Siddha Yoga is a spiritual path founded by

Swami Muktananda Swami Muktananda Paramahamsa (16 May 1908 – 2 October 1982), born Krishna Rai, was a yoga guru, the founder of Siddha Yoga. He was a disciple of Bhagavan Nityananda. He wrote books on the subjects of Kundalini Shakti, Vedanta, and Kash ...

(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 from the Indian yogic texts of

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- ...

, the

Bhagavad Gita The Bhagavad Gita (; sa, श्रीमद्भगवद्गीता, lit=The Song by God, translit=śrīmadbhagavadgītā;), often referred to as the Gita (), is a 700- verse Hindu scripture that is part of the epic ''Mahabharata'' ( ...

and the poet-saints." The present head of Siddha Yoga is Gurumayi Chidvilasananda. Ashrams and meditation centers provide places to learn and practice Siddha Yoga. The two main

ashram An ashram ( sa, आश्रम, ) is a spiritual hermitage or a monastery in Indian religions. Etymology The Sanskrit noun is a thematic nominal derivative from the root 'toil' (<

Gurudev Siddha Peeth in Ganeshpuri, India, and

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 upstate New York. There are meditation centers in a number of countries, including

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, the

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Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

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Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

and

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

Etymology

"Siddha Yoga" ("perfect" or "perfected" yoga) is a Sanskrit term adopted by Muktananda to describe the path of

self-realization Self-realization is an expression used in Western psychology, philosophy, and spirituality; and in Indian religions. In the Western understanding, it is the "fulfillment by oneself of the possibilities of one's character or personality" (see ...

that he embarked on under the guidance of his spiritual teacher, the Indian saint Bhagawan

Nityananda Nityānanda (; born circa 1474), also called Nitai, was a primary religious figure within the Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition of Bengal. Nitai was Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's friend and disciple. They are often mentioned together as ''Gaura-Nitai' ...

. Muktananda regarded the path he learned from his teacher as a perfect path because it embraced all of the traditional yogas ( jnana yoga,

karma yoga Karma yoga ( sa, कर्म योग), also called Karma marga, is one of the four classical spiritual paths in Hinduism, one based on the "yoga of action", the others being Jnana yoga (path of knowledge), Rāja yoga (path of meditati ...

, raja yoga, and

bhakti yoga Bhakti yoga ( sa, भक्ति योग), also called Bhakti marga (, literally the path of '' Bhakti''), is a spiritual path or spiritual practice within Hinduism focused on loving devotion towards any personal deity.Karen Pechelis (2014) ...

), spontaneously bringing the disciple to perfection in each. In 1975 Muktananda founded the SYDA Foundation (Siddha Yoga Dham Associates) to administer the work of his global "meditation revolution". "Siddha Yoga" has been a registered

service mark A service mark or servicemark is a trademark used in the United States and several other countries to identify a service rather than a product. When a service mark is federally registered, the standard registration symbol ® or "Reg U.S. ...

. Questions about the trademarking of generic spiritual terms such as "Siddha Yoga" were raised by an editorial by <. of the SYDA Foundation, a domestic non-profit corporation, since 1977. As an educational service mark, it is used in teaching and conducting workshops for individual spiritual development. The ancient generic Sanskrit term "Siddha Yoga" is attested in the Third Tantra of the ''

Tirumantiram The ''Tirumantiram or Thirumantiram'' is a Tamil poetic work, written either in the 6th century CE or post 10th century CE by Tirumular and is the tenth of the twelve volumes of the ''Tirumurai'', the key texts of Saiva Siddhanta and the first ...

'' of

Tirumular Tirumular (also spelt Thirumoolar etc., originally known as Suntaranāthar) was a Tamil Shaivite mystic and writer, considered one of the sixty-three Nayanmars and one of the 18 Siddhars. His main work, the ''Tirumantiram'' (also sometimes wr ...

