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The Guru | Baba Muktananda | Bhagawan Nityananda | Spiritual Initiation

Swami Muktananda (1908 - 1982) began the life of a sadhu, a wandering mendicant
in search of spiritual fulfillment, at an unusually early age.
Though as a young man Muktananda gained recognition for his yogic attainments,
he often said that his spiritual journey didn't truly begin
until he received shaktipat, spiritual initiation, from the holy man Bhagawan Nityananda.
It was then that Muktananda's spiritual energy, kundalini, was awakened,
and he was drawn into profound states of meditation.
Nine years later Muktananda attained the state of God-realization.



In the 1970s, on his Guru's behalf, Swami Muktananda
brought the venerable tradition of his master's lineage to the West,
giving the previously little-known shaktipat initiation
to untold 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.

Before his death in 1982, Swami Muktananda wrote many books; sixteen are still in print.
He also established more than six hundred meditation centers
and a number of ashrams around the world.
In May 1982, Swami Muktananda appointed two successors,
Swami Chidvilasananda and her brother, Swami Nityananda.
Three years later, in October 1985, Swami Nityananda resigned from the Guru's role.
Swami Chidvilasananda became the sole head of the Siddha Yoga lineage
and sole Guru of Siddha Yoga students.
Swami Chidvilasananda continues to share Swami Muktananda's spiritual legacy
with the world through her travels and teachings.

Books by Swami Muktananda and photographs of him are available through
the Monterey Center’s bookstore.

Copyright © 2009 The Siddha Yoga Meditation Center in Monterey
(Swami) MUKTANANDA, (Swami) CHIDVILASANANDA, GURUMAYI, and SIDDHA YOGA are registered trademarks of SYDA Foundation ® and are used here under license by the Siddha Yoga Meditation Center in Monterey.