DOCSLIB.ORG

Divine Helmsman

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text

Load more

Divine Helmsman Among the first to inflame my flickering a reward given to him by the Viceroy for the curiosity in lives of great spiritual King’s bravery and was a prized item for the personalities was the owner. He proudly handed it to the Mahatma Bengali book series to examine. Holding it with great curiosity, ‘Bharater Sadhak’ Trailanga Swami suddenly tossed it (Saints of India) overboard into the river. The King was at his authored by Shri wit’s end. He begged the saint to retrieve his Shankarnath Roy. treasure, ‘Please give me back my sword, Being a student at Sir’, he pleaded. The Swami smiled that time, I did not innocently and prepared to leave. Frustration have too much began giving way to anger as the outraged money to spare. Yet King continued to ask for return of his ‘my after completing each volume containing sword’. Swami-ji then leaned over, dipped around a score of spiritual life-tales, I rushed his hand in the water and took out two to buy the next, as if addicted, and identical swords asking the King to identify completed close to a dozen volumes. The which one was ‘his sword’. The King, very first biography of the first volume was unable to make out any difference, was that of Mahatma Trailanga Swami and it was stunned into bewildered silence. Trailanga my earliest introduction to him. This Swami then threw one of the two pieces incomparable yogi strode like a colossus in back into the water and handed over the the spiritual arena for anything between other to the stupefied Maharaja saying ‘Why three to four hundred years, the last century do you talk about something as being yours and a half of which was in open public gaze if you cannot even recognize it?’ It is in the holy city of Varanasi. Innumerable therefore no wonder that he was revered as historically documented tales of his the ‘Sachal Vishwanath’ or ‘Walking Shiva’ - legendary yogic powers known from the Lord of the Universe himself who, encounters with all kinds of people - having perfected that body was using it as a plebeians, royals, administrators, skeptics, vehicle for divine manifestation. humbugs, devotees, aspirants and saints - In the book ‘Autobiography of a Yogi’, are folklore. It struck me that each such Paramhansa Yogananda, while giving a display of yogic perfection contained deep reference to Trailanga Swami remarked, ‘He wisdom expressed with infinite compassion was one of the siddhas (perfected beings) and child-like playfulness. I take this who have cemented India against the opportunity to mention one such incident erosions of time.’ This line somehow that continues to excite me whenever I recall intrigued me as being loaded with inner it. meanings that Yogananda-ji did not possibly An Indian Raja reverentially invited the fully elaborate in public. Often many secrets Swami to his boat on the River Ganga. learnt through inner realizations or through Aboard the vessel, Swami-ji expressed the Guru Parampara are not stated in public. interest for the bejeweled sword that was in A quick research on Trailanga Swami the Maharaja’s possession. Apparently it was revealed his connections to a large number Hiranyagarbha a Volume 5 No. 1 a 15th April, 2012 38 ø˝ı˛Ì…·ˆ«ìrnh„gdCo¬ of saints and spiritual lineages. Yogananda-ji asking whether God was singular (advaita) has mentioned his close relationship with Sri or dual (dwaita)? Swami-ji, in response, Sri Shyamacharan Lahiri Mahashay. I also lifted one finger and then joined the two read how the fingers. This has been explained as – when then Brahmo the self is fully immersed in the preacher, Sri Sri transcendental soul during Samadhi then in Bijoy Krishna that state of absolute unity (advaita) God is Goswami, tried realized as one; again when one approaches to run away God as a devotee then the duality (dwaita from the great bhava) of bhakta-bhagwan comes into play; Swami who this duality is also a conjoined unity like the kept on joined halves of chick-peas or gram. After insisting that he this sign-based interaction both saints went had been into deep Samadhi. Coming out from this instructed by state Sri Ramakrishna encircled Trailanga God to give Swami in a rapturous sankirtana-like dance him a mantra with his hands raised. Later Sri Ramakrishna and prepare arranged for bhog of payasa of several Sri Shyamacharan Lahiri Mahashay him for his kilograms for the ‘God in motion’, all of primary mission just before Sri Bijoy which the Swami consumed in his inimitable Krishna met his own Sadguru. This became style of eating only when fed. The Swami a turning point in the life of Gosai-ji, who offered Sri Ramakrishna his little gold snuff later transformed into a self-realized saint. box as a gift in return. Shankari Mata, who Sri Lokenath Brahmachari, a great yogi was also the daughter of Sri Kalikananda himself, refers to Trailanga Swami (whom he Abadhut, (one of the principal and highly