Tapoleela, March 2013

The inaugural issue of Tapoleela ("Divine Play"), the Telugu language magazine devoted to Shivabalayogi, was published in Adivarapupeta this Mahashivaratri, on the occasion of the Annual Meeting of devotees.

The complete, 36 page magazine can be viewed at the Tapoleela page of the Shivabalayogi website, where a full-sized PDF copy can be downloaded without charge.

Much of the credit for this new magazine belongs to Balakrishna, a third-generation devotee now living in Hyderabad. His initiative and work helped bring this publication to the public.

Tapoleela - Telugu Language Shivabalayogi Journal

To be launched  …  soon …..  Tapoleela Quarterly Journal

·         The history of Swamiji as a serial
·         Swamiji’s discussions with His direct disciples
·         Experiences of devotees
·         Miracles performed by Swamiji
·         The necessity and importance of meditation
·         What is trance – bhava and bhava samadhi
·         Activities and events at ashrams and centers of Swamiji around the world (along with photographs)
·         And other information

Tapoleela:  The Play of Tapas, Divine Play

Register your name and address today as subscribers:
Shri Shivabalayogi Maharaj International Trust (Regd.)
No. 2, Olleff Road, Langford Town, Bangalore – 560 025
or
send an e-mail with your name and address to: ssbymit@gmail.com

Swamiji's Birthday Invitation, Hyderabad

Adivarapupeta Ashram on Telugu Television

The Adivarapupeta ashram was featured on a recent, popular Telugu channel ETV2 broadcast.

One can see views of the ashram buildings, many scenes inside the Shiva Parvati temple, including puja (worship) to the gods, a short scene inside the Samadhi, and various ashram activities.

The program, in three segments, can be seen on YouTube:

Part 1  Shri ShivaBalayogi Ashramam and Shri Gowri Shankara Swami Aalayam PART-1(Telugu),

Part 2  Shri ShivaBalayogi Ashramam and Shri Gowri Shankara Swami Aalayam PART-2(Telugu), and

Part 3.   Shri ShivaBalayogi Ashramam and Shri Gowri Shankara Swami Aalayam PART-3(Telugu)

Thanks to Sudarshan for providing these links.

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.

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

Bournemouth, England

From Shivakami Hernmarck:

Mid-July of this year, in Bournemouth, England, Thomasina Craster and Krishan hosted R.B. Singh and his wife, Vidyawathi, Shivabalayogi devotees now living in Bangalore, India. Thomasina's flat turned into a mini-ashram for a few days with much cooking, meditation & laughter. Seven meditation and bhajans programs were organized over mornings and evenings. The bhajans were very powerful and everybody joined in — about thirty people on some evenings. As Shivakami reports, the programs helped awaken enthusiasm among devotees who had known Swamiji from his visits to the U.K. over 1987 to 1991.

The Bournemouth group was so inspired by the devotees’ visit that they planned regular monthly programs. The first was on Sunday the 7th of August, the occasion of the 50th anniversary of Shivabalayogi’s completion of twelve years of tapas. They had a very good program in Bournemouth with focused, silent meditation, good strong energy bhajans and (just enough) prasad.

K. Yashoda: Tapas Anniversary in Adivarapupta

We celebrated Shri Swamiji’s 50th tapo siddhi anniversary in Adivarapupeta in very grand fashion. We started the 50th tapo siddhi function on 21st June, 2011.

Shri Swamiji completed his tapas in Adivarapupeta fifty years ago to show mankind the way to conquer ego and misfortune through meditation, to get whatever we need in this life, and to get God realization.
To remember his mission of meditation, we invited and encouraged devotees to do 48 days of meditation starting June 21 and continuing through August 6 of 2011. Some joined after two or three weeks and were doing meditation whichever way they could. Some reached up to ten hours of meditation at a time during this period. They had nice experiences. Even in their own places, devotees were encouraged by this request and started doing more and more meditation. They gathered at Adivarapupeta at the end of the 48 day period and participated in the August 7th function.

On 4th of August, we arranged a grand chariot procession in Ramachandrapuram with bhajans, drums and trumpets. In front of the procession, we arranged for announcements about Shri Swamiji’s life history and the purpose of meditation. Shri Swamiji was taken in the chariot in the streets of Ramachandrapuram. People gathered everywhere and offered arthi and flower garlands to Shri Swamiji. Invitations and pamphlets about meditation were distributed to the crowd.