, a Tamil poet of the 7th or 8th century A definition of "Siddha Yoga" is also offered by Swami Shankar Purushottam Tirtha, a yogi from the dual Tirtha/Siddhayoga lineage, who wrote two books on "

Siddhayoga The Tirtha lineage of Siddhayoga is a mystical sect of Shaivite Hinduismemphasizing the significance of direct encounters with life-force or kundalini shakti, and understanding of the ''Shastras''. It places utmost importance on the guru-disci ...

" in the early 1900s: A further definition of "Siddha Yoga" was offered in 1948 by Swami Purushottam Tirtha's disciple, Swami Vishnu Tirtha:

Teachings and practices

Muktananda's Siddha Yoga is based on his personal selection "from the teachings of his guru, Nityananda, and philosophical and practical traditions that preceded him, especially premodern hatha yoga, Vedanta, and Kashmir Shaivism." The Siddha Yoga practices are intended to help the seeker "touch and expand the inner mystical state, until over time he or she becomes established in his experience of yoga or oneness with God."

Yoga practices

Siddha Yoga meditation, or the practice of turning the attention inward, involves silently focusing the attention on a

mantra A mantra (Pali: ''manta'') or mantram (मन्त्रम्) is a sacred utterance, a numinous sound, a syllable, word or phonemes, or group of words in Sanskrit, Pali and other languages believed by practitioners to have religious, ma ...

and on the flow of breath. The principal Siddha Yoga meditation mantra is

Om Namah Shivaya Om Namah Shivaya (Devanagari: ; IAST: Om Namaḥ Śivāya) is one of the most popular Hindu mantras and the most important mantra in Shaivism. Namah Shivaya means "O salutations to the auspicious one!", or “adoration to Lord Shiva". It is cal ...

. Siddha Yoga chanting involves the use of music and sacred mantras "to enter into a dialogue with the divine." There are two main types of Siddha Yoga chants: ''namasankirtana'' (lyrical chanting of

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

mantras, typically the names of God), and ''swadhyaya'' (the chanting of longer Sanskrit scriptural texts). Scriptural texts chanted in Siddha Yoga ashrams and meditation centers include the morning and evening ''

Arati ''Arti'' (Sanskrit: Ārātrika, Hindi: Ārtī) is a Hindu ritual employed in worship, often part of '' puja'', in which light (usually from a flame) is offered to one or more deities. ''Arti(s)'' also refers to the songs sung in praise of the d ...

''; the ''

Guru Gita The Guru Gita (Song of the Guru) is a Hindu scripture that is said to have been authored by the sage Vyasa. The verses of this scripture may also be chanted. The text is part of the larger ''Skanda Purana''. There are several versions of the Guru ...

'', a hymn of 182 verses transmitted in the ''

Skanda Purana The ''Skanda Purana'' (IAST: Skanda Purāṇa) is the largest '' Mukyapurana'', a genre of eighteen Hindu religious texts. The text contains over 81,000 verses, and is of Kaumara literature, titled after Skanda, a son of Shiva and Parvati, w ...

''; '' Shree Rudram'', an ancient hymn to

Rudra Rudra (; sa, रुद्र) is a Rigvedic deity associated with Shiva, the wind or storms, Vayu, medicine, and the hunt. One translation of the name is 'the roarer'. In the Rigveda, Rudra is praised as the 'mightiest of the mighty'. Rud ...

(Shiva) preserved in the ''Krishna

Yajurveda The ''Yajurveda'' ( sa, यजुर्वेद, ', from ' meaning "worship", and ''veda'' meaning "knowledge") is the Veda primarily of prose mantras for worship rituals.Michael Witzel (2003), "Vedas and Upaniṣads", in ''The Blackwell C ...

''; and the ''Kundalini Stavah'', an eight-stanza hymn to

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'' ...