met in the Himalayas advanced disciples of Trailanga Swami) before he came to lived for more than a hundred years and Varanasi) as one of the recounted to Swami Yogananda her times greatest personalities he spent with Sri Lahiri Mahashay including had encountered and occasions when Mahavatar Babaji Maharaj acknowledged the spiritual appeared before both of them. (I remember help that he received from Sree Sree Maa insisting on visiting the the Swami, then known in sadhana room of the late Shankari Mata the mountains as Hitalal during one of our early trips to Varanasi and Mishra. the wonderful vibrations we felt there.) Swami-ji’s famous Though we hear of only a few formal interaction with Sri disciples of Trailanga Swami, a little research Ramakrishna Paramhansa revealed an illustrious lineage that spans was witnessed by the several spiritual arenas covering Vedanta and woman saint and illustrious Shankari Mai Jew Tantra. Other than Sri Kalikananda Abadhut disciple of Trailanga Swami, Shankari Mai and his divinely pre-destined daughter Jew. The story goes on like this: During the Shankari Mata and their distinguished interaction, Sri Ramakrishna first lifted his lineages, one of the foremost disciples of fore-finger and then two fingers, apparently Trailanga Swami was his nephew Swami Hiranyagarbha a Volume 5 No. 1 a 15th April, 2012 39 ø˝ı˛Ì…·ˆ«ìrnh„gdCo¬ Paramananda Saraswati, who also lived for stone statue suddenly spoke up and became almost three hundred years. Sree Sree Maa a statue again! I also remember that Sri had mentioned to me that Swami Pranabananda Giri Maharaj (disciple of Paramananda later stayed in the Shyamacharan Lahiri Baba) mentioning a Manasarovar region and guided more than a sadhana experience of his as follows: I was hundred advanced sadhaks into in deep meditation when a pranava-like sun Paramhansa-hood before finally returning to appeared in the inner sky and, from within the plains prior to leaving his mortal coil. the pranava jyoti, Mahatma Trailanga Sree Sree Maa was once invited to the Swami’s smiling head popped out. He Kolkata Ashram and Temple of the blessed me and went back within, into the Mahananda Mission by the then head, omkar-sun, again. Swami Bimalananda Giri Maharaj. I had the Yet, I knew that if I approached Sree Sree good fortune of being in the party that Maa, I would get more spiritual insights. She visited the temple-ashram. They uphold a first showed me Sant Dariya Sahib’s Shakti-sadhana lineage of Trailanga Swami description of his realization of ‘Alakh that branched though his reclusive yet very Niranjan’ - the Absolute Infinite Supreme advanced yogi disciple Swami Suryananda Existence-Consciousness – Giri, not even a photo or picture of whom I could locate. This was followed up by high "Sadho, Alakh Niranjan Soyi, order saints like Swami Mahananda Giri (in Guru Partap Ramras nirmal, whose name the mission runs) and Swami aur na duja koi; Bhabananda Giri prior to Swami Sakal gyan-par gyan-dayanidhi, Bimalananda. During an interaction with Sri sakal jyoti par jyoti, Saumyendranath Brahmachari, Acharya of Jake dhyan sahaj agha nasai, Dev Sangha, whose lineage includes the sahaj mite jam chhoti." divine rishi parampara of Sri Bijoy Krishna Chattopadhyay, Brahmarshi Satyadev, Sri [Sadho, I slept into Alakh Niranjan, Pulin Bihari Brahmachari and Sri Through the divine Grace of the Sadguru, Narendranath Brahmachari Maharaj, I was Purified by the nectar of the soul, thrilled to hear that they draw their glittering (I reached where) lineage of self-realized saints from Mahatma There was no second person; Trailanga too. Sri Saumyen Baba informed (There I experienced) me that Sri Bijoy Krishna Chattopadhyay Beyond all Knowledge had said that he had received the divine The Knowledge-Compassionate, initiation from Trailanga Swami. Saumyen The Light behind all Light - Baba also related some very interesting Whose submerged dhyan stories he had heard of how the great Cleanses away all sins, Mahatma Trailanga would start speaking And frees from the clasp of Death.] from absolute silence - all of a sudden, immediately attaining full volume without After I completed reading the delightfully need for any warming up - and after inspiring Hindi verse, Sree Sree Maa began, completing, again instantly become “Alakh Niranjan is a name for Parabrahman deafeningly silent and still. It was as if a where ‘alakh’ refers to the pristine Hiranyagarbha a Volume 5 No. 1 a 15th April, 2012 40 ø˝ı˛Ì…·ˆ«ìrnh„gdCo¬ Existence-Consciousness which is the divine Himalayas, before so many people for so primordial Light-matrix of all Jyoti; long a period. But, away from public view, dissolution of the atma-satta into which takes yet well known to the great Mahatmas and one to nirvikalpa maha-nirvan samadhi-pada Devatas, this great personality took many leading to the realization of an eternal, other simultaneous embodiments to bring imperishable state of Parabrahman.
Recommended publications
  • Mahavatar Babaji