On 5th of August, a big procession was arranged in Draksharama. This went around the streets of Draksharama until 8:30 in the evening. The Draksharama procession started at 4:30 in the evening with 50 members of dancing people called garadi, a cultural dance of Andhra Pradesh. Behind the dancers showing their talents were drummers with very big drums, about six feet wide, with a big sweet sound.  Sri Swamiji travelled in a big decorated vehicle with beautiful lights in the shape of a flower. The lights in the petals were blinking in different colors giving an impression of Devaloka (the world of the gods; heaven). In the middle of flower, Shri Swamiji was sitting with half closed eyes.

As soon as the procession started people felt a spiritual current passing from Swamiji to whoever was standing in the streets. People were seen with tears in their eyes, affected by the currents from Shri Swamiji. Sometimes we could see Swamiji’s hands waving towards us from the chariot. The photo was of Shri Swamiji in a white shawl, but Shri Swamiji gave us darshan from the chariot wearing a blue shawl. It was a remarkable experience.

The dancers were attracting children who were passing by. They followed behind the puppet dancers happily dancing and calling them by name. Big fireworks with crackers and lights were arranged along with the chariot. Pamphlets about meditation were distributed.

The chariot with Shri Swamiji in the centre slowly entered Adivarapupeta at nine o’clock in the night. The people of Adivarapupeta remembered the old days when Shri Swamiji entered the village for Mahashivaratri function. Even at ten o’clock in the night, the people of Adivarapupeta waited at their doorsteps to greet Shri Swamiji with arthi plates and flower garlands. The youngsters asked the dancers to come to their own streets and dance, so that Shri Swamiji would also come and bless their houses.
The procession was grand. The very real spiritual presence of Shri Swamiji in front of them, people were stuck up with tears and shock.

The procession was so large that the tree braches lining the streets of Adivarapupeta were a bit of an obstacle. Volunteers cut the lower branches and the procession slowly moved from one front door to the next, receiving greetings of the devotees.

The procession entered into the ashram at eleven in the night. Shri Swamiji was given a grand welcome by the devotees in the ashram. They got trance and started dancing in front of the chariot at the ashram entrance. Shri Swamiji entered the Samadhi at 11:30 p.m. and distributed prasadam. Mass feeding got started at 11:30 p.m.

Adivarapupeta Samadhi, Swamiji's birthday January 24, 2011

The August 7th function went on very well with homa and beautiful bhajans. Of course, people were happy to see Shri Swamiji with his beautiful smile in the decorated Samadhi, a big garland of roses around his neck. Devotees offered silk shawls and flower garlands to Swamiji without interval. At one o’clock, the ashram trustees served a big mass feeding. Evening programs started with puja at Shri Swamiji’s Samadhi. It was a pleasurable experience to watch. Devotees gathered around Swamiji and chanted his 108 names, offering puja with flowers and heartfelt devotion.

After Samadhi puja, the children’s bhajan group performed dances for the song of Shri Swamiji’s history, showing how he took birth in Adivarapupeta and how he was made to sit in tapas by Lord Shiva and got God realization. It was a beautiful performance of the village children. Hands up for them. At seven o’clock in the evening, a second mass feeding started.  More than thousand devotees had their spiritual food that night.

To see video of the dance program inside the Adivarapupeta temple, follow these YouTube links:
http://youtu.be/YM5uSPCScQ4

http://youtu.be/YvnzodvGWsg

50th Tapas Anniversary, Bangalore, Dehradun, Adivarapupeta

The new idol of Swamiji installed

in the temple at the Bangalore ashram.

Bangalore   August 7th program this year at Bangalore was celebrated with bhajans, homa, abhishekam and annadanam (mass feeding). Many devotees were in bhava samadhi.  The special events this year were the consecration of a new temple to Five-Faced Hanuman (panchamukhi hanuman), a project undertaken by Mr. Doraiswami, one of the ashram trustees, and the installation of a new marble statue (murthy) of Shivabalayogi inside the temple on its south side.

The new statue was undertaken by two Bangalore devotees who noticed that many people coming to the temple did know about Swamiji. They come just to see the gods. So Mr. Mohan and Mr. Madhu, as well as Mr. K. B. Vishwanath, the working Chairman of the Bangalore Trust, wanted people to know that this is an ashram and who is Swamiji. Mr. Vishwanath proposed the idea 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. The statue has been installed in the place where Swamiji used to sit during temple functions.

The chief guest this year was Justice M. N. Venkatachalaiah, retired Chief Justice of India. He spoke to the crowd after the homa and described how he has known Shivabalayogi since the 1960’s. A former trustee of the Bangalore Trust, he spent a great deal of time with Swamiji, often not leaving his ashram until very late at night. In those early years at the original Bannerghatta Road ashram, Swamiji got very frustrated with all the difficulties the devotees were suffering. When Swamiji threatened to leave Bangalore for good, Justice Venkatachalaiah helped convince Swamiji to stay and helped him obtain the present ashram site.

