Kriya Yoga Teachers

Marshall Govindan ("Satchidananda") has practiced Babaji's Kriya Yoga intensively since 1969.

He studied and practiced Kriya Yoga in India for five years with Yogi S.A.A. Ramaiah. He also assisted him in the establishment of 23 yoga centers around the world during an 18 year period. During this period he practiced Kriya Yoga for eight hours per day on average, and as a result attained Self-realization. While in India he studied the Tamil language and the works of the Tamil Yoga Siddhas. In 1980 he assisted in the collection and publication of the complete writings of Siddhar Boganathar.

In 1986 he administered the construction of a rehabilitation hospital dedicated to Yoga therapy and physical therapy in Tamil Nadu, India. In 1988 he was asked by Babaji Nagaraj, the founder of Kriya Yoga to begin teaching. This followed the completion of certain rigorous requirements to initiate others in the 144 Kriyas given to him by Yogi Ramaiah five years earlier.

In 1991, he wrote the best selling book, Babaji and the 18 Siddha Kriya Yoga Tradition, now published in 16 languages. In 1992 he established Babaji's Kriya Yoga Ashram in St. Etienne de Bolton, Quebec. Classes, seminars and retreats are offered there year round. Since 1989 he has personally initiated over 12,000 persons in Babaji's Kriya Yoga in a series of intensive sessions and retreats in over 20 countries. In 1995, he retired from a 25 year career as an economist and systems auditor to devote himself full time to teaching and publishing in the field of Yoga. In 1997 he founded a lay order of teachers of Kriya Yoga: Babaji's Kriya Yoga Order of Acharyas, a non-profit educational charity, incorporated in the USA, Canada, India and Sri Lanka, presently with 31 members.

He is the author of the book and DVD Kriya Hatha Yoga: 18 Postures, The Wisdom of Jesus and the Yoga Siddhas, and Kriya Yoga Insights Along the Path.  His book, the Kriya Yoga Sutras of Patanjali and the Siddhas, has been critically acclaimed, and for the first time demonstrates the close connections between Classical Yoga and the Siddhars.  See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marshall_Govindan

In October 1999 he was blessed with the darshan of Babaji Nagaraj near his ashram in Badrinath, in the Himalayas. Since 2008 he has been building an ashram there.

Since the year 2000 he has directed a team of scholars in a large scale research project encompassing the whole of the literature related to the Yoga of the Tamil Siddhars. Six publications have been produced by them to date.

He is a graduate of Georgetown University School of Foreign Service and George Washington University in Washington, D.C. He is married to Durga Ahlund.

He received the “Patanjali Award” in 2014 for outstanding service to the field of Yoga from the International Yoga Federation/Yoga Alliance International, the oldest and largest international association of Yoga teachers.  Its’ President, Swami Maitreyananda said:

"Marshall Govindan Satchidananda is not only the most famous Yoga Master of Kriya Yoga in the world, he also has done an amazing job for Kriya Yoga, I can only compare with Paramahansa Yogananda. Govindan Satchidananda is the spirit of Babaji"
SWAMI MAITREYANANDA president of WORLD YOGA COUNCIL of INTERNATIONAL YOGA FEDERATION" (November 5, 2012)

Jan Durga Ahlund, (B.S.Ed) has been practicing and studying Yoga since 1967. She shares her experience of Yoga as a writer, teacher of Hatha Yoga, Kundalini Yoga, and Kriya Yoga and as a Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapist, which uses Yoga for emotional release. She gives Initiation seminars in Kriya Yoga, all over the world. She co-authored, performed, and produced with her husband Marshall Govindan, the Yoga video, Babaji's Kriya Hatha Yoga, Self-realization through Action with Awareness. They have also co-authored several books on spiritual Yoga. Durga developed a two-year correspondence course called The Grace Course, which is a course of Yoga and self-study. She developed and teaches a 200- hour Hatha Yoga Teacher Training Course worldwide, giving trainings in India, Canada, Germany, Estonia, Brazil and Spain. Her two latest books are “Deepening your Practice,” and “The Yoga Toolbox: An everyday guide for shaping your future.” She and her husband Marshall Govindan take students on pilgrimages to India twice a year.

For more see Durga's blog at www.seekingtheself.com

Rohini has practiced Kriya Yoga intensely since 1997, under the guidance and direction of M. Govindan, disciple of Babaji and author of the book babaji and the 18 Siddha Kriya Yoga Tradition.

