Tag: spirituality

was a Hindu Sannyasi and Vedanta scholar who taught both Swami Chinmayananda, the founder of the Chinmaya Mission Movement and Swami Sundaranand .

Born in Palakkad, Kerala as Subramanian Nair, Tapovan Maharaj exhibited a thirst for spiritual knowledge and self realisation, also being an accomplished public speaker. He left the modern education system early and dedicated himself to the study of Sanskrit and the Vedanta. After his brother became employed as a lawyer, he entered the order of Sannyasi.

Tapovan Maharaj did not believe in the system of "ashrams", and was known for his strict solitary lifestyle in the Himalayan region of Uttarkashi.

He authored two books on his travels through the Himalayas: "Wanderings in the Himalayas" (Himagiri Viharam] and "Kailasa Yatra." Swami-ji exhibited a deep love for nature and his accounts of his travels demonstrate such. His autobiography, written in Sanskrit is titled "Ishvara Darshana". He attained Mahasamadhi at the age of 68 in 1957.

Swami Sundaranand is believed to have received sprititual transmissions from Swami Tapovan Maharaj on Swami Tapovan's passing on January 16, 1957.

Swami Kriyananda, born J. Donald Walters, is a direct disciple of the yogi Paramahansa Yogananda and had many hours of personal contact with him during the last four years of Yogananda's life (1948 – 1952). During this time Kriyananda became a minister for Self-Realization Fellowship, founded by Yogananda. Yogananda also asked him to teach Kriya Yoga, which Yogananda called the highest technique of Self-Realization.

Kriyananda is the founder of Ananda, a worldwide movement of spiritual intentional communities based on Yogananda's World Brotherhood Colonies idea. Ananda has meditation centers and study groups throughout the world based on the teachings of Yogananda. Kriyananda is also the author of more than 80 books and the composer of over 400 songs. His books and music have sold over three million copies and have been translated into over 24 languages. In addition to English, he can speak Romanian, Greek, French, and Spanish.

Kriyananda was born in Romania into an American family. Growing up in Romania, France, and England, Kriyananda (then Donald Walters) returned to America with his family when he was 13 years old to escape World War II. Walters attended an American high school, as well as Haverford College and Brown University, leaving the latter with only a semester left before graduation.

In 1948, Walters read Yogananda's Autobiography of a Yogi and traveled to California to become a disciple of Paramhansa Yogananda. In the four years that followed, Walters spent time with Yogananda, learning and practicing his teachings, and taking extensive notes of his many conversations with Yogananda.

Kriyananda married in 1981, and publicly renounced his monastic vows on the occasion of his second marriage in 1985. He was later divorced. In 1995, he officially resumed his monastic vows and title.

In 1996, Swami Kriyananda began to spend most of his time at the Ananda Italy center. In 2003, he moved to India, where he began an Ananda center in Gurgaon, near Delhi, where he currently resides. He appears daily on Aastha TV, a cable station that shows throughout India, Asia, Europe, and now in the U.S. He also appears daily on the Sadhna channel, an Indian cable station. Ananda teachers are now giving classes on meditation and Kriya Yoga in many major Indian cities.

Morari Bapu was born to Prabhudas Bapu and Savitri Ma Hariyani on the auspicious day of Maha-Shivratri (1946) in Talgajarda, a small village near Mahuva in the District of Bhavnagar and State of Gujarat, India. Born into the Vaishnav Bava Sadhu Nimbarak lineage (parampara) where every male is called “Bapu” from childhood, Morari Bapu is commonly referred to as “Bapu” (meaning Father). Bapu has five brothers and two sisters, and is married with one son, three daughters and several grandchildren
Tribhovandas Bapu, affectionately called Dadaji, was a principled and learned scholar of the Raam Charit Maanas. He would teach Bapu five couplets (chaupais) with their meaning each day.
At the age of 12, Bapu began to recite the Raam Charit Maanas by heart. For his first recital to local herdsmen, he made a small mud-based platform on which he placed a portrait of Lord Ram. This location is commemorated today with a temple of Hanumanji Maharaj and named Raam Vaadi (meaning Lord Ram's orchard) in Talgajarda.
In Bapu’s words, the summary of righteousness (dharma) is threefold: truth (satya), love (prem) and compassion (karuna). Bapu’s life is like the flow of the river Ganges (Ganga pravah) – similar to how new water continuously replaces the current stream, Bapu believes in flowing traditions (pravahi parampara) that evolve with the times.