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Meditation Revolution: A History and Theology of the Siddha Yoga Lineage
This groundbreaking collection of essays explores the origin, development, teachings, and practices of a contemporary spiritual movement. The subject is Siddha Yoga, a path of meditation rooted in the Indian philosophical tradition that has had tremendous impact on contemporary students of spirituality since the 1970s. This book centers around the work of two Swami Muktananda, who introduced Siddha Yoga and its teachings to the West, inspiring what he termed a "meditation revolution," and Gurumayi Chidvilasanada, who has brought Siddha Yoga Meditation to maturity as a global spiritual movement. This book examines one particular tradition in its historical and theological context, illuminating issues that will be of interest to serious students of religion and spirituality. From the Paul Muller-Ortega, Douglas Renfrew Brooks, William K. Mahony, Swami Durgananda a.k.a. Sally Kempton, et. al., offer herein a rich feast of historical and theological reflection that is sympathetic to Siddha Yoga but at the same time is fully faithful to the canons of critical inquiry characteristic of serious history of religions work... One very much hopes that this collection may be the first of many other collections that dare to move away from purely descriptive scholarship in order to address some of the great spiritual issues of our time. This book's publisher, Muktabodha Indological Research Institute, is dedicated to the study, preservation, and dissemination of endangered elements of the ancient scriptural wisdom of India. The mission is propelled by a belief that the philosophical and spiritual heritage of classical India is a precious resource and a recognition of this wisdom as vital for the well-being of the human spirit. Please visit us as muktabodha.org to learn more about our programs and publications.
709 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 1997
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July 14, 2023
A FRANK AND INSIGHTFUL HISTORICAL ANALYSIS OF SIDDHA YOGA
Gerald James Larson states in the Foreword to this 1997 book, “The Siddha Yoga of Gurumayi [Chidvilasananda] is an unusual combination of … spirituality from ancient India… [and] the ‘yoga-oriented guru-disciple movements’ of Hindu-based spirituality deriving from India that have become so popular in Europe and the United States… since the middle of the twentieth century. What makes this book particularly interesting, however, is that it is a serious historical and theological treatment of the movement by a group of sophisticated and critical scholars who are themselves followers of Gurumayi’s Siddha Yoga… we are dealing here with critical scholars who do not shy away from advocacy…”
Douglas Renbfrew Brooks explains in the Introduction, Swami Chidvilasananda has for more than a decade been a catalyst for spiritual awakening… The disciple and spiritual heir of Swami Muktananda… Swami Chidvilasananda has brought continuity, innovation, and expansion to the spiritual movement called Siddha Yoga that Muktananda set in motion…. Gurumayi Chidvilasananda has had just the sort of transformative influence that we historians of religion understand to be at the very core of the sadguru tradition of mystical yoga… as a living representative of the sadguru to her disciples, Chidvilasananda reveals the possibility that the ideals of the yoga tradition continue to be met even now at the end of the twentieth century…” (Pg. xx)
Swami Durgananda noted in the first chapter, “Swami Muktananda… had inherited from his guru the power to pass on his own spiritual force, shakti… in a special tradition called Shaktipat… This little-known and mysterious initiation… historically has been given only by rare gurus to highly prepared disciples… Muktananda set out to offer this powerful for of spiritual initiation on a wide scale, ultimately even developing a program, the Intensive, that allowed Shaktipat to be offered in a weekend. This profoundly innovative act of open-handed Shaktipat has been the basis of the Siddha Yoga movement.” (Pg. 4-5) Later, he adds, “It was the Intensive that would eventually allow Muktananda’s ‘meditation revolution’ to reach thousands at a time.” (Pg. 93)
He continues, “Devotees say that Bhagawan Nityananda’s demonstrations of fierceness served … basic functions… the aloof, stern, or apparently fiery demeanor of the saint served as a screening method for separating the serious seekers from the merely curious… Nityananda’s brusque words were a vehicle by which he gave blessings. It used to be said that every insulting term carried boons… Said Swami Muktananda, ‘There was Shaktipat in his abusive terms…’” (Pg. 21-22)
He recounts, “The seeds of Siddha Yoga’s Western expansion had been sown in the early 1960s, when the first Western seekers began coming to the ashram. One of these was Albert Rudolph, known as Rudi, who … taught meditation in … Greenwich Village. Rudi… after leaving Subud, found his way to Bhagawan Nityananda in 1960. Nityananda sent Rudi to Muktananda. Soon, Rudi… began teaching a form of spontaneous meditation based on ‘kundalini’ awakening. It was Rudi who first invited Muktananda to the West, and ultimately arranged Muktananda’s 1970 visit to New York.” (Pg. 71)