. Siddha Yoga students can participate in

satsang A satsanga (), also rendered satsang, refers to the practice of gathering in the company of good people for the performance of devotional activities. It also refers to an audience with a Satguru for yogic instruction. Satsangas are group events, ...

, group meetings or programs held weekly at Siddha Yoga ashrams and meditation centers. Satsangs typically include talks, chanting, and meditation. The SYDA Foundation offers a variety of courses and retreats throughout the year, including the meditation intensives first developed by Muktananda in the 1970s. Siddha Yoga students engage in seva, or "selfless service", as a spiritual practice. Students can practice seva through volunteer work at an ashram or a meditation center in their city. The work of the SYDA Foundation is carried out by the work of "sevites". Other Siddha Yoga practices include

japa ''Japa'' ( sa, जप) is the meditative repetition of a mantra or a divine name. It is a practice found in Hinduism, Jainism, Sikhism, and Buddhism, with parallels found in other religions. ''Japa'' may be performed while sitting in a medit ...

(mantra repetition), contemplation, and dakshina, the traditional practice of making a voluntary monetary offering to a saint as an expression of gratitude for the grace and teachings one is said to have received.

Shaktipat

A central element of the Siddha Yoga path is

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 ...

-diksha, literally translated as “initiation by descent of divine power,” through which a seeker’s Kundalini Shakti is awakened God-realization by the Guru. Once active, this inner power is said to support the seeker’s steady efforts to attain self-realization.

Holy days

Students of Siddha Yoga celebrate two major Hindu religious holy days:

Maha Shivaratri Maha Shivaratri ( IAST: Mahāśivarātri) is a Hindu festival celebrated annually in honour of the god Shiva. The name also refers to the night when Shiva performs the heavenly dance called Tandava. In every month of the luni-solar Hindu ...

(celebrated two days before the new moon in February/March) and

Guru Purnima Guru Purnima (Poornima) is a tradition dedicated to all the spiritual and academic Gurus, who are evolved or enlightened humans, ready to share their wisdom, based on Karma Yoga. It is celebrated as a festival in India, Nepal and Bhutan by Hi ...

(celebrated on the full moon in July–August). They also celebrate the birthdays of Muktananda and Chidvilasananda; Muktananda's divya diksha day (the day he received initiation); and the

mahasamadhi ''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 Yoga ...

anniversaries of Muktananda and Bhagawan Nityananda.

History

Muktananda

India

Muktananda's spiritual teacher,

Bhagawan Nityananda Bhagawan Nityananda (November/December, 1897 – 8 August 1961) was an Indian guru. His teachings are published in the "Chidakash Gita". Nityananda was born in Koyilandy (Pandalayini), Madras Presidency, British India (now in Kozhikode di ...

, was born in

South India South India, also known as Dakshina Bharata or Peninsular India, consists of the peninsular southern part of India. It encompasses the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana, as well as the union territo ...

. He first came to Ganeshpuri, a small village located 82 kilometers north of

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

, in 1936, settling there in a small hut built for him by the caretakers of the local

Shiva Shiva (; sa, शिव, lit=The Auspicious One, Śiva ), also known as Mahadeva (; ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐ, or Hara, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hindu ...

temple. As his visitors and devotees increased in number, the hut expanded into an ashram. In his autobiography, ''Play of Consciousness,'' Muktananda describes how he received

initiation from Nityananda on August 15, 1947, and how he attained God-realization or

moksha ''Moksha'' (; sa, मोक्ष, '), also called ''vimoksha'', ''vimukti'' and ''mukti'', is a term in Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism for various forms of emancipation, enlightenment, liberation, and release. In its soteriology, ...

after nine more years of sadhana and discipleship. Nityananda installed Muktananda in a small three-room dwelling in Gavdevi, a mile from Ganeshpuri. After his death in 1961, Nityananda's Ganeshpuri ashram was converted into a samadhi shrine and has subsequently become a renowned temple and pilgrimage site. Under Muktananda's leadership the three-room dwelling in Gavdevi expanded into a flourishing ashram and international retreat site (Sri Gurudev Ashram, now Gurudev Siddha Peeth).

