THE DIVINE MASTERS
Here are some of the masters/friends whom I have had the pleasure to be
in contact with, observe, learn and grow.
In this tumultuous and ephemeral world, they have been my immutable role models.
| Paramahansa Yogananda
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My dearest GURUDEVA, a personality the likes of whom I have never
known. |
| I joined the Yogoda Satsanga Society of India, an organisation formed by Paramahansa Yogananda to dispense his teachings, in 1996 and in Feb of 1999 received formal initiation into Kriya Yoga, by Swami Shantananda Giri, of YSS, a very saintly personage. | |
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"When I have
left this body, only LOVE can take my place." Dearest gurudeva, |
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| I WILL BE THINE ALWAYS I may go far, farther than the stars, But my lord I will be thine always Devotees may come, devotees may go, But my lord I will be thine always And when I die look in to my eyes. They will mutely say, My lord I will be thine always |
THEN JOY IS SWEET AND SORROW A DREAM Then joy is sweet, sorrow a dream when thy song flows through me Then praise is sweet, and blame a dream, when thy song flows through me Then life is sweet, and death a dream, when thy song flows through me |
"Where ganges,himalayas and
men dream GOD, I am hallowed my body touched that SOD". |
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Click here to watch video clips of Paramahansa Yogananda 
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| Yogoda Satsanga Society of India / Self Realization Fellowship |
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The Yogoda Satsanga Society / Self Realisation Fellowship The YSS/SRF has a line of masters including Paramahansa Yogananda |
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Lahiri Mahasaya |
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Babaji (Guru of Lahiri Mahasaya) BABAJI IS A DEATHLESS MAHAVATAR, STILL LIVING IN THE HIMALAYAS |
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Both Jesus Christ and Krishna are also recognised
by YSS/SRF devotees as divine masters and teachers.
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| Babaji The Deathless Babaji, guru of Lahiri Mahasaya, and my Param-Guru, has retained his physical form through centuries. He remains in seclusion in the Himalayas sending out vibrations of peace and love to the entire world. He occasionally meets with a few persons all thruout the ages as proof of his deathless existence. He is said to be the teacher of Kabir and Shankaracharya. (Intriguing huh !!) He is known by many names Shiva Baba, Mahavatar Baba, Mahamuni babaji and many more. The adjoining pic is his form of Hariakhan Baba, in the early 1900 , the period during which he met Yogananda. |
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Later, between 1970 to 1984 he lived in a villiage near This picture is from that period. More information on Babaji at : http://www.babaji.net/ |
It is said that if one simply
calls out the name of "Babaji" |
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| Ananda Moyi Maa |
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| Swami Vivekananda Initially I was very enamoured by his writings and his striking power. (I guess every teenager who has any form of contact with Vivekananda is). Somehow on my first visit to Yogananda's Ashram in Ranchi, I coincidentally Landed up first at a Ramakrishna Mission from where I was directed to the YSS ashram. This picture of Vivekananda is my favorite. There is an inexplicable aura of tremendous power about it. |
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| More information on Viviekananda
at : http://www.vivekananda.org/index.html What is VEDANTA ? http://www.vivekananda.org/faq.html |
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| Swami Rama What attracts me most about him is his face in this particular picture. Just looking at it puts one's mind in a meditative state. It appears on the cover of his book LIVING WITH THE HIMALAYAN MASTERS. |
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| More information on Swami Rama at
: http://himalayaninstitute.org/hiinstitute/swamirama.html |
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| Jiddu Krishnamurthy | |
| One of the foremost philosophers and thinkers of our time,
K (as he is usually called), was predicted as the messiah (the lord maitreya),
who was promised to return, ever since Jesus Christ. But he cast off this mantle, unleashing a stream of controversy, and followed his own path to enlightment, showing people the strength and power that they themselves possessed. He inspired in me the spirit of independent thought ,amidst all the spiritual theology. His inspiration, help fuel in me the yen to break away from the dogmatic shackles of traditional spirituality. A Spirituality relying on dogmatic beliefs and emulation of the "chosen few". A spirituality that "measures" your "progress" on the path to GOD-realization, and awards you title's for the same. Love for GOD and closeness to god cannot be measured against anything or denoted by titles. It is a relationship where in you don't seek GOD "somewhere"., but you know , that in Sleeping, waking, eating, dreaming, walking, speaking, loving, she is ALWAYS with you. This is a very personal and sacred relationship. |
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More information on K at : (PS: Their presence is invoked in REIKI prayers) |
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Satya Sai Baba
One of the few saints who's pictures are very arresting.
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| More information on SatyaSai Baba
at : http://www.sathyasai.org/ SAI BABA has prophecised that after his death he would return again as PREMA SAI BABA. More on that here: http://web.ukonline.co.uk/gamini.perera/threesai.html -Three incarnations of Sai Baba |
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| Aneerudha Joshi This is one saintly personage I have had the blessing of meeting. The warmth and love in his eyes is fathomless. Some how my first darhan of this saint was on a holy guru purnima day. What strikes one most about him is his simplicity, in that, outwardly he performs all the duties of a householder. His clothing is simple and normal (shirt and trousers), not some ochre or white robe. |
< I dont have a pic currently>
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Bombayites, you can have
the opportunity of his darshan
(blessings that flow from the mere sight of a saint) , on Thursdays evenings, at Antonio D'silva High School, Dadar. |
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| Amma The sweet joyous divine child of god, who's ashram was very close to my engineering college. The ashram is on a hilltop and is very peaceful and serene. This woman saint is quite unique, in that she gives each and every devotee who visits her satsang, a personal Darshan and a warm hug, and I mean EVERY. Sometimes the number of people wanting darshan is In thousands, but yet she tirelessly and lovingly hugs each person, wispering words of inspiration and love into their ears. Her devotees are very sweet people to talk to. The yoga techniques she prescirbes is very similar to the YSS Yoga techniques. She visits bombay every year sometime near March. |
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| More information on Amma at : http://www.ammachi.org/ |
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