After fullfilling certain rigorous conditions over several years, Rohini was inducted into Babaji's Kriya Yoga Order of Acharyas in Bangalore, India. She is now authorized to conduct first level initiations into Babaji's Kriya Yoga in Australia and abroad. She began her study of Yoga in the 1990's with Patabhis Jois, in Mysore and has raised a daughter through college graduation, managed a boutique and taught high school students.

She gives weekly classes at her home in Daylesford, Victoria, Australia (1 hr from Melbourne), and teaches Kriya Yoga in seminars all over Australia and abroad.

Shantiananda has been actively studying Yoga since 1970 and was first initiated into Babaji’s Kriya Yoga in 1991. In 1993 while assisting Marshall Govindan during a Kriya Yoga initiation seminar, she experienced Babaji’s Presence. This inspired her to continue herself to the practice of His Kriya Yoga. In July 2001 after several years of rigorous training, she became a member of Babaji’s Kriya Yoga Order of Acharyas, authorized to teach the first initiation seminar. She currently offers initiation seminars in the Southwest USA. Shantiananda holds a Master’s degree in Counseling Psychology. She worked for many years as a community development Human Services Coordinator for the City of Scottsdale before her retirement in 2008. She is now engaged as a Stress Management instructor at Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona. It is her hope to continue to spread Babaji’s teachings so that others can access the tools that will help support their spiritual development.

Visit Shantiananda's website click here

Arjuna Really I do not know what to write, my past is of no real importance, and who I am is not what I've done or I'm doing. I'm an actor in a perfect drama, I do not know what tomorrow reserves me in the role play, but it doesn't really matter. I'm the wick, remember? Complete surrender to the Lord helps to bring the wax to the flame and burn to the light, that is what I feel here and now.

So, I'm not the candle or the flame, I'm not the light either, but only the means for the Divine to let Himself being experienced. What experiences in the representation of my actual life are more significant? I do not know, and probably they are so only if read in the context of past and future lives, but there is no past or future either, only space and through that space we are desperately seeking for truth, not our limited sensorial truth, but that which has no words, only a deep total experience of bliss. We can say I'm an ordinary person, born in Italy, with a love for horseback riding, living in Italy with a stressful job in an investment bank, with an expertise in NLP (neuro-linguistic programming) and hypnosis, I daily experiment all emotions everyone does, I can feel frustration, sadness, happiness, sexuality and so on.

I know how to laugh and how to cry, how to get angry and how to forgive, but moreover I never am any of these emotions, I simply can experiment and enjoy these variations like diving in the sea and playing with the waves.This is what I can say.

Om Kriya Babaji Nama Aum.

Nityananda (Nacho Albalat) is a native of Valencia, on the east coast of Spain. He was initiated into Babaji's Kriya Yoga in 1997, learned the advanced Kriyas in 1998 and 1999, and since then has practiced them faithfully. He has also actively collaborated in the diffusion of Babaji's Kriya Yoga throughout Spain by organizing seminars and translating publications. He has translated into Spanish the books "Kriya Yoga Sutras of Patanjali and the Siddhas", "The Voice of Babaji: The Trilogy on Kriya Yoga", and the Kriya Yoga Journals since the beginning, and several initiation seminars. He was also responsible for translating and recording the video course "Babaji's Kriya Hatha Yoga: Self-realization through Action with Awareness".

He has a University degree in journalism and he has worked for several local media organizations, promoting subjects related to personal growth and spirituality in the community. He is happily married to his wife Aurora, who is also a distinguished journalist, and has one daughter.

As an acharya, his major aspiration is: "to transmit the best possible way the teachings and techniques of Babaji's Kriya Yoga." Through it, any person can manifest his potential and improve not only one's own life, but that of everyone around.

For more info visit www.kriyayogadebabaji.net

Nagalakshimi (Sharanadevi) of Sao Paulo, Brazil, became an Acharya in 2003.

Born in 1961, she recounts how she first met Babaji in a dream, in 1993. At that time she had no knowledge of Yoga or of Babaji. Babaji told her that he was her Guru. After this dream she began looking for information about Babaji, and found Yoganandaji's "Autobiography of a Yogi." She followed Yogananda's lessons from the SRF, for five years, and then met M. Govindan Satchidananda, who initiated her into the 144 Kriyas of Babaji's Kriya Yoga from 1998 to 2000, in Brazil and Canada. She has practiced these diligently and faithfully since then. She also completed the requirements for the Kriya Hatha Yoga Teacher Training program and gives several classes to the public every week since 2001.

