Shri Dhyanyogi

Pure love and devotion

“I am a wandering sadhu. My peace and joy come from beyond this world.”

Dhyanyogi Madhusudandas (1878-1994) was a spiritual seeker from a very early age. He walked across India, through jungles and mountains, with the single goal of attaining spiritual enlightenment.

Prior to his birth, Dhyanyogi’s mother had a vision of Lord Krishna, fortelling the birth of a great being. Dhyanyogi’s spiritual quest began in earnest at age eleven when he left home in search of God. He spent thirty years traveling and studying with yogis and sages, mastering mantra, yantra, hatha, raja and jnana yogas. Finally in 1921, while living in a cave on Mount Abu, he met his guru and received shaktipat initiation. He immediately entered the highest state of samadhi and attained God-realization. When he awakened from this meditation three days later, his guru designated Dhyanyogi to be his spiritual heir to the ancient lineage of Kundalini Maha Yoga.

After this Dhyanyogi continued to live in near seclusion, but that changed when his guru appeared to him in meditation and his heart urged him to go out in public and reach spiritual seekers.

 I had the intense desire to help as many people as possible. I remembered my suffering when all I wanted was peace and the answers to ‘Who am I?’ and ‘What is death?’ I felt compassion for others who wanted to find the Truth.

This was very unusual in India at that time. Normally, you had to prove your worthiness to receive such an initiation or even to be taught how to meditate, but Dhyanyogi felt that every human being is inherently worthy and that all a person needs for shaktipat is the sincere desire for spiritual evolution. His life mission was to share his spiritual power freely, saying, “My house is on fire. Loot what you can!”

 When he was invited to America in 1976, he said that if he gave shaktipat to even one person, his work would be done. Accompanied by Shri Anandi Ma and Dileepji, he traveled throughout the country for four years, initiating thousands into the path of Kundalini Maha Yoga.

Even though he taught that spiritual progress is all that really matters in life, Shri Dhyanyogi could never ignore suffering. In India, he helped people by providing food and water at times of famine and drought, feeing their cows, building a school and hospital and organizing annual eye surgery camps. Dhyanyogiji’s pure love and devotion to the welfare of humankind changed the hearts of the people whose lives he touched.

“My lost stars”

Every atom of Guruji’s being was filled with the joy and the qualities and characteristics of the divine. His heart was an infinite ocean of love and compassion. It is said that to melt butter, some heat is required, but Guruji’s heart was softer than butter and melted when he saw the pain and suffering of others. I have many times witnessed that infinite flow of tears from his eyes upon seeing the suffering and pain of others.

In spite of being at such a great level of evolution, just looking at him externally never revealed the depth that he held within himself. From the first day that he came out into the open to the last day of his life, he was always freely available to any person.

He had devotees all over the world, from royal families to the poorest people possible, yet he never expected or wanted anything. All he expected was for the student to practice and to reach the goal.

His goal in life was to find “my lost stars” and release them from the endless cycles of pain and the cycle of life and death. His jewelry, his ornaments, were nothing but simplicity and compassion, and I have yet to see the depth of beauty of these qualities in any other person. Let us deeply inscribe these very qualities upon our hearts, our minds, and souls.

The inner experiences of his love, his grace, and his knowledge are a matter of great surprise and awe.

—Anandi Ma