Sri Sri Lahiri Mahasaya

September 30, 1828 - September 26, 1895

In 1861, Lahiri Mahasaya, aged thirty-three, met with Babaji in the foothills of the Himalayas. There, he was instructed into and mastered a variety of meditation methods. Lahiri, on receiving permission to initiate others from Babaji, returned to his home in Banares, India. Whilst continuing to fulfil his familiar and work responsibilities he also initiated more than five thousand people into Kriya Yoga and wrote twenty-seven books, providing commentary on Indian scriptures.

Lord Mahavatar Babaji

Life Details Unknown

Mahavatar Babaji’s name translates as ‘revered great soul’. No details are known about his life, when he was born, his original name, his place of birth or his family. He is said to reside in the Himalayas. Being deathless, he moves between his physical body and spirit, appearing on occassion to exhalted souls. Babaji revived the ancient techniques of the yoga explained in the sacred text of the Bhagavad Gita by sharing them with Sri Lahiri Mahasaya.

Swami Sri Yukteswar Giri

May 10, 1855 - March 9, 1936

Swami Sri Yukteswar, after the death of his wife, became a disciple of Lahiri Mahasaya. Having practised as a yogi for ten years, Sri Yukteswar received Lahiri Mahasaya’s blessing to initiate others. Some years after that he was ordained as a swami monk. On the request of Babaji, Sri Yukteswar wrote the book, ‘The Holy Science’. Paramahansa Yogananda considered Sri Yukteswar to have outstanding powers of intellect and intuition.

Paramahansa Yogananda

January 5, 1893 - March 7, 1952

Paramahansa Yogananda, author of ‘Autobiography of a Yogi’, lived with and studied under his guru, Sri Yukteswar, for the best part of ten years. In 1920, he travelled to Boston, to address a religious congress on yoga. Staying on in the United States, Yogananda continued to impart the ancient teachings to thousands of Americans. In 1925 he established an international headquarters in Los Angeles, for the organisation, ‘Self-Realisation Fellowship’ which he had founded in 1920.

Mr. Roy Eugene Davis

March 9 1931

Mr. Roy Eugene Davis left his home in Ohio, at the age of eighteen to meet Paramahansa Yogananda in Los Angeles. Mr. Davis was accepted as a disciple of the master and lived for three years as a monastic, in Self-Realisation Fellowship. In 1951, Paramahansa Yogananda ordained Mr. Davis to teach Kriya Yoga. Beginning as minister of the Self-Realisation Fellowship Centre in Phoenix, Arizona, later in 1953, Mr. Davis returned to secular life, but continued to minister throughout the world. In 1973 Mr. Davis established the international headquarters for Centre for Spiritual Awareness in Lakemont, Georgia.  Over the past sixty years of his ministry Mr. Davis has taught in North America, Brazil, Europe, West Africa, India and Japan. He has written many books, some of which have been published in ten languages. Mr. Davis, now in his eightieth year, continues to share these ancient teachings with people the world over.

See video - In The Kriya Yoga Tradition

A CSA production