398. Baba Shiva Rudra Balayogi

His teachings are simple, but profound:

  • You have forgotten your Real Self.
  • You are that abode of Supreme Peace.
  • Through meditation, devotion and selfless service this illusory ego can be removed, and your true immortal nature of Supreme Peace and Permanent Happiness realized.

His Holiness Shri Shivarudra Balayogi (affectionately known as Baba Maharaj) is a Self Realized Yogi – one who has completed the path of Yoga and attained union with the Supreme Consciousness. A direct disciple of Shri Shivabalayogi Maharaj, He entered His Guru’s service at the age of 19 and was later initiated into Sanyas, a monastic life of pure devotion and service. He was placed in charge of the Dehra Dun Ashram where He spent 20 years absorbed in intense spiritual practice, combining selfless service, devotion to His Guru and deep meditation.

Following the Mahasamadhi (the passing from this world’s physical form) of His Guru in 1994, Shri Shivarudra Balayogi was initiated into the spiritual practice of Tapas, in which He meditated for an average of 20 hours a day continually for the next 5 years. The culmination of this was the attainment of the goal of all spirituality – Self Realization, the permanent union of the mind with the Supreme Peace of Infinite Pure Consciousness.
He now travels the world carrying on His Guru’s mission of teaching dhyana meditation, true devotion and selfless service. Baba Maharaj is the embodiment of gentleness and compassion. His life itself is His teaching: devotion, selfless service to humanity and unrelenting effort in striving for spiritual perfection.

Shri Babaji offers initiation, freely and without obligation, into the technique of dhyana meditation which He used to achieve Self Realization. He engages audiences worldwide with His profound spiritual insight, drawn from deep personal experience rather than scriptural study. His teachings are the purest form of the sublime philosophy of Self Realization taught by the ancient Sages of India.

Website: shivarudrabalayogi.org

Books:

Transcript of this interview.

Interview recorded 5/1/2017

YouTube Video Chapters:

  • 00:00:00 – Introduction to Baba Maharaj
  • 00:03:45 – The Guru and the Yogi
  • 00:07:44 – The Beginning of Spiritual Inquiry
  • 00:11:39 – Meeting Guru Shivabalayogi
  • 00:15:28 – Joining the Bangalore ashram
  • 00:19:19 – Divine Experiences and the Role of the Guru
  • 00:23:00 – The Value of a Self-Realized Guru
  • 00:27:07 – The Guru-Disciple Relationship
  • 00:31:12 – Finding the Right Guru
  • 00:35:10 – Kanakadasa’s Test of Faith
  • 00:38:47 – Tapas: Burning the Habits of the Mind
  • 00:42:39 – The Meaning of Tapas
  • 00:46:31 – The Guru’s Manifestation
  • 00:50:09 – The Three Stages of Manifestation
  • 00:54:08 – Surrendering to Swamiji’s Blessings
  • 00:57:36 – Retaining an Ego after Enlightenment
  • 01:01:20 – The Divine’s Intelligent Work
  • 01:04:55 – Tapas and Detachment
  • 01:08:54 – Gradual Shift of Attention to Your Own Self
  • 01:12:42 – The Importance of Practice
  • 01:16:19 – The Mechanics of Jangama Dhyana
  • 01:20:02 – Watching the Mind
  • 01:23:48 – The Awareness of the Self
  • 01:27:42 – Fixing the Gaze on the Tip of the Nose
  • 01:31:33 – The Usefulness of Samadhi for Spiritual Bypassing
  • 01:35:11 – Overcoming the Past and Planning for the Future
  • 01:38:48 – Becoming a Self-Realized Soul
  • 01:42:09 – Finding Balance Between Surrender and Determination
  • 01:45:35 – The Role of Spiritual Teachers in Self-Realization
  • 01:49:32 – Cultivating the Mind and Practicing Spirituality
  • 01:53:06 – Expressing Gratitude and Well Wishes

364. Sri M

Sri M – spiritual guide, social reformer, and educationist – was born into a Muslim family on November 6, 1949, in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. His transformational journey, from a young boy to a living yogi, is a fascinating story symbolized by single-minded discipline and dedication.

Entranced by mystical stories of Sufi saints and a brief encounter with a numinous Swami at a relatively young age, he was not only drawn to the ‘truth’ but also the compelling landscape of the snow-clad Himalayas. At the age of nine, his spiritual transformation was initiated by his future Master, Babaji (also known as Maheshwarnath Babaji), who miraculously appeared under a jackfruit tree in the compound of his house in Thiruvananthapuram. Though only fleeting, this meeting definitively set the stage for their future reunion in the Himalayas at Sri M’s age of nineteen.

For the next three and half years, he lived and traveled extensively through the Himalayas with his Master. Maheshwarnath Babaji guided him right through his initiation, his Kundalini awakening, the grueling journey to Tholingmutt and, the eventual meeting with the Grand Master, Sri Guru Babaji also known as Sri Mahavatar Babaji.

Few years after his Master passed away, he received the spiritual go-ahead to commence his mission. In 1998, he started his teachings, eventually leading to the formation of the Satsang Foundation.

In response to a query on the spiritual progress of a person and the path to that evolution, he responds, “Though my parampara is kriya yoga, I don’t think it suits all aspirants. I propound satsang even between two people. It cuts across barriers of caste and creed. Spiritual evolution is not diverse from regular living. Intervals of solitude are necessary but you cannot shut yourself totally. The world around you is your touchstone to spiritual practice.” Conversant with the teachings of most major religions, Sri M says: “Go to the core. Theories are of no use.” His message seeks to transcend the outer-shell of all religions, by exploring their mystical core to nurture the innate goodness in every human being.

Website: satsang-foundation.org

Books:

Transcript of this interview.

Second Batgap interview with Sri M.

Interview recorded 10/6/2016

YouTube Video Chapters:

  • 00:00:00 – Introduction to Buddha at the Gas Pump
  • 00:05:07 – The Sufi Man and the Lesson of Ego
  • 00:10:05 – Cautionary Notes for Spiritual Teachers
  • 00:14:38 – Judging What to Say
  • 00:18:45 – The Limitations of Human Knowledge
  • 00:23:25 – Ramana’s Compassion
  • 00:27:50 – The Encounter with Maheshwar Babaji
  • 00:32:07 – The Search for Great Beings in the Himalayas
  • 00:36:13 – A humorous encounter with Babaji
  • 00:40:16 – The Limitless Potential of Spiritual Development
  • 00:44:00 – The Potential for Spiritual Evolution
  • 00:48:38 – Rishabhadeva and the Aim of Life
  • 00:53:25 – Encounter with the Yeti
  • 00:57:54 – Taken to a Mysterious Room
  • 01:02:39 – The Possibility of Life beyond Earth
  • 01:06:45 – Encounter with a Blue Serpent
  • 01:11:35 – Conditions for Teaching Kriya Yoga
  • 01:16:19 – The Mysterious Location of Mauni Baba’s Cave
  • 01:21:27 – The Neurological Basis of Mystical Experience
  • 01:25:16 – The Circuit of Energies
  • 01:29:10 – Swadharma and Self-Discovery
  • 01:33:53 – Losing Friends on the Spiritual Path
  • 01:38:06 – Disconnecting from the External World
  • 01:42:39 – The Conundrum of Enlightenment
  • 01:47:32 – The Importance of Spiritual Inclination
  • 01:51:45 – Nourishing Diversity in Life
  • 01:55:44 – Different Schools of Thought on Enlightenment
  • 02:00:28 – Different Angles on the Truth
  • 02:04:23 – The Basic Theory of Kriya Yoga
  • 02:09:15 – Simple Meditation Technique
  • 02:12:49 – Greetings

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224. Robert Svoboda

Robert E. Svoboda is the first white member of Kenya’s Pokot tribe, and the first non-Indian ever to graduate from a college of Ayurveda and be licensed to practice Ayurveda in India, where he lived for more than a decade. During and after his formal Ayurvedic training he was tutored in Ayurveda, Yoga, Jyotish, Tantra, and other forms of classical Indian lore by his mentor, the Aghori Vimalananda. For a decade he was involved with thoroughbred horses as Vimalananda’s Authorized Racing Agent. The author of more than a dozen books, since 1985 he divides his time between India and other lands.

Website: drsvoboda.com

Books:

Interview recorded 3/29/2014

Interview transcript

YouTube Video Chapters:

  • 00:00:00 – Introduction to Robert Svoboda
  • 00:06:18 – The Quest for the Soma
  • 00:12:44 – The Appeal of Alcohol and Possession in Indian Religion
  • 00:19:59 – Possession and Worship in India
  • 00:25:55 – Possession and Disembodied Entities
  • 00:31:51 – The Story of the Billiken
  • 00:37:31 – Growing Up in Different Cultures
  • 00:43:17 – The Battle of Positive and Negative Forces
  • 00:49:37 – Potential Pathological and Bizarre Results of the Singularity and Transcendence
  • 00:55:28 – The Concept of Her-ness and Femininity in Kundalini
  • 01:02:14 – The Complexity of Human Organisms
  • 01:08:11 – The Nature of Shakti and its Search for Supreme Reality
  • 01:14:52 – The Supreme External and Internal
  • 01:21:01 – The Meaning of Moksha and Enlightenment
  • 01:27:30 – The Creation of Chakras
  • 01:33:27 – Puberty and the Purpose of Reproduction
  • 01:39:03 – The Role of Sexual Energy in Spiritual Awakening
  • 01:44:36 – Humans as servants to other species
  • 01:50:15 – Higher intelligence in other species
  • 01:55:56 – Unleashing Kundalini and the Journey of Self-Discovery
  • 02:01:42 – The Transformative Power of Kundalini and LSD
  • 02:08:22 – The Awakening of the Prana Kundalini
  • 02:13:45 – The Three Levels of Kundalini Energy
  • 02:19:08 – The Price of Ignorance 
  • 02:24:21 – The beginning of the spiritual journey
  • 02:30:18 – Surviving Difficulties and the Need for External Guidance
  • 02:35:26 – The Guru and the Student’s Dharma
  • 02:41:04 – The Complexity of Historical Figures and Issues
  • 02:46:25 – Materialism vs Consciousness
  • 02:52:01 – Smiling on the Battlefield
  • 02:57:17 – Join Our Mailing List

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