First Encounters With the Masters

7/28/2019 First Encounters With the Masters

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Contents

Introduction ............................................................................................................................................................. 7

First Encounters with the Masters .............................................................................................................. 10

Swami Sivananda and Paramahamsa Viswananda Saraswati ....................................................... 10

Swami Vishnudevananda and Swami Sivananda ................................................................................. 11

Swami Muktananda and Bhagawan Nithyananda ............................................................................... 13

Swami Vivekananda and Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa .............................................................. 18

Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa and Totapuri ....................................................................................... 21

Sri Ramana Maharshi and Arunachala .................................................................................................... 23

Sivaprakasam Pillai and Sri Ramana Maharshi ..................................................................................... 24

Ganapathi Sastri and Sri Ramana Maharshi............................................................................................ 24

Ragavachariar and Sri Ramana Maharshi ................................................................................................ 25

Suddhananda Bharati and Sri Ramana Maharshi ................................................................................ 25

Yogi Ramiah and Sri Ramana Maharshi .................................................................................................... 26

Natesa Mudaliar and Sri Ramana Maharshi ............................................................................................ 26

Yogi Ramsuratkumar and Sri Ramana Maharshi ................................................................................. 27

Yogi Ramsuratkumar and Swami Ramdas .............................................................................................. 28

Swami Ramdas and Sri Ramana Maharshi .............................................................................................. 31

Swami Gnanananda Giri and Swami Sivaratna Giri ............................................................................ 33

Adi Sankara and Lord Shiva ............................................................................................................................ 34

Paramahamsa Yogananda and Sri Yukteswar ....................................................................................... 35

Lahiri Mahasaya and Babaji ............................................................................................................................ 37

Lama Surya Das and Lama Yeshe ................................................................................................................. 39

First Encounters with My Guru ..................................................................................................................... 40

Tavatiru Rengaraja Desigar ............................................................................................................................ 40

Supramania Swami ............................................................................................................................................. 42

Tavayogi Thangarasan Adigal........................................................................................................................ 48

Epilogue .................................................................................................................................................................... 60


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Introduction


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Swami Vishnudevananda and Swami Sivananda

Photo 2 Swami Vishnudevananda (Right) and Swami Sivananda

Photo courtesy ofhttp://www.maasyoga.nl
http://www.maasyoga.nl/http://www.maasyoga.nl/http://www.maasyoga.nl/http://www.maasyoga.nl/


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http://www.sivanandaonline.org/


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Swami Muktananda and Bhagawan Nithyananda

Photo 3 Muktananda with his guru Bhagawan Nithyananda

Photo courtesy ofwww.cosmicharmony.com
http://www.cosmicharmony.com/http://www.cosmicharmony.com/http://www.cosmicharmony.com/http://www.cosmicharmony.com/


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Photo 4 Bhagawan Nithyananda. Photo Courtesy of The Chidakasha Gita of Bhagawan Nithyananda of Ganeshpuri


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Swami Vivekananda and Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa

Photo 5 Ramakrishna and Vivekananda

Ramakrishna Photo courtesy ofwww.himalayanacademy.com, Vivekananda Photo courtesy ofwww.rkmvu.ac.in
http://www.himalayanacademy.com/http://www.himalayanacademy.com/http://www.himalayanacademy.com/http://www.rkmvu.ac.in/http://www.rkmvu.ac.in/http://www.rkmvu.ac.in/http://www.rkmvu.ac.in/http://www.himalayanacademy.com/


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Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa and Totapuri

Photo 6 Totapuri

Photo courtesy ofwww.gurusfeet.com
http://www.gurusfeet.com/http://www.gurusfeet.com/http://www.gurusfeet.com/http://www.gurusfeet.com/


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Sri Ramana Maharshi and Arunachala

Photo 7 Stamp of Sri Ramana released in 1971

Photo courtesy ofwww.indiapicks.com
http://www.indiapicks.com/http://www.indiapicks.com/http://www.indiapicks.com/http://www.indiapicks.com/


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Sivaprakasam Pillai and Sri Ramana Maharshi

Photo 8 Sivaprakasam Pillai

Photo courtesy ofwww.sriramanamaharshi.org

Ganapathi Sastri and Sri Ramana Maharshi

Photo 9 Ganapathi Sastri with Sri Ramana

Photo courtesy ofhttp://arunachalamaharshi.blogspot.com
http://www.sriramanamaharshi.org/http://www.sriramanamaharshi.org/http://www.sriramanamaharshi.org/http://arunachalamaharshi.blogspot.com/http://arunachalamaharshi.blogspot.com/http://arunachalamaharshi.blogspot.com/http://arunachalamaharshi.blogspot.com/http://www.sriramanamaharshi.org/


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Ragavachariar and Sri Ramana Maharshi

Suddhananda Bharati and Sri Ramana Maharshi


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Yogi Ramiah and Sri Ramana Maharshi

Photo 10 Yogi Ramiah (sitting on the ground) with Sri Ramana, B. V. Narasimha Swami with pencil and paper.

