The Bangalore Murthy

We are grateful to Mr. K. B. Viswanath for providing this additional information to the August 20, 2011, post on this blog.

The idea of installing a marble statue of Swamiji in the Bangalore ashram temple was proposed by Mr. Viswanath to the Bangalore trustees who supported the idea.

Mr. Viswanath and his wife Smt. K. Accava Viswanath graciously donated the entire cost of of the sculpture.

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The earlier blog did not give proper credit to the Viswanaths' inspiration and generosity. The installation of Shivabalayogi's murthy in the Brahma Vishnu Maheshwara Temple is of great service and value for all devotees, as is Mr. Viswanath's ongoing work for Swamiji and devotees as working chairman of the Bangalore Trust.

Thank you, Mr. and Mrs. Viswanath.

Sri Shivabalayogi (1968) Online

The first completely English book on Shivabalayogi, written by Prof. S. K. Ramachandra Rao, is now online.  It was published in Bangalore in 1968.  Later that year, Shivabalayogi sat for a one-year tapas at the Bangalore ashram on Bannerghatta Road.

You can read the complete book, Sri Shivabalayogi, online and there is a text only, printer friendly version that you can download.  This excerpt from the book suggests the awe with which Shivabalayogi was regarded in those early years after he finished his twelve-year tapas:

We have heard that in ancient times Lord Krishna made Bharata-Varsha holy by his Avatar amongst the animals and inanimate on this earth, people young and old were so drawn to him that the sound of his magic flute and the touch of his divine presence would perform a miracle in them each such that they would emerge changed and chastened beings.  This was “Krishna Leela” as people termed it, while Krishna himself laid no claim to the leelas.

Believe it or not, here and now, the twentieth century has produced a Shivabalayogi who has many “Tapoleelas” to his credit but lays no claim to them.  The yogi has considered it his duty to wipe the tears of every distressed being that approaches him for succour, radiating into the suppliant a cheer and a titter leading to comfort and peace.

Spiritual Ministration Online

Shivabalayogi holding up a copy of the 1989 edition

of Spiritual Ministration, presenting it to the public

on the occasion of his 54th birthday.

The complete 1989 edition of Shivabalayogi's biography by Gen. Hanut Singh, Sri Sri Sri Shivabalayogi Maharaj Life and Spiritual Ministration, is now available online. Originally published in 1981, this was the first book on Shivabalayogi available in the West.

You can read the entire book online, with all original illustrations and appendices, or download (text only, printer-friendly) the book, all at the Spiritual Ministration pages of the Handloom website.  No charge.

The Handloom website contains many archived materials on Shivabalayogi, including free downloads of audio recordings and transcripts of conversations with Shivabalayogi; Shivabalayogi chanting om namah shivaya namaha; a booklet on Shivabalayogi, A Brief Sketch, published a few months after he completed twelve years of meditation; a booklet entitled The Lahari that was published in Bangalore in 1989 from material collected in England the previous year; a detailed article on the practice of The Practice of Dhyana Meditation;  and a summary of the great spiritual treatise, the Yoga Vasishta.

Serious Sadhana (Spiritual Practice)

Shivabalayogi in London, around 1990.

From Nick Black in London:

I’ve been a meditator for 35 years, followed yogic spiritual practice very seriously and intently for a long, long time. But like many of my generation, I tended to fall for spiritual groups and leaders who in the end turned a little toxic. So I’ve gone my own way for some time. Being a journalist and writer, I kept a good eye out for all the minutiae of eastern spiritual movements, plus being a jyotish astrologer in my spare time. But for some strange reason, Shivabalayogi never appeared on the radar screen in all those years.

Earlier this year I completed an exhausting, very tiring nine-day recitation of the Devi Mahatyam/Chandi Path for Navarartri. Doing that is a bit like pulling teeth.  My mind, body and senses rebelled. Serious sadhana is a sort of give-away title for tapas, if you think about it. Little did I know what was to happen next! The very day after I’d finished it, the boon came: the Master appeared.

I kept having visions in meditation of a matted hair Yogi of beautiful aspect, leading me in meditation, encouraging to deepen practice . . . my meditations increased to an hour, to two hours, so that on weekends I’d manage five hours at a stretch all under the influence of the matted hair inner Yogi. He told me to put ash on my head and so I started doing that.

The experiences continue in full and delicate force and are unlike anything I’ve ever really known even after all this time on the yogic path. He is shimmering always, either as a sort of protective body casing or, this is hard to explain, twinkling in a miniature form in the sahasara crown chakra. Believe me I know the difference between fantasy and reality, and such experiences are just too overwhelming concrete to ignore.

Then a few weeks ago I was in a bookshop and came across a copy of Gen. Singh’s biography of Shivabalayogi (Spiritual Ministration, see http://www.handloom.org/Books_main.html) and you can probably guess what happened next! I realized this was the matted hair Yogi who had been visiting.  I’ve known lots of spiritual teachers and ways of being, but this was like a death and a birth. Death of all the clutter, the old me, the old ways of relating. Birth of something truly wonderful.