He reports, “Muktananda … gave Malti’s fifteen-year-old brother, Subhash, initiation… Subhash began receiving intensive training … In 1980, in Los Angeles, Swami Muktananda gave Subhash … the name ‘Swami Nityananda,’ after his own guru… it began to be speculated that Subhash was also being prepared as a successor to Swami Muktananda.” (Pg. 107)
He recounts, “In 1981 … Swami Muktananda made a surprising announcement… ‘this person will be my successor.’ … Then he placed a garland over the head of eighteen-year-old Subhash Shetty, now Swami Nityananda… Six months [later]… Muktananda officially named [Subhash’s sister] Malti as co-successor… she received initiation … and was given the name Swami Chidvilasananda. The two successors … assumed responsibility for the movement on Swami Muktananda’s death in [1982]. Three years later… Nityananda resigned from the guru’s seat, after having demonstrated that he did not wish to fulfill the responsibilities of the position… Swami Chidvilasananda then became the sole head of the Siddha Yoga lineage… Nityananda later asserted a claim---repudiated by Siddha Yoga’s students---that he still considered himself a bonafide successor to Muktananda.” (Pg. 115-116)
He notes, As early as 1983, Nityananda had demonstrated… a rather laissez-faire stance towards both the Siddha Yoga organization and his position as a guru… he would periodically speak both in public and in private about how he disliked being a guru… In October 1985… a group of devotees privately questioned Nityananda about his lack of commitment to his role as guru, including the fact that he was not upholding his monastic vows. Nityananda took a few days to reflect… Then he chose to resign from the seat of the guru as well as his position as a sannyasi. It was decided …not to make public the breaching of his vows, in order to allow him to leave the seat with dignity… and to spare the feelings of the devotees.” (Pg. 131)
He continues, “Nityananda subsequently set up his own organization, unaffiliated with the Siddha Yoga movement… holding programs and conducting intensives in which he claimed kundalini was awakened. He continued to assert his claim to be Muktananda’s successor In 1986, after a group of Nityananda’s devotees threatened to install him on the seat of the New Delhi Siddha Yoga ashram, an Indian High Court judge formally declared: ‘[having] abdicated his position voluntarily, it is not open to him to take a different stand at this stage.’” (Pg. 132-133)
Paul E. Muller-Ortega explains, “the Sanskrit word ‘siddha’ may be rendered in two different ways. On one hand, [it] means… the ‘spiritual discipline’ of the siddhas, the ‘perfected ones.’ … it is just as correctly translated as the ‘perfected yoga’… intended to clarify the specific nature of such a form of spiritual practice… it is clear that by choosing ‘Siddha Yoga’… Muktananda meant to indicate its distinctive nature.” (Pg. 167)
William K. Mahony notes, “The importance of the Vedantic perspective in Swami Muktananda’s experience s indicated historically, in that his early spiritual training was primarily Vedantic. He has said that he studied Vedanta …while practicing his initial sadhana.” (Pg. 367)
Later, he states, “Swami Chidvilasananda has described Siddha Yoga’s characteristic means for self-revelation, namely the grace of the guru. It is through this compassionate gift of grace, a transmission of power from the guru to the seeker as Shaktipat… that one experiences a powerfully transformative, pervasive, expansive divine reality… Siddha Yoga holds that this experience of the divinity of being takes place through the compassionate grace of the guru.” (Pg. 397)
This book will be ‘must reading’ for anyone seriously studying Siddha Yoga.
Gerald James Larson states in the Foreword to this 1997 book, “The Siddha Yoga of Gurumayi [Chidvilasananda] is an unusual combination of … spirituality from ancient India… [and] the ‘yoga-oriented guru-disciple movements’ of Hindu-based spirituality deriving from India that have become so popular in Europe and the United States… since the middle of the twentieth century. What makes this book particularly interesting, however, is that it is a serious historical and theological treatment of the movement by a group of sophisticated and critical scholars who are themselves followers of Gurumayi’s Siddha Yoga… we are dealing here with critical scholars who do not shy away from advocacy…”
Douglas Renbfrew Brooks explains in the Introduction, Swami Chidvilasananda has for more than a decade been a catalyst for spiritual awakening… The disciple and spiritual heir of Swami Muktananda… Swami Chidvilasananda has brought continuity, innovation, and expansion to the spiritual movement called Siddha Yoga that Muktananda set in motion…. Gurumayi Chidvilasananda has had just the sort of transformative influence that we historians of religion understand to be at the very core of the sadguru tradition of mystical yoga… as a living representative of the sadguru to her disciples, Chidvilasananda reveals the possibility that the ideals of the yoga tradition continue to be met even now at the end of the twentieth century…” (Pg. xx)
