Swamiji’s Story
Childhood, studies, and travels
Swamiji was born in 1958 in a small farming village of Uttar Pradesh in northern India. He was the eldest son of a Hindu family and a specially gifted boy who had profound mystical experiences already at a young age.
As an 8-year-old boy, Swamiji met his eventual sanyas master Swami Laxananda Ji Maharaj, and began to spend time with him in an Ashram. At the age of 14, he left his home to commit to his spiritual path. He vowed to be a swami and began studying at Gurukul Kangri, which was one of the finest traditional Vedic schools in India. Swamiji studied various spiritual matters such as Sanskrit, psychology, traditional Vedic metaphysics, and the scriptures, and completed a Master's degree in philosophy. In his early twenties, he graduated as the leading student of his class and received a special award for his accomplishments and expertise in the presence of the President of India.
Whenever Swamiji had free time from his studies, he went deep into the Indian Himalayas. He lived an aesthetic life in nature, living in the caves and the jungle. After graduating he kept living in the Himalayas and traveling around India and its sacred places. He was seeking answers and information to understand the powerful spiritual experiences he had had over his lifetime. Despite years of searching, he didn’t find anyone who could explain them. Yet, he stayed devoted to his own spiritual practice.
Path of Shakti awakening
In the late 1980s, Swamiji got to know the teachings of the Shaktipat meditation system. He received the Shaktipat blessing from Swami Shivom Tirth, a recognized Indian master of the Siddha Maha Yoga lineage. The blessing was so profound for him that he knew he had found his path. Everything became clear without any reading or teaching. After that, Swamiji lived in Swami Shivom Tirth’s Ashram for three years.
After recognizing Swamiji’s unique capability, Swami Shivom Tirth guided him to start giving the Shaktipat blessing himself and sent him to the holy city of Ujjain on a mission to share the divine gift with the world. He encouraged Swamiji to find his own way to do the divine work and make the practice richer, as each of the masters in the lineage had done. Swamiji began to give the blessing by Sankalpa, a pure and heartfelt divine intention, which was a unique approach in the lineage. This powerful blessing from a Siddha Master itself helps awaken greater readiness in the seeker and is of far greater benefit to the world. Swamiji made the Shaktipat system more systematic and developed the way of teaching, emphasizing the effortlessness of the practice and the independence of the practitioners. He brought in his own special nature while respecting the tradition.
In 1990, Swamiji founded the Siddha Ashram along the banks of the Shipra River in Ujjain, a place that lies directly atop the Tropic of Cancer and is, according to the Vedic system, the navel of the Earth, and home to the world’s greatest spiritual festival, the Maha Kumbha Mela. Back then the Ashram was surrounded by forest, and later a vibrant city grew around it. In addition to being a sanctuary for spiritual practice, the Ashram began to serve as a center for supporting Indian people by distributing Ayurvedic medicines, providing education for children living in poverty, and undertaking other charitable efforts.
Taking Siddha Maha Yoga to the world
For the last three decades, Swamiji has traveled around the world sharing his divine blessing and wisdom. Together with other swamis and volunteers, he has organized numerous retreats and meditation events in Europe, North and South America, and Asia. Self-organized Siddha Maha Yoga communities have formed in various countries he has visited.
In 2015, with the support of Swami Satya Maa and the Siddha Maha Yoga community, Swamiji founded the Siddha Ashram of Brazil in a rural area of the municipality of Nísia Floresta, near Natal. He has inspired committed community members to establish Siddha Ashrams also in Alabama and Venezuela.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Swamiji began to give blessings and satsangs in an online setting. While online retreats and events started as a pandemic-time experiment, they have made Siddha Maha Yoga more accessible than ever in its history. Now, Swamiji continues traveling and gifts communities around the world with his presence both online and in person.
