Mahavatar Babaji
Mahavatar Babaji | |
|---|---|
 Mahavatar Babaji meditating in the lotus position – a drawing from Autobiography of a Yogi, commissioned by Paramahansa Yogananda and based on his own meeting with Babaji | |
| Personal | |
| Religion | Hinduism |
| School | Yoga |
| Known for | Kriya Yoga |
| Religious career | |
Disciples | |
Mahavatar Babaji (IAST: Mahāvatāra Bābājī; lit. 'Great Avatar (Revered) Father') is the Himalayan yogi and guru who taught Kriya Yoga to Lahiri Mahasaya (1828–1895).[2][3][a] Babaji first became recognized through the writings of Paramahansa Yogananda, who devoted a chapter of his Autobiography of a Yogi to Babaji and founded Self-Realization Fellowship, a modern yoga movement that Babaji is associated with.[3] The cave where Babaji met Lahiri Mahasaya, located near Ranikhet, is now a tourist attraction and place of pilgrimage in India.[4]: 170
In popular culture
[edit]Mahavatar Babaji was on the cover of The Beatles' 1967 album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.[5][1][6] He can also be seen on the cover of George Harrison's 1974 album Dark Horse. Songwriter Roger Hodgson of English rock band Supertramp composed a song called "Babaji" in reference to Mahavatar Babaji. This song was recorded and released on their 1977 album Even in the Quietest Moments...[7] In Book 3 of Conversations with God (1998), by Neale Donald Walsch, it is mentioned that Babaji may at one time have resurrected himself from the dead, like Jesus.[8]
The 2002 film Baba featured a fictional encounter with Mahavatar Babaji.[4]: 235, 314 The film was produced by Rajinikanth, a devotee of Babaji.[9]
See also
[edit]- List of Hindu gurus and saints
- Haidakhan Babaji – a teacher who appeared in northern India and taught publicly from 1970 to 1984
- Yogoda Satsanga Society of India – founded by Paramahansa Yogananda in 1917
Notes
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b cnn.com "How the 'Sgt. Pepper' cover might have looked today". Retrieved 31 August 2017.
- ^ Miller, Timothy (1995). America's alternative religions. Internet Archive. Albany : State University of New York Press. p. 178. ISBN 978-0-7914-2397-4.
- ^ a b c Jones, Constance (2008). Encyclopedia of Hinduism. Internet Archive. New York : Checkmark Books, an imprint of Infobase Publishing. p. 61. ISBN 978-0-8160-7336-8.
- ^ a b Virk, Rizwan (2023). Wisdom of a Yogi. Bayview Books. ISBN 978-1-954872-10-3.
- ^ Tillery, Gary (2011). Working Class Mystic: A Spiritual Biography of George Harrison. Quest. p. 81. ISBN 978-0-8356-0900-5.
- ^ "Who Are All Those People in SGT Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band - Spacious Planet". Archived from the original on 24 October 2011. Retrieved 28 November 2011.
- ^ Melhuish, Martin (1986). The Supertramp Book. Omnibus Press. pp. 124–126. ISBN 0-7119-0787-0.
- ^ Walsch, Neale Donald, Conversations with God: an uncommon dialog (Book #3), page 95.
- ^ Chaubey, Santosh (16 March 2018). "Here's how Rajinikanth became a devotee of Mahavatar Babaji". India Today.
External links
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