Swami Durgananda noted in the first chapter, “Swami Muktananda… had inherited from his guru the power to pass on his own spiritual force, shakti… in a special tradition called Shaktipat… This little-known and mysterious initiation… historically has been given only by rare gurus to highly prepared disciples… Muktananda set out to offer this powerful for of spiritual initiation on a wide scale, ultimately even developing a program, the Intensive, that allowed Shaktipat to be offered in a weekend. This profoundly innovative act of open-handed Shaktipat has been the basis of the Siddha Yoga movement.” (Pg. 4-5) Later, he adds, “It was the Intensive that would eventually allow Muktananda’s ‘meditation revolution’ to reach thousands at a time.” (Pg. 93)
He continues, “Devotees say that Bhagawan Nityananda’s demonstrations of fierceness served … basic functions… the aloof, stern, or apparently fiery demeanor of the saint served as a screening method for separating the serious seekers from the merely curious… Nityananda’s brusque words were a vehicle by which he gave blessings. It used to be said that every insulting term carried boons… Said Swami Muktananda, ‘There was Shaktipat in his abusive terms…’” (Pg. 21-22)
He recounts, “The seeds of Siddha Yoga’s Western expansion had been sown in the early 1960s, when the first Western seekers began coming to the ashram. One of these was Albert Rudolph, known as Rudi, who … taught meditation in … Greenwich Village. Rudi… after leaving Subud, found his way to Bhagawan Nityananda in 1960. Nityananda sent Rudi to Muktananda. Soon, Rudi… began teaching a form of spontaneous meditation based on ‘kundalini’ awakening. It was Rudi who first invited Muktananda to the West, and ultimately arranged Muktananda’s 1970 visit to New York.” (Pg. 71)
He reports, “Muktananda … gave Malti’s fifteen-year-old brother, Subhash, initiation… Subhash began receiving intensive training … In 1980, in Los Angeles, Swami Muktananda gave Subhash … the name ‘Swami Nityananda,’ after his own guru… it began to be speculated that Subhash was also being prepared as a successor to Swami Muktananda.” (Pg. 107)
He recounts, “In 1981 … Swami Muktananda made a surprising announcement… ‘this person will be my successor.’ … Then he placed a garland over the head of eighteen-year-old Subhash Shetty, now Swami Nityananda… Six months [later]… Muktananda officially named [Subhash’s sister] Malti as co-successor… she received initiation … and was given the name Swami Chidvilasananda. The two successors … assumed responsibility for the movement on Swami Muktananda’s death in [1982]. Three years later… Nityananda resigned from the guru’s seat, after having demonstrated that he did not wish to fulfill the responsibilities of the position… Swami Chidvilasananda then became the sole head of the Siddha Yoga lineage… Nityananda later asserted a claim---repudiated by Siddha Yoga’s students---that he still considered himself a bonafide successor to Muktananda.” (Pg. 115-116)
He notes, As early as 1983, Nityananda had demonstrated… a rather laissez-faire stance towards both the Siddha Yoga organization and his position as a guru… he would periodically speak both in public and in private about how he disliked being a guru… In October 1985… a group of devotees privately questioned Nityananda about his lack of commitment to his role as guru, including the fact that he was not upholding his monastic vows. Nityananda took a few days to reflect… Then he chose to resign from the seat of the guru as well as his position as a sannyasi. It was decided …not to make public the breaching of his vows, in order to allow him to leave the seat with dignity… and to spare the feelings of the devotees.” (Pg. 131)
He continues, “Nityananda subsequently set up his own organization, unaffiliated with the Siddha Yoga movement… holding programs and conducting intensives in which he claimed kundalini was awakened. He continued to assert his claim to be Muktananda’s successor In 1986, after a group of Nityananda’s devotees threatened to install him on the seat of the New Delhi Siddha Yoga ashram, an Indian High Court judge formally declared: ‘[having] abdicated his position voluntarily, it is not open to him to take a different stand at this stage.’” (Pg. 132-133)
Paul E. Muller-Ortega explains, “the Sanskrit word ‘siddha’ may be rendered in two different ways. On one hand, [it] means… the ‘spiritual discipline’ of the siddhas, the ‘perfected ones.’ … it is just as correctly translated as the ‘perfected yoga’… intended to clarify the specific nature of such a form of spiritual practice… it is clear that by choosing ‘Siddha Yoga’… Muktananda meant to indicate its distinctive nature.” (Pg. 167)
William K. Mahony notes, “The importance of the Vedantic perspective in Swami Muktananda’s experience s indicated historically, in that his early spiritual training was primarily Vedantic. He has said that he studied Vedanta …while practicing his initial sadhana.” (Pg. 367)
Later, he states, “Swami Chidvilasananda has described Siddha Yoga’s characteristic means for self-revelation, namely the grace of the guru. It is through this compassionate gift of grace, a transmission of power from the guru to the seeker as Shaktipat… that one experiences a powerfully transformative, pervasive, expansive divine reality… Siddha Yoga holds that this experience of the divinity of being takes place through the compassionate grace of the guru.” (Pg. 397)
This book will be ‘must reading’ for anyone seriously studying Siddha Yoga.
July 2, 2008
For everyone who has ever asked me what I believe and I could not explain it. This is it.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews