Lahiri Mahasaya s mahasamadhi day (Today) September 26, 1895. Lahiri Mahasaya (1828 – 1898) was one of India’s foremost Spiritual Masters. His original family name was Shyama Lahiri. Mahasaya is an honorary Sanskrit prefix meaning “magnanimous one”. Up until the age of 33 Lahiri Mahasaya lived an ordinary worldly life. However circumstances took his job to the foothills of the Himalayas. It was here that he had a remarkable meeting with the avatar Babaji. Babaji was able to rekindle Lahiri Mahasaya’s spiritual realisations. Realisations he had attained in previous lifetimes. After experiencing the bliss of Samadhi in the Himalayan Mountains. His Guru, Babaji, directed Lahiri Mahasaya to return to his worldly life and teach the ancient art of Kriya Yoga. “You have been chosen to bring spiritual solace through Kriya Yoga to numerous earnest seekers.” —Mahavatar Babaji During his lifetime he initiated many seekers from different faiths into the ancient Indian art of Kriya Yoga. In particular he was willing to break down the rigid caste barriers that were present at the time. Lahiri Mahasaya saw God everywhere and was unencumbered by social status. Meditate unceasingly, that you quickly behold yourself as the Infinite Essence, free from every form of misery. Cease being a prisoner of the body; using the secret key of Kriya, learn to escape into Spirit. - Lahiri Mahasaya (from Autobiography of a Yogi) Towards the end of his life his aura of spirituality and peace attracted many sincere seekers who would come to meditate in his presence. However Lahiri Mahasaya only became well known through Paramahansa Yogananda’s “Autobiography of a Yogi”. Yogananda wrote: “surely the Yogavatar reached the zenith of all wonders in reducing the ancient complexities of yoga to an effective simplicity within the ordinary grasp.” Yogananda was a disciple of Sri Yukteswar, and Sri Yukteswar was himself a direct disciple of Lahiri Mahasaya. Thus the Kriya Yoga tradition that has spread around the world, including the West can be traced back to Lahiri Mahasaya and the great Avatar Babaji. It was a divine reunion of two who had been together in many lives past; at an awakening touch of blessing, Lahiri Mahasaya became engulfed in a spiritual aura of divine realization that was never to leave him. Mahavatar Babaji initiated him in the science of Kriya Yoga and instructed him to bestow the sacred technique on all sincere seekers. Lahiri Mahasaya returned to his home in Banaras to fulfill this mission. As the first to teach the lost ancient Kriya science in contemporary times, he is renowned as a seminal figure in the renaissance of yoga that began in modern India in the latter part of the nineteenth century and continues to this day. Paramahansa Yogananda wrote in Autobiography of a Yogi: “As the fragrance of flowers cannot be suppressed, so Lahiri Mahasaya, quietly living as an ideal householder, could not hide his innate glory. Devotee-bees from every part of India began to seek the divine nectar of the liberated master....The harmoniously balanced life of the great householder-guru became the inspiration of thousands of men and women.” As Lahiri Mahasaya exemplified the highest ideals of Yoga, union of the little self with God, he is reverenced as a Yogavatar, or incarnation of Yoga. Paramahansa Yogananda’s parents were disciples of Lahiri Mahasaya, and when he was but a babe in arms his mother carried him to the home of her guru. Blessing the infant, Lahiri Mahasaya said, “Little mother, thy son will be a yogi. As a spiritual engine, he will carry many souls to God’s kingdom.” Lahiri Mahasaya established no organization during his lifetime, but made this prediction: “About fifty years after my passing, an account of my life will be written because of a deep interest in Yoga that will arise in the West. The message of Yoga will encircle the globe. It will aid in establishing the brotherhood of man: a unity based on humanity’s direct perception of the one Father.” Lahiri Mahasaya entered mahasamadhi in Banaras, September 26, 1895. Fifty years later, in America, his prediction was fulfilled when an increasing interest in yoga in the West inspired Paramahansa Yogananda to write Autobiography of a Yogi, which contains a beautiful account of Lahiri Mahasaya’s life. Shyama Charan Lahiri (Bengali: শ্যামাচরণ লাহিড়ী Shêmā Chôron Lahiṛi), (September 30, 1828 – September 26, 1895), best known as Lahiri Mahasaya, was an Indian yogi and a disciple of Mahavatar Babaji. He was also popularly known as Yogiraj and Kashi Baba. He revived the yogic science of Kriya Yoga when he learned it from Mahavatar Babaji in 1861. Lahiri Mahasaya was also the guru of Yukteswar Giri. Mahasaya is a Sanskrit, spiritual title translated as large-minded.[1] He was unusual among Indian holy men in that he was a householder — marrying, raising a family, and working as an accountant for the Military Engineering Department of the British Indian government. Lahiri lived with his family in Varanasi rather than in a temple or monastery. He achieved a substantial reputation among 19th century Hindu religionists. He became known in the West through Paramahansa Yogananda, a disciple of Yukteswar Giri, and through Yoganandas Autobiography of a Yogi. Yogananda wrote that Lahiri was chosen by Mahavatar Babaji to reintroduce the lost practice of Kriya Yoga to the world. Lahiris disciples included both of Yoganandas parents as well as Yoganandas own guru. Lahiri Mahasaya prophesied that the infant Yogananda would become a yogi, and As a spiritual engine, he will carry many souls to Gods kingdom.[2]
Posted on: Thu, 25 Sep 2014 14:35:24 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015