Gorakhnath is variously considered the third to
fifth in a series of 12 authoritative gurus.
Originally centered in western India, the
practice spread throughout northern India, with
both Buddhist and Hindu offshoots. Several early
teachers in the lineage, including Gorakhanath,
are included in Tibetan Buddhist TANTRIC lin-
eages. Known to both is Mastyendranath, who is
seen in North Indian Nath Yoga to be the guru of
Gorakhnath.
There is a vast literature attributed to Gora-
khanath, including several important SANSKRIT
texts and numerous poems in Hindi, Bengali,
and Rajasthani. A rich mythology emphasizes his
magical, divine powers: he was known for being
able to raise the dead at will.
The Nath Yoga practices in the tradition of
Gorakhnath are tantric in orientation, but they
did not involve any of the sexual practices of tan-
trism, as the Naths generally took a misogynistic
view of women. They adopted antisocial behavior
as a norm; as in earlier Shaivite sects, it was part
of their esoteric practice to smear themselves with
ashes from the cremation ground and even human
feces, to eat disgusting things, and to act in outra-
geous, antisocial ways (see SHAIVISM).
Gorakhnath and his followers to this day are
known for their propensities toward magic and
their use of oxides of mercury and other secret
substances and potions meant to create bodily
immortality. Their practice generally conforms
to that of the SIDDHAS, tantric yoga specialists, of
India over many centuries.
In terms of yoga practice, those in the Gora-
khnath tradition perfect forms of HATHA YOGA;
they concentrate on an invisible web of bodily
channels called NADIS, through which one can
channel breaths to gain both occult powers and
liberation from birth and rebirth. Philosophically
the views of the followers of Gorakhnath varied
from region to region, but generally they had a
non-dual (ADVAITA) tantric character, which saw
the divine as not merely a transcendent reality, but
an immanent, worldly reality as well.
Further reading: Akshaya Kumar Banerjea, Philosophy
of Gorakhnath with Goraksha Vacana Samgraha (Delhi:
Motilal Benarsidass, 1988); George W. Briggs, Gorakh-
nath and the Kanphata Yogis (New Delhi: Motilal Banar-
sidass, 1982); David Gordon White, The Alchemical
Body (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1996).gotra
A gotra is an exogamous kinship division within a
jati, or subcaste. Members of the same gotra within
a subcaste are not allowed to marry among them-
selves; of course, they must marry within their jati.
Gotra literally means “the place of the cows”; the
concept may thus date back to very ancient times,
when kin shared the same cow herds. BRAHMINS
particularly will often trace their particular gotra
back to one of the seven RISHIS of Vedic times.Further reading: Morris G. Carstairs, The Twice-Born
(Bloomington: Indiana: University Press, 1967); Puro-
sottama Pandita, The Early Bramanical System of Gotra
and Pravara, a Translation of the Gotra-Pravara-Manjari
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1953).Govardhana See KRISHNA.
Grace Essence Fellowship (est. 1970s)
Grace Essence Fellowship of Taos, New Mexico,
owes its development to Larry C. Short, an Ameri-
can with training in psychological counseling,
bodywork, martial arts, MEDITATION, and YOGA. He
has synthesized a path between yoga and Tibetan
ideas, which he calls the Way of Radiance, a mod-
ern esoteric work school.
The fellowship was established in the late
1970s after Short discovered Swami RUDRANANDA
(1928–73), the founder of the Nityananda Insti-
tute. Rudrananda was one of the first Hindu
teachers to introduce KUNDALINI training to the
United States. Short studied kundalini yoga with
him until his death in 1973, then decided toK 170 gotra