This means ‘Dispeller of Darkness’. 

A Guru is a divine spiritual master, guide and teacher. He has attained oneness with himself and has been empowered by his own Guru. He initiates his disciples and devotees towards the spiritual path and guides them to liberation.

 

Baba is a term of affection,  respect and endearment for a saint or holy man, meaning “father”. Swami Muktananda was referred to as Baba.

 

A Siddha in Sanskrit means ‘one who is accomplished’, a self-realized and enlightened yogi. It is a term that is used in Indian religions and culture and refers to perfected masters who have achieved a high degree of physical as well as spiritual perfection. All identification with the ego has been dissolved. 

 

The Siddha lives in a higher state of awareness where the samskaras (karmic tendencies) have been extinguished and only consciousness remains. The material world becomes like a shadow from which they are totally free. There is no mind as we know it – there is only infinite peace and bliss.

 

The Lineage was often passed from father to son, and from Guru to shishya (disciple). This began the tradition of wandering monks searching for an enlightened master.

 

Mahasamadhi is the state a yogi enters when they consciously and intentionally make the decision to leave their body. It is the highest form of equanimity that entails the dissolution of the personal in the universal, whereby all traits of individual nature are transcended.  This is only possible once they have already achieved God realization, or Nirvikalpa samadhi, in which the yogi recognizes and experiences true oneness and unity with God.

 

Bhagawan Nityananda (name meaning the bliss of freedom) was a realized being from birth, an Avadhuta.  He is our Spiritual Head of Siddha Yoga and was born in South India. He first came to Ganeshpuri, a small village located 82 kilometers north of Mumbai, in 1936, settling there in a small hut built for him by the caretakers of the local Shiva Temple.

 

Over the years he became lovingly called Bade Baba. He would roam this entire area by foot. In his youth he had travelled throughout India but when he finally arrived in Ganeshpuri, he chose this place to settle down and where he’d later take Mahasamadhi. As his visitors and devotees increased in number, the buildings grew up around him. Being an ancient divine location, Bade Baba said that once you visit here, it will remain uniquely special to you forever.

 

Swami Muktananda (1908-1982) was a devout disciple of Bhagawan, who transmitted his divine cosmic energy to him, a spiritual awakening by grace. Baba loved to quote from the Hindu scriptures and classical Indian epic poems. In later years he became known as “Guru to the Stars”.  Many movie stars and famous people would come for his darshan to try and imbibe the truths and charisma that he portrayed. Wherever he’d go, all over the world, it was an opportunity for people to flock to see this sacred being, a present day Saint to many.

 

Baba was also a holy man, a purveyor of the truth and in the last precious years of his life he called those people dear to him, those chosen loved ones he wanted to be close to him. He brought them from all over the world, from every walk of life, from every different vocation; he brought them to be with him in his kingdom — his kingdom right here on earth. He knew he was going to leave his body and took Mahasamadhi on October 2, 1982.

 

My love for Bhagawan and Baba is like a never ending fountain. It is always pulsating with fervor, and has a heartbeat all its own. Many old and new devotees still to this day receive inner guidance and grace from Bade Baba and Baba. Hail to the True Gurus. 

 

So now after all these years when people ask me that question, “Why Yoga?” “Why Siddha Yoga?” I beseech them to open their eyes — really open them, and go visit where Baba now resides in his two proteges’ — Gurumayi Chidvilasananda and Gurudev Nityananda. Baba appointed them his successors and they took over after Baba left his body. 

 

In their separate Ashrams, you can witness in person their love and true dedication for Baba, their Guru. That way you will see and experience what I mean first hand. You too will know what it’s like to be in front of a Great Guru, a Great Teacher, a Living Master that is here, right now, walking this earth.

And Baba’s Lineage continues… 

Sadgurunath Maharaj ki Jay!  This Hindi phrase means, “I hail the Master who has revealed the Truth to me!”  A joyful and exalted expression of gratitude to the Guru for all that he’s given, often repeated at the beginning or end of an action.