United States

From August 27 to 30, 1974, Muktananda led the first Shaktipat Intensive in Aspen, Colorado. Through Shaktipat Intensives, created by Muktananda, participants are 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. 1-Lake-Nityananda(Fallsburg)-1

In 1974, Muktananda founded the SYDA Foundation, an organization designated to protect, preserve and facilitate the dissemination of the Siddha Yoga teachings. In 1975 Muktananda 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 Go ...

, and in 1976 he established Shree Nityananda Ashram (now

) in the former Gilbert Hotel,

South Fallsburg South Fallsburg is a hamlet and census-designated place in Sullivan County, New York, United States. South Fallsburg is located within the Town of Fallsburg at (41.716489, -74.630279). History South Fallsburg is located in the one-time resort ...

in the Catskills Mountains, north 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 ...

. His fame increased to the point that he was made the subject of a '' New York'' magazine article ("Hanging out with the Guru") and a ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

'' magazine article ("Instant Energy"), both in 1976. In 1979, Muktananda created The Prison Project, designed to making the teachings, practices and experience of the Siddha Yoga path available to incarcerated seekers.

Death

Muktananda died on October 2, 1982. He appointed Gurumayi and Subhash Shetty as co-gurus of Siddha Yoga.

Subhash Shetty

Subhash Shetty (now known as Mahamandaleshwar Nityananda) is the former co-guru and spiritual leader of the Siddha Yoga path. He was appointed by Muktananda along with his sister. In 1985, Gurumayi's brother Nityananda stepped down "in disputed circumstances", in which he and Gurumayi "messily parted ways". In October 1985 he had his ''sannyasa'' vows revoked. He later told a journalist this was because he had broken his celibacy vow. A different version of the events was reported later, that there had been a battle for succession and Nityananda was forced to leave. In 1987, Nityananda started his own organization, Shanti Mandir. Both it and Shankarananda's Shiva Yoga have been described as schisms from Siddha Yoga.

Gurumayi

(1)Siddha_Yoga_Ashram_Hurlstone_Park_Sydney

One of Muktananda's earliest and principal disciples was Malti Shetty, a young woman from Mumbai who accompanied him as his

English language English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the is ...

interpreter on his second and third World Tours. In May 1982, Muktananda installed Shetty (now known as Gurumayi Chidvilasananda or Gurumayi) along with her brother as a co-guru and spiritual leader of the Siddha Yoga path. Gurumayi is the sole spiritual leader of Siddha Yoga since her brother's removal.

Moving online

In 2004, SYDA changed its focus from large events at its South Fallsburg ashram to bringing programs to where its followers lived. It stated this was to increase accessibility. The ashram staff was cut, and the Sadhana Kutir dormitory and office building (the former Windsor Hotel) was sold. In 2011, the website was reworked to become the primary means of disseminating teachings and events. In 2013, the website began to

livestream Livestreaming is streaming media simultaneously recorded and broadcast in real-time over the internet. It is often referred to simply as streaming. Non-live media such as video-on-demand, vlogs, and YouTube videos are technically streamed, but no ...

video programs. The Ganeshpuri ashram, which had allowed Western backpackers to drop in for short stays, and had welcomed Indian visitors at weekends, switched by 2008 to allowing visits only to the Nityananda temple and Muktananda's shrine. In 2020, in response to the global

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, Gurumayi started speaking in frequent livestreamed video satsangs. As of 2021, students may visit the ashrams only to offer short-term (less than six months) or long-term (six months or more) service, or to attend pre-booked retreats.