    Mahavatar Babaji

    Mahavatar Babaji "Babaji has been chosen by God to remain in his body for the duration of this particular world cycle. Ages will come and go—still the deathless master, beholding the drama of the centuries, shall be present on this stage terrestrial." So began the legend of the immortal sage Babaji. These words were published in 1946, in the classic spiritual tale Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda—a book that was destined to have a major impact on the then just emerging East-West spiritual dialogue. It was a book that introduced thousands, if not millions, of aspiring seekers in the Western world to a man who, legend tells us, is perhaps the greatest of ancient saints, an immortal deathless yogi of India watching over this earthly plane like a benevolent omniscient spiritual parent —Babaji. To read Autobiography of a Yogi and absorb Yogananda's lucid, almost otherworldly descriptions of the spiritual life is to embark upon a journey to a place that exists far beyond the borders of our materialistic Western worldview—a realm where miracles are commonplace and where physical laws, in the hands of the great yogis, seem as malleable and as changeable as clay in the hands of great artists. By any standard, the book is a work of genius, a masterpiece that combines an inspiring introduction to the ancient yogic path with a philosophical inquiry into the underlying unity of Eastern and Western religions, weaving it all together with the remarkable story of Yogananda's own pioneering life and teachings. Upon publication it captured the hearts of thousands and introduced Americans to the esoteric world of the Himalayan sages, inviting hungry spirits to believe in undreamed-of possibilities in the evolution of consciousness—possibilities, the yogic masters say, that lie dormant in each of us.
  • Kriya Babaji Nagaraj

    Kriya Babaji Nagaraj

    Kriya Babaji Nagaraj by Marshall Govindan In 1946, Paramahansa Yogananda, one of modern India’s greatest yogis, revealed in his classic “Autobiography of a Yogi” the existence of a Christ-like saint, an immortal yogi, Mahavatar Babaji. Yogananda related how for centuries, Babaji lived in the Himalayas guiding many spiritual teachers at a distance, usually without their ever knowing about it. Babaji was a great siddha, one who had overcome ordinary human limitations and who worked silently for the spiritual evolution of all humanity, from behind the scenes. Babaji was revealed to be who, in1891, taught Lahiri Mahasaya, a powerful series of yogic techniques, known as “Kriya Yoga.” Babaji also taught Lahiri’s own Christ-like guru, Sri Yukteswar, some thirty years earlier. Yogananda says that he spent 10 years with is guru before Babaji himself appeared to him and directed him to bring the sacred science of Kriya to the West. Yogananda fulfilled this sacred mission from 1920 to 1952, when he attained mahasamadhi. In the year 203 A.D. a boy born under the same star as Lord Krishna some 3,500 years earlier, was given the name Nagaraj. Nagarja was born in what is now the seaport of Porto Novo (Parangipettai), in Tamil Nadu, on the eastern coast of India. The name Nagaraj means “serpent king” and refers to kundalini, our great divine potential power and consciousness. His parents were Nambudri Brahmins who had immigrated there from the Malabar coast on the western side of South India. His father was the priest in the Shiva temple in the village, which is today dedicated to Muruga.
  • Kriya Yoga of Mahavatar Babaji

