Muktananda

Muktananda
Muktananda, seated in chair, 1970
Born	(1908-05-16)16 May 1908 Mangalore, present day Karnataka, India
Died	2 October 1982(1982-10-02) (aged 74)

Muktananda (16 May 1908 – 2 October 1982), born Krishna Rai, was the founder of Siddha Yoga. He was a disciple and the successor of Bhagavan Nityananda. He wrote a number of books on the subjects of Kundalini Shakti, Vedanta, and Kashmir Shaivism, including a spiritual autobiography entitled The Play of Consciousness.

Muktananda was born in 1908 near Mangalore in Karnataka State, India, into a well-off family. His birth name was Krishna Rau.

At age 15 he encountered Bhagavan Nityananda, a wandering avadhoot who profoundly changed his life. After this encounter, Krishna left home and began his search for the experience of God. He studied under Siddharudha Swami at Hubli, where he learned Sanskrit, Vedanta and all branches of yoga, and took the initiation of sannyasa in the Sarasvati order of the Dashanami Sampradaya, taking the name of Swami Muktananda. After Siddharudha's death, Muktananda began wandering India on foot, studying with many different saints and gurus.

In 1947 Muktananda went to Ganeshpuri to receive the darshan of Bhagavan Nityananda, the saint who had originally inspired Muktananda's search for God. He received shaktipat initiation from him at 15 August of that year. Muktananda often said that his spiritual journey didn't truly begin until he received shaktipat from the holy man Bhagavan Nityananda. According to his description, it was a profound and sublime experience. Muktananda spent the next nine years living and meditating in a little hut in Yeola. He wrote about his sadhana and kundalini-related meditation experiences, in his autobiography.