Baba Shivarudrabalayogi from Dehradun also addressed the devotees after the homa, assuring them, as he has in Adivarapupeta during Mahashivaratri, that Shivabalayogi continues to work through bhava samadhi. He made no mention of his emergency appeal over the internet on July 17 asking devotees to complain about encroachments at the Dehradun ashram, and Baba’s own threat to fast until death. Very few devotees in Bangalore know about this emergency appeal by Baba.

Dehradun  A group of fifteen to twenty long-time devotees of Swamiji gathered in General Hanut Singh’s home at the Dehradun ashram on August 7th to celebrate the 50th tapas anniversary with meditation, kirtan (bhajans) and bandhara (annadanam). We understand that programs will continue monthly at the General’s house.

The homa and programs in the main Dehradun ashram concluded by reading a prepared message from Baba. You can read more about this function at Baba's website, http://www.shivarudrabalayogi.org.

Adivarapupeta   This year, Miss K. Yashoda invited devotees to celebrate the 50th tapas anniversary with a 48 day meditation retreat at the Adivarapupeta ashram, ending on August 7th. Two devotees, one from Bangalore and another from Delhi, joined on June 20th; others joined later. After his return, the Bangalore devotee described how his daily meditation increased to twelve hours, some days eighteen hours. He said he became able to communicate with cows, snakes and other animals around the ashram.

The day before the anniversary, Miss Yashoda organized a procession with a huge picture of Swamiji through the streets of nearby Draksharam and Ramachandrapuram.

We hope to have photos and more information to you in our next Shivabalayogi Currents report.

Swami Shankarananda

FRIDAY, MARCH 25, 2011
Shivabalayogi Mahasamadhi Service

Today is Shivabalayogi's mahasamadhi. Actually it's on Sunday but it's very difficult to get you all here again on Sunday. It's a problem so we do it today. So, something about Shivabalayogi: he was a great saint, a self-taught saint who spent twelve years meditating. During that time every day he took a one-hour break - so for twenty-three hours a day he was meditating. He meditated on Lord Shiva continuously. After twelve years Shiva told him to leave his meditation and start passing on his energy to everyone.

The uniqueness of Shivabalayogi was that he gave God-realisation just by meditation. He did not do any kind of ritual. He just said 'dhynam' - that means meditate. And while meditating people would have an inner feeling of great peace and bliss. 'Shiva' is lord, the inner guru, God. 'Yogi' is the outer guru, that is your physical body. Why he used 'Shivabalayogi' for his name is because you've got to have control of the outer body before you can have control of the inner self. He believed, taught and gave experiences to many just by meditation and they attained the state of unique oneness with Lord Shiva. Sometimes he is referred to as a direct incarnation of Lord Shiva Himself. And this great guru travelled all the way to Sri Lanka with a piece of loin cloth around his waist to install a lingam at the Gayatrhi Lingeshwara temple in Nuwara Eliya. And this lingam in Sri Lanka is actually growing into the shape of Ganesha.

Shivabalayogi carried it all the way himself. That's a picture of him carrying the lingam to Nuwara Eliya to install. He came out of meditation in 1961 so he's a recent guru for some of you who were around during that time. And when you asked him a question he always gave unique answers like this one question a student asked him: “With all the Hindu pictures of Shiva, do we assume Shiva is a Hindu?” his answer was “Shiva is not Hindu. He is for all the worlds but in each world he is pictured according to their imagination. It depends on their moods and emotions.”

Another question: “In India there are a lot of gods that people can worship if you are of the Hindu faith. In the west, as Swamiji's mission goes on, is it that people in the west sfrom a Christian tradition will begin to worship Jesus more?” And he answers, “Whatever Christ taught and preached, that's exactly what Swamiji teaches and preaches. So automatically people will start believing more in Christ and will follow the path of Christ.”

That is Shivabalayogi and his answers.

By Swami Shankarananda, South Africa.

Copied from http://fridaysatsang.blogspot.com/2011/03/shivabalayogi-mahasamadhi-service.html

50th Anniversary Tapas Completion

Today, August 7th, 2011, is the fiftieth anniversary of Shivabalayogi's completion of twelve years of meditation in samadhi, a spiritual austerity called tapas.

Shivabalayogi emerged from his tapas on August 7, 1961, a fully Self-realized yogi. For three decades he traveled to give darshan, the blessings of being in his presence. Through the powers inherent in his Self-realization, Swamiji evoked powerful spiritual experiences.

Swamiji encouraged people to meditate and experience the truth for themselves.