Muktananda

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Swami Muktananda (May 16, 1908-October 2, 1982) is the monastic name of an Indian guru. He was the founder of Siddha Yoga, a new religious movement. He wrote a number of books, including the autobiography The Play of Consciousness.

Contents

[edit] Life

He was born near Mangalore in Karnataka State, India into a wealthy family. At 15 he encountered Bhagawan Nityananda, a wandering avadhoot who profoundly influenced his life.[1] He studied under Siddharudha Swami at Hubli where he learned Sanskrit, Vedanta and all branches of yoga and took the initiation of sannyasa, becoming Swami Muktananda. He began wandering India on foot.

In 1947 he went to Ganeshpuri to receive the darshan of Bhagawan Nityananda. In The Play of Consciousness he describes this initiation as a profound and sublime experience. He spent the next eight years living and meditating in a little hut in Yeola. He wrote about his meditation experiences there in his autobiography. In 1956, Nityananda gave Muktananda a small piece of land at Gavdevi, near Ganeshpuri, on which Muktananda developed an ashram.

In the 1970s, on behalf of his Guru, Bhagawan Nityananda, Swami Muktananda brought the tradition of Siddha Yoga to the West, giving shaktipat initiation to thousands of spiritual seekers. Muktananda established Gurudev Siddha Peeth as a public trust in India to administer the work there, and founded the SYDA Foundation in the United States to administer the global work of Siddha Yoga meditation.[2] He wrote many books; sixteen are still kept in print by the SYDA Foundation.

In May 1982, Swami Muktananda appointed two successors as joint leaders of the movement, Swami Chidvilasananda, his former translator, and her brother Swami Nityananda who later resigned. He died in October 1982 and is buried at Ganeshpuri where the Gurudev Siddha Peeth ashram houses his Samadhi shrine.

[edit] Swami Muktananda's message

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Swami Muktananda's main messages are:

  • Honor your Self, Worship your Self, Meditate on your Self, God dwells within you as you. [Aapko Vando, Aapko pujo, Aapko Dhyao, Aapka Ram Aapmein Aap Hokar rahta hai.]
  • See God in Each Other [Paraspara Devo Bhava]

[edit] Criticism

Some former members of Siddha Yoga have accused Muktananda of abusive behaviour which is at odds with his teachings. William Rodarmor made these accusations public in “CoEvolution Quarterly" of winter 1983.[3] Lis Harris repeated and extended those in the The New Yorker of November 14, 1994.[4] Sarah Caldwell stated in 2001, in the academic journal Nova Religio, that Muktananda was both an enlightened teacher and a secret practitioner of an esoteric form of Tantric sexual yoga.[5]

[edit] Bibliography

  • Light on the Path (1972), Siddha Yoga Publications, ISBN 0-914602-54-3
  • Mukteshwari: The Way of Muktananda (1972), SYDA Foundation
  • Getting Rid of What You Haven't Got (1974), Wordpress ISBN 0-915104-00-8
  • Ashram Dharma (1975), SYDA Foundation, ISBN 0-911307-38-9
  • I Love You (1975), SYDA Foundation
  • Selected Essays (1976), Siddha Yoga Publications, ISBN 0-911307-37-0
  • God is With You (1978), Siddha Yoga Publications ISBN 0-914602-57-8
  • I Am that: The Science of Hamsa from the Vijnana Bhairava (1978), Siddha Yoga Publications, ISBN 0-914602-27-6
  • I Welcome You All With Love (1978), Siddha Yoga Publications, ISBN 0-911307-65-6
  • In the Company of a Siddha: Interviews and Conversations With Swami Muktananda (1978), Siddha Yoga Publications ISBN 0-911307-53-2
  • The Nectar of Chanting: Sacred Texts and Mantras Sung in the Ashrams of Swami Muktananda (1978), SYDA Foundation, ISBN 0-914602-16-0
  • Play of Consciousness: A Spiritual Autobiography (1978), Siddha Yoga Publications, ISBN 0-911307-81-8
  • Satsang with Baba : questions and answers between Swami Muktananda and his devotees (1978), Volumes 1 - 5, SYDA, ISBN 0-914602-40-3
  • Kundalini: The Secret of Life (1979), Siddha Yoga Publications, ISBN 0-911307-34-6
  • To Know the Knower (1979), Siddha Yoga Publications, ISBN 0-914602-91-8
  • Meditate (1980), State University of New York Press, ISBN 0-87395-471-8
  • Kundalini Stavah (1980), SYDA Foundation, ISBN 0-914602-55-1
  • The Perfect Relationship: The Guru and the Disciple (1980), SYDA Foundation, ISBN 0-914602-53-5
  • Reflections of the Self (1980), Siddha Yoga Publications, ISBN 0-914602-50-0
  • Secret of the Siddhas (1980), Siddha Yoga Publications, ISBN 0-911307-31-1
  • A Book for the Mind (1981), SYDA Foundation
  • Does Death Really Exist? (1981), Siddha Yoga Publications, ISBN 0-911307-36-2
  • Lalleshwari (1981), SYDA Foundation, ISBN 0-914602-66-7
  • Where Are You Going?: A Guide to the Spiritual Journey (1981), Siddha Yoga Publications, ISBN 0-911307-60-5
  • I Have Become Alive: Secrets of the Inner Journey (1985), Siddha Yoga Publications, ISBN 0-911307-26-5
  • From the Finite to the Infinite (1990), Siddha Yoga Publications, ISBN 0-911307-31-1
  • Mystery of the Mind (1992), SYDA Foundation
  • The Self is Already Attained (1993), Siddha Yoga Meditation Publications, ISBN 0-914602-77-2
  • Bhagawan Nityananda (1996), Siddha Yoga Publications, ISBN 0-911307-45-1
  • Nothing Exists that Is Not Shiva: Commentaries on the Shiva Sutra, Vijnana Bhairava, Guru Gita, and Other Sacred Texts (1997) Siddha Yoga Publications, ISBN 0-911307-56-7

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Baba Muktananda; 'Meditation Revolution' Continues Ten Years After His Passing Hinduism Today, October 1992, accessed June 2006
  2. ^ Muktananda's Legacy Hinduism Today, April 1995, accessed June 2006.
  3. ^ Rodarmor, William, article "The Secret Life of Swami Muktananda." , CoEvolution Quarterly, Winter 1983 available online
  4. ^ Harris, Lis article, O Guru, Guru, Guru, The New Yorker,November 14, 1994 available online
  5. ^ Sarah Caldwell (2001). "The Heart of the Secret: A Personal and Scholarly Encounter with Shakta Tantrism in Siddha Yoga". Nova Religio 5 (1): 9-51.  [1]

[edit] Further reading

  • Brooke, Tal. "Riders of the Cosmic Circuit". Chariot Victor Pub, 1987 ISBN 0-595-09315-9

[edit] External links

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