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A Brief Biography
Introduction
Swami
Muktananda began the life of a sadhu, a wandering mendicant
in search of spiritual fulfilment, at an unusually early
age. Though as a young man he gained recognition for
his yogic attainments, Swami Muktananda 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 his spiritual energy, kundalini, was
awakened, and he was drawn into profound states of meditation.
Nine years later he attained the state of God-realisation.
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. He established
Gurudev Siddha Peeth as a public trust in India to administer
the work there, and founded the Siddha Yoga Foundation
in the Australia to administer the Australian 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.
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