Sharana Devi works as a body mind therapist since 1993. She was certified by Stanilaus Grof in Holotropic Breathwork in 1996 and uses it to facilitate the growth of those who are in spiritual emergencies or emotional problems.

Married with three children, she states that "the practice of Babaji's Kriya Yoga has completely transformed my life and the people around me."

Click here to read a profile article by Sharanadevi.

Saraswati Karuna Devi of Sao Paulo Brazil. Born in 1948, in Egypt, of British nationality, she moved with her parents to Brazil when she was twelve. She became a seeker of God and a practioner of a Yoga as a teenager. During her first visit to India in 1981, she recognized the presence and guidance of Babaji in her life.

In 1996 she was initiated by M. Govindan Satchidananda into Babaji's Kriya Yoga in Canada, and received the second and third level initiations in 1997 and 1998. Since that time she has not stopped practicing it, and began sharing it with others while completing the Teacher Training requirements for Kriya Hatha Yoga in 2001. She teaches several classes per week in Kriya Hatha Yoga.

Trained as a Jungian psychologist, she became a student of Stanislaus Grof in the 1970's, and since then has worked intensively in private practice as a transpersonal psychologist, using his Holotropic Breathwork and related techniques. She is knowledgeable in numerous spiritual traditions and practices.

M.D. Satyananda, Yogaacharya in Babaji’s Kriya Yoga Order of Acharyas since 2005, gives seminars with first, second and third initiation into Babaji’s Kriya Yoga worldwide, mainly in Europe, India and the East. Certified in Psychology and Psychotherapy, he has worked in clinical and corporation settings. After studying spiritual wisdom of the world since childhood, and Vedanta and Yoga for more than a decade in India and the West, he dedicated one decade exclusively to intense study and practice of Babaji’s Kriya Yoga and to Karma Yoga serving its students. Since more than one decade he offers programs on Babaji’s Kriya Yoga, Yoga psychology and metaphysics, individual counseling, and offers regularly pilgrimages to India’s sacred places and holy masters. "Satyananda is a highly informed and gifted teacher, adept at introducing powerful practices accessible and attainable to non-adepts without diluting their essence, effectively and precisely merging the essence of the various yoga paths into an unified whole."

Click here to read a profile article by Satyananda

Testimonials and insights of students - Click here for details

Vyasa Lawson first became interested in Yoga as a university student in Toronto, where he learned hatha yoga and meditation. As mid-life approached, he was moved to look for a way to continue his growth and self-awareness with all that is entailed in modern life as a householder and took up Kriya Yoga. Gradually he made changes that led him to retire from his career in real estate investment to devote his time to his Kriya practice and to supporting the terminally ill while completing a graduate degree in hospice studies. He became an Acharya of Babaji’s Kriya Yoga in 2006.

Ishvarananda (Ingvar Villido) had his first experiences with yoga as a teenager, and started his regular practice in the early 1980s. In 1992 he began teaching yoga and a wareness practices. In 1993 he founded the Lilleoru intentional community near Tallinn in Estonia, which has grown into an international educational hub. He has received initiations from several lamas and yogis from Tibetan Buddhist traditions and Dzogchen, as well as Shri Muniraj, a disciple of Herakhan Baba. After decades of intense study and practice, it was Babaji’s Kriya Yoga that helped Ishwarananda to put all the pieces together. He was initiated into Babaji´s Kriya Yoga in 2004 and became an Acharya in May 2007. Ishwarananda gives initiations to all three levels of Babaji´s Kriya Yoga. Since 2008 he has been teaching the Art of Conscious Change courses which help to release inner obstacles and improve the quality of practice.

Click here to read the profile article by Ishwarananda, or visit the webpage of Lilleoru for more details on initiations and satsangs in Estonia.

Premananda (Joseba Imanol Idoyaga) of Bilbao, Spain was born and raised in a devoted Christian family, and educated in the values of love and forgiveness. As a young man, he practiced the spiritual exercises prescribed by the St.Ignatius of Loyola. He aspired to dedicate his life to a religious order, until he married and had two children.

He is a graduate in psychopedagogy (the study of psychological education) and computer engineering. He worked for ten years as a computer analyst and later as a teacher in public schools. More recently he became a teacher trainer and lecturer in education centers.

