensely among the Sadhus, the renunciate monks.
Naagan Wala Mandir Kahnuwan, Punjab
With the sadhus of the Tantric traditions (sampradayas) of India, Rajnath found what he was looking for. He started his studies at Natha Sampradaya in one of the 12 orthodox branches and thus became a Sadhu, a renunciate monk.
With nathas in Rishikesh
His training as a sadhu took place in two ashrams. The most important was the Ashram-Base (sthana) in Jammu, the capital of the state of Kashmir, more precisely in the Peer Ko neighborhood.
Natha Sampradaya Ashram in Haryana - India
Another base ashram where Rajnath developed his studies and preparation as a Sadhu, was New Delhi, the capital of India. It is a temple called Peer Gomtinath Mandir, built in the century XVI by the great yogi Gomtinath, a legendary figure in New Delhi. This temple is located in the New Mahavir Nagar district, in the vicinity of Janaki Puri East metro station.
In the marriage of Indian followers
During the years of his preparation, Rajnath traveled through 16 of the 28 states of India, always learning from many yogis and Sadhus.
At an Ashram in Chandigarh
Rajnath had the great opportunity of being accepted as a direct disciple of one of the 12 Kings of Yogis (leaders of this tradition), His Holiness the 14th Shri Raja Peer Mangalnath Mahasiddha Bhartrihari Berag Panth Sira Math.
With the Guru, one of the 12 Kings of Yogis
His Holiness is the head of one of the 12 branches of the tradition, created in the 5th century AD by the most famous king-turned-monk after the Buddha, King Bhartrihari, whose Mangalnath is the 14th direct successor.
Thar Desert Ashram
In this period of its training, the Ashram-Base moved to the Bhucharnath Mandir, on the edge of the Thar Desert, in the hot state of Rajasthan, in the town of Thawnla, just past the camel fair between the desert and the resort town of Pushkar.
Ki Gompa in Spiti Valley
From then on, Rajnath alternated periods of retreat between the Thar Desert, to learn from his guru, and the cold Spiti Valley, in the High Himalayas, near the village of Kibber, one of the highest villages in the world, about 40 km from the border with Tibet.
At Kibber, Rajnath was kindly welcomed by fellow monks from the legendary Ki Gompa, one of the oldest and most traditional Buddhist monasteries in the world, famous for training monks in the deepest esoteric knowledge.
Friendship with Buddhist monks
Then Rajnath received Chira Diksha, the last and ultimate Natha initiation, from his guru. Part of the Chira Diksha ritual is to insert hoop earrings in the middle of the cartilage of the ears. In the Natha tradition, only those who have gone through this ritual can become gurus and give spiritual initiation.
Meditating in Kashmir
And so was Rajnath's path, focusing on learning until his own Guru gave him teaching authorization, recognizing him as a master.
Who was Rajnath's Guru?
In India, the oldest tantric tradition still active is better known as Natha Sampradaya. It is also common to call her Navnatha Sampradaya and Siddha Sampradaya.
This tradition has 12 subdivisions and each is headed by a top leader, a Mahasiddha known among sadhus as "The 12 Sira Math", among Indian citizens as "The 12 Kings of Yogis" and among Western scholars as "The 12 Tantric Popes".
His Holiness the 14th Mahasiddha Shri Raja Peer Mangalnath Bhartrihari Berag Panth Sira Math is one of the 12 leading Tantric Kings of this lineage of ancient masters and is also the oldest. He is Rajnath's guru and was named after him, in a ritual equivalent to baptism in Hinduism.
Yogi Rajnath Ji Maharaj