Shri Swamiji passes power to his devotees

to do tapas. Shri Swamiji is with a person

who completed five years of tapas.

What happened and happens is that the great Yogi revealed himself in astral form, took over my body in a very literal sense, and forcibly pulled my body and eyes to meditate with the attention on what Indian tradition calls the bhikruti, the third eye. No choice about it! I sit, “POW” comes the great Yogi, locks my body and mind and sight, and deep we go . . .

This is happening day in, day out. I’m in absolute bliss, hard to describe, just overwhelmed with gratitude and the reality of this sea-change in life.

It’s very strange that I missed him completely all these years. I can only say I wasn’t ready, that things happen at their own time and space, and that there is such an element of destiny. How can I love and revere this person whom I never met, and yet whom I have and who is with me so intimately.

The Shivabalayogi websites, the books, the You Tube videos are like nectar at present. There are some fantastic performances in the kirtans available for download. [http://www.handloom.org/Bhajans_Home.htm] I imagine, however, the bhava experiences raised some controversy. I can see how they could be manipulated. That’s a whole other thing happening… my hands and body get thrown into all sorts of positions when I watch Swamiji on You Tube or listen to the kirtans. I cannot thank you enough for putting all this out there. I’m in that odd stage where everything moves me to tears, it’s so profoundly beautiful.  So… thanks so much!

I’ve got a blog called Serious Sadhana, found on http://serioussadhana.blogspot.com/

Adivarapupeta Ashram on Television

A popular Telugu Channel ETV 2, visited the Adivarapupeta ashram and recorded Swamiji's Samadhi, the temple of Lord Shiva and Parvati Devi temple, and the ashram activities. The program will be televised on the following days and times.

ETV2 Telugu
Monday, 12 September, 2011  7:00 AM to 07:30 AM IST
Tuesday, 13 September, 2011, 1:00 AM to 01:30 AM IST

The programs can also be seen at these same dates and times on the web:
http://www.yupptv.com/etv2_live.html
http://www.freedocast.com/etv2channel

Swamiji's Smiling Face: from Bangalore to Adivarapupeta

from Sudarshan Reddy Balakrishna:

As usual, Sunday evening bhajans were going on at the Bangalore ashram (July 31). I was sitting with the bhajan group enjoying the bhajans. Suddenly I felt an urge to do meditation. I went aside and sat for meditation. Few minutes passed by in meditation, then all of a sudden I went into deep meditation. My body was reacting differently, like how it will react when you get fever. It was like that. Then I was seeing a face in front of me.

In the midst of that experience I got a bit disturbed and wanted to remove it. I tried shaking my head with eyes still closed, thinking if I shake my head it will go away, but it was of no use. Then I recognized the face as Swamiji’s, eyes half open and smiling a bit. It was almost round in shape. This continued to be there for about 5-10 minutes before it vanished. Then my body became normal and bhajans also got over and I came out of meditation.

The experience was so refreshing. I was so happy for having Swamiji's darshan in meditation. I almost felt like saying loudly to everyone that I had Swamiji’s darshan in meditation today. I wanted to dance in joy.

Exactly six days later I was in Adivarapupeta for the 50th tapas anniversary celebration. I went to Swamiji’s Samadhi. As soon as I entered my attention was driven to a photo kept there. To my surprise I was seeing the same Smamiji’s face in the photo which I had seen in my mediation six days earlier: the same face, with eyes half open and smiling.

Phanisree: Divine Light & Darshan

I am Phanisree, Swamiji’s devotee from the Adivarapupeta ashram.

On the occasion of the 50th anniversary function of the divine guru, Sri Shivabalayogi Maharaj, some of his devotees gathered in Adivarapupeta ashram on June 21, 2011 and meditated ten hours a day for 48 days, until August 6. During this period, on July 16 while I was making a flower garland for Goddess Parvati, I saw a divine light emerging from the flowers. The light was powerful. The divine light engulfed the surroundings of the ashram. I felt that Swamiji was blessing the meditation program by passing his divine power.

On August 5 and 6, a special chariot procession was arranged through the streets of Ramachandrapuram, Draksharama and Adivarapupeta. On the evening of August 5, Swamiji’s picture with a white colored shawl was placed on the dais of the decorated chariot. The procession started in the streets of Draksharama and continued to Adivarapupeta. As the procession moved towards the ashram, I saw Swamiji wearing a blue colored shawl giving his darshan to me and the people around me. He was waving his hand towards us. I felt that it was nothing other than his physical body. I  felt Swamiji’s energy and his spiritual currents passing into my body. As soon as I saw his physical body, I was amazed. I felt tears of joy and entered into the state of euphoria.

The next two days, August 6 and 7, I also experienced the same divine energy. In fact my experience cannot be expressed in words. On August 7, I felt that Swamiji entered into each and every devotee and was doing all the preparations for the mass feeding. Each and every program on that day was also very special and powerful. I remembered the olden days when Swamiji was with his physical body.