He became an initiate of Tibetan Buddhism and made a pilgrimage to the Himalayas before beginning his initiation and training in Babaji´s Kriya Yoga in 2000. Since completing the teacher training course in Kriya Hatha Yoga, in 2003, he has organized many Kriya Yoga classes, seminars and satsangs in the Basque country.

His main motivation is to serve, and now to do so through Babaji´s Kriya Yoga. Kriya Yoga has been a great support to him during difficult periods, even removing from him the notion of being "difficult."

Valmiki (Mikel Agirreazkuenaga) is a long time student of languages. He is currently a professor of linguistics in the University of theBasque region in Spain. Since 1998 he has worked with the Foundation "Life and Languages" based upon thework of Dr. M.M. Sanchez Carrion, to sustain language cultures- Since beginning his training in Babaji´s Kriya Yoga in 2000, he has come to appreciate it as "language of transformation and service." He has attended many seminars in Babaji´s Kriya Yoga and a Kriya Yoga pilgrimage to India.

He has been sharing his knowledge and love for Babaji´s Kriya Yoga in the Basque region of Spain for several years since completing his training as a teacher of Babaji´s Kriya Hatha Yoga. He is married and has one daughter.

Skanda Vel (Ed Nichols) was introduced to esoteric teachings at a young age by his mother. Inspired by Yogananda’s Autobiography of a Yogi, Skanda was initiated into Babaji’s Kriya Yoga by M.G. Satchidananda in 1998, and has practiced with increasing intensity ever since. He received the 2nd Level initiation in 1999, and the advanced training in 2005. In 2006, he attended the Hatha Yoga Teacher training intensive led by Durga Ahlund, and teaches hatha yoga weekly. Upon invitation to become an acharya, he met certain intense requirements with discipline over the course of one year. Skanda has participated in both the North and South India pilgrimages as well as traveled on his own personal Himalayan adventures.

While studying Biology at C.U. Boulder, Skanda traveled to Brazil to celebrate the new millennium. There, he discovered the popular Amazon superfruit acai and co-founded SAMBAZON, pioneering the introduction of acai to North America. SAMBAZON adheres to organic and fair-trade principals, and is well recognized for its unique model of market driven conservation and social responsibility.

Skanda feels “the degree to which one surrenders to the divine is directly proportional to how beautiful one’s life unfolds”. He looks forward to helping sincere seekers unlock their potential through the grace of Babaji’s Kriya Yoga.

Skanda lives in the small mountain town of Nederland, Colorado, where he hosts and conducts initiations from both his home and the home of his long time Kriyaban friend, Chistopher (Krishna) Brod. His home is an hour from Denver, and 18 miles from Boulder.

Click here to read a profile article by Skandavel

Mirabai (Lourdes Planas Calvo) She began to practice Yoga in 2002 and was later initiated into Babaji's Kriya Yoga. This was an important turning point in her. Since then she has participated in several initiations at the second and third levels, and has completed her certification in Babaji`s Kriya Hatha Yoga Teacher Training program. She has also made three Kriya Yoga pilgrimages to India, two in the South and one in the Himalayas. She completed her graduate degree in Nursing during the 1970`s. She is also a physiotherapist since 1984 and received a degree in Social and Cultural Antropology in 2003. Now she is studying for a Masters degree in naturopathy. She has worked as nurse in hospitals and in outpatient departments. From 1977 to 1981 she worked in health services for children under the age of five in Sierra Leona, Western Africa. Professionally, she has introduced yogic techniques to deal with stress for groups of people that suffer from anxiety, depression and other psychosomatic problems. She is married and mother of three children.

For more details on Mirabai click here

Savitri (Maria Rosa Blasco) She was initiated in 2001, and since then she has practiced with enthusiasm the techniques of Babaji's Kriya Yoga, and has participated several times in second and third level seminars, in the Hatha Teacher Training and in pilgrimages to India. She studied Medicine and works as family doctor in Public Assistance, combining it with the practice of Homeopathy. She teaches seminars to deal with the stress and writes articles for national magazines about health and self-help. As an Acharya she thinks that the practice of Babaji`s Kriya Yoga can improve the lives of many people, and for her it's a privilege and an honor to be able to share the teachings with others. She lives and works in Girona, near Alicante, 100 km south of Barcelona.

For more details on Savitri click here

Nagaraj (Otsuki Norihiko) was born and raised in Sendai, north-eastern part of Japan. He was initiated into Babaji's Kriya Yoga in 2000, learned the advanced Kriyas in 2001 and 2002. In 2003, he completed the teacher training course in Kriya Hatha Yoga in Quebec and taught Kriya Hatha Yoga in Japan for some years. He returned to the Quebec Ashram in 2008 for 6 months to do tapas for 8 to 12 hours per day and to translate the Grace Course into Japanese.

