Swami Muktananda Paramahamsa (16 May 1908 – 2 October 1982), born Krishna Rai, was a

yoga guru Modern yoga gurus are people widely acknowledged to be gurus of modern yoga in any of its forms, whether religious or not. The role implies being well-known and having a large following; in contrast to the old guru-shishya tradition, the moder ...

, the founder of

Siddha Yoga Siddha Yoga is a spiritual path founded by Swami Muktananda (1908–1982). The organization states in its literature that the Siddha Yoga tradition is "based mainly on eastern philosophies". It also states that it "draws many of its teachings f ...

. He was a

disciple A disciple is a follower and student of a mentor, teacher, or other figure. It can refer to: Religion * Disciple (Christianity), a student of Jesus Christ * Twelve Apostles of Jesus, sometimes called the Twelve Disciples * Seventy disciples in t ...

of Bhagavan Nityananda. He wrote books on the subjects of Kundalini Shakti,

Vedanta ''Vedanta'' (; sa, वेदान्त, ), also ''Uttara Mīmāṃsā'', is one of the six (''āstika'') schools of Hindu philosophy. Literally meaning "end of the Vedas", Vedanta reflects ideas that emerged from, or were aligned with, ...

, and

Kashmir Shaivism Kashmir Shaivism or Trika Shaivism, is a nondualist tradition of Shaiva-Shakta Tantra which originated sometime after 850 CE. Since this tradition originated in Kashmir it is often called "Kashmiri Shaivism". It later went on to become a pan- ...

, including a spiritual autobiography entitled ''The Play of Consciousness''. In

honorific An honorific is a title that conveys esteem, courtesy, or respect for position or rank when used in addressing or referring to a person. Sometimes, the term "honorific" is used in a more specific sense to refer to an honorary academic title. It ...

style, he is often referred to as ''

Swami Swami ( ; sometimes abbreviated sw.) in Hinduism is an honorific title given to a male or female ascetic who has chosen the path of renunciation (''sanyāsa''), or has been initiated into a religious monastic order of Vaishnavas. It is used eit ...

Muktananda'', or ''Baba Muktananda'', or in a familiar way just ''Baba''.

Biography

Swami Muktananda was born in 1908 near

Mangalore Mangalore (), officially known as Mangaluru, is a major port city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It is located between the Arabian Sea and the Western Ghats about west of Bangalore, the state capital, 20 km north of Karnataka– ...

Madras Presidency The Madras Presidency, or the Presidency of Fort St. George, also known as Madras Province, was an administrative subdivision (presidency) of British India. At its greatest extent, the presidency included most of southern India, including the ...

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

, to a wealthy family. His birth name was Krishna Rai. At 15, he encountered Bhagawan Nityananda, a wandering avadhoot who profoundly changed his life. After this encounter, Krishna left home and began his search for the experience of God. He studied under Siddharudha Swami in

Hubli Hubli, officially known as Hubballi, is a city in the Indian state of Karnataka. The twin cities Hubli–Dharwad form the second largest city in the state by area and population and the largest city in North Karnataka. Hubli is in Dharwad dist ...

, where he learned

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural diffusion ...

, and all branches of

yoga Yoga (; sa, योग, lit=yoke' or 'union ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines which originated in ancient India and aim to control (yoke) and still the mind, recognizing a detached witness-consciou ...

. He received

sannyasa ''Sannyasa'' (Sanskrit: संन्यास; IAST: ), sometimes spelled Sanyasa (सन्न्यास) or Sanyasi (for the person), is life of renunciation and the fourth stage within the Hindu system of four life stages known as '' A ...

initiation in the Sarasvati order of the Dashanami Sampradaya, taking the name of Swami Muktananda. After Siddharudha's death, Muktananda left to study with a disciple of Siddharudha called Muppinarya Swami at his Sri Airani Holematt in Ranebennur Haveri District. Then Swami Muktananda began wandering India on foot, studying with many different saints and gurus. In 1947, Muktananda went to Ganeshpuri to receive the darshan of Bhagavan Nityananda, who had originally inspired Muktananda's search for God. He received

shaktipat Shaktipat or Śaktipāta (Sanskrit, from ''shakti'' "(psychic) energy" and ''pāta'', "to fall")''Abhinavagupta : the Kula ritual, as elaborated in chapter 29 of the Tantrāloka'', John R. Dupuche, 2003, page 155 refers in Hinduism to the transmi ...

initiation Initiation is a rite of passage marking entrance or acceptance into a group or society. It could also be a formal admission to adulthood in a community or one of its formal components. In an extended sense, it can also signify a transformation ...

from him on August 15 of that year. Muktananda often said that his spiritual journey did not truly begin until he received

from Nityananda. He described it as a profound and sublime experience. For the next nine years, Muktananda lived and meditated in a small hut in

Yeola Yeola (Marathi pronunciation: eːʋlaː () is a town, a municipal council, and a taluka headquarters in Nashik District in the Indian state of Maharashtra. Demographics India census, Yeola had a population of 43,205. Males constitute 52% of ...