    Kriya Yoga of Mahavatar Babaji

    Kriya Yoga of Mahavatar Babaji Kriya Yoga Kriya Yoga, the highest form of pranayam (life force control), is a set of techniques by which complete realization may be achieved. In order to prepare for the practice of Kriya Yoga, the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali are to be studied, the Eight Fold Path learned and adheared to; the Bhagavad Gita is to be read, studied and meditated upon; and a Disciple-Guru relationship entered into freely with the Guru who will initiate the disciple into the actual Kriya Yoga techniques. These techniques themselves, given by the Guru, are to be done as per the Mahavatar Babaji gurus instructions for the individual. There re-introduced this ancient technique in are also sources for Kriya that are guru-less. 1861 and gave permission for it's See the Other Resources/Non Lineage at the dissemination to his disciple Lahiri bottom of organizations Mahasay For more information on Kriya Yoga please use these links and the ones among the list of Kriya Yoga Masters. Online Books A Personal Experience More Lineage Organizations Non Lineage Resources Message Boards/Groups India The information shown below is a list of "Kriya Yoga Gurus". Simply stated, those that have been given permission by their Guru to initiate others into Kriya Yoga. Kriya Yoga instruction is to be given directly from the Guru to the Disciple. When the disciple attains realization the Guru may give that disciple permission to initiate and instruct others in Kriya Yoga thus continuing the line of Kriya Yoga Gurus. Kriya Yoga Gurus generally provide interpretations of the Yoga Sutras and Gitas as part of the instructions for their students.
  • Learn Kriya Yoga Meditation

    Learn Kriya Yoga Meditation

    LEARN KRIYA YOGA MEDITATION Mahavatar Lahiri Swami Bhupendranath Paramahamsa Swami Paramahamsa Paramahamsa Babaji Mahasaya Shriyukteshwar Sanyal Yogananda Satyananda Hariharananda Prajnanananda Australia Kriya Yoga Association invites you to learn the authentic Kriya Yoga passed on by an unbroken lineage of realised Masters. For generations Kriya teachings have been handed Kriya Yoga provides a very powerful technique of down a lineage which was started by Mahavatar Babaji meditation that greatly enhances all spiritual practice. in 1861, when he re-introduced Kriya Yoga to modern The Kriya Yoga techniques are passed on only by word times through his disciple Lahiri Mahasaya. of mouth from an authorised teacher directly to the Kriya yoga is a relatively quick and easy non-sectarian student. path to reach higher states of consciousness and change During Kriya initiation the chakras are purified and your life by developing mind, body, intellect and infused with the triple divine qualities of light, sound awareness of the soul. Based on the science of breath, and vibration before the techniques are taught. INITIATION PROGRAMME An initiation programme comprises of a free information evening followed by a two day programme of initiation, teaching and practice. Programmes and weekly meditation are held regularly in major capital cities. Visit our website for full details. Web address and contact details are at the bottom of the page. The initiation programme will be conducted by Swamis Gurupriyananda and Sarvatmananda under the authorisation of the Kriya Yoga master, Paramahamsa Prajnanananda. Paramahamsa Prajnanananda is a Swami Gurupriyananda an Swami Sarvatmananda an realised yogi and current head of the authorised teacher of Kriya Yoga, authorised teacher of Kriya Yoga, Kriya Yoga International will be conducting the initiations will be conducting the initiations and teaching the technique.
  • Why I Became a Hindu

    Why I Became a Hindu

    Why I became a Hindu Parama Karuna Devi published by Jagannatha Vallabha Vedic Research Center Copyright © 2018 Parama Karuna Devi All rights reserved Title ID: 8916295 ISBN-13: 978-1724611147 ISBN-10: 1724611143 published by: Jagannatha Vallabha Vedic Research Center Website: www.jagannathavallabha.com Anyone wishing to submit questions, observations, objections or further information, useful in improving the contents of this book, is welcome to contact the author: E-mail: [email protected] phone: +91 (India) 94373 00906 Please note: direct contact data such as email and phone numbers may change due to events of force majeure, so please keep an eye on the updated information on the website. Table of contents Preface 7 My work 9 My experience 12 Why Hinduism is better 18 Fundamental teachings of Hinduism 21 A definition of Hinduism 29 The problem of castes 31 The importance of Bhakti 34 The need for a Guru 39 Can someone become a Hindu? 43 Historical examples 45 Hinduism in the world 52 Conversions in modern times 56 Individuals who embraced Hindu beliefs 61 Hindu revival 68 Dayananda Saraswati and Arya Samaj 73 Shraddhananda Swami 75 Sarla Bedi 75 Pandurang Shastri Athavale 75 Chattampi Swamikal 76 Narayana Guru 77 Navajyothi Sree Karunakara Guru 78 Swami Bhoomananda Tirtha 79 Ramakrishna Paramahamsa 79 Sarada Devi 80 Golap Ma 81 Rama Tirtha Swami 81 Niranjanananda Swami 81 Vireshwarananda Swami 82 Rudrananda Swami 82 Swahananda Swami 82 Narayanananda Swami 83 Vivekananda Swami and Ramakrishna Math 83 Sister Nivedita
  • Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramhansa Yogananda with a Preface by W

    Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramhansa Yogananda with a Preface by W

    Autobiography of a Yogi By Paramhansa Yogananda With a Preface by W. Y. Evans-Wentz, M.A., D. Litt., D. Sc. “Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe.”—John 4:48. The Philosophical Library New York Copyright, 1946, by Paramhansa Yogananda Printed in the United States of America 1946 First Edition, First Printing Published by The Philosophical Library, Inc. 15 East 40th Street New York, N. Y. 1994 Reprint of the 1946 First Edition Published by Crystal Clarity Publishers 14618 Tyler Foote Road Nevada City, CA 95959 1-800-424-1055 Second printing 2005 2 Foreword by Swami Kriyananda (J. Donald Walters) I met Paramhansa Yogananda as a result of reading this book. Finding it was, I must say, a complete surprise. There it was, sitting “innocently” on a shelf in a book shop on Fifth Avenue in New York. I’d no idea how utterly this volume would revolutionize my life. That was late in the summer of 1948. I was desperate to know truth. Nothing I’d encountered had persuaded me that people were right in what they were urging on me as my destiny. My father was a geologist working for a large oil company. My mother was respected and happy in her social milieu. Both were, in many ways, ideal parents; I’d never, for example, known them even to have an argument. Their love and respect for one another were an inspiration to their many friends. Yet even so, I was not happy. Life must have more to offer, I felt, than marriage, a nice home in a nice suburb, a socially acceptable job, and “cocktail party” friendships.
  • Fast Tracking to Infinity: the Kriya Yoga of Ganesh Baba

    Fast Tracking to Infinity: the Kriya Yoga of Ganesh Baba

    YOGA PHILOSOPHY yogamagazine.com TheFAST TRACKINGKriya YogaTO INFINITY of Ganesh Baba Words: Dr. Keith G Lowenstein and Lyndsey Anderson PART 1 Photo Credit: Dr. Keith G Lowenstein very ancient school of thought or system of practice, no matter how profound and effective, E periodically needs an update for the particular time, a fresh reformation to resonate with an every- diversifying audience. This evolution of what is taught as well as how, is facebook.com/official.yogamag historically transmitted through masters willing and able to translate ancient practices for a contemporary audience. The lineage of Kriya Yoga is no exception. Kriya Yoga is no less than a foundational practice for the direct experience of the infinite. It’s practices are common to many of the mystical traditions of Judaism, Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism and Islam. Paramahansa Yogananda, author of Autobiography of a Yogi, is the best- known Kriya Yoga master, but he was not the only yogi to bring Kriya Yoga to the West. One of these yogis was Ganesh Baba, formally Sri Mahant Swami Ganesh Ananda Saraswati Giri, who shared an accelerated and simplified system of Kriya Yoga until his death in 1987. Other students of Yogananda and other branches of the Lahiri line, like Paramahamsa Hariharananda, Ganesh Baba. Self-Realization Fellowship Lake who founded Kriya Yoga International, Shrine. Los Angeles, California. Early 1980’s. continue to teach Kriya around the globe. 46 Ganesh Baba was unique in several ways. Ganesh is the name of the elephant-headed god, commonly known as the remover of obstacles. Ganesh Baba lived up to the name, both placing and removing obstacles in the path of the student as a means of spiritual development.
  • Nieuwsbrief 2015

    Nieuwsbrief 2015

    Inhoudsopgave Voorwoord 3 Kriya Yoga nieuws 4 “De Droom” 7 door Paramahamsa Prajnanananda “De eeuwige wetenschap” 16 door Paramahamsa Hariharananda Programma’s in het Kriya Yoga Centrum Sterksel onder 25 leiding van Swami Atmavidyananda Programma’s in het Kriya Yoga Centrum onder leiding van 27 Peter van Breukelen, Claudia Cremers en Petra Helwig Huisregels in Sterksel 28 Meditatie weekenden in Rotterdam o.l.v. Petra Helwig 30 Meditatie weekend in Den Haag o.l.v. Claudia Cremers 30 Meditatie lezing in Amsterdam o.l.v. Claudia Cremers 30 Waar ligt het Kriya Yoga Centrum? 32 Avondmeditaties 33 Wat is Kriya Yoga? 35 Overzicht van publicaties 36 Het Kriya Yoga Centrum te Sterksel 38 Internationale adressen – Kriya Yoga Centra 39 op het strand van Puri, India Paramahamsa Hariharananda en Swami Prajnanananda Voorwoord n deze nieuwsbrief vind je alle informatie over de programma’s van het jaar 2015 van het Kriya Yoga ICentrum. Ook dit jaar zijn er weer vele activiteiten en we zijn bijzonder verheugd dat Swami Atmavidyananda van 28 augustus t/m 1 september weer in Sterksel zal zijn. Wij nodigen je hartelijk uit om deel te nemen aan de programma’s. Paramahamsa Hariharananda zegt: “God is in alles en voorbij alles. Dus als je Hem wilt realiseren, dan moet je Hem zoeken in iedere atoom, in alle materie, in alle lichamelijke functies en in ieder menselijk wezen. Dit is Zelf- realisatie”. Graag tot ziens bij de meditatie. Peter van Breukelen Kriya Yoga Centrum Heezerweg 7 6029 PP Sterksel Tel. 040 - 2265576 Kriya Yoga nieuws Speciale activiteiten in Sterksel n 2014 vierden we dat Gurudev Baba Hariharanandaji, 40 jaar geleden op 67 jarige Ileeftijd, naar het Westen kwam.
  • The Ocean of Love'

    The Ocean of Love'

    7 The Ocean ofF Love' The Anurag Sear of Kabir THE OCEAN OF LOVE THE OCEAN OF LOVE The Ocean of Love The Anurlig Sagar of Kabir Translated and Edited under the direction of Sant Ajaib Singh Ji Sant Bani Ashram Sanbornton, New Hampshire Translated from the Braj by Raj Kumar Bagga with the assistance of Partap Singh and Kent Bicknell Edited with Introduction and Notes by Russell Perkins Illustrated by Michael Raysson First printing, 1982 Second printing, index added 1984 Third printing, 1995 ISBN: 0-89142-039-8 Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 82-050369 Kal did the devotion on one foot (see page 23) Kabir and Dharam Das by Sant Ajaib Singh Ji ER SINCE the Almighty Lord started coming into this world Ein the form of the Saints, it has always happened that during a Saint's lifetime only a few people care to know about his life: where the Saint was born, how he used to live, what qualities he had, and why he came into this world. They don't care about all these things while the Saint is alive; but when the Saints leave this world, their incredible power and their teachings which change the lives of many people impress the people of the world, and only then-when the Saint is gone-do the people of the world start thinking about them and devoting themselves to them. So that is why, according to the understanding of the people, stories are told about the Saints. It is very difficult to find out much about the Mahatmas of the past-their birth, their place of birth, their parents, their early life, etc.
  • Aghoreshwar Bhagawan Ram and the Aghor Tradition

    Aghoreshwar Bhagawan Ram and the Aghor Tradition

    Syracuse University SURFACE Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Anthropology - Dissertations Affairs 12-2011 Aghoreshwar Bhagawan Ram and the Aghor Tradition Jishnu Shankar Syracuse University Follow this and additional works at: https://surface.syr.edu/ant_etd Part of the Archaeological Anthropology Commons Recommended Citation Shankar, Jishnu, "Aghoreshwar Bhagawan Ram and the Aghor Tradition" (2011). Anthropology - Dissertations. 93. https://surface.syr.edu/ant_etd/93 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at SURFACE. It has been accepted for inclusion in Anthropology - Dissertations by an authorized administrator of SURFACE. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Abstract Aghoreshwar Mahaprabhu Baba Bhagawan Ram Ji, a well-established saint of the holy city of Varanasi in north India, initiated many changes into the erstwhile Aghor tradition of ascetics in India. This tradition is regarded as an ancient system of spiritual or mystical knowledge by its practitioners and at least some of the practices followed in this tradition can certainly be traced back at least to the time of the Buddha. Over the course of the centuries practitioners of this tradition have interacted with groups of other mystical traditions, exchanging ideas and practices so that both parties in the exchange appear to have been influenced by the other. Naturally, such an interaction between groups can lead to difficulty in determining a clear course of development of the tradition. In this dissertation I bring together micro-history, hagiography, folklore, religious and comparative studies together in an attempt to understand how this modern day religious-spiritual tradition has been shaped by the past and the role religion has to play in modern life, if only with reference to a single case study.
  • Trailanga - Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia

    Trailanga - Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia

    ַטִאַילְנג ְסָוואִמי ترايﻻنغا سوامي تريلينگا http://fa.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%81%D9%87%D8%B1%D8%B3%D8%AA_%D8%AD%D8%B2%D 8%A8%E2%80%8C%D9%87%D8%A7_%D8%AF%D8%B1_%D9%87%D9%86%D8%AF%D9%88%D 8%B3%D8%AA%D8%A7%D9%86 سوامی Trailanga - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trailanga Trailanga From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Trailanga Swami (also Tailang Swami , Telang Swami ) [nb 1] [2] [2][3] Swami Ganapati Saraswati (Telugu: cంగ ాI ) (reportedly 1607 – 1887 ) was a Hindu yogi famed for his spiritual powers who lived in Born Shivarama Varanasi, India.[2] He is regarded as a legendary figure in 1607 Bengal, with many stories told about his yogic powers and Vizianagaram longevity. According to some accounts, Trailanga Swami Died December 26, 1887 (aged 280) [2][4] lived to be 280 years old, residing at Varanasi between Varanasi 1737-1887. [3] He is regarded by devotees as an incarnation of Shiva. Ramakrishna referred to him as the "The walking Titles/honours known as "The walking Shiva of Varanasi" Shiva of Varanasi". [5] Guru Bhagirathananda Saraswati Philosophy Dashanami Contents 1 Life 2 Death 3 Legends and stories 4 Teachings 5 Notes 6 References 7 References 8 Further reading 9 External links Life A member of the Dashanami order, he became known as Trailanga Swami after he settled in Varanasi. His biographers and his disciples differ on his birth date and the period of his longevity. According to one disciple biographer, he was born in 1529, while according to another biographer it was 1607.
  • Yogi Heroes and Poets

    Yogi Heroes and Poets

    Lorenzen_Yogi:SUNY 6 x 9 9/8/11 3:47 PM Page ix introduction David N. Lorenzen and Adrián Muñoz all disciples sleep, but the nath satguru stays full awake. the avadhuta begs for alms at the ten gates. —gorakh bānī pad 53 he Hindu religious path or sect of the naths is variously known as the nath tPanth or the nath sampraday. its followers are called nath yogis, nath Pan- this, Kanphata yogis, gorakhnathis, and siddha yogis, among other names. some- times the term avadhūta is used, although this term is applied to ascetics of other Hindu groups as well. Most nath yogis claim adherence to the teachings of the early yogi, gorakִsanātha (in Hindi gorakhnath). the school of yoga most closely associated with the naths is the well-known one of hatִha yoga. in more general terms, the combined religious and yogic teachings of the naths are called the Nāth- mārga (the Path of the naths), the Yoga-mārga (the Path of yoga), or the Siddha- mata (the doctrine of the siddhas). the term siddha means “someone perfected or who has attained [spiritual] per- fection.” a siddha (from the sanskrit root SIDh, “to succeed, to perfect”) is an ascetic who has gained different perfections or “successes” (siddhis), the most famous being the eight magical siddhis achieved through intense yogic practice. the word nāth or nātha literally means “lord, master; protector, shelter,” and in the pres- ent context designates, on the one hand, a follower of the sect founded by or associ- ated with gorakhnath and, on the other hand, someone who has controlled the ix © 2011 State University of New York Press, Albany Lorenzen_Yogi:SUNY 6 x 9 9/8/11 3:47 PM Page x x daVid n.