Since he was a child, Nagaraj has asked the questions why we are here, living on this planet Earth and what are we here to do? He feels Babaji’s Kriya Yoga answered his questions and that everybody should attend Initiation seminars in Babaji’s Kriya Yoga, as it is a means to living a true and wide life. Nagaraj is a wonderful teacher and we are very pleased that he will be teaching Babaji’s Kriya Yoga in Japan.

Nagaraj graduated from a university in Tokyo majoring social psychology and worked as a teacher for many years. He worked at a private school tutoring children with physical, mental or emotional challenges and also counseling their parents.

Siddhananda (Sita) Born in Brazil in a family of spiritual seekers, I grew up in the spirit of Yoga, mystical Christianity and the precious teachings of Tibet.

Through my explorations of the world and human nature as well as through my studying of sacred literature during long sea voyages, pilgrimages and retreats, I learned to recognize the universal presence of an essence which animates and unites all of us.arents.

I have been a teacher, a translator and a builder and organizer of several different enterprises. I have raised my five children in love and by example.

Since my decisive encounter with Babaji’s Kriya Yoga, I have participated in several pilgrimages to India and completed its teacher training program. Since then I have taught Kriya Hatha Yoga. I also offer a complimentary therapy based upon sound and DNA programming.

Turyananda (Thierry Morfin)

Currently living in Grenoble - the capital of the Alps and an important center of scientific activity in France. He is a father of three grown-up daughters.

Turyananda discovered Hatha Yoga in 1992 with a French teacher whose teaching deriving from a Mexican solar tradition enlightened his being. He was initiated into Kriya Yoga in 1998 by M.G. Satchidananda on the Reunion island. He completed a spiritual retreat in 1999 before going on a pilgrimage to Tamil Nadu in 2000.

During this trip, being carried by the Indian fervor Turyananda discovered the meaning of surrender in the most profound part of his being. At the age of 36 he had discovered his path. In 2006 after many months of intense practice he became an Acharya.

On this path Babaji proposes him to go forward by letting His message flow. He gives him the sensation of awakening His thoughts and projecting them to the outside. In a way this creates the opportunity to discover Him by the continuous hatching of His word, and in this way to uncover this mystery to others. He is surprised by the impact that his words have on others and wants to believe that it is due uniquely to the benevolence of Babaji and the Siddhas.

Their message remains a compelling necessity in a world in which the lost, sprawling humanity must find its way home to that which Is, that which we truly are, with the help of wise shepherds, if not smugglers.

Ganga Devi has a teacher degree from Hungary and she began her spiritual journey in 1990 when she moved to Canada. She has intensively practiced yoga since 1995 and gained more than 9,000 hours of teaching experience since 1998. She opened her studio, the YogaRoom in Downtown Barrie, Canada in November 2005 and operated it until December 2016. Since 2008, Ganga devi is working with motor vehicle accident sufferers through law offices and insurance companies. In 2016, she was invited to teach basic anatomy, alignment and hands on assisting at the Kriya Hatha Yoga Teacher Training at the ahram in Montreal. Ganga's daily practice and main teaching combines the ancient Indian tradition of Kriya Yoga with the Western style of Vanda Scaravelli’s method. She was greatly influenced by her teachers: Durga Ahlund, M. G. Satchidananda, Esther Myers, Diane Long and Sat Dharam Kaur.

Credentials:  

• Certified Yoga Teacher in Babaji’s Kriya Hatha Yoga from Eastman, Quebec, 2002;
• Certified Yoga Teacher with Esther Myers by the Esther Myers Yoga Studio, Toronto, 2004;
• Pre- and Post-Natal Yoga Teacher Training, Level 1 Certificate by the Esther Myers Yoga Studio, Toronto, 2004;
• Certified Yoga Teacher by the 3HO in Kundalini Yoga as Taught by Yogi Bhajan, 2007;
• Member of the Babaji’s Kriya Yoga Order of Acharyas since December,  2009;
• Yoga Intensives with Diane Long, 2006 - 2011 and Dharma Mittra, 2004;
• Certificate in Basic Laughter (Hasya) Yoga.
  

Ganga devi's goal is to continue to help others to have happier and healthier lives by expanding their Yoga practice from the mat or cushion into everyday situations. May the loving grace of Babaji guide us on our path towards Self-realization.

Amman first learned about Babaji as a teenager and was initiated into kriya yoga in 1970 by Yogacharya J. Oliver Black, a lay minister of SRF and direct disciple of Paramahansa Yogananda. Amman has worked in northern and western Canada as a community youth worker, forest ranger and environmental protection officer. He currently works in the field of geographic information systems with the Ministry of Environment in Saskatchewan. In the mid 1980’s Amman lived with Yogacharya Black at his yoga retreat in northern Michigan. In 2006 Amman rediscovered Babaji and has since gained greater insight into yoga through Babaji’s Kriya Yoga. Amman has taught hatha yoga at the yoga center in n. Michigan, in a corrections facility in Saskatchewan and continues to teach from his home.

Kailash I once was a Post Master in Frauenfeld, Switzerland. It seems like a lifetime ago, but my Yoga career began only in the year 2000, when to my absolute surprise I began to see myself teaching Yoga in reoccurring dreams and visions. Those visions started me on my yogic path. I began a daily practice of Yoga and two years later I began to teach. I practiced and taught various systems of Yoga over the next few years. In 2006, I learned of Babaji from the book, Babaji and the 18 Siddha Kriya Yoga Tradition, written by Marshall Govindan (Satchidananda). In 2007, in Zurich, I attended the Initiation from Satchidananda, and then later the 2nd and the 3rd initiations. Over the next several years I completed the Kriya Hatha Yoga Teacher Training and took two pilgrimages to India. Babaji’s Kriya Yoga became my constant companion. No other system had so intrigued me and certainly none before had blessed me with the greatest benefit, personal peace.

Today, I am the owner of the Yoga Center in Frauenfeld, Switzerland, where I teach Yoga with my wife, Maja (also a dedicated Kriyaban). During the year 2010, I completed the rigorous requirements to become an Acharya and member of Babaji’s Kriya Yoga Order of Acharyas, with Babaji’s constant light and unconditional love to inspire and push me on when necessary. In May 2011, I was inducted into the Order and pledged to dedicate my life to sharing Babaji’s Yoga as widely as possible. Satchidananda once told me to think of the Acharyas as postmen delivering the mail for Babaji. That helps me better understand the evolution of my own life’s career.

For details on the new Meditation CD from Kailash click here

Shivadas, from Dijon, France, lives on the island of Martinique, an island in the Caribbean. Shivadas was drawn intensely to spirituality since his adolescence, when he discovered Yoga. He made several voyages to India and across Europe to train in various disciplines, including Sivananda Yoga (Advanced Teacher training in Trivandrum, India) Reiki, humanistic magnetism. He is now working as a practitioner of manual energetic therary (Poyet method). He was initiated by M. G. Satchidananda in his home town of Dijon, France in 2004. He recognized Babaji as his master, guiding him with love towards the Divine. Joining the Order signifies to him that he can retransmit with humility what are humanity’s greatest treasure. Since 2007, with his wife, Swarupu, a school of Yoga and Bharatanatyam dance in Martinique, APSARA. He may be contacted at Shivadas

Jnanashakti (Josée Sylvestre) From my earliest years, I have been fascinated by the complexity of the human being, as well as by the mysteries of life and what lies beyond this world. Being a little too clairvoyant, sensitive and perceptive, I saw and painfully felt the faults of humanity. I was overjoyed when I read with profound interest the collection of books on the lives of the saints in the school library. From that time onwards, the quest for wisdom became the ultimate goal of my life. I was only seven years old. I set what I considered to be a reasonable amount of time to achieve this goal, by the age of 30 years. Oh! How far did I misjudge the requirements related to such aspirations.

Having received a baccalaureat diploma from the university in Psychosociology of communication, I subsequently earned several other certifications in order to be equipped with some effective tools for helping and coaching others professionally, individually, spiritually, and at the organizational level. After being involved with many enterprises both in Quebec and internationally, having taught management, communication and even meditation to managers, I was blessed in 2006 to have come into contact with Babaji Nagaraj and to have learned the powerful techniques of his Kriya Yoga. Since then, the aspiration “to Be” with you, growing together towards Self Realization, has multiplied it fervor.

Vidhyananda (Sherry Ryan) LMT, RYT is the founder of Providence Healing Arts, a Yoga Studio & alternative healing center in Providence, Rhode Island, USA. As a student of Hatha Yoga and Kundalini Yoga for 40 years, Vidhya is a certified 500 hour yoga instructor facilitating retreats and teacher trainings throughout the world. She has over 25 years of experience in the study of Ayurveda, Macrobiotics and Traditional Five Element Theory.

Brahmananda was initiated in 2001 in Vienna into the tradition of Babaji's Kriya Yoga and in May 2013 into the Order of Acharyas. On account of Babajis graceful guidance Brahmananda's living conditions developed during this time slowly to a red thread, how a call of Dharma: during the same time his yogic development to be a Hatha Yoga Teacher, to participate at several Indian pilgrimages and being educated to an Acharya took part, the attachments freed themselves in job and career, past and other karmic obstacles. With the practical experience as a former company owner and dipl. engineer of shoe technology he meanwhile has reduced his conventional working quota to a minimum measure to dedicate his life and work to the teachings of Babaji and Yoga. Brahmananda lives in Attersee in Upper Austria and organizes there regularly Kriya Hatha Yoga classes, Workshops and Satsang. In the service of the Order of Acharyas he holds initiation seminars in the German-speaking area.

Maitreya (Michel Zonatto)

Since childhood Michel had felt a deep desire to know God / Truth. He was first introduced to Yoga and mysticism at the age of eight by his mother. He had his first training in Classical Yoga at eighteen and began to teach regular classes at twenty. He continued his studies in Yoga and other paths to self-realization and natural therapies, such as Ayurveda. He was initiated into various methods of reiki, meditation and vibrational healing. He received initiation and personal guidance in Vajrayana Buddhism. However, it was when he learned of Babaji and Kriya Yoga that he knew he had found his true guru and path. He felt compelled to find a lineage and a realized teacher to guide him and his sadhana. In 2009, he received the first initiation in Brazil from acharya Sharanadevi and in the same year, met his teacher M.G. Satchidananda. In 2010, he was initiated by Satchidananda into the advanced kriyas. These practices of Kriya Yoga brought him a deep sense of peace and of returning home, as he began to understand that his dedicated practice was encouraging loving and conscious action in all his daily life. In 2012, he was invited to prepare to become an acharya and after two years of intensive training he was, in November 2014, inducted into Babaji’s Kriya Yoga Order of Acharyas.

Maitreya teaches classes of Kriya Hatha Yoga at the university and therapeutic centers and offers private sessions with natural therapies, deepening students knowledge in undergraduate Applied Naturology. He teaches initiation seminars, leads satsanga, kirtan, gives lectures, workshops and makes mandalas.

He is eternally grateful to the Kriya Yoga Tradition and the living Presence of Babaji in his life guiding and providing him a way to serve and fulfill his divine purpose. He is married to Lakshmi, Luana Marcanzoni Alves and lives in Palhoça, Santa Catarina, Brazil.

Kriyanandamayi, a member of Babaji’s Kriya Yoga Order of Acharyas since 2015. She offers Kriya Yoga initiation seminars in Sri Lanka, India and Malaysia in English or Tamil. In her country Sri Lanka, she manages our two ashrams as the secretary of Babaji’s Kriya Yoga Order of Acharyas Trust, organizes initiation seminars and pilgrimage tours to Katirgama and other holy places, conducts Hatha Yoga classes, corporate and students stress management programs, acupuncture treatment, and performs sacred ceremonies at our ashrams. After being introduced into spirituality by her parents at a very young age, she soon explored various spiritual lineages and has practiced Hatha Yoga since 2001, and taught it regularly since 2002. Since her initiation into Babaji’s Kriya Yoga in 2006, she dedicated her life fully to intense Sadhana of Babaji’s Kriya Yoga and to serving the local Sangha and her parental family.

Annapurna Ma, (Marcia Micheli, of Sao Paulo, Brazil)

It was in 1995 through a dream that I first became aware of Kriya Babaji in my life. The dream was both beautiful and specific and I was shown my strengths and weaknesses. At that time I began to experience periods of purification and releases from strong attachments. Three years later, I received the first and the second initiations from Satchidananda in Brazil. The Kriya techniques felt familiar, like coming home. At the end of the first initiation Satchidananda asked me if I would give classes of the 18 Kriya Hatha Yoga Asana. Ever since, I've been doing so, as a source of joy.

Babaji's Kriya Yoga has given me access to my deepest nature and Babaji's energy has supported me during all the years I dedicated to guiding and attending to the three lives, which I had the honor to carry in my womb and watch grow.

In 2010, I received from Satchidanda the third initiation and, in 2012, I attended the Kriya Hatha Yoga Teacher Training, in Canada, with Durga and Satchidananda. It was in 2014, while on a group pilgrimage in India that Satchidananda surprised me by inviting me to become an Acharya. The flow of Babaji's love in all aspects of my life brought me to accept.

It seems that Babaji has influenced me in all the significant choices I have taken in my life. I know that becoming a member of the Acharya's Order is another significant beginning. I begin with the joy of a child in front of the immensity of life.

I am deeply grateful to my professors Satchidanda and Durga for their love guidance and for being a constant source of inspiration; I thank my family and friends who have always motivated me.

I hope and pray that I am able to live my life as an expression of service to Babaji and Babaji’s Kriya Yoga.

Jai Babaji!

Gurudasan

Born as Gowri Varadhan in Salem, Tamil Nadu (India), to parents Shri. Radhakrishnan and Shrimati. Kalavathi, Gowri obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Information Technology and works as an investigative data analyst. His study of spirituality began during his teen years when he was introduced to the writings of Swami Vivekananda and he grew especially drawn to the teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi and Seshadri Swamigal of Tiruvannamalai. Being from the Tamil culture, Gowri greatly appreciates the various Tamil Siddha traditions and their perspective potentials in the context of God Realization. He is also initiated into Sri Vidya Sadhana. Understanding Advaita through the eyes of Ramana, Gowri was able to also understand and appreciate other schools of philosophy such as Dvaita and Vishisht Advaita as different perspectives of the same truth.

In the early 2000’s, Gowri found the Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahamsa Yogananda, which introduced him to Mahavatar Babaji and Kriya Yoga. This, along with Babaji and 18 Siddha Kriya Yoga Tradition, by Marshall Govindan convinced him that Kriya Yoga was a perfected, scientific and authentic lineage of teachings of the Yoga Siddhas available for mankind to attain Self-realization. In the year 2008, he was initiated into Babaji's Kriya Yoga (both First and Second initiations) by Marshal Govindan Satchidananda and has been practicing ever since.

In 2011, he was initiated into all the 144 Kriyas in Bangalore, which were taught in three initiations and also took the intensive Babaji’s Kriya Hatha Yoga Training at the Quebec Ashram.

Gowri has been studying, practicing and training to be an acharya for many years. He has served as translator in a number of Kriya Yoga initiations in India for the benefit of Tamil speaking population not comfortable with English. He married in 2014, and he and his wife Kiran currently live in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. He offers free Kriya Hatha Yoga classes every week there and leads Kriya Yoga Satsangs where group sadhana is practiced followed by discussions on spiritual matters.

Gowri is deeply grateful for the support, guidance and encouragement received from MG Satchidananda ji, Durga ji, Satyananda ji, Nandi Devar, Vyasa and above all Sadhguru Babaji and Paramaguru Agasthiar. Gowri also feels the blessings of being born to parents who have supported him so whole-heartedly every moment of his life.

Ganapati

If I had to summarize my entire life story in a short sentence, I would say that it made me a disciple of Babaji. I was born in São Paulo, Brazil, in 1951. And, since 1982, I am married with Marcia (acharya Annapurna Ma). This happy marriage gave me three children, Milena, Pedro and Marcela, and two grandchildren, Marina and João. I work professionally as a journalist, writer and teacher.

For more than three decades, I am researching intensely different spiritual traditions. As well as its connections with philosophy, sciences and arts. My study and my experience convinced me that “All is One”. And, based on this monistic conception, I have written five books and a large number of articles, published in the media or in my personal blog.

I became an atheist before the age of 14 and continued to be an atheist until 28. During this time, I had two remarkable spiritual experiences. The last one definitely dismounted my materialism and brought me back to the spiritual path. Before that, I came to know about the existence of Babaji, through the Autobiography of a Yogi, of Paramahansa Yogananda. Years later, I had the grace of experiencing his presence directly, in a session of “Holotropic Breathwork", coordinated by my friend and psychologist Doucy Douek (acharya Saraswati Karuna Devi).

In 1998, by the hands of Satchidananda, I was initiated in the Kriya Yoga. And, despite all the instabilities of the practice, the unshakable connection with Babaji maintained me on the way. My wife, which is much more intuitive and assertive than me, has helped me a lot to overcome the hesitations and move forward in the practical life and the spiritual path. Her love is a daily source of nutrition.