. He wrote about his sadhana and

kundalini In Hinduism, Kundalini ( sa, कुण्डलिनी, translit=kuṇḍalinī, translit-std=IAST, lit=coiled snake, ) is a form of divine feminine energy (or ''Shakti'') believed to be located at the base of the spine, in the ''muladhara'' ...

-related meditation experiences in his autobiography. In 1956, Bhagawan Nityananda acknowledged the culmination of Muktananda's spiritual journey. He appointed Muktananda as the leader of an ashram in Ganeshpuri, near

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' fin ...

. The same year he started teaching his

path. Between 1970 and 1981, Muktananda went on three world tours. During these tours, he established Siddha Yoga ashrams and meditation centers in many countries. In 1975, he founded the Siddha Yoga Ashram in Oakland in the

San Francisco Bay area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area G ...

. In 1979, he established Shree Nityananda Ashram (now

Shree Muktananda Ashram Shree Muktananda Ashram, in the Catskills area of upstate New York, is owned and operated by the SYDA Foundation. Its purpose is to provide a location where students of Siddha Yoga can study the philosophy and culture of the Siddha Yoga path and ...

) in the

Catskills The Catskill Mountains, also known as the Catskills, are a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian Mountains, located in southeastern New York. As a cultural and geographic region, the Catskills are generally defined as those areas c ...

, northwest of

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. Muktananda established Gurudev Siddha Peeth as a public trust in India to administer his work there. He founded the SYDA Foundation in the United States to administer the global work of Siddha Yoga meditation. He wrote many books, sixteen of which are still in print with the SYDA Foundation. In May 1982, Muktananda appointed two successors, Swami Chidvilasananda and her younger brother, Swami Nityananda, as joint leaders of Siddha Yoga. Nityananda later resigned and formed his own group. Muktananda died in October 1982. He is buried in his

samādhi ''Samadhi'' ( Pali and sa, समाधि), in Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism, Sikhism and yogic schools, is a state of meditative consciousness. In Buddhism, it is the last of the eight elements of the Noble Eightfold Path. In the Ashtanga Yo ...

shrine in Gurudev Siddha Peeth in Ganeshpuri.

Teaching and practice

Central to his teachings were to "See God in each other," and "Honor your Self. Worship your Self. Meditate on your Self. God dwells within you as you." Muktananda often gave a shorter version of this teaching: "God dwells within you as you." According to Lola Williamson, Muktananda was known as a "

guru because

awakening occurred so readily in his presence". Through ''Shaktipat Intensives'' participants were said to receive shaktipat initiation, the awakening of Kundalini Shakti that is said to reside within a person, and to deepen their practice of Siddha Yoga meditation. Historically, Shaktipat initiation had been reserved for the few who had done many years of spiritual service and practices; Muktananda offered this initiation to newcomers and yogis alike. There are several published accounts that describe the reception of ''shaktipat'' from Muktananda.

Paul Zweig Paul Zweig (July 14, 1935 – August 29, 1984) was an American poet, memoirist, and critic known for his study on Walt Whitman. Biography Zweig was born in Brooklyn on July 14, 1935, and was raised in a middle-class Jewish family in Brighton ...

wrote one such account of receiving ''shaktipat'' from Muktananda.Paul Zweig, in John White (editor), ''Kundalini, Evolution, and Enlightenment'' () In ''

Gurus of Modern Yoga Modern yoga gurus are people widely acknowledged to be gurus of modern yoga in any of its forms, whether religious or not. The role implies being well-known and having a large following; in contrast to the old guru-shishya tradition, the modern ...

'',

Andrea Jain Andrea is a given name which is common worldwide for both males and females, cognate to Andreas, Andrej and Andrew. Origin of the name The name derives from the Greek word ἀνήρ (''anēr''), genitive ἀνδρός (''andrós''), that r ...

, in her chapter on Muktananda, quotes an anonymous source, who describes his moment of shaktipat, when he was 19 years old, conferred by Muktananda with a wand of peacock feathers in 1975:

Controversy

Sarah Caldwell, in an essay in the

academic journal An academic journal or scholarly journal is a periodical publication in which scholarship relating to a particular academic discipline is published. Academic journals serve as permanent and transparent forums for the presentation, scrutiny, and ...

''Nova Religio'' (2001), argued that Muktananda was both an enlightened spiritual teacher and a practitioner of Shakta Tantrism, but also "engaged in actions that were not ethical, legal or liberatory with many disciples." According to Lola Williamson, "Muktananda stressed the value of celibacy for making progress on the spiritual path, but he almost certainly violated his own rules." Author Andrea Jain asserts "Muktananda engaged in secret sexual rituals with several of his young female disciples—some of whom were teenagers—that were meant to transmit ''sakti'' to the tantric hero." In 1981, Stan Trout, a swami for Siddha Yoga, wrote an open letter in which he referred to a number of stories of Muktananda engaging in sexual activities with young women, and threats and harassment in order to force people to "stop talking about your escapades with young girls in your bedroom." In 1983 William Rodarmor printed several allegations in ''

CoEvolution Quarterly ''CoEvolution Quarterly'' (1974–1985) was a journal descended from Stewart Brand's '' Whole Earth Catalog''. Stewart Brand founded the ''CoEvolution Quarterly'' in 1974 using proceeds from the '' Whole Earth Catalog.'' It evolved out of the o ...

'' from anonymous female devotees that Muktananda regularly had sex with them and raped them. In the article, based on twenty five interviews, former devotees charged that Muktananda had molested under-age girls, and engaged in sexual interactions with young devotees, which "drew naive young women into esoteric Tantric rituals." Lis Harris repeated and extended Rodarmor's allegations in an article in ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

'' (1994).

Bibliography

* ''Light on the Path'' (1972), Siddha Yoga Publications, * ''Mukteshwari: The Way of Muktananda'' (1972), SYDA Foundation * ''Getting Rid of What You Haven't Got'' (1974), Wordpress * ''Ashram Dharma'' (1975), SYDA Foundation, * ''I Love You'' (1975), SYDA Foundation * ''Selected Essays'' (1976), Siddha Yoga Publications, * ''God is With You'' (1978), Siddha Yoga Publications * ''I Am that: The Science of Hamsa from the Vijnana Bhairava'' (1978), Siddha Yoga Publications, * ''I Welcome You All With Love'' (1978), Siddha Yoga Publications, * ''In the Company of a Siddha: Interviews and Conversations With Swami Muktananda'' (1978), Siddha Yoga Publications * ''The Nectar of Chanting: Sacred Texts and Mantras Sung in the Ashrams of Swami Muktananda'' (1978), SYDA Foundation, * ''Play of Consciousness: A Spiritual Autobiography'' (1978), Siddha Yoga Publications, * ''Satsang with Baba : questions and answers between Swami Muktananda and his devotees'' (1978), Volumes 1 – 5, SYDA, * ''Kundalini: The Secret of Life'' (1979), Siddha Yoga Publications, * ''To Know the Knower'' (1979), Siddha Yoga Publications, * ''Meditate'' (1980), State University of New York Press, * ''Kundalini Stavah'' (1980), SYDA Foundation, * ''The Perfect Relationship: The Guru and the Disciple'' (1980), SYDA Foundation, * ''Reflections of the Self'' (1980), Siddha Yoga Publications, * ''Secret of the Siddhas'' (1980), Siddha Yoga Publications, * ''A Book for the Mind'' (1981), SYDA Foundation * ''Does Death Really Exist?'' (1981), Siddha Yoga Publications, * ''Lalleshwari'' (1981), SYDA Foundation, * ''Where Are You Going?: A Guide to the Spiritual Journey'' (1981), Siddha Yoga Publications, * ''I Have Become Alive: Secrets of the Inner Journey'' (1985), Siddha Yoga Publications, * ''From the Finite to the Infinite'' (1990), Siddha Yoga Publications, * ''Mystery of the Mind'' (1992), SYDA Foundation * ''The Self is Already Attained'' (1993), Siddha Yoga Meditation Publications, * ''Bhagawan Nityananda'' (1996), Siddha Yoga Publications, * ''Nothing Exists that Is Not Shiva: Commentaries on the Shiva Sutra, Vijnana Bhairava, Guru Gita, and Other Sacred Texts'' (1997) Siddha Yoga Publications,

References

Sources

* * * * * * * *

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Muktananda 1908 births 1982 deaths 20th-century Hindu religious leaders Indian Shaivite religious leaders Indian autobiographers Indian spiritual writers Indian yoga teachers Kashmir Shaivism Modern yoga gurus Tulu people Writers from Mangalore