States. He made his only trip to the United States
in 1991 just months before his death on Septem-
ber 27, 1991.
Further reading: Vijnana Bhairava, The Practice of
Centering Awareness: Commentary by Swami Laksman
Joo (Varanasi: Indica Books, 2002); John Hughes, Self-
Realization in Kashmir Shaivism: The Oral Teachings of
Swami Lakshmanjoo (Albany: State University of New
York Press, 1994); Swami Lakshman Jee, Awakening to
the Supreme Consciousness. Edited by Jankinath Kaul
(Delhi: Utpal, n.d.); ———, Kashmir Shaivism: The
Secret Supreme (Albany, N.Y.: Universal Shaiva Trust,
1988); ———, Self Realization in Kashmir Shaivism.
Edited by John Hughes (Albany: State University of
New York Press, 1994); Shiva Sutras: The Supreme
Awakening, Revealed by Swami Lakshmanjoo. Edited by
John Hughes (Albany, N.Y.: Universal Shaiva Fellow-
ship, 2002).
lalata chakra
The lalata (forehead) chakra is the seventh
CHAKRA from the base of the spine in some sys-
tems of KUNDALINI YOGA. It is located at the crest
of the forehead. A place of peace, calm, and con-
tentment, the lalata chakra takes the YOGI to the
verge of the highest consciousness, giving him
or her every supranormal power. The associated
deity is SHIVA himself or, in certain systems, Shiva
and his consort in erotic embrace. The SHAKTI,
or energy, of this chakra is the highest Shakti,
or goddess herself. This chakra has eight bluish
white petals.
Further reading: Harish Johari, Chakras: Energy Centers
of Transformation (Rochester, Vt.: Destiny Books, 2000);
John G. Woodroffe, The Serpent Power, 7th ed. (Madras:
Ganesh, 1964).
Lalleshvari (14th century) poet-saint
Lalleshvari was a 14th-century poet-saint of the
Kashmir region of India. Her songs are beloved
among Kashmiris to this day. Her philosophical
standpoint is in alignment with the tantric tradi-
tions of Kashmiri SHAIVISM.
Lalleshvari was born to the family of a Kash-
miri BRAHMIN pandit in the village of Pandrenthan,
four miles south of Srinagar. According to legend,
she married the son she had borne in a previous
life in the same village. In that life, when it was
time for the 11-day purification ceremony after
the son was born, Lalla (her given name) asked
the priest, “What relation is this child to me?” The
priest, amazed at the question, answered that the
child was her son.
The mother answered that this was not the
case. She said that she would soon die and be born
as a female horse with certain obvious markings
that the priest would know. If he were to find this
foal, he would learn who her son really was. That
very moment the woman died.
The priest hurried to the place where he was
told the horse would be. He indeed found her,
but when the foal told him she would soon be
reborn as a puppy, the priest gave up the search.
Lalla underwent six births in the animal world
before she was finally reborn as a girl, who grew
up to become the wife of the very son she had
borne. When the same priest arrived to perform
the wedding ceremony, Lalla confided in him the
full story.
Lalla thus became the daughter-in-law of her
former husband, who had remarried, and she
went to live with the family. She was badly mis-
treated there, and after 12 years she left to become
a disciple of the Shaivite SIDDHA Sri Kantha, the
family priest she had known in her previous
life. He lived in the village of Pampur and was a
direct disciple of one of the founders of KASHMIRI
SHAIVISM, Vasugupta.
Lalleshvari became a wandering yogini, going
about naked, despite the ridicule and criticism she
received. As the yogic scriptures state, she took
praise and blame equally, not being swayed by
either. She went about the Kashmir countryside
and towns singing and dancing in mystical ecstasyK 258 lalata chakra