Photo courtesy ofhttp://forum.yogananda.net

Natesa Mudaliar and Sri Ramana Maharshi
http://forum.yogananda.net/http://forum.yogananda.net/http://forum.yogananda.net/http://forum.yogananda.net/


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Yogi Ramsuratkumar and Swami Ramdas

Photo 12 Ramdas

Photo courtesy ofwww.urbanhindu.com
http://www.urbanhindu.com/http://www.urbanhindu.com/http://www.urbanhindu.com/http://www.urbanhindu.com/


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Swami Ramdas and Sri Ramana Maharshi

Photo 13 Swami Ramdas

Photo courtesy ofhttp://sudheeptnair.blogspot.com
http://sudheeptnair.blogspot.com/http://sudheeptnair.blogspot.com/http://sudheeptnair.blogspot.com/http://sudheeptnair.blogspot.com/


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Swami Gnanananda Giri and Swami Sivaratna Giri

Photo 14 Swami Gnanananda Giri

Photo courtesy ofhttp://srignananandansmm.org/
http://srignananandansmm.org/http://srignananandansmm.org/http://srignananandansmm.org/http://srignananandansmm.org/


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Adi Sankara and Lord Shiva

Photo 15 Sankara with his disciples

Photo courtesy ofhttp://www.vanamaliashram.org
http://www.vanamaliashram.org/http://www.vanamaliashram.org/http://www.vanamaliashram.org/http://www.vanamaliashram.org/


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Paramahamsa Yogananda and Sri Yukteswar

Photo 16 Yogananda with Yukteswar

Photo courtesy ofwww.myspace.com/anahatasacredsound
http://www.myspace.com/anahatasacredsoundhttp://www.myspace.com/anahatasacredsoundhttp://www.myspace.com/anahatasacredsoundhttp://www.myspace.com/anahatasacredsound


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Lahiri Mahasaya and Babaji

Photo 17 Lahiri and Babaji

Photo courtesy ofhttp://vishwananda4mauritius.wordpress.com
http://vishwananda4mauritius.wordpress.com/http://vishwananda4mauritius.wordpress.com/http://vishwananda4mauritius.wordpress.com/http://vishwananda4mauritius.wordpress.com/


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Lama Surya Das and Lama Yeshe


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First Encounters with My Guru

Tavatiru Rengaraja Desigar

Photo 18 Rengaraja Desigar

Photo courtesy of Ganesen & Maran, Malaysia


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Supramania Swami

Photo 19 Supramania Swami poses for me the first time I meet him in 2003


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Photo 20 Clockwise: Supramania Swami at his altar in his Kudil; Swamis Kudil in Tiruvannamalai; Swami at his village

home in Nachananthal.


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Photo 21 Supramania Swami with Yogi Ramsuratkumar in a digitally edited photo


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Tavayogi Thangarasan Adigal

Photo 22 Tavayogi Thangarasan Adigal in 2005

Photo courtesy of the New Straits Times Malaysia.


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Photo 23 Clockwise: Feeding the poor at Tavayogis ashram; Tavayogi at the banks of the river that passes through his

ashram; at the entrance to the Peedham; inside the Peedham; outside Tavayogis ashram.


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Photo 24 The 1st

leg of my pilgrimage with Tavayogi. Clockwise: Sivanmalai; Deserted temple in Kangayam;

Punakeeswarar Samadhi at Chennimalai; Murugan temple in the jungles of Kangayam; Tavayogi in his Cave at

Kangayam; Tavayogi squeezing through an opening into Konganars Cave; Inside Konganars Cave; On the steps towards

Konganars Cave.


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Photo 25 The 2nd

leg of my pilgrimage with Tavayogi. C lockwise: In Sargurunathars Cave & Ashram, Outside

Sargurunathars Cave & Ashram, Mettupalayam - Ooti Road; at the Mariamman temple in Ooti; With Dayananda Swami

in Ooti; at Tavatiru Suyanjhothi Swamis Satguru Sathya Raja Yoga Seva Gnana Ashram in Kasolai.

Photo 26 Jeganathar; Tavayogi performing Abhisegam to the granite Peedham at his ashram; Chitramuthu Adigal


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Photo 27 The 3rd

leg of my pilgrimage with Tavayogi. Clockwise: Tavayogi at Breehadeshwar temple; Agathiyar opens his

eyes; At Karuvurar temple; Outside Agasthiyars temple at Agasthiyampalli; Tavayogi with Agathiyar.


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Photo 28 The 4th

leg of the pilgrimage. Clockwise: At Kalyana Theertam at the foothills of Pothigai; Shiva temple at

Kalyana Theertam; Agathiyars temple at the foothills of Pothigai; Agathiyars temple at Kalyana Theertam in Pothigai.


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Photo 29 The 5th

leg of the pilgrimage. Clockwise: Outside Agathiyars Cave at Courtallam; At Shenbaga Devi Ammans

temple; Outside Agathiyars Cave; Inside Agathiyars Cave; Tavayogi at the inner chamber of Agathiyars Cave .
http://www.babaji.ca/


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Photo 30 The final leg of my pilgrimage with Tavayogi. Clockwise: With a sadhu outside Dhakshinamurthis Cave in

Courtallam; Paintings at Chitrasabai in Courtallam; Inside Dhakshinamurthis Cave; Chitrasabai; Inside the inner chamber

of Vallalars Cave; Chitrasabai; Outside Vallalars Cave


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Epilogue


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Photo 31 Tavayogi demonstrating Asanas and Pranayama to students in Malaysia. Still photos retrieved from video

footages by Muralitharan Saminathan, Sathiswaran Arumugam and Thayalan Arumugam, Malaysia


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First Encounters With the Masters

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