Controversy

In 1981, Stan Trout, a swami for Siddha Yoga, wrote an open letter in which he referred a number of stories of Muktananda engaging in sexual activities with young women, and using Sidda Yoga members to harass and make death threats to force people to "stop talking about your escapades with young girls in your bedroom." This included mention of former members being granted a restraining order against Muktananda and Siddha Yoga members. 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 raped them. In the article, based on twenty five interviews, former devotees charged that Muktananda had engaged in rape of many women including underage devotees. In 1996 former devotees started a website entitled ''Leaving Siddha Yoga'' to express their grievances against Siddha Yoga.

Lis Harris Lis Harris is an American author and critic and was for 25 years a staff writer on The New Yorker magazine which she left in 1995. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, The World Policy Journal, Du and the Wilson Quarterly. She is Cha ...

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). 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." 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 d ...

''Nova Religio'' (2001), argued that Muktananda was a practitioner of Shakta Tantrism, but also "whatever Baba was doing, claiming it to be a form of Tantric initiation, seemed rather to retain only the bodily shell of a Tantric practice".

Analysis

Purity is emphasized in the Siddha Yoga tradition; the scholar of religion Karen Pechilis writes that Gurumayi's purity is highlighted to show that she continues the guru tradition, and that she is a suitably pure person to be the spiritual leader of the organization. Pechilis comments that while purity may have been an implicit credential for her predecessor gurus, one point of view would be that it became "explicit and greatly emphasized during the succession dispute and is now a primary lens" for understanding Gurumayi's spiritual path; unusually for female gurus, Pechilis writes, she was not apparently expected to marry at any time, and instead she took ''

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 '' As ...

'' in the way a male guru would. John Paul Healy, who had been a devotee from 1981 to 1985, analysed the

sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of Empirical ...

of 32 former Siddha Yoga devotees. Some of the participants had moved to one or another of the two groups which split off from Siddha Yoga, Swami Nityananda's Shanti Mandir and Shankarananda's Shiva Yoga; they were moved to leave by the death of Muktananda, the changing leadership and the allegations that Muktananda had had sexual interactions with devotees, as well as changes in their own lives. Healy found that the brainwashing theory of conversion to cults did not apply to Siddha Yoga, but that people joined and stayed because they found the practice attractive, from the aromatic incense, the diet and lifestyle, the group meditation and chanting, and the experiences of the group, including of the guru. The changes within the organization after Muktananda's death have been examined by scholars including Gene Thursby and Douglas Osto. The scholars Jeffrey Kripal and Sarah Caldwell write that the 1997 book ''Meditation Revolution'', which includes five recognized scholars among its six authors, essentially legitimizes, systematizes, and canonizes Chidvilasanda's Siddha Yoga lineage. They state that this would be unexceptionable if presented as from devotees, but is problematic given their presentation of themselves as scholarly historians of religion. The scholar of religion Catherine Wessinger comments that while devotees are varied, many are "upwardly mobile", and that the path seems to attract people from Jewish and Roman Catholic backgrounds. She writes that Catholics will find many familiar features, such as venerated images of saints; the use of the

rosary The Rosary (; la, , in the sense of "crown of roses" or "garland of roses"), also known as the Dominican Rosary, or simply the Rosary, refers to a set of prayers used primarily in the Catholic Church, and to the physical string of knots or b ...

or ''mala'' to count repetitions of mantras; celibate "ministers" in distinctive robes; "uplifting congregational singing; elaborate and beautiful worship and places of worship; and finally, a strong authority figure ... who devotees believe is able to perform miracles in response to needs".

Notes

References

Sources

;Primary * * * * 1st edition (in English) * , Second edition. (in Tamil, translated to English by Dr. B. Natarajan) * First English edition. First published the early 1900s in Bengali and Hindi. * First English edition. First published the early 1900s in Bengali and Hindi. *

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 ...

writes of his experience of receiving Shaktipat from Swami Muktananda in this anthology. ;Secondary * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

External links

* * {{Authority control Kashmir Shaivism Yoga organizations